Monday, June 15, 2009

You Be a Man!

Full disclosure...

I love Bill Maher. I do. Don't ask me why. I think it has to do with his mix of reverent irreverence, his totally transparent shadiness, his brilliance, and yes, I love a man who has a thing for Black girls. Sue me on that last one.

His show this week took President Obama to task, for real. Maher accused the President of not having the stones, the chutzpah if you will, to do what needs to be done for the country, i.e. civil rights for Gay Americans, legalizing marijuana, telling the banks that they can't have anymore money and ending the war. These are all things that Bill Maher thinks should be done and done pronto. He even said, much to his own chagrin, that he wishes that Obama would be more like Bush. A good old cowboy who would run roughshod over congress and the Constitution, because Jesus told him it was his will.

You know, I have to agree with dear old Bill. I do wish Obama would just do what "we", meaning all us lefties, would like him to do. And in the process, give a nice big fat middle finger to all the people who would seek to stand in the way. That would be a nice moment. No wars, people getting high in the street, my gay friends having all the civil rights that I enjoy.

However, it occurs to me that for Obama to be like Bush, it would require his supporters to be more like the people who supported Bush. And that is the crux of the issue. President Obama asked us to hold him accountable, at all times and all ways. President Bush was never required to be accountable, because his supporters knew that if all else failed, he would stop gay marriage, fight to end abortion, and cut taxes. That is all they required of him. He held up his end of the bargain and in return, received their unflagging loyalty. So are we prepared to offer up our list of demands in return for our blind loyalty? Is that what we want of our President?

I can guarantee you that civil rights for Gay Americans threatens to be an issue that could effectively end his presidency. And I support civil rights for Gay Americans. But in order for President Obama to do what is right, he can't stand alone. He needs us, those who support civil rights for Gay Americans ,to be his attack dogs, tirelessly supporting him through the certain shit storm of controversy. Are we vicious enough for that? Can we beat the Glenn Becks and Rush Limbaughs of the world at their own game? Perhaps, we have to get a new game, but we had better come up with the rules for our game fast. You know Bill, like your segment "New Rules"? If we want President Obama to show and prove, we gotta go first. Cause the last thing anyone wants is for President Obama to stand alone, and in four years have to hand over the White House to Sarah Palin. Think it can't happen? Let's really not wait to find out.

4 comments:

  1. Visible Woman,

    I think Bill Maher is an intelligent, gifted individual as well... and I believe he functions exceptionally well in bringing hypocrisy to light. However, he is far from being a poster child for how I want to conduct myself in life (and definitely not my children). I am a registered democrat, and proud to be one, but I don't think I would necessarily consider myself to be a "lefty." What's wrong with moderation? Does not thinking marijuana should be legal make me a bad democrat? Does thinking that marriage is a privilege (and I use that term loosely as a married mother of 19 years) specifically reserved for a man and a woman make me a homophobe? Because I have gay friends too, and I love them, but I do think that marriage is the basic building block for a family, and that families thrive best with a mother and a father. Now that may not be the trendy thing to say, and I know the majority of the blogs I visit feel the same as you, but I must confess that I do not believe the antidote to extreme conservatism, is extreme "leftism." Can't we do like India Arie suggests and "Come back to the middle?" Cause that's what I think our President is trying to do, and God bless him for it. Food for thought...

    Moderate Mahogany

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  2. Thanks for that Moderate Mahogany!

    You are right, very few moms would raise up Bill as a paragon of virtue.

    Of course, you are also right about the debate to legalize marijuana. It doesn't make you a bad democrat (or anything else) to want to see marijuana remain illegal. I do think that we need to start rethinking our sentencing protocols for people who are convicted of selling or using marijuana.

    The only place where we differ is that I still have yet to see where marriage is a privilege. Driving is a privilege, because we have to pass certain tests and maintain certain rules. But the institution of marriage doesn't have any rules or regulations that can keep you from getting married. For instance, if a polygamist is found guilty in a court of law and all his marriages are legally dissolved, he can turn around and get married again, the very next day. A woman who gets married, cheats, whose husband leaves her, can get married again, anytime she wants. You see where I am going with this and I don't expect you to agree with me, it is just one of the main reasons that I think that it is a right, a civil right, and therefore should be available to everyone.

    But thanks for the food for thought! And quoting my girl India is ALWAYS correct! We should all come back to the middle.

    LASTLY, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR POSTING ON MY BLOG! IT MEANS THE WORLD TO ME!

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  3. To compare Bush to Obama and not take into account the fact that he is the first Black president as it relates to his ability to run his policies thru I think does a disservice to Obama and his presidency. Bush had 42 other white presidents to stand behind with no fear to push his agenda thru:-)

    Also Bush pushed a lot of his agenda illegally and behind the scenes. Obama seems to believe in transparency and making grand announcements about what he is doing, which then subjects him to a lot of scrutiny and in some cases unfortunately paralyzes him from moving forward. In the words of the 1st Bush, it appears as if Obama is trying to instill a “kinder, and gentler Nation.

    Have the “audacity of hope” that if Obama gets the next 4 yrs, and the Senate retains 60 votes or more, that Obama will work hard for his lefties:-)

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  4. Hello, dear. You have a LOT of good and thought-provoking stuff here. Keep it up! :D

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