Carly Fiorina held her own w/ Bill Maher’s panel
Nobody goes on Real Time with Bill Maher to have civil discourse. It is always a riot. Bill Maher is always obnoxious at times. One had to feel somewhat sorry for Carly Fiorina. She was the only woman and the only conservative on the panel.
The entire panel made solid points on the relative success of President Obama’s policies. It was up to her to provide the counter argument and she did so using the standard GOP talking points. She used income inequality to knock the improving economy. It is correct that inasmuch as the economy is doing much better, the spoils are going disproportionately to the wealthy. What she does not say is that it is conservative policies that support income inequality (low taxes and reduction in social services).
What was a bit disconcerting about the show was a certain degree of sexism against Carly Fiorina. Worse is that at no time did the men on the panel seem to be aware that there is a thin line between comedy and unnecessary sexism on that platform.
The Paul Begala joke about ‘Kim Kardashian without the ass’ and Salmon Rushdie’s rather sexist joke was not necessary. It was like watching a bunch of chauvinists around a bar counter.
Carly Fiorina calmly called out Salmon Rushdie. It was obvious that the call out was from the cumulative effect of the sexism she was experiencing. Carly Fiorina has played with the real good old boys in corporate America and did just fine. One wonders if she will be back.