[RCL]

I’m with Bill Maher. There’s only one person who can beat Trump: Oprah. He’s hilarious tonight.

[James Brancheau]

God i hope that's not true, Ralph. Also, I think it's important to remember that Oprah now is different from the Oprah of the Geraldo and Gerry Springer days when who was cheating on who was king and chairs got thrown at people. She was very much a part of that. It was taking advantage of those with little means and exposing their dirty laundry for a little bit of fun.

I love Maher though. He a long time ago found his niche. He's unafraid, smart, and, most importantly, funny.

[R. Nemo Hill]

Maher is all mouth and no ears.
Oprah is a shiny product from a television commercial (one which I would never buy).

Nemo

[Roger Slater]

I've never figured out what it is that Oprah does or why we are supposed to revere her.

Maher can be funny, and I agree with much of what he says, but there's always been a misogynistic streak running through his worldview, and lately he's turned into a cranky old man who mocks younger generations. He's also borderline anti-vaxxer.

[John Isbell]

I find Maher smug. Lots of people are, I guess, but it's not my favorite fodder. I have no problem with Oprah, she's done well and kindness or compassion is part of that. Doesn't mean she'd do well in the Oval Office, but then American voters are as we know in great number not rational actors. Like people the world over.

Cheers,
John

[Julie Steiner]

Oprah is a lovely person, and her speech at the Golden Globes last year was very inspiring. (Okay, I admit it, I cried.) But president? No. Just no.

In addition to her commendable promotion of reading and various humanitarian projects, Oprah has unfortunately promoted several truckloads of junk science over the years.

Roger mentioned anti-vaxxers. Guess who gave Jenny McCarthy her platform to spread Dr. Andrew Wakefield's self-serving lies about vaccines and autism. And Oprah has given many other dangerous quacks a platform, too.

The current "the-experts-have-it-wrong" attitude in the Oval Office hasn't worked out very well. I don't think the answer is to pick another flavor of "the-experts-have-it-wrong."

[Jim Moonan]

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Bill Maher is our modern day Mark Twain, IMO. His "New Rules"are golden.

The first dem to adopt the campaign slogan, "Make America Great Again" has my (tentative) vote.
In just three (long) years we have veered from becoming a mindful society to becoming a watchful one. That will be Trump’s legacy.
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[Jim Moonan]

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John: "I find Maher smug."

Yes, he vacillates between smug and arrogant and it turns me off from time to time, but he is intellectually aggressive and very funny (or at least his writers are) and one of the few good American satirists I can think of (at the moment).
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[Julie Steiner]

Much as I loathe everything that Trump represents, we are in deep denial if we think that our societal psyche has been sick for only the past three years.

[Jim Moonan]

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Julie: "Much as I loathe everything that Trump represents, we are in deep denial if we think that our societal psyche has been sick for only the past three years."

Yes -- though I thought the Obama years represented a significant turnaround for the better as far as the American societal psyche was concerned. I, at least, became encouraged (you could even call it hopeful -- yep, I'll take hope and change any day) by his leadership and his ability to navigate us through harrowing economic/etc. waters and put incentives and regulations in place that sparked renewable resources to gain a foothold. We are realizing the benefits of that now, in spite of Trump's outrageous reach back to guzzling and spewing fossil fuel. My fingers are crossed that innovation will prevail.

He (Obama) was the first president/leader in my lifetime that inspired me to become more involved than I'd ever been. Then we threw it all away with the tragedy of the Trump presidency. So yes, three year of Trump is not the reason for all that ails us. But he is what ails us at the moment.
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