Warning: This post is filled with even more strong language than usual. I’m angry, okay?

I get it.

I get that I cuss a lot, on Facebook, here on this blog… and I very often don’t do it in anger. I very often cuss in the routine of speaking. It’s part of my language… my voice. Some people think it’s crude. I get that. I also don’t care. But I am angry as hell, here. I’m sick and tired of this conversation.

So yes. More cussing than usual.

No. I’m not linking to it. I’m not going to bore you with the rehashed details of Bill Maher’s latest bigoted bullshit, when he a made a racist joke using the n-word in full.

You already know it all.

See, instead, what I want to talk about is all his defenders. All those supposedly “liberal” people who insist that “oh no! Bill Maher isn’t racist! He has black guests! He dates young black women! He’s the opposite of a racist!” and then absolutely demand that we must “allow differences of opinion! He has freedom of speech! Black people are allowed to say it! Why aren’t white people?!?”

So here’s the problem…

Number 1.

That word? Black people are free to use it. They can use every version of it they wish. Or they can decide not to use it all. And it’s none of our goddamn business.

And we white people? It is NEVER okay to use that word. Literally never. You can never come up with a scenario in which I’ll agree with you that that word is okay to use by white people. So don’t even bother trying.

But Bill Maher used it. Thinking he was “funny”.

And you know? Sure. He did apologize. And yeah, it’s actually fine and all. But it’s also empty. Because this asshole has a history, you know. Like back in the 90s when he defended a pedophile because said pedophile was a woman and her victim was a boy; he actually questioned how a woman could rape a man (where’s all those MRAs and conservatives whining about his misandry?). I could go on about his transphobia, his misogyny…

This disgusting pathetic human being has a giant fucking history of this.

And yet “liberals” insist on defending him. Because it’s all “differences of opinion”. Which brings me to…

Number 2…

Bigotry. Is not. A difference. Of. Opinion.

Should I repeat that?

BIGOTRY.

.

IS NOT.

.

A DIFFERENCE.

.

OF.

.

OPINION.

.
You can have a differences of opinion over, for example, how good Jimmy Page is at guitar. You can have differences of opinion over whether or not sushi is good. You can have differences of opinion over lots and lots and lots of things.

You know what you don’t get a fucking opinion over?

WHETHER OR NOT OTHER FUCKING PEOPLE ARE FUCKING HUMAN BEINGS DESERVING OF THE SAME FUCKING RESPECT AS EVERY OTHER FUCKING HUMAN BEING.

We cis-het white d00ds are NOT the only fucking human beings on the fucking planet. Humans beings are fucking diverse, and that fucking diversity deserves respect.

Bill Maher doesn’t seem to think that. Bill Maher seems to be under the distinct impression that women, people of color, the LGBTQ community, the physically disabled, the neurodivergent, and so on are beneath him.

That is not a difference of opinion.

That.

Is.

Bigotry.

And I know, I know… people are gonna whine and complain about their precious “free speech”. So let’s move on, shall we?

Number 3…

All you worshipers of free speech have absolutely no fucking clue what it is, do you? Makes sense, actually. Nobody seems to really know anything about the gods they worship. You make up myths, ideals, stories, and so on, but you don’t actually know.

So let’s do a nice, short, tidy breakdown of just what the fuck it is.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Well ain’t that funny! I don’t see any mention of social media! I don’t see any mention of private blog spaces! I don’t see any mention of private corporations, like HBO! I don’t see any mention of a platform.

Now isn’t that just the darndest thing? It’s almost like that whole free speech part only protects you from… the government!

“But don’t I get to say whatever I want, whenever I want, wherever I want, without facing any kind of social consequences whatsoever?”

No, bigot.

You don’t.

If you get fired from a job, you aren’t losing your free speech. If you get blocked on Facebook or Twitter, you aren’t losing your free speech. If you get banned on a blog… like my blog… you aren’t losing your free speech. If people decide to ostracize you because of your bigotry, you aren’t losing your free speech.

As for Bill Maher…

Sure, the government can’t come down and throw Bill Maher into prison, but we, the not-government, can ostracize him. We can demand he be fired. HBO can actually fire him.

Bill Maher is not promised, guaranteed, nor even deserving of a fucking platform. No one is promised, guaranteed, or even deserving of a fucking platform. You’re guaranteed that the government won’t make you disappear for talking about how much you hate them. But nobody promised you a space to say it in, either.

The fact that you believe that tells me one thing… you’re a precious, fragile little bigot; and you’re determined to remain one without consequences of any kind. You, white asshole, just desperately need to be able to scream the n-word at the top of your fucking lungs, with everyone only turning away or agreeing with you. You, cis-male shitlord, just desperately need to be able to treat women (both cis and trans, and also trans men) like things to be used and discarded, with everyone else high-fiving you. You, cis-het fuck-nugget, just desperately need to be able to make the LGBTQ community disappear, with everybody else following along.

But you, you disgusting, bigoted, fragile little snowflake, don’t fucking get to.

There are fucking consequences for your bigoted bullshit. Sure, the government won’t dole them out, but we can. I can ban you from my blog. I can block you on social media. I can cut you out of my life. I can demand that you be fired from your entirely undeserved platform.

I can revoke your fucking platform.

Why?

Because fuck you, bigot.

That’s why.