Bill Maher, pictured above, has written a heartfelt plea to the American people. As you might expect, Maher's plea is full of humor, but he is absolutely serious in what he is saying. His full-page statement, appearing in The Wall Street Journal in its May 18-19, 2024 issue, tells us that "Red and Blue America Can't Just Go Their Separate Ways."
Maher's statement was accompanied by the following image:
You will note, I am sure, that each of the partisans pictured (Red for the Republicans, Blue for the Democrats) are brimming with disdain and disfavor, one for the other. They just don't like each other - and it might even be worse than that. "Dislike" may be far too mild a word. As Maher says, "we don't even notice how often someone online is wishing someone dead."
Maher is not kidding. Extreme hatred, based on our political differences, is becomeing "normalized."
In the illustration I have imported from Maher's piece in The Journal, you will note that no matter how virulent is the mutual dislike depicted, it really isn't possible for those two partisans simply to disengage. Those doggies at their feet are all tangled up.
This is Maher's point. Whether we like it or not, we are "entangled." As I often put it, we are "in this together." ALL of us are "in this together."
Where "democracy" and "self-government" are at issue, political differences are a "feature," not a "bug." I have pointed this out before. "Adversarial collaboration" works!
It is nice to have Bill Maher* remind us of this fact.
Image Credits:
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*For a very nice tribute to Bill Maher (paywalls permitting, of course) consult what Maureen Dowd had to say about Maher in a New York Times opinion column, published on May 19, 2024. It's called, "The Truth Hurts - Especially When Bill Maher Dishes It Out."
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