Saturday Bonus: Mr. Maher Goes to Washingon

And Says Something Many Need To Hear

OK. I was wrong on Friday. During my weekly summary email on Friday, I said this:

I’ve defended Bill Maher from a lot of criticism, much of which is unwarranted (most criticisms I see are liberals all upset that Bill isn’t as liberal as they are). And I get that being invited to the White House is not something many will decline, and we do only have one President and our current Buffoon in Chief is it. But really Bill? The guy sued you for millions over a joke? Have you no dignity? Couldn’t you have just said “Fuck off Don?”

On Friday night’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” he recapped his meeting with President Trump, including mentioning a part where Trump brought up the Ape Lawsuit.¹ And you know what? I was wrong. Maher demonstrated by going to the White House something I’ve been an advocate of since the very first days I started to PurpleAmerica; conversing, engaging and having a cordial time with people of whom you disagree.

Watch the video at the top of the page, please. It demonstrates a lot of what I’ve been saying all this time. By talking with others, you don’t have to abandon your own principles nor be a complete dick about them either. Trump isn’t going to change and neither is Maher. Nonethless, they can still get along and the world will be better for it.

Now, one thing I’ve always known based on people who have met Trump, is that he can be quite gracious, charming and self-affacing sometimes. Something else that comes out is that Maher described the weird mutlipersonality differences between Trump the Chaotic President and Trump the personable man behind closed doors, and wondered why he couldn’t be the nicer guy as President. Fair question. I do know that to get to that level in society, you don’t get there by being an a**hole every day of your life to everyone. You have to demonstrate some cordiality, respect and etiquette, and charm doesn’t hurt. Trump apparently has it, but chooses not to show it. When I worked in DC, every Congressman I met, even those I completely disagreed with had it too; some of the people I was diametrically opposed to were also some of the kindest, funniest people I met out there. Trump demonstrates that.

But seriously, much of what Maher described was the PurpleAmerican Ethos I’ve been promoting from Day 1. If you want to know what PurpleAmerica is about, watch the video. And as if to put a cherry on top, he interviewed Steve Bannon immediately afterwards. I hate Steve Bannon and think he’s everything broken about politics right now. Maher didn’t let him off the hook, cracked wise about Bannon’s prison stint, argued against Bannon’s position on Trump running for President again, and Bannon was up for it and cracking wise with him.

We need more of that in our politics and the world today.

PurpleAmerica’s Final Word on the Subject

“We share a belief that there’s got to be something better than hurling insults from 3,000 miles away.”

—Maher at the beginning of the video describing his White House event.

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Footnotes and Fun Stuff

1. For those that didn’t follow this, back in 2012-13 when Trump was knee deep in birtherism bullshit, and saying Obama needed to prove he wasn’t born somewhere else, Maher took the same logic and said Donald has to prove his father was not an orangutan. The allegation got Maher slapped with a $5 million defamation suit that was dismissed and withdrawn out of hand.