With the presidential race nearing its conclusion in less than a week, incumbent US president Barack Obama is definitely filling a hectic schedule while campaigning for his Democrat ally Hillary Clinton. But in a highly favorable stroke of luck, comedian Bill Maher has finally granted his desire for an exclusive interview after months of waiting (begging).
Obama's and Maher's televised talk, billed as "the Real Time with Bill Maher", was broadcasted on HBO last Friday, November 5. During the talk show, the duo has covered a wide range of topics yet most of the conversation is centered on one particularly interesting issue - science.
With that in mind, the president expressed his concern regarding what seemed like an unethical use of media to distort what is real. In a report by Fortune, a particular focal point of the dialogue describes how the American public has been 'conditioned' to deem every topic as debatable and subjective - even in light of compelling empirical evidence.
Hence, real issues like climate change and GMO food production are being reduced as a 'bipartisan political discussion'. Further explanation on how Obama stressed the prevalence of anti-science and anti-fact phenomenon is reported by USA Today.
"The 'Balkanization' of media leaves the public with a difficulty sorting out what's true and what's not." He added, "If we don't have some common baseline facts, it is very hard to figure out how we move democracy forward."
It is important to take note that such an observation is still closely related to the social dynamics of the US elections. The GOP candidate Donald Trump has relentlessly condemned Obama and Clinton, especially in light of their seemingly 'unfair' political tandem.
Bill Maher is an outspoken atheist and an active critic of the right-wing religious perspective. Hosting Obama's first and last exclusive interview as US president proved to be a monumental press success.
