New Rules — 'A Democracy, If You Can Keep It' and 'The Year of Sanity'

I haven't posted one of Bill Maher's New Rules since Bill Maher says 'Make the Mall Great Again' for Cyber Monday in 2022. That's generally because I think he's developed a bad case of "get off my lawn!" However, I find myself in a bit of a cranky old man mood today, when I found I wasn't interested in Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers rehashing what I already covered in 'SNL' tackles E. Jean Carroll judgment, DeSantis endorsement, Nikki Haley, and more, so I turned to Maher for Monday. I begin with New Rule: A Democracy, If You Can Keep It.

In Brazil, the politics of grievance has its limits. Here in the U.S., Donald Trump has proven it doesn't.

I found the comparison and contrast to Nixon and Watergate instructive. I return to Two Emmy-nominated documentaries about Watergate for Veep Day for my reaction.

As John Dean is quoted as saying, "The criminal conduct of Richard Nixon and his top aides...became the blueprint for what no President of the United States should do." Unfortunately, it became the blueprint for what the former guy actually did, resulting in two impeachments and several indictments, beyond what happened to Nixon, who resigned before he could be impeached and was pardoned before he could be indicted.

First, I'm an environmentalist; I recycle. Second, it looks like we learned the wrong lessons from Watergate. The bad actors have learned how to get away with political crime, not that they should behave better. If anything, they're behaving worse and many of us are helping them.

To make up for not featuring Maher for a year-and-a-half, I'm sharing a second New Rule: The Year of Sanity.

The battle for the soul of America isn’t Right vs. Left. It’s Normal vs. Crazy.

I agree with the general sentiment, even if I'm not down with all the details he uses to support his position. That written, from Bill's lips to our ears.