Politically Incorrect
Reported by Eleanor - August 3, 2004 -
Bill Maher on Hardball with Chris Matthews (Aug. 3, 7:50 p.m.) had an interesting take on a number of topics - the NYC terror alert, Teresa Kerry and Ralph Nader.
On the War on Terror, Matthews asked Maher if he worked in a "targeted" building in NYC, would he not have serious concern about getting into the elevator with his coffee and muffin? Maher replied that he would have more fear of the coffee and muffin, because they would be more likely to kill him than the terrorists.
On Teresa Kerry, Matthews showed Teresa's "Four years of hell" and "Three more months" video. Again, Maher's refreshing style came through with, "I love anybody who's politically incorrect. Can't we have one person who speaks her mind?" Matthews replied, "The truth sounds strange. We want Stepford politicians."
After Matthews showed a film clip of Maher and Michael Moore on their knees begging Ralph Nader to change his mind and drop out of the election, Matthews asked Maher if the begging worked. Maher replied that Nader would drop out if someone like David Duke were running instead of Bush. Bush is not "bad enough" to make Nader drop out; in Nader's world the democrats and the republicans are the same; he can't grasp the concept of the lesser of two evils; and Nader thinks Gore took his vote in 2000, rather than the other way around.
Comment: At times like these, I believe we need the combination of outrageousness, comedy and truth that people like Maher provide. Maher who defines political correctness as the "elevation of sensitivity over truth" -- allegedly "went too far" when he remarked after 9/11 that "we have been the cowards lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That's cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, it's not cowardly. You're right." He was agreeing with someone else who said those guys "slammed themselves into pieces of concrete, and none of 'em backed out." It was an observation, not a justification. Maher apologized for the comment and said "my criticism was meant for politicians."
That was just a little too politically incorrect after the 9/11 tragedy. "Taken in context, Maher's points were clear. Unfortunately, out-of-context misinterpretations of them spread like wildfire -- ones which erroneously implied that Maher was praising the terrorists and denigrating the U.S. military. Some of these were spread innocently by people who'd heard the remarks second or third hand. Some appeared to have been spread deliberately. But the end result was the same -- huge numbers of people believed that Maher said something he didn't." Read the Maher story here if interested. What Happened: The Very Quick Version. Anyway, his show "Politically Incorrect" was cancelled by ABC, and he now has a show on HBO with a much smaller audience.
I find this dated story interesting because it shines a spotlight on what can happen when a climate of fear drives people's perceptions of events, as they filter what people say through a prism of preconceived ideas tainted by fear. That's what we find in today's poisonous political environment. With instant communication through the national media, we have a global village voice, that we misuse for partisan political mud slinging, a version of a 19th century town of tongue waggers, multiplied by millions of viewers threatened every day with perpetual war with shadowy, hidden enemies.
It's really hard to get the story straight when all the tongues are wagging at the same time, repeating similar versions of similar ideas, as if following a script that says stay the course, things are getting better, and big brother will keep you safe, while personally attacking dissenting voices. This kind of national dialogue, on close examination, doesn't make much sense. Thanks again, Al Gore, for the Internet, where alternative voices can be heard.
