Mr. Inevitable

By Miles Leicher

Last week, John McCain said Mitt Romney’s election as the next President of the United States is "inevitable." Of course, he said the same thing about Sarah Palin learning how to read. Webster's defines "inevitable" as "incapable of being avoided or evaded." Hardly the most inspiring theme to base a campaign on – but Romney is running with it, as evidenced by these new campaign posters. Some you'll recognize from the show, but others were rescued from the cutting room floor!

Got a slogan of your own for Mr. Inevitable? Let's hear it!

Behind the Screens: March 2, 2012

Check out what happened behind the scenes of last week’s Real Time episode!

 

Be sure to enjoy the Real Time podcasts on iTunes!

Top Reads from Inside the Writers Room

By Allison MacDonald

Most Discussed

“Mr. Inevitable”

Mitt Romney’s victorious week means two things: 1) A brokered convention is now highly unlikely; and 2) Romney is back to being “Mr. Inevitable.” I guess that’s better than being called a robot, but Mr. Inevitable? That sounds more like a nickname for my period. But I digress. If Romney really is inevitable, can he beat Obama if he can’t even break 42% in his home state where he out-spent Rick Santorum 2 to 1?

A headline in The Onion this week said it all: “Romney Thanks State He Was Born And Raised In For Just Barely Giving Him Enough Votes To Beat Total Maniac.”

So, what’s the future of the Grand Old Party? I mean other than a padded cell. This week’s panelist, John Heilemann argues that a Santorum nomination would bring the GOP back to its senses.

But New York Magazine’s Jonathan Chait says the GOP is relying on a Hail Mary strategy of “2012 or Never”. Essentially, Chait is saying this is the last time the Republican Party can conceivably win an election given its current demographics (See: Old Country Buffet, the country club and the Rascal Scooter store).

Most Debated

The Apology Tour

After NATO soldiers were caught burning copies of the Koran last weekend, the people of Afghanistan took to the streets in protest. Soon after, Obama issued an official apology to tame the violence. Rick Santorum, on the other hand thinks no apology was necessary, claiming “nothing [was] deliberately done wrong here.” Yeah, Rick, let’s see how well that theory holds up when a group of Afghan militias decide to start burning the Holy Bible right in front of your face.

Refusing to apologize for burning those Korans is like not apologizing after invading and occupying a country for 10 years and killing thousands of its civilians. Oh, wait…nevermind.

Foreign Policy’s Stephen Walt says the news of the Koran burning was “just a catalyst – the proverbial straw on the camel’s back – that ignited resentments that have been building up for a long time.”

Is this the beginning of the end in Afghanistan?

This Week in Stupid

 …And mildly hypocritical

Rick Santorum, B.A., J.D., M.B.A., called President Obama, B.A., J.D., a “snob” for suggesting people ought to attend some form of higher education. Rick also says that “liberal indoctrination” is encouraged at many colleges. Which took me back to my days of “Gov. 101: ACORN and the Art of Electoral Fraud” and my senior year seminar, “Tree Hugging: How to get your arms all the way around the tree without straining your shoulders.”

Whether or not you believe higher education makes you a “snob” or an “elitist” is irrelevant. There is a direct correlation between education and employment, as The Washington Post pointed out this week.

Should we really be ignoring this correlation in a time of 8.3% unemployment?

Backstage Pass: Solar Panelist - Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson

By Miles Leicher

It’s not often that you can read something on the internet, freak out about it, and then have an astrophysicist from the American Museum of Natural History walk into your office and (nicely) tell you to calm the f**k down. Luckily, that’s what happened to this Real Timer after he read an article about solar flares.

Find out more about Dr. Tyson’s book, Space Chronicles, by visiting the Real Time Bookshelf and tune in this Friday to see him live on Real Time!

30 Seconds to Maher

With a weeks' worth of preparation behind him, Bill Maher has only one thing left to do before the show starts: get that tie straight.

What’s the last thing you'd do before going on live TV?

The Unfair Sects

By Miles Leicher

It would be easy for someone who's been following politics lately to think that Republicans maybe kinda sorta hate women. Just in the last few weeks, we've been witnessing debates about birth control, combat roles in the military and something called a "transvaginal ultrasound." Even Mel Gibson is going, "come on, guys...ease up a little."

Okay, maybe that's unfair. If Republicans really hated women, why would they keep naming boats after them? It might be more accurate to say that they just don't value women's opinions. At least that's the takeaway from last week's House Oversight Committee hearing on contraception, in which the first panel of witnesses was comprised of a Roman Catholic bishop, a Lutheran reverend, a rabbi and two professors; all of them men. Though, in fairness, the bishop has been known to wear a dress.

Concurrently, in Virginia, legislators had sought to require women seeking an abortion to submit to a specific type of sonogram that involved placing a wand inside their vagina in order to display a picture of the fetus. Needless to say, that idea didn't go over very well -- with the exception of a few die-hard Harry Potter fans.

The funny thing is, as Bill Maher pointed out last Friday, these are the same people who say that 'Obamacare' is invasive! Sure, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is over a thousand pages long, but not a single one of those pages requires anyone to stick anything up their hoo-ha.

Rick Santorum's website lists one of his signature issues as ensuring that, "Every American should have access to high-quality, affordable health care, with health care decisions made by patients and their physicians, NOT government bureaucrats." Now there's a line you hear over and over again from folks on the right: nothing should ever interfere with that sacred bond between a doctor and a patient. That is, unless the patient is a woman and the doctor is offering her any sort of family planning service other than pulling out a baby. In which case, you'd better slow your roll there, little darlin', and let the men talk.

So which is it, guys: is there a place for big government in the exam room or not? If it’s okay for religious institutions to flout healthcare requirements, will you understand if a woman has a similar opposition to being instrumentally raped for a procedure with no medical necessity? And would someone please explain to me how, despite all of his recent comments regarding women’s health, Rick Santorum’s support among Republican women is on the rise?

Behind the Screens: February 17, 2012

There's no live episode of Real Time this week, but that doesn't mean you can't check out what happened behind the scenes of last week's show!

WTF Happened!

By Miles Leicher

Well, it finally happened. As discussed when Marc Maron was on Real Time last July, Bill Maher joined in on an episode of the famed WTF with Marc Maron podcast. The conversation, which spans from Bill’s early years in comedy to his affinity for current events and, um, lack of affinity for religion, is available today via Marc Maron’s website and iTunes.