Bill Maher Woofs On
It's difficult to know what to say about Bushophobia anymore that hasn't already been said ad nauseum. Heck, that's been the case for years, really.
But it does still get one's attention when the DisLoyal Opposition goes after the First Lady:
Let's tabulate Maher's offenses. First he called Laura Bush a "dog" - a German shepherd, actually, since that was the breed of the dog that belonged to Adolph Hitler. Then he clearly suggested that Laura Bush is a battered wife. He may just as well have said that Mrs. Bush is a bitch who's had a leg ripped off and is tied up on the White House south lawn 24/7 and reduced to begging for food scraps from passers-by on the other side of the big, iron fence. You know, like Cindy Sheehan, who wouldn't shit on either Bush if their lives depended on it.
But, of course, Maher's real target was the President, who gets cast as an inhuman (or subhuman) Nazi wife-beater.
There is one thing Mr. Hitchens was wrong about - Maher will never be sorry for what he said about the First Couple. And that's a pity, because he ought to be made sorry for even being born. Indeed, if Maher had said the equivalent of Rachel Jackson, wife of President Andrew Jackson, back in, say, 1833, I suspect Maher wouldn't be drawing breath right now. Insulting the honor of a man's wife in those days oftentimes led to duels, and not the kind that take place on cable TV shoutfests, either. And, in fact, before he became POTUS, Jackson did kill a man in a duel for insulting his wife.
These days aren't those days, quite obviously. But it seems to me that civility in public discourse would be a lot more common if there was some penalty to be extracted from people who so casually and viciously disregard it. If Bill Maher wants to defame George W. Bush, that's one thing; it comes with the territory of being president. But unless she makes a point of injecting herself into politics separate and distinct from her husband (as Hillary Clinton did), leave Mrs. Bush - and their daughters and parents (one of Maher's guests recently referred to Barbara Bush as a "silver douchebag") out of it.
"Turning the other cheek" does not include power of attorney to allow the abuse of one's loved ones. What that merits is the "Mary Landrieu treatment."
But it does still get one's attention when the DisLoyal Opposition goes after the First Lady:
HBO Real Time host Bill Maher compared first lady Laura Bush to "Hitler's dog" during his Friday night cablecast, after flashing a parody photo of Mrs. Bush with a black eye, as if she'd been a victim of domestic abuse.
After the photo display, Maher was challenged by guest panelist Christopher Hitchens, who told him: "It must be to [George Bush's] credit he got Laura Bush to marry him. She's an absolutely extraordinary woman."
To that, Maher replied: "Oh, come on. That's like Hitler's dog loved him. That is the silliest reason ..."
"I think tomorrow you might be sorry you said that. Laura Bush is very gentle and talented," Hitchens warned.
With that Maher retreated a bit, insisting: "That's not what I'm saying, of course she is. But the idea that we somehow humanize any person because somebody else loves them is ridiculous."
Let's tabulate Maher's offenses. First he called Laura Bush a "dog" - a German shepherd, actually, since that was the breed of the dog that belonged to Adolph Hitler. Then he clearly suggested that Laura Bush is a battered wife. He may just as well have said that Mrs. Bush is a bitch who's had a leg ripped off and is tied up on the White House south lawn 24/7 and reduced to begging for food scraps from passers-by on the other side of the big, iron fence. You know, like Cindy Sheehan, who wouldn't shit on either Bush if their lives depended on it.
But, of course, Maher's real target was the President, who gets cast as an inhuman (or subhuman) Nazi wife-beater.
There is one thing Mr. Hitchens was wrong about - Maher will never be sorry for what he said about the First Couple. And that's a pity, because he ought to be made sorry for even being born. Indeed, if Maher had said the equivalent of Rachel Jackson, wife of President Andrew Jackson, back in, say, 1833, I suspect Maher wouldn't be drawing breath right now. Insulting the honor of a man's wife in those days oftentimes led to duels, and not the kind that take place on cable TV shoutfests, either. And, in fact, before he became POTUS, Jackson did kill a man in a duel for insulting his wife.
These days aren't those days, quite obviously. But it seems to me that civility in public discourse would be a lot more common if there was some penalty to be extracted from people who so casually and viciously disregard it. If Bill Maher wants to defame George W. Bush, that's one thing; it comes with the territory of being president. But unless she makes a point of injecting herself into politics separate and distinct from her husband (as Hillary Clinton did), leave Mrs. Bush - and their daughters and parents (one of Maher's guests recently referred to Barbara Bush as a "silver douchebag") out of it.
"Turning the other cheek" does not include power of attorney to allow the abuse of one's loved ones. What that merits is the "Mary Landrieu treatment."
posted by JASmius at 8:31 AM
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