Bill Maher believes that the tribal mentality of hate of “the others” that is festering in this country very possibly could lead to a civil war.
“Everything that they say can’t happen here, of course it can,” the comedian said on his “Club Random” podcast. “They used to say terrorism couldn’t happen here and then that happened here. We’re not exempt. Americans, they think their s— don’t stink, and they think that they somehow live in this gilded cage, where the stuff that other countries endure, well, we’ll endure it too — and that could include authoritarianism.”
On this week’s episode of “Club Random,” Maher invited evolutionary biologist and critic of creationism Richard Dawkins, to discuss about science, COVID, vaccinations and such, but the conversation veered a little off track and led to state of the country and social behavior of those in it.
“There is much talk about [a second civil war] and there’s lots of people rooting for it,” Maher told Dawkins. “There [are] many people who think that we are so divided and they hate the other side. The term that both sides use: ‘one against the other.’” But the one thing they have in common, Maher said, is that it has become an “existential threat,” one in which he can “absolutely” imagine a civil war a part of it.
The Civil War of the 1860s was also known as the War Between the States with definite lines of battle between the sides and forays of each army into the other’s territory. “If they captured Washington, they’d win the war, and if we captured the southern Capitol, we would,” as Maher put it. But the tension between “the left” and “the right” nowadays has no boundaries. That might make some think a modern war would not be possible but, Maher said, it is still feasible, but with blurred lines.
“We’re all marbled together now. There’s 4 million Trump voters in California, the bluest state in the country. So we can’t have a battle there but could you have a battle, as many countries have, within the armed forces? Absolutely you could. You could have factions. Trump has factions also in police, the FBI,” he said. “That’s what you find out when the s— hits the fan, and we’ve seen it play out in many other countries.”
You can listen to all of “Club Random With Bill Maher” episodes, including the one above with Richard Dawkins, by clicking here. Or to see Maher’s entire interview with Hawkins, click here.
