Monthly Archives: November 2014

If comedian Bill Maher wants a title, it could be "Mr. Opinionated." From his breakthrough role in 1993 as host of "Politically Incorrect" on Comedy Central to his current gig on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher," the 58-year-old New York City native built his career on the strength of his often stridently liberal points of view.

Love him or hate him, Maher is informed. Between having a network news editor for a father and a double-major bachelor's degree in English and history from Cornell University, he's articulate on a wide range of topics. And he embraces controversy, which follows him around like a happy, drooling puppy. His snark might have you shouting at the TV, but it's unlikely to be boring.

Maher spoke with the Jackson Free Press in anticipation of his first appearance in Mississippi at Thalia Mara Hall Nov. 15.

Mississippi isn't exactly a bastion for liberal, progressive thought. What's the appeal?

I do love going to the conservative places in America, because I've yet to find a place so conservative that I can't find two or three thousand screaming liberals to come out (and) have a great time.

I don't think people understand how diverse America really is, politically, because what happens in most states is that a lot of elections aren't even contested. We just assume that certain places are not in the game, and so politicians don't go there. No politician campaigns in California because it's reliably blue. No politician (on a national level, of course) goes to New York or Texas. It doesn't really pay to try to win for the Democratic candidate in Mississippi. But the people are there. ... I've been to Alabama already twice this year; I've been to Mobile and to Birmingham. When you go to places like that and the progressive people come out, they're like doubly excited to see you, because I think they're gratified that I did not write off the whole state and went, 'Oh, you know, that's just a bunch of hicks down there.' Because I know better. It's not just a bunch of hicks. ... In this day and age, it's not really about region so much as it is about city versus country. When you're in a fairly large city, it's like everywhere else in America. They have Thai food. They have a Pottery Barn. It's not the 1950s any more.

I'm looking forward to coming to Jackson. This may be the last state that I've never played.

A lot of your fans here are upset over Alexandra Pelosi's video that depicted Mississippians as ignorant, toothless, hick rednecks.

She did a documentary ... called "Red (vs.) Blue America." I know what you're talking about. Yes, she absolutely talked tohow else could you put ittoothless hillbillies. But there are toothless hillbillies there!

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Mr. Opinionated: Bill Maher Skewers the Right and the Left

The 2014 election season marks the moment when the War on Women campaign ploy lost its political punch. Democrats had counted on a substantial lead among women votersparticularly single women votersto give them the edge in key elections once again, and trotted out all of the old hits, accusing their opponents of waging a War on Women and being secretly dedicated to rolling back womens progress. It didnt work.

Political analysts will sift through the data and pour millions into follow-up studies to identify the reasons for Democrats crushing midterm election losses, and specificallywhyso many women changed allegiances, or, at the very least, failed to support their steady partner, the Democrats, during their time of need. Many factors likely played a role: renewed concerns about terrorism and nationalsecurityissues; fear of Ebola and other alarming health outbreaks; continued economic anxiety and rising prices; and, the overwhelming sense that government is increasingly both incompetent and corrupt, from the IRS to the Secret Service to Veterans Affairs to the ObamaCare roll out. Surely all of this contributed to womens dissatisfaction with the party at the helm during this time of disturbing American decline.

Yet one hopes that this election also reflects a rejection of hackneyed, over-the-top political ploys. As IWFs Charlotte Hays put it, the War on Womenjumped the shark this election season. The overblown rhetoric that Democrats hoped would enthuse the base instead often elicited laughter. Colorados Mark Udall earned the nickname Mark Uterus for his obsessive invoking of womens reproductive issues and attempts to paint his opponent as a crusader bent on eliminating womens access to birth control. That charge became increasingly laughable as Republican Corey Gardner highlighted his support for making contraceptive pills available over-the-counter.

DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz epitomized another particularly offensive aspect of the Lefts War on Women mantra conflating conservative political beliefs with actual violence against women. Scott Walker has given women the back of his hand. I know that is stark. I know this is direct. But that is reality. She continued: What tea party extremists like Scott Walker are doing is they are grabbing us by the hair and pulling us back.

She claimed that is reality, but of course, its not reality, and voters knew it. In fact, it was a pathetic attempt to demonize a candidate with different political beliefs as a monster. Such casual use of such violent imagery should be abhorrent to anyone who takes violence against women seriously and who believes that our country needs honest debate about real issues and different policy alternatives.

And perhaps this season the public, particularly women, did finally have their fill of this kind of politics. Perhaps with real threats back in the newsbeheadings by ISIS, mysterious contagious illnesses, riots in the Midwestthe trumped-up rhetoric lost all appeal.

The public ought to have always been skeptical of the War on Women charges. After all, if the GOP really has long been secretly dedicating to eroding womens rights, why dont women remember the early 2000s, with a President Bush and Republican Congress, as a dark age when they suffered a catastrophic loss of access to birth control and were shunted from the workplace? If the GOP really wanted to throw seniors into the streets, denying them Medicare and Social Security, and end assistance for needy women and children, why did none of this come to pass when they had power before?

Hopefully America finally saw these scare tactics for what they arepolitics at its worstand want a more sober conversation about the challenges that are facing this country. Politicians may soon find that it is better and more effective to acknowledge the rationale behind their opponents positions, while explaining why they believe their path will prove more effective. Just as Republicans can turn off voters by characterizing liberal plans as nothing more than vote-buying devices designed to expand the ranks of those dependent on government, Democrats should recognize that it isnt enough to call those who oppose expanding government regulations or benefit programs anti-woman. Rather, they should acknowledge our concerns about how government intrusions are eroding economic opportunities and discouraging job creation, and then present their counter-arguments to the best of their ability.

Id presume that such a fact-based discussion of the real tradeoffs that come with different policy approaches would favor conservatives. But surely liberals who believe in the efficacy of their arguments ought to feel similarly confident in their ability to win a fair fight. Yet more importantly, certainly America would benefit if we paid more attention to the actual tradeoffs between different policy options, rather than having to hear politicians smearing the other side. Lets hope that a more substantive discussion of public policyand particularly how policies impact womenstarts today.

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Let's Start A New Season Of Treating Women Like Grown-Ups