Doug Elfman

Oil spill, politics upset Maher

Bill Maher would "bet the house" Mitt Romney will win the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.

More surprising, Maher -- one of liberal Americans' beacons -- thinks Romney has a "50-50" shot at beating President Barack Obama.

Maher thinks Romney is a dumb "bimbo." So why him?

"They've got nobody else. He looks like a president. He ran last time, and Republicans are big on giving the nomination to the guy who has stood in line. They gave it to (Bob) Dole. They gave it to (John) McCain.

"And who's going to beat him? I don't think (Mike) Huckabee. I don't think Sarah Palin. Even Republicans know she's a joke," says Maher, who performs Friday and Saturday at The Orleans.

Obama seems beatable now because:

"The country is very unhappy, and people are very dumb, and Obama has been a disappointment in a number of different ways," Maher, HBO's "Real Time" host, tells me.

Maher credits Obama for signing three laws: health care reform, financial reform and economic stimulus.

"He did stave off a depression this country was heading straight towards. Those are three pretty big accomplishments," Maher says.

"If he could get some kind of climate bill passed, and move us in that direction, I would have to say it's a pretty successful first term."

On the other hand, Obama (as Arianna Huffington puts her finger on it) trusts everyone from banks to BP to do the right thing. He seems to have zero skepticism of authority figures.

Plus, various Obama policies mirror Republican policies.

"It amazes me the press is always obsessed with this idea of: 'There's too much partisanship, and we're too polarized.' Too polarized? Quite the opposite! We're too alike.

"If both parties are for oil drilling, if both parties are for using the army to fight terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq, then we're not polarized. We have one party."

This oil spill has depressed Maher "more than any story I've ever covered," he says.

"It's not only the destruction of nature, but also the futility -- this constant reminder that we can't solve problems -- I just find so depressing.

"I don't see this giant tragedy changing peoples' minds enough. People are still for drilling," he says.

One of those people, Sen. David Vitter, R-La., keeps saying it could be devastating if we stop drilling, even though the oil spill is, actually, already devastating.

"Only a Republican can look at a dead ocean and say, 'Boy, I hope the government doesn't turn this into something bad,' " Maher says.

Yet, it's not like Democrats in office are coalescing behind a replacement energy plan. No major politician in either party will say: Maybe it's time to focus heavily on other resources and phase out oil-drilling jobs.

"If your job is in some industry that's killing things -- maybe you're in the wrong line of work! Maybe we shouldn't have those jobs," Maher says.

"They'll never say that because oil is macho and windmills are 'gay.' Better to die in a manly fashion than to live by getting your power from wind," Maher mocks.

Maher wishes Obama would clean his environmental house and fire Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and EPA chief Lisa Jackson, for starters.

But he's not hopeful.

"Since BP turned the Gulf of Mexico into the pit at Jiffy Lube, I'm a little cranky."

Doug Elfman's column appears on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Contact him at 383-0391 or e-mail him at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He also blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.

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Comments

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1. kapechi Jul. 13, 2010 | 9:50 p.m. Report Abuse

   If Maher is a "beacon" to anyone, as Mr. T would say "I pity the fool". Any moth drawn to Maher's flame has a very low self esteem and is not very intellectual. Why? Because Maher has been passing his in your face trash talk as "intellectual", so people drawn to him are lesser so. Apparently the only reason Elfman wrote anything about him is he's about to fleece the suckers at the Orleans out of their money. Better you should buy Citibank 2012 Options with your money. You'll make a ton of cash and you won't have to look at Maher's mug for 90 minutes while listening to his drivel.

2. JonH Jul. 13, 2010 | 9:14 p.m. Report Abuse

   Bill Maher loves that he is an "INTELLECTUAL". I went to wikipedia to find out more about this really smart man.
   
   One of the things Bill does on his show is complain about the lack of intellectual curiosity of the electorate among many topics. Perhaps he knows that Romney is also an intellectual but doesn't like the label, like his father George Romney who never wanted to loose the "common touch" with regular people.
   
   So, it IS a curious thing that Bill would call Mitt Romney a dumb bimbo. Of course that would depend upon what your definition of IS is.
   
