Bill Maher looks to be the final holdout in the Blame Republicans For The Arizona Shootings Bunker. The best proof that he’s now pretty much alone is that given the benefit of witnessing the backlash and not being on the air Saturday, yesterday both “The View” and Jon Stewart figured out it wasn’t a good idea to go there and in fact went in the complete opposite direction of their cohorts on the Left, taking the obviously correct position that political rhetoric, metaphors, and obscure maps don’t kill people.
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If you watch the video above, however, you’ll see that Maher apparently used his three three days to figure out a different tactic that he thinks allows him to blame the right (though not “directly,” he claims) and to keep the meme alive a little longer. It’s the age-old tactic of desperation we call “moving the goalposts.”
In order to avoid having to explain the extreme vitriol we’ve seen on the left for over a decade now, Maher’s now declared that anyone responsible for violent and over-the top rhetoric who isn’t an elected official, simply isn’t worth talking about. He dismisses them as “nuts” who are unworthy of discussion and not part of the problem. Of course, in order to move the goalposts of the debate where he needs them, Maher is pretty much labeling MoveOn, MSNBC, the Hollywood left, and his pal Markos Moulitsas as “nuts,” but if it allows more smearing of conservatives, it’s doubtful they’ll mind.
But Maher is still wrong, though, and laughably so. Only Republicans who hold office are culpable? To his credit, Anderson Cooper busts the HBO comedian almost immediately by bringing up no less than President Obama’s declaration of how Democrats need to bring guns to knife fights. Listen to Maher, who’s uncharacteristically caught in the headlights with the question, try and talk his way out of that one:
No, it’s not [a fair comparison]. I mean, maybe it’s unfortunate that he would use that metaphor, but you know, there are such things as guns and knives in the world. So we’re not trying to say you can’t use those words ever in speech. But it’s a lot different than this sort of direct idea that it’s okay to threaten with bodily harm the people you disagree with.
So when a then-Democratic candidate for president uses the metaphor of bringing a gun to a knife fight, it’s, uhm, “unfortunate.” But a standard run-of-the mill political map or Michele Bachmann joking about an opponent being afraid to leave their house, those are “threats.”
Since Anderson Cooper didn’t bother, let me ask Maher his thoughts on Barack Obama AS PRESIDENT talking about “punishing our enemies“? Does that qualify? And he wasn’t joking, nor was he talking about Muslim extremists.
What about Obama AS PRESIDENT talking about the ass he’s looking to kick over the Gulf Oil Spill?
What about Candidate Obama urging his supporters to “argue” with your neighbors and “get in their face”?
Anything below sound worse than Bachmann’s joke or Palin’s map:
Obama on ACORN Mobs: “I don’t want to quell anger. I think people are right to be angry! I’m angry!”
Obama to His Mercenary Army: “Hit Back Twice As Hard”
Obama to voters: Republican victory would mean “hand to hand combat”
Obama to lib supporters: “It’s time to Fight for it.”
Obama to democrats: “I’m itching for a fight.”
Can you imagine if Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh were on record talking like that as frequently as our own president? And Beck can’t win for losing. He holds a bipartisan rally that was about as peaceful and generous in spirit and unifying as you’ll ever see, and Maher mocked him relentlessly over it.
But back to the main point. Unless Maher wants to, yet again, move the goalposts for this debate and disqualify First Black Presidents, or something, I think the examples above from this particular elected official are more than enough for now. Of course, should Maher go ahead and disqualify Obama, I’ll be more than happy to Google away further. But this is a dumb argument.
Rhetoric, metaphors, political debates, and even divisive U.S. presidents don’t kill people, and those saying different, those using this unspeakable crime for partisan gain, are the only ones crossing the decency line.
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