This might not be the first endorsement 2012 Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul wants, but it’s an interesting one coming from a mouthpiece of the left.
On CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” on Tuesday, HBO “Real Time” host Bill Maher appeared and gave his analysis of the 2012 Republican presidential field the night after a debate in New Hampshire showcased on CNN. According to Maher, there was not a whole lot to applaud that appeared on the stage.
“No, of course it got even worse,” Maher said. “It’s tough sledding there, as a progressive, as a sane person just to watch that, to see that Republicanism has — it’s really become a religion. And when I say religion, I mean they just have a series of baseless assertions that they cleave to, you know, and it’s like, if there was just one sane person in that room to give perspective, but there wasn’t. So you have seven people up there who are all claiming things like, you know, things we know don’t work, like reducing taxes will somehow magically increase revenue and, somehow, by keeping the profit motive in the health care system, that’s going to solve that problem. So, you know, it’s very hard for someone to watch that debate who is not in that bubble. And I am not in the bubble.”
However, Maher admitted there was one Republican candidate he liked – libertarian darling Texas Republican Rep. Ron Paul.
“I would vote for Ron Paul if I had to pick,” Maher said. “I mean, Ron Paul is at least not a panderer. He’s sincere. He’s got the right ideas about getting our troops home. And I like Ron Paul. I think he’s cut from a different cloth than the rest of those people, who are, of course, selling their souls to the corporate interests who back them, and who have just horrible, society-killing ideas about America and either don’t know what’s real or don’t care.”
By society-killing, he referred to former Republican Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s tendency to champion various conservative stances.
“You know, the — well, like Tim Pawlenty and every one of them competing for this idea of continually reducing taxes, when we are in the — on the one hand, they’re screaming about how we’re in debt, and, on the other hand, the answer is to somehow decrease revenues,” he said. “You know, they all act like God created the world in January of 2009, and then Barack Obama completely screwed it up.”
And when it comes to Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, Maher is still not a fan in spite of her performance Monday night but still rates her ahead of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
“She did well by what standard? Because she’s able to speak in complete sentences?” Maher said. “Yes, I heard that analysis, ‘Oh, she was very effective. She spoke in short sentences and was good.’ You know, I mean, the standards are so low. Let’s be honest. We’re judging her against Sarah Palin. That’s what it is. And, yes, compared to Sarah Palin, she does look better, because Sarah Palin comes off as a complete airhead, like a ditzy housewife, a stewardess, I think I called her in the past, whereas Michele Bachmann actually works. Sarah Palin is not a worker. Obviously, Michele Bachmann, she is a lawyer. She’s in Congress. She studies. She gets her facts wrong, but at least she sounds like someone who is a professional in her field. So, compared to Sarah Palin, yes, big winner.”