   A dumb bimbo like Romney is someone who founded a multi-billion dollar company and while at it's helm bimbo'd out 113% average ROI for 14 years straight. Anyone wish they'd invested with a dumb guy like that? Jim Cramer calls Romney the smartest businessman in N. America. Romney's approach to Venture Capitalist industry was revolutionary. Few have been able to fully copy him because they couldn't fully comprehend what how he did what he did. What else did he do? There are three top consulting groups in the world that tower over all others. The absolute brightest men and women work at theses firms. Romney was brought back to one of these as CEO to fix it's unfixable problems. It was thought he would need 2.5 to 3 years to to the repairs. He did it in 9 months and left. The guy is a legend. He studied at Harvard with a dual degree program--MBA/Law degree and graduated a year earlier than normal. Both his work positions and while at Harvard was described as having childlike curiosity and unlimited intellect by fellow students and work colleagues. In both realms Romney was considered honest and highly ethical to a fault.
   
   Maher only thinks dumb people are those that disagree with him.

3. kapechi Jul. 13, 2010 | 7:16 p.m. Report Abuse

   Who is Maher and WHY does anyone pay him any mind at all? He's a left wing nut with a big mouth and nothing really important to say.

4. Independent Jul. 13, 2010 | 12:21 p.m. Report Abuse

   The thing about Maher is that he thinks that the only explanation for people disagreeing with him is that they are stupid. This is a really immature and counterproductive way of thinking. Not everybody agrees on what the problems are in the first place, and not everybody agrees on the solutions. Calling those who don't see things the way you do stupid does't solve anything. Instead, we should focus on what we DO agree on and work out a compromise. We all agree that the oil spill is a problem. I can see why Maher would support a ban on all offshore drilling, but others would say that a ban would not fix the current oil spill and would only put more people out of work. That doesn't mean they are stupid, they just have a different point of view and different priorities than Bill Maher. I can see why Maher supports alternative forms of energy, but why can he not see that people have legitimate concerns about its viability and that they are hesitant to spend money on it? It doesn't mean they're stupid, they just disagree. You can't complain about the divisiveness of Glenn Beck and then give Bill Maher a pass or vice versa. Tell me please, how is voting for Mitt Romney because he's next in line any more dumb than voting for Obama because he says hope and change a lot?

5. Dirty Harry Jul. 13, 2010 | 1:20 a.m. Report Abuse

   Bill Maher says "the country is very unhappy, and people are very dumb". That's probably the only statement this clown has ever said that I agree with. Of course people are unhappy and dumb, look who they voted for as our president. An incompetent, arrogant Chicago politician who will go down as our worst president of all time. Of course, Bill Mayer has already gone down as our worst comedian of all time. Bill --- you are a REEE TARD.

6. Greg Jul. 13, 2010 | 12:42 a.m. Report Abuse

   Bill Maher vs Dennis Miller for UFC 110.

7. Mizzougypsy Jul. 12, 2010 | 9:11 p.m. Report Abuse

   I would love to hear Bill Mahar's thoughts on Sherm Fredrick's POS blog.

8. Mizzougypsy Jul. 12, 2010 | 9:10 p.m. Report Abuse

   Conservatives can pitch but they can't catch.
   
   I don't know...I get the feeling Mark Foley and Larry Craig can catch as good as they pitch.

9. Jones Jul. 12, 2010 | 6:14 p.m. Report Abuse

   Condescending?
   
   Only the nay-sayers of progress and honest debate.. those who only watch Fox...those who would prefer to hear Sarah Palin talk about "Mama Grizzlies" and other pap (while fantasizing about somethin' else with her), ...those who just think it's essential to hate France..
   
   now, those folks probably should (but likely still won't) feel any sense of the term!
   
   Not to worry, though. That's too much book-readin' to bother with... and heck, "'Wheel" is on the tube at 7, anyways!
   
   Condescending?... please!

10. ushouldthink Jul. 12, 2010 | 6:11 p.m. Report Abuse

    I find it amusing that the argument from the right on this thread is that Maher he thinks people are stupid; and that is the only argument. Oh, and one person who calls him a "left wing loon bashing American values." Is that all you've got? I am pretty sure he doesn't think ALL people are stupid, just the ones who think that health care reform, financial reform, economic stimulus, and the climate should not be looked into by our government. People on both sides. Maybe you should learn to quit nit-picking and look into the truth as to what he is saying and not just focus on a statement that makes you uneasy and go to town on it.

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