...and kudos to French President Emmanuel Macron for giving it back to the “Gropenfuhrer” on the climate issue (I can recall when we used to have leadership like this - sigh)...
'Make the planet great again' — Emmanuel Macron just went AT Donald Trump for leaving the Paris climate accord š š pic.twitter.com/f4tHMjz7lq
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) June 2, 2017
...and with that in mind, I should note that this is also Pride Month - our previous president who was actually an adult had this to say about it...
Last year, Obama celebrated Pride Month and gave this beautiful speech. This year, Trump ignored it pic.twitter.com/Ynu7qgVqbr
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) June 2, 2017
…and I hope you’re in the mood for an encore tune featuring Gregg Allman, because here it comes.
Yes, he said the “N” word on TV. No, he very definitely should not have done that.
And yes, I get that using that word is highly offensive. No, I’m not going to pretend that that hits me where I live, because, as a white male, it clearly doesn’t (this is noteworthy though, I'll admit).
Has Maher said things that have royally pissed me off? Uh, yep. Has he also said plenty of things that I applaud? Same answer.
Here’s where I come down on this, though – if the overwhelming force of public opinion somehow says that Maher should be off the air, then he should be off the air (How exactly would that be measured? Number of tweets? Number of signees to a likely petition to boycott HBO if he remains? I have no idea). However, if the dustup eventually blows over, then he should remain.
But know this – Maher will win out on this either way. If he stays, he will continue to stick his metaphorical finger in the metaphorical liberal eye and crow “Oh, I give it out equally to both sides,” which may actually be true. However, if he goes, you can bet a book will come out of this and he’ll make the rounds on “Fox and Friends,” etc., spouting more nonsense about how political correctness is the reasons why Democrats lose elections, and so on.
Speaking for myself, I’ve authored somewhere over 8,000 posts (please hold the applause – heh) and I honestly don’t believe I’ve ever used that word in the context Maher used it. If I did, I genuinely apologize – I haven’t been able to find such an instance. And context matters – there’s no mistaking what Maher was talking about. However, if I were to quote the line from the song “Oliver’s Army” by Elvis Costello that goes “one more widow, one less white n*gger,” I would be alluding to young boys in battle dress in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1978, as Costello was (e.g., poor whites who Costello saw as cannon fodder for more imperial war). There may have been an economic meaning to that line, but not a racial one.
Another point that I think has been lost a bit in this dustup is the fact that Maher, trying to burnish some “glibertarian” bona fides or something, gave an audience to Repug U.S. Senator Ben Sasse to help Sasse promote his book (which – big surprise – is another conservative screed telling younger Americans they need to appreciate the value of work, or something). That to me is pretty repellent also; I guess Sasse is looked upon as some sort of Rand Paul knockoff because they make noises to indicate they think for themselves, even though, when you look at votes and actual policy they support, they’re nothing but the same old movement conservative Republicans who are grinding this country into the dust (full disclosure: I haven’t seen the full segment yet because I can’t find it on YouTube and I’ll make a note to watch the whole thing when it comes on demand).
The generation that came before me handed us the keys to the kingdom. As far as the generation after us is concerned, we’re handing them a bag of shit. And writing a book to make it sound like that’s somehow THEIR fault is, as far as I’m concerned, compounding the insult.
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