It's always the comedians who speak the truth most plainly

Bill Maher is profane -- but he is also very funny, and he does speak truth, even if he uses a bit of hyperbole to make his point.   His latest blog essay is so good, I'm going to quote a lot of it here.    He's writing about Republicans and their magical thinking as solutions to all problems.

Republicans would like to pretend [that] Congressman Akin's substitution of superstition for science is a lone problem but it's not: they're all magical thinkers, on nearly every issue. They don't get their answers on climate change from climatologists, they get them from the Book of Genesis. Hence . . . global warming is a hoax.

Or take the issue that consumes the right these days, our sea of red ink: Republicans are united in their fervent desire to reduce the deficit, but they want to do it in some magical fashion that doesn't involve raising taxes . . .  That's like deciding to pay off your student loans by daydreaming.

Or as it's known on Capitol Hill, supply-side economics. . . .  The thing is, we tried it, and it doesn't work. Yet, Paul Ryan, who every shit-for-brains pundit in America keeps telling us is a "serious" guy, still believes in the supply-side theory. All the Republicans do. They all believe in something that both science and history have shown to be pure fantasy. The symbol for their party shouldn't be an elephant -- it should be a unicorn. . . .

It reminds me of health care. Republicans are for all the popular things, like covering people with pre-existing conditions, but they're not for the part where you pay for it, like the mandate. Just like they were for our recent wars, but not for paying for them. For the prescription drug bill, but not for paying for it. 

How do they get away with it? They know that, because we're already such a religious country, our minds are primed for magical, fantasy thinking. The gullibility comes factory-installed. They've learned that you appeal not to an American's head, but to his gut -- it's a much bigger target. . . .  The grown-up answer is: identify problems scientifically, prioritize and solve. The Republican answer is: there isn't a problem. And anyone who tells you different is a liar who hates America. . . .

Health care? Not a problem if you just keep repeating, "We have the greatest health care in the world." Even though the U.N. ranks it 37th. . . .  Republicans also believe that putting the word "clean" next to the word "coal" creates something called clean coal. . . .

Republicans also believe if they kick all the Mexicans out of the country, the strawberries will pick themselves, and that if they cut the safety net all the poor blacks are "resting" in, they will fall gently to the ground, stand up, dust themselves off, and get good-paying jobs as Olympic gymnasts.

Strong stuff.   But is he wrong?   I mean after you translate if out of the expressive hyperbole?   I say, no, he's right on target for what passes for "Republican" today, as the more reasonable and moderate Republicans cower in fear of four more Obama years. 

Let's show 'em they might as well have stood up and fought for their party's control, because they gonna lose anyway -- unless billions of dollars worth of tv ads and blocking the Democratic-inclined voters works.

If that happens, we're doomed for the next two decades.   This may turn out to be an even more historic election than 2008.

Ralph