2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumBill Maher: Republicans have one path to victory, False Equivalency
Bill Maher hit the nail on the head when he pointed out that Trumps only path to victory is Americans accepting a false equivalence between candidates.
When the talks turn to the election I hear some version of Theyre both bad. or They deserve each other. or There is an election? Bill Maher said. Republicans have one path to victory in this election and it is called false equivalency. They cant deny Trump is horrible. Its on tape. So they want voters to believe Hillary is just as bad. And in pursuit of that goal they have a very powerful ally, lazy people. People who like to say, They are all bad. Because when you say that you dont have to do any homework. Say they are all the same, and you can sound justifiably jaded by the entire process when really you just dont know anything. You say you are cynical about politics? Dont flatter yourself. Cynical comes when you know too much. You, on the other hand, havent bothered to learn anything. Which Americans by the way, are capable of.
Maher went on to quote Noam Chomsky who observed that the level of discourse and sophistication on call-in sports shows illustrate that people do have a level of sophistication and knowledge. Unfortunately, that knowledge is not applied to international affairs or domestic politics. It is at the level of superficiality beyond belief according to Chomsky.
In other words, Maher said. We are not clueless. We just apply our brain power to bullsh$t.
Maher points out a real irony. People will scour Yelp to find the best taco for hours. He said people would use six different websites to find the best airline tickets. But sadly, they do not spend the time necessary to select the leader of the world.
Watch the video here.
http://egbertowillies.com/2016/10/29/bill-maher-false-equivalency/
lillypaddle
(9,580 posts)Behind the Aegis
(53,823 posts)While our side also engages in this on occasion, it doesn't even compare to what comes from the right. Sure, there are democrats who don't know much about politics, but watching the news, reading social media, and engaging in person with republicans simply demonstrates they are republicans because they think that is what they are supposed to be for what ever reason. Even people who are extremely educated, those on the right seem to be allergic to facts, but as you slide down the educational ladder, it gets even worse! I have been seeing Facebook memes from right-leaning relatives and friends which aren't even remotely close to things which can actually occur in our political process.
It is sad people are more concerned with who is dating/fucking who, what sports teams is heading for whatever playoff, and other "sideline" information, but when it comes to things like who or how the government is going to be run, they get all kinds of stupid!