Bill Maher

Bill Maher was hitting on all cylinders -- some of it a little too raunchy for this blog, but incredibly funny in his wry, derisive humor.

His main theme was the media's (and hence the public's) obsession with sex, particularly the sexual indiscretions of politicians.   Here's a sample:

"Newt Gingrich, over his long career, has committed every sin in Dante's Inferno except grave robbing;  and that's just because shoveling is work.  But why is he ineligible for high office?  Adultery.

"Or take Herman Cain. . . .  Every time he opened his mouth something frighteningly stupid, factually inaccurate, or mathematically impossible would fall out.   And the media just stood around saying, "Hey !!  Wow !!  He's the front-runner"; but, as soon as a woman came forward with some dirt,  say "hello" to Woodward and Bernstein.

"Or take the John Edwards' trial -- please. . . .  Stories like that bring out the 'people have a right to know' fervor in our intrepid reporters. . [Then followed a very funny sexual joke that I will not repeat here] . . .  John Edwards' favorability rating is 3%.   The worst ever recorded.   Is he really the worst person in the world, ever?  The crime he is accused of is a campaign finance violation.   

"But back to the Supreme Court.   Last week Mitt Romney's SuperPac was able to get an anonymous $10 million donation.  For all we know, it came from Vladimir Putin or Mel Gibson . . . .   The Supreme Court did a lot more to corrupt campaign finance than John Edwards.

"Why do we punish sex so much more than everything else?  Clinton lied about a blow job and got impeached.   Bush lied about a war and didn't.   I can't help but think that, if an alien landed in American tomorrow . . . he would say:  'Is there no end to your childish fixation with pee-pees and wee-wees?'   Even Rick Santorum was fascinating to us because of sex -- albeit in reverse:  That someone could be that sexually repressed.    I never worried that Rick would have an affair.  I worried that he would dress up as his mother and kill women in a motel."

OK, so Maher ignores some things.   There are plenty of other reasons Newt is unelectable -- like a cosmic ego that can't be bothered with the real world.   And there are plenty of other reasons why John Edwards is in such low regard -- like the massive betrayal of trust to his family and to the American people.  Just suppose he had gotten the nomination and his affair had remained under wraps until two weeks before the election.  We would be in the third year of a McCain-Palin administration in the White House -- if we survived that long.  I might be living in Canada or New Zealand.

But let's put that aside for now and enjoy Bill Maher's humor.  I certainly do.

Ralph