I’m a little pissed off right now, so no title image, and I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this.
I just got done watching the “panel” segment on Real Time with Bill Maher and the guests were regulars Malcolm Nance and Andrew M*th*rf***ing Sullivan. Nance was terrific, as always, but Maher just sat there like a potted plant while Sullivan spent practically his entire talking time complaining and concern trolling about how awful the imaginary over-the-top caricatures of left-wing liberals who exist only in the annals of conservative fan fiction and in his own head are behaving these days, exerting inordinate amounts of power and influence over everyone and everything, and how very very bad that is for democracy and for America and especially the Democratic Party.
I can’t tell you how heartened I was when Nance piped in and pointed out that none of what Sullivan claimed was coming from these hordes of far-left zealot cartoon characters was actually coming from Democratic Party leaders.
I could honestly go back and re-watch the show and transcribe all of Sullivan’s bullshit word-for-word, but frankly I don’t have the stomach for it. So I’m just going to paraphrase the one part that I want to focus on, the one bull-turd in the pile that stood out.
Sullivan said that there are currently two views of America that are competing with each other for dominance in our public discourse; again, paraphrasing:
- America is purely and simply evil, an entirely wicked and vicious place, built on nothing but white supremacy and slavery, and is completely, thoroughly, utterly irredeemable.
- America is a great country that has done great things but has flaws, historical and systemic, that need to be acknowledged and addressed in an honest way.
Well … Isn’t that special.
Notice yet what the problem is? Notice yet what Andrew is leaving out and neglecting to mention?
Here’s a hint.
Let’s leave aside the fact that (1) describes the “view” of absolutely no real person whatsoever; certainly no one with any influence, and definitely not any actual Democratic Party leader, officeholder, candidate, or spokesperson. That’s not surprising; conservatives, Sullivan in particular, rarely describe (and never identify) real, actual, living, breathing, identifiable human beings when they talk about what “the Left” is supposedly doing, saying and thinking that week, and they always hang that on the shoulders of Democrats while Maher, of course, piles on (and on, and on...) Every appearance on Real Time and every column Sullivan writes is the same; a non-stop bitch-fest over just how awwwful the Extreme Left is behaving right now, and either (a.) how bad they’re making [white people, men, cops, Christians, gun owners, rural America, billionaires, whomever] feel about themselves, and (b.) how Democrats will never defeat Trump if it continues because this awwwful behavior (which, apparently, no one is free to ignore) “turns off” “moderate voters.”
But I’ve gotten off topic, I see.
One more hint:
Does anyone think that the militias and the racism and the hate crimes and the religious fanaticism cause, have caused, or will cause Republicans to lose elections? Are there any pundits out there saying, or who have ever said, that Republicans will start (or keep) losing elections until the far-right militias and racists and religious fanatics knock off the hate and the racism and the misogyny and the homophobia and the proselytizing and the jingoism and the gun-buggery and every other crime against humanity and society they commit on a daily basis?
That’s the part that Sullivan left out. When he said that there are two views of America, (1) pure irredeemable racist evil, and (2) somewhat great but flawed, he left out the third: (3) totally great and flawless. He left out the “view” that America has no flaws, has made no mistakes and committed no atrocities, has nothing in its history to acknowledge, apologize or atone for, has never mistreated anyone or imposed itself on anyone, and most importantly, that there is absolutely no racism, no white supremacy, no oppression and no injustice of any kind, and never has been, in the Greatest Country in the History of the World.
He left out the right wing “view.” And the host just sat there and let him do it.
I still can’t get over how anyone could be so obtuse as to divide Americans’ “views” about their country into an imaginary “far left” “view” that no real person actually holds, and a more “moderate” and “reasonable” “view” that most real people actually hold, while leaving out and completely ignoring a far-right view that a lot of real people do actually hold. It’s just a continuation of this endless pattern of admonishing liberals to mind their manners while the hate and the racism and the misogyny and the homophobia and the proselytizing and the jingoism and the gun-buggery and every other crime against humanity and society that right-wingers commit on a daily basis doesn’t seem to bother anyone, make anyone feel bad about themselves (anyone who matters, at least), or drive “moderate voters” away from the GOP.
I used to be an avid reader of Andrew Sullivan’s Daily Dish blog in the first decade of this century, after he turned on Bush, apologized for supporting the Iraq invasion, and became one of the first pundits on either side to endorse Barack Obama for president. But I swear; if I never read one of his columns again, or see him interviewed on TV again, it’ll be too soon. And if Bill Maher has him on one more time and doesn’t start calling him on his bullshit, that’ll be the last time I watch Real Time.