On the one hand, you have an avowed atheist and celibate. On the other hand, a psychologist believes that family and faith are the key to progress from our current problems.
Those polar opposites led to some intense sparring on Friday at presentWhile Bill Maher confronted Dr. Phil McGraw, author of the new book, We Have Issues: How You Can Stand Strong for America’s Soul and Sanity, Which will be hosted soon Dr. Phil Prime Time on the new cable network Merit Street Media.
Dr. Phil entered to a standing ovation, and Maher admitted that he had “been an American psychiatrist for a very long time.” Now, Maher said, “It sounds like you want to do this or the country as a whole.”
Dr. Phil admitted as much, adding that he wanted to do it “in steps.” He spoke about his longevity by noting that “people tell you what they want you to address,” and said, “that has actually changed over time.”
Dr. Phil said the Internet changes things. While the services are home to “tricksters, bullies, and scams” that kids can’t escape, they also make people more socially aware — sometimes in a positive way, but sometimes in a complex concern for what’s right that leaves even the U.S. State Department of Justice hesitant to label someone as… That he is a criminal.
Maher agreed. “Waking up started out as a great thing. Now this is where common sense dies.
The two argued about whether some of Dr. Phil’s proposals were political positions.
Maher said that Dr. Phil’s prescriptions for a better society cannot be implemented without being political. They particularly quarreled when Dr. Phil claimed that “the strength of any country is family, and family in America is under attack.” He said the attempt by the government and teachers to co-parent children was a particularly sensitive point.
When Maher argued that he wasn’t a product of faith and family, Dr. Phil had a confusing response, noting: “You come from a family, so don’t tell me you don’t have a family.”
Maher responded that the country was “moving in my direction,” and offered that this might also be part of the solution.
But Dr. Phil’s response was that the national decline in attendance at religious services means there is less reason for families to get together each week. That and the low birth rate are problems, he said, “so we need immigrants. We just need to know who they are.”
Maher brought up a theme from the book, which is that “men should be men.” The argument there centered on definitions and how colleges distort notions of masculinity. “It’s been labeled toxic,” Dr. Phil said, adding, “You can’t rewrite the definitions.”
This week’s panel discussion featured Tim Ryan, former Democratic congressman from Ohio and founder of We The People Action Fund, and Batya Ungar Sargon, opinion editor at We The People Action Fund. Newsweek And the author of the next book, The Second Degree: How Elites Betrayed America’s Working Men and Women.
Ungar Sargun was sometimes astonished by the perverted statements of Rayyan and Mahir. After Ryan finished talking about projects being built in Ohio as part of Biden’s “remanufacturing of the country,” Ungar asked Sargon: “Your theory is that people have good jobs but don’t realize it?”
I then asked Maher if he thought the country was better off now than it was four years ago.
“I don’t know,” Maher said sarcastically. I was wearing a mask. How are we worse off?”
Ungar Sargon then listed inflation, immigration and rising mortgage rates as symptoms of worsening matters.
In his op-ed titled “The New Rules,” Maher said Biden needs to embrace his age as a strength. “Take your ads off Twitter and run them on CBS,” he said.