Bill Maher Claims Police Work Attracts 'Kid Who Got Stuffed Into A Locker' Types
During a conversation with John Mellencamp, Bill Maher accused law enforcement of attracting bullied kids looking for power.
John Mellencamp has always had a problem with authority.
He's been telling us this in no uncertain terms since 1983. Turns out, though, his aversion to authority is very real and not just fodder for a catchy tune.
"I don't like cops," Mellencamp said bluntly on the latest episode of Club Random with Bill Maher.
Maher, to his credit, attempted to bring some sensibility to the conversation.
"That's a broad brush to say you don't like cops," Maher said. "You don't want to live without them. Trust me, you don't want to live without them."
This is true. Despite what some far-left lunatics told you during the "Defund the Police" movement of 2020, police officers are vitally important to a civil, functioning society.
Unfortunately, though, the discussion really took a nosedive after that.
Mellencamp conceded that one or two cops together are fine. "But you get a whole bunch of them," he said. "and things get weird."
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That's when Maher generalized police officers as self-preserving and trigger-happy.
"Whenever there's any trouble, their attitude is, 'make sure we don't die,'" he said. "Now, I get it, you don't want to die. But it does say ‘protect and serve’ on the car, and that refers to us, not you. That ‘protect’ thing, that's about us.
"I get it, you're nervous, and it is a nerve-wracking job. You're dealing with the dregs of society. Anybody could have a gun, and sometimes they do. But the attitude can't be, 'Well, at the least prospect that I'm going to get hurt, we just completely empty our clips into this guy."
Good news. I'm fairly certain they don't teach it that way at the police academy, either. In virtually every U.S. law enforcement agency, there is a formal review process any time an officer discharges his or her firearm — with few exceptions, like approved training at a gun range. Part of that review is to ensure the officer adhered to use-of-force guidelines.
Bill Maher says "bullies" are attracted to a career in law enforcement.
(Getty Images)
Maher told Mellencamp he tries to "keep it fair and balanced" when talking about the cops. But even if you were with Maher up to this point, he eventually lets go of all semblance of neutrality.
"The problem with the cops is that it attracts the wrong kind of person — which is the kid who got stuffed into a locker in high school and goes, ‘Oh, you know what? You give me this badge, suddenly everyone is respecting me,’" Maher said. "It attracts bullies, the same way the priesthood attracts pedophiles."
Sheesh. That is certainly a take.
For a guy who warned about using a "broad brush," Maher sure grabbed the biggest one he could find.
I originally tuned in to that podcast to see what sort of unhinged take Mellencamp had for us. Didn't see Maher coming from the top rope.