Bill Maher used his New Rules segment to blow apart the Republican myth that President Obama doesn’t love his country in the right way.
Video:
Maher said:
Some conservative somewhere has to explain to me why they think Barack Obama doesn’t love America. Because every time I hear him talk about America my reaction is, get a room. He says things like, “In no other country on Earth is my story even possible,” and, “America remains the one indispensable nation.” And yet, 69% of Republicans say he doesn’t love our country, and only 11% say he loves it the right way. But what is the right way? How much should we love our country, and how often? What if we want to love it, but it’s tired and had a long day? And most importantly, should we love it from behind, or is that demeaning?
Now for the last couple of weeks as the oceans died, the debt balloons, and we skid back into Iraq, Republicans have been obsessed with a much bigger issue. Does the president wouve it? It started with America’s mayor Rudy Giuliani who implied that if you criticize America in any way it means you don’t love her, but that’s not how grown ups think about a country. It’s the way thirteen year old girls think about One Direction. Obama loves America. It just doesn’t make him do this, (Picture of a crying John Boehner) because he’s an adult and he knows the difference between his country and his mommy.
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There I go loving my country the wrong way with my head instead of my heart, which is how conservatives do it. They love America like those parents who think their kid can never do wrong. When a note comes home from school reporting bad behavior, they go in and yell at the teacher.
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When it comes to America, conservatives, they’re a little like blackout drinkers. They remember all the good stuff about the night before, the laughs, the winning at beer pong but no recollection of the bad. The p*ssing in the lobby fountain, the groping of co-workers, wiping out the Indians, which is shame because you can’t turn the page on America’s bad stuff if you won’t print the page to begin with.
Bill Maher indirectly got to the heart of why Republicans claim that President Obama doesn’t love America. Obama not only acknowledges the wrongs in our country. This president tries to right them. On issues as diverse as gay marriage, immigration, equal pay, voting rights, and racism, President Obama has made a difference.
Conservatives by ideology fear and oppose progress. By not admitting a wrong, Republicans never have to improve the country. In their view, America is always perfect because this ideological blind spot feeds into their agenda of government inaction.
Barack Obama loves America so much that he has spent his presidency under constant criticism for trying to make the country a better place for more Americans. When viewed from this perspective it is clear that the question isn’t who loves America, but who is willing do right by all Americans?
In the case of Republicans, blind love is more dangerous than no love at all.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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