Maher makes the unexceptionable point that even in elections with highly imperfect choices, the results can affect the lives of millions of people for better or worse. Well said. And good for singling out Russell Brand’s anti-voting shtick for the ridicule it deserves.
Brand’s rather feeble response is here.
As for Brand’s call for a “peaceful, effortless, joyful revolution” in place of electoral politics, Democratic former Congressman Barney Frank has the best response:
I believe very strongly that people on the left are too prone to do things that are emotionally satisfying and not politically useful. I have a rule, and it’s true of Occupy, it’s true of the gay-rights movement: If you care deeply about a cause, and you are engaged in an activity on behalf of that cause that is great fun and makes you feel good and warm and enthusiastic, you’re probably not helping, because you’re out there with your friends, and political work is much tougher and harder.
