Whenever anyone wants to find out what the cutting edge of left-wing hyperbolic rhetoric is, one can but tune into Friday night’s “Real Time” the HBO rant show hosted by Bill Maher. Maher has done everything from calling Sarah Palin we do not use, to uttering the “N word” to denouncing the idea of Mars colonies. Most recently Maher outdid himself by suggesting that Donald Trump, the president of the United States, is capable of having his enemies whacked.
Trump using targeted assassinations
The exchange took place toward the end of the episode when Maher put the question to Ralph Reed, the token conservative on the panel.
Noting that Vladimir Putin has caused his opponents to assume room temperature from time to time, he asked Reed whether Trump would do the same and announced that he believed he would.
The exchange caused lots of consternation among the panel and even in the audience. The only person who did not give a firm “no” to the question of whether or not Trump would have people killed was CNN contributor Michael Weiss who suggested that if the president thought he could get away with it, he would have people liquidated to make America great again. Look for Mr. Weiss to be discussed on talk radio and on Fox News.
How would a president go about having people killed?
Actually, American presidents have been having people killed for decades.
The Kennedys famously tasked the CIA with taking out Fidel Castro, to no avail. More recently President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama have been snuffing leaders of Al Qaeda and ISIS with wild abandon. Usually, these targeted killings have been accomplished with aerial drones firing Hellfire missiles. Bin Laden was taken out the old fashioned way, with bullets shot by e Navy SEAL.
However, aside from some silly conspiracy theories involving the Clintons, there is zero evidence that anyone residing in the Oval Office ever had any domestic political opponents assassinated. To be sure, if Trump were so inclined, he would have a target rich environment. However, so would any American president going back to the founding.
Was Maher being serious?
One can never tell when Maher is being serious or not when he says something for shock value. If he really believed that his limo could be blown up with a drone strike or himself be given an induced heart attack, Maher would likely moderate himself since, as a classic bully he must also be a coward. He is apparently saying such things to keep his name in the media and, surprise, this writer has fallen in with the nefarious scheme.