Show Some Guts

During the "Overtime" segment of Fridat's Real Time With Bill Maher, the panel fielded a question which ended with "how do we help young men," a reference to the current crisis of young men. Maher remarked "we hear this all the time, that youn women re doing better in college, that-"

Senator John Fetterman did a Fetterman, blaming the Democratic Party because there are few questions he won't answer without slamming his Party. If he didn't do so, he wouldn't be John Fetterman. Then Donna Brazile stated.

Overall, ook- I've been a part-time professor for 33 years. There is something going on with young men in our country. They are reticent, many of them are holding back, and we need to address that. But at the same time-

Maher interjected "holding back?" Brazile answered "holding back, because sometimes I think they don't know their place anymore and that's something that men need to decide for themselves." Personally, I wouldn't have saaid "they don't know their place," and I'm not even black. Yet, maybe she simply meant that they are confused, which is a little patronizing but probably accurate, as was her observation that they are "reticent" and "holding back."  However, she continued

But as a woman for decades, centuries, women had to be over-confident just to be qualified. So I don't want men to think that the reason why young men are suffering is because of some woman. No, you men are dealing with what young women had to deal with centuries ago. They'll find their place at the table. Come sit with me sometime and I''ll give you some help.

It's not only the condescension of "come sit with me sometime and I'll give you some help" as in "I am woman. I have the answers you are unable to find on your own." It's also that Brazile is demonstrably wrong. 

Men are not dealing with what young women had to deal with centuries ago. Times have changed. Technology, social media, expectations, family structure, social mores, and a whole lot of other things have made the plight of the young American male unique.  Whether by government, non-profits, or simply women helping women one at a time, women are being a leg up while men are falling behind and need more than one-on-one advice from Donna Brazile. 

Scott Galloway has written and spoken extensively on this. He is wrong that young men should drink more and about guys drinking- he thinks there should be more of it- and that the elderly has too much wealth at the expense of youth. Nonetheless, in last year's Notes on Being a Man, Galloway provided

plenty of statistics to back up his claim that young men really are in trouble. Drawing on research by writers such as Richard Reeves (author of 2022's Of Boys and Men) and his NYU colleague Jonathan Haidt (whose recent book The Anxious Generation sounded the alarm on social media), he sketches out a landscape of rising rates of everything from boys' school suspensions to male unemployment, addic tions, loneliness, and failure to complete college....

Galloway is at pains to point out that he’s not blaming women for men’s problems. “I do not think the answer is to in any way economically disadvantage women,” he says. “I’m not trying to repackage violence here and say that women need to lower their standards such that we don’t have a bunch of angry men out there. I think men need to level up. And I think, as a society, we need to implement more programmes to level up all young people.”

In contrast to Brazile's perspective, he wrote "it's not a battle between men and women. The genders have done a great job convincing themselves it's the other gender's fault. I just don't think that's productive." (The word is sexes. But I'm not being productive.)

Donna Brazile is entitled to her opinion; indeed, her perspective as the woke-y woman appeared to bring a little ideological diversity to the discussion. But then something significant happened.

Aside from Brazile, the members of the panel included Representative Dan Crenshaw, a conservative Republican from Texas who lost the last primary in his re-election bid; Senator Fetterman, the moderate, contrariarn Pennsylvania Democrat; and Mr. Anti-Woke himself, Bill Maher.  Three men, and not an advocate of diversity, equity, and inclusion among them.

Brazile had spoken up for women- good for her- and denigrated young men- not at all good. And none of those three had the courage to call her on it or even to question her remark. When the issue was first raised, Fetterman claimed "part of the Democratic Party became more and more anti-man or describing them as part of the problem or they had toxic traits."  (Since 2011, there have been nine incidents of political violence or attempted political violence in the USA and in nine cases the apparent culprit was a man- no toxic masculinity there!)

Yet, the Pennsylvania senator was silent. Ditto, Crenshaw and Maher. A former Navy Seal (Crenshaw); a former small-town mayor who grabbed a shotgun and chased a black jogger (Fetterman); and the "politically incorrect" longtime comedian and talk-show host. And none of them had the courage to speak up against the invective spewed by a black woman.

This sort of thing is not surprising because it's not uncommon. But if they are not going to challenge an outspoken black woman who obviously disparages young men, they shouldn't pose as champions of men or of young men, as at least Maher and Fetterman do.

One way that could have been accomplished would have been to ask Brazile whether the young men she believes once had it so easy included young black men. Her answer, whatever it would have been, would have proven revelatory.  

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Needing a New Eyeglass Prescription

Well, of course Bill Maher's comment, uttered during the main segment of Friday's Real Time with Bill Maher, doesn't make sense. Whites didn't want to sit next to blacks because of race or color and in some cases believed they were superior. Some liberals don't want to sit next to Trump voters because of a difference in values, a lesser number believing the vote a reflection of a deficit of character. Significant difference.

This week Bill Maher likened liberals not wanting to sit with the Trumpers in their family at Thanksgiving to "not letting certain people sit next to you on the bus" and showed a picture of Rosa Parks and the more I think about it, the whole comparison makes no sense.

