If you want to see how bad things may be for President Obama, consider Bill Maher's comments on the President at the Westbury Music Fair in Long Island last night.
I was present, and there were gasps and hisses when Maher made several cutting comments about Obama to the packed crowd who, no doubt, would have preferred to have Republicans roasted rather than their favorite President.
Maher seemed a little taken aback by the audience reaction, but pointed out that criticism of Obama was warranted in the current climate. He soon won the crowd over.
Maher was not about to let the audience have their comfort zone. He sneered at Obama's giveback to the banks, doing a wicked caricature of Obama handing the billions out to A.I.G. and Goldman Sachs. He was also deeply critical --and hilariously so -- of Obama's failure to press home his agenda like Dick Cheney and George Bush were able to do despite what the electorate thought.
When Bill Maher, the most liberal stand-up comedian in America, is attacking Obama, then the President should be concerned., When he is comparing him unfavorably to Dick Cheney, then he had better be REALLY concerned.
Like any good stand-up man, Maher was edgy and ahead of the crowd. But he clearly has a sense of the Zeitgeist like no other performer right now. What he is articulating is the shattering disappointment on the left that Obama has not delivered for them, and that Wall Street and the banks have made out like bandits while the middle class continues to suffer and health care heads south.
In a strange way, Maher and the Tea Party have much in common. On Saturday night at the same venue, I will be seeing Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck. Strange to think they and Maher have much in common in believing that Obama has not measured up to the job so far. Who would have thunk it?
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