Bill Maher is an old school liberal. He likes big government social programs. And he generally finds Republicans to be dumb and cruel. In short, he is exactly the kind of guy who used to feel right at home in the Democrat Party.
However, Maher still genuinely believes in classical liberal principles. He values free speech over safe spaces and censorship. He thinks we should strive to be color blind as a society instead of dividing ourselves up by skin tone. He believes socialism sucks. And he loves America. The actual America that exists today, not some progressive fantasy of what it could be. These all used to be mainstream values in the Democrat Party. Unfortunately for Maher, and those like him, these ideas are anathema to the progressives who now control the party.
Which is why Maher has been getting attacked by the left recently, and hilariously accused of “shifting right” in his politics.
To me, when people say to me sometimes, like, ‘Boy, you know, you go after the left a lot these days. Why?’ Because you’re embarrassing me!
– Bill Maher
Democrats are all on board for socialism now. Just stick the “democratic” modifier in front of the word “socialism”, and it’s internal contradictions and legacy of failure and suffering are magically erased! It wasn’t that long ago that Nancy Pelosi was mocking AOC’s Green New Deal as the “green dream.” Pelosi understood that it was economically and scientifically illiterate, as well as politically poisonous. Now it is part of the mainstream Democratic platform. I don’t think Pelosi suddenly discovered the brilliance of the Squad’s insane manifesto. She bowed to the political reality that the crazies run the show for the Democrats now.
Critical Race Theory and WOKE(!) politics are also part of the mainstream Democratic platform now. The propaganda arm of the Democrat Party (i.e. the media) understands how unpopular these toxic and racist ideologies are. That is why they refuse to acknowledge they even exist and are being implemented all across the country. But the young Democrat base believes in them fervently, so the leadership can’t denounce them. So instead, they gaslight and obfuscate.
There were some grumblings from the moderates after the shellacking the Dems took a couple weeks ago in Virginia. Many of whom blame WOKE(!) politics for provoking their ass kicking. But the Party will continue down the path it is on. All of the moderates in the Democrat Party are fossils. All of the young blood in the party are hard-left progressives. That’s where the energy is. That’s what the future leadership will look like.
Both sides always say that it is the other guys who have gotten more radical. Democrats constantly accuse Republicans of it, and vice versa. It’s mostly a diversionary tactic to convince voters you’re willing to work with the other side, but the current crop is just to crazy to deal with. But in this case, I think it is obvious the Democrats really have taken an abrupt and dramatic lunge to the left over the past decade or so. Bill Maher hasn’t changed. His opinions and attitudes are indistinguishable from a decade ago. When Barak Obama was campaigning for the presidency, he declared that marriage was between a man and woman. Were any Democrat to make that claim today they would be canceled, not just for being homophobic, but for implying that there are only two genders. And Bill Clinton? He would be burned at the stake if he were judged by todays WOKE(!) standards.
I don’t think you can say the same about Republicans. The styles and demeanors of Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump are polar opposites. But on policy, there is barely a dimes worth of difference between the two. If decorum and civility are all that you care about, then I would totally agree Republicans have become more coarse over the last few years. But if policy and vision are what matters, it is the Democrats who have shifted radically. I personally don’t give a shit about respect and civility when it comes to politicians and their media lackeys. They deserve neither. DC is a cesspool of corruption, incompetence, and depravity and should be treated as such.
Maher and the other old school liberals can complain all they want, but the Democrat Party is not coming back to classical liberalism. Whether he realizes it or not, Maher is the one who is out of touch with the mainstream. The WOKE(!) progressives are the mainstream of the Democrats now. The Party has gone all in on progressivism. His logical appeals for a return to sanity won’t phase the radicals. They will just be dismissed as more reactionary “whiteness” that needs to be stamped out. And when the gulags are built, Bill Maher’s name will be near the top of the re-education list.