— Touré (@Toure) November 25, 2024

Sometime during a meandering convesation which began at 2:14 of the Overtime segment, Donna Brazile stated "it's time folks, We know how to lead. We can build a future for everybody." 

Who is "we?" "We" was not a choice on the general election ballot. It was the nominee herself, and therein lay the problem. Andrew Sullivan, who does not like Kamala Harris, nevertheless endorsed her in what he called "an anguished but emphatic endorsement" (free subscription required). In the exchange which began at 4:05,  Sullivan (mirroring James Carville, by the way) stated

Next time, you have an active primary where a candidate can prove her worth and not just be stuck in and nominated at the very last minute because you have a dotard running you wouldn't fess up to.

The choice of noun, as Maher recognized, was "unfair" but Sullivan at least was making better sense than Brazile who, trying to get a word in edgewise within the crosstalk, responded.

Well, first of all, first of all, first of all, we had a primary, Kamala and Joe. Joe and Kamala did win enough delegates. Fourteen million people participated in it. And we should not disenfranchise those Americans. So-

Officially, Joe and "Kamala" won the delegates. However, "Kamala" won none as the presidential candidate. Rather, Ms. Harris became the nominee only after, and only because, Mr. Biden dropped out.  Relatively few people are persuaded to vote for the presidential candidate because of the running mate.

Nonetheless, Brazile- without cracking a smile at her reasonably good attempt at humor- actually maintained "she was a good, strong candidate" and "I can put my glasses on and I can still tell you, I can see a leader when I see a leader."

That would be her imagination. Though Kamala Harris may have been a good President, she struck too few people as a leader. Maher stated "well, I think people think that a woman leader has to overcompensate a little toward strength and people are drawn to strength. Look at Clowny- I mean Trump."   "Secretary Clinton" does not project strength; neither did "Kamala."

Brazile suggested that "one hundred seven days" is insufficient time for a presidential nominee. Justifiably, Maher responded "one hundred seven days was more than enough time. That's a stupid excuse in my view, that it wasn't enough time... She was actually doing fine after the first few months."

Better than fine, even. Harris' campaign was inspiring and impressive. The candidate, though, left a lot to be desired and in the end, "Clowny" convinced enough voters that four years with Kamala would be even worse than four years with himself. As Maher and Sullivan understand, that should be sobering

  .

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Speaking Of Hacks...

Noting his warm reception in cities in conservative states, Bill Maher on Friday's Real Time observed (at 1:43 of the video below)  "it's about city and country, right? It's really not about the state itself." It was an acknowledgement too rarely mades that the differences among states- which pundits like to divide neatly into "red," "blue," and sometimes "purple"- is exceeded by the differences within states.

That was overshadowed, legitimately, by Maher's explanation to Donna Brazile, former interim chairperson of the Democratic National Committee, that not all parties have evolved equally.

This shouldn't have been necessary. He was chatting with the former head of the Democratic Party in front of a studio, and televison, audience which tilts strongly liberal and Democratic.

It was necessary, however, because when Maher asked Brazile (at 2:08) "so why is the Democratic approval like the lowest in a generation? It's very low. why do you thing that-," Brazile claimed

It's very low. Both political parties are under water simply because I think the American people are tired of Washington, D.C., they're tired of failed policies. They really would like to see both parties get some things done. Our numbers are far better than the Republicans'. The Republican numbers are as popular as root canal.

Give the outspoken atheist hosting Real Time credit for not suggesting all institutions are declining in support and crowing that religion is the most prominent example.  Over the past half century, as the Pew Research Center has found, the percentage of Americans who tell pollsters that religion is important in their lives, that they attend church regularly, that they identify as a Christian, or identify with a specific denomination has declined markedly.

But he didn't go there, instead interjecting "wait- you sort of lump both parties there under the rubric of failed policies. I would think that you'd want to-." Remarkably, the former leader of the Democratic Party commented "Washington is not working. When Washington is not working, the American people disapprove. "

Now almost- justifiably- incredulous at what he was hearing from an individual who presumably would advocate for her Party, Maher asked

What policies have failed? Not Obamacare. It's not a failure. I think that people are pissed off at the Democrats because a lot of that, I think, disapproval is coming from Democrats themselves who are saying"we don't stand up for our stuff."

As a hopefully chastened Brazile muttered "correct," Maher added

I heard Trump say over and over and over these last months that Obamacare is a mess, it's a disaster, it's a disgrace and I don't hear democrats full-throatedly say "that's just plainly not true."





One of those Democrats too timid or strategically unsophisticated to say "that's just plainly not true" is Donna Brazile. She would never criticize the Affordable Care Act or anything Barack Obama ever has said or done.  However, her defense of the Democratic Party generally has been weak and ineffective, obviously no less so as she has promoted her book "Hacks "The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns that Put Donald Trump in the White House."

When she consider the many factors- as Hillary Clinton has boldly done- which helped put Trump in the White House, Brazile ought to look in the mirror. And while identifying "hacks," she should recognize that might include someone taking a high ranking position whose role she she does not want  to fulfill.




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