--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: New Rule: Now that liberals have taken…" description: "\"“New Rule: Now that liberals have taken back the word \"liberal,\" they also have to take back the word \"elite.\" By now you've heard the constant right-w..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b97/bill-maher-211_brain-surgery_new-rule-now-that-liberals-have-taken-ba_212592.jpg" --- # New Rule: Now that liberals have taken back the word… ![“New Rule: Now that liberals have taken back the word "liberal," they also have to take back the word "elite." By now you've heard the constant right-wing attacks on the "elite media," and the "liberal elite." Who may or may not be part of the "Washington elite." A subset of the "East Coast elite."…” quote by Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b97/bill-maher-211_brain-surgery_new-rule-now-that-liberals-have-taken-ba_212592.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b97/bill-maher-211_brain-surgery_new-rule-now-that-liberals-have-taken-ba_212592.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b97/bill-maher-211_brain-surgery_new-rule-now-that-liberals-have-taken-ba_212592.jpg) > ““New Rule: Now that liberals have taken back the word "liberal," they also have to take back the word "elite." By now you've heard the constant right-wing attacks on the "elite media," and the "liberal elite." Who may or may not be part of the "Washington elite." A subset of the "East Coast elite." Which is overly influenced by the "Hollywood elite." So basically, unless you're a shit-kicker from Kansas, you're with the terrorists. If you played a drinking game where you did a shot every time Rush Limbaugh attacked someone for being "elite," you'd be almost as wasted as Rush Limbaugh. I don't get it: In other fields--outside of government--elite is a good thing, like an elite fighting force. Tiger Woods is an elite golfer. If I need brain surgery, I'd like an elite doctor. But in politics, elite is bad--the elite aren't down-to-earth and accessible like you and me and President Shit-for-Brains. Which is fine, except that whenever there's a Bush administration scandal, it always traces back to some incompetent political hack appointment, and you think to yourself, "Where are they getting these screwups from?" Well, now we know: from Pat Robertson. I'm not kidding. Take Monica Goodling, who before she resigned last week because she's smack in the middle of the U.S. attorneys scandal, was the third-ranking official in the Justice Department of the United States. She's thirty-three, and though she never even worked as a prosecutor, was tasked with overseeing the job performance of all ninety-three U.S. attorneys. How do you get to the top that fast? Harvard? Princeton? No, Goodling did her undergraduate work at Messiah College--you know, home of the "Fighting Christies"--and then went on to attend Pat Robertson's law school. Yes, Pat Robertson, the man who said the presence of gay people at Disney World would cause "earthquakes, tornadoes, and possibly a meteor," has a law school. And what kid wouldn't want to attend? It's three years, and you have to read only one book. U.S. News & World Report , which does the definitive ranking of colleges, lists Regent as a tier-four school, which is the lowest score it gives. It's not a hard school to get into. You have to renounce Satan and draw a pirate on a matchbook. This is for the people who couldn't get into the University of Phoenix. Now, would you care to guess how many graduates of this televangelist diploma mill work in the Bush administration? On hundred fifty. And you wonder why things are so messed up? We're talking about a top Justice Department official who went to a college founded by a TV host. Would you send your daughter to Maury Povich U? And if you did, would you expect her to get a job at the White House? In two hundred years, we've gone from "we the people" to "up with people." From the best and brightest to dumb and dumber. And where better to find people dumb enough to believe in George Bush than Pat Robertson's law school? The problem here in America isn't that the country is being run by elites. It's that it's being run by a bunch of hayseeds. And by the way, the lawyer Monica Goodling hired to keep her ass out of jail went to a real law school.”” [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The term “elite” is weaponized in politics, turning a positive descriptor into a negative label to divide and discredit opponents. **In simple terms:** Political language can twist meanings to attack opponents. Key Takeaway Question the use of “elite” as a political slur. Themes politics language division media power Mood critical analytical Type satirical political When to use this quote - debates - media analysis - campaign strategy - public discourse Key Concepts sociology rhetoric identity politics Questions to Reflect On - What defines a legitimate elite versus a rhetorical one? - How does labeling affect public trust? A Different Perspective Overuse can dilute legitimate criticism of true power structures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Brain surgery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brain-surgery/) [Conservative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conservative/) [Disney