Just last week I defended Bill Maher's old joke about Donald Trump being the offspring of a human and an orangutan. As is often the case with Maher, though, I'm quickly following up that defense with a critique.
On his most recent episode of Real Time, Maher said this:
"I feel like the bottom has to fall out at some point, and by the way, I'm hoping for it because I think one way you get rid of Trump is a crashing economy. So please, bring on the recession, Sorry if that hurts people but it's either root for a recession, or lose your democracy."
While Maher has said some cringe-worthy things in the past, he's typically smarter than this. I typically hear such fallacies being uttered by those in the right-wing media. What he's guilty of here is the false dilemma, where he presents a situation as having only two options when there are more. Former President George W. Bush often said, "You're either with us or against us!" No, actually that's not the case. The same holds true for Maher here. I may despise Trump even more than Maher does, but there's no way in hell I'm going to root for another recession, crippling millions of families as a result. That's just crude, insensitive, and not even accurate. It's not like Donald Trump has a great approval rating. He's infuriated the left, infuriated independents, and even infuriated some on the right. There's a reason why so many Democrats, even in the reddest of states, like Alabama, have won special elections since Trump entered the Oval Office. Perhaps due to feelings of remorse and guilt, the media has been on him like glue since Inauguration Day. Speaking of which, Robert Mueller... Oh, and I almost forgot, Stormy Daniels... There are numerous other ways Donald Trump can be legally ousted from his presidency than another recession. Let's hope for one of those options more so than millions of families being crippled due to another recession, and shame on Maher for suggesting otherwise.
http://www.newsweek.com/bill-maher-donald-trump-economy-recession-967984
On his most recent episode of Real Time, Maher said this:
"I feel like the bottom has to fall out at some point, and by the way, I'm hoping for it because I think one way you get rid of Trump is a crashing economy. So please, bring on the recession, Sorry if that hurts people but it's either root for a recession, or lose your democracy."
While Maher has said some cringe-worthy things in the past, he's typically smarter than this. I typically hear such fallacies being uttered by those in the right-wing media. What he's guilty of here is the false dilemma, where he presents a situation as having only two options when there are more. Former President George W. Bush often said, "You're either with us or against us!" No, actually that's not the case. The same holds true for Maher here. I may despise Trump even more than Maher does, but there's no way in hell I'm going to root for another recession, crippling millions of families as a result. That's just crude, insensitive, and not even accurate. It's not like Donald Trump has a great approval rating. He's infuriated the left, infuriated independents, and even infuriated some on the right. There's a reason why so many Democrats, even in the reddest of states, like Alabama, have won special elections since Trump entered the Oval Office. Perhaps due to feelings of remorse and guilt, the media has been on him like glue since Inauguration Day. Speaking of which, Robert Mueller... Oh, and I almost forgot, Stormy Daniels... There are numerous other ways Donald Trump can be legally ousted from his presidency than another recession. Let's hope for one of those options more so than millions of families being crippled due to another recession, and shame on Maher for suggesting otherwise.
http://www.newsweek.com/bill-maher-donald-trump-economy-recession-967984
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