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At least Bill Maher didn’t wish rectal cancer upon us. But The Least Self-Deprecating Man On The Planet does use his unlimited supply of smarmy circular logic to suggest we conservatives stop criticizing Hollywood, especially during the Oscars. His reasoning? Well, in his mind, it has something to do with liberals being smarter than us because they don’t elect unqualified celebrities to national office…or something. And how he manages to summon enough denial to spend a few hundred words on the subject of unqualified celebrities holding elected office without mentioning the words “Barack” or “Obama” is beyond me.
In order to hold tight to this theory, Maher has to dismiss Ronald Reagan as “Bonzo’s buddy” and Sarah Palin as “Miss Wasilla.” Someone might want to remind the former comedian that in order for jokes to be funny they should illuminate truth not attempt to hide it. But here are a couple of my favorite lines from his Variety article, the ones that reveal so much about their author:
Politics has become the safety school for show business washouts who are just looking for a way to stay in front of the camera[.]
Maher thinks he’s talking about people like Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger who seek elected office. What he’s really doing, though, is engaging in the art of projection. Unfortunately, Bill Maher doesn’t have a fraction of the self-awareness necessary to realize how well that statement describes him and his. After all, where would Maher be if he hadn’t turned into a nasty leftist politico — if the show business washout hadn’t become just another Hollywood Frat Boy who turned to politics in order to — how did he phrase it? — oh, yes: stay in front of the camera.
Whether it’s Harrison Ford waxing his chest, Janeane Garofalo and Rosie O’Donnell spewing as much stupid as they can summon, or any number of pathetic celeb-wannabes spouting off on issues-n-stuff, at least Reagan, Schwarzenegger, Fred Thompson, George Murphy, and Sonny Bono showed some real courage by choosing to step into the battle arena of elective politics where they would no longer be comfortably and forever surrounded by what one might call a trained-seal audience.
Whether it’s Al Franken or Fred Grandy, jumping into elective politics is a personal risk that requires grit and courage. On the other hand, the Maher Way of spouting off BusHitler jokes in the Happy Bubble of Tinseltown is not only the laziest most conformist way to hold on to some scrap of relevance, it’s also about as courageous as, say, taking Hollywood’s side against conservatives in Variety.
Moving on…. Check out Maher’s Epic Whopper concerning the film industry and government handouts:
Last year, Hollywood set a box office record: $10.6 billion. Sixteen billion worldwide. Not bad for a bunch of socialists. You never see Hollywood begging Washington for a handout, like corn farmers, or the auto industry, or the entire state of Alaska.
I know it’s hard to read a newspaper in the grotto but maybe someone should consider replacing just one Yes Man with a fact checker:
- Hollywood may benefit from U.S. bailout: LA Times
- Arnold Schwarzenegger gives Hollywood tax incentives
- Pork for Hollywood? Obama Stimulus Package Includes Film Tax Write-Off
- Build It With Tax Incentives, and Hollywood Will Come
- Hooray for Hollywood tax breaks
- March 4, 2010: Tax Credits For Hollywood
- Hollywood Tax Credits? The Shows Are On The Road
You can’t blame Maher for not being aware of Google. It’s a tool created for those who are capable of feeling embarrassment and want to be saved from it.
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