World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disney-world/) [Dumb And Dumber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dumb-and-dumber/) [East coast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/east-coast/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Gay people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gay-people/) [Humor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humor/) [Law school](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law-school/) [Liberal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberal/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [White house](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white-house/) ## Related quotes > [The strange rejection of the expert is mind boggling to me. 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You dumb down brain surgery enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-watts/but-people-have-an-unfortunate-habit-of-assuming-they-understand-the/) [Peter Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-watts/) [Browse all 94 Brain surgery quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brain-surgery/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“New Rule: Now that liberals have taken back the word \"liberal,\" they also have to take back the word \"elite.\" By now you've heard the constant right-wing attacks on the \"elite media,\" and the \"liberal elite.\" Who may or may not be part of the \"Washington elite.\" A subset of the \"East Coast elite.\" Which is overly influenced by the \"Hollywood elite.\" So basically, unless you're a shit-kicker from Kansas, you're with the terrorists. If you played a drinking game where you did a shot every time Rush Limbaugh attacked someone for being \"elite,\" you'd be almost as wasted as Rush Limbaugh. I don't get it: In other fields--outside of government--elite is a good thing, like an elite fighting force. Tiger Woods is an elite golfer. If I need brain surgery, I'd like an elite doctor. But in politics, elite is bad--the elite aren't down-to-earth and accessible like you and me and President Shit-for-Brains. Which is fine, except that whenever there's a Bush administration scandal, it always traces back to some incompetent political hack appointment, and you think to yourself, \"Where are they getting these screwups from?\" Well, now we know: from Pat Robertson. I'm not kidding. Take Monica Goodling, who before she resigned last week because she's smack in the middle of the U.S. attorneys scandal, was the third-ranking official in the Justice Department of the United States. She's thirty-three, and though she never even worked as a prosecutor, was tasked with overseeing the job performance of all ninety-three U.S. attorneys. How do you get to the top that fast? Harvard? Princeton? No, Goodling did her undergraduate work at Messiah College--you know, home of the \"Fighting Christies\"--and then went on to attend Pat Robertson's law school. Yes, Pat Robertson, the man who said the presence of gay people at Disney World would cause \"earthquakes, tornadoes, and possibly a meteor,\" has a law school. And what kid wouldn't want to attend? It's three years, and you have to read only one book. U.S. News & World Report , which does the definitive ranking of colleges, lists Regent as a tier-four school, which is the lowest score it gives. It's not a hard school to get into. You have to renounce Satan and draw a pirate on a matchbook. This is for the people who couldn't get into the University of Phoenix. Now, would you care to guess how many graduates of this televangelist diploma mill work in the Bush administration? On hundred fifty. And you wonder why things are so messed up? We're talking about a top Justice Department official who went to a college founded by a TV host. Would you send your daughter to Maury Povich U? And if you did, would you expect her to get a job at the White House? In two hundred years, we've gone from \"we the people\" to \"up with people.\" From the best and brightest to dumb and dumber. And where better to find people dumb enough to believe in George Bush than Pat Robertson's law school? The problem here in America isn't that the country is being run by elites. It's that it's being run by a bunch of hayseeds. And by the way, the lawyer Monica Goodling hired to keep her ass out of jail went to a real law school.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bill Maher" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/new-rule-now-that-liberals-have-taken-back-the-word-liberal-they-also/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Brain surgery" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/new-rule-now-that-liberals-have-taken-back-the-word-liberal-they-also/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b97/bill-maher-211_brain-surgery_new-rule-now-that-liberals-have-taken-ba_212592.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b97/bill-maher-211_brain-surgery_new-rule-now-that-liberals-have-taken-ba_212592.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b97/bill-maher-211_brain-surgery_new-rule-now-that-liberals-have-taken-ba_212592.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“New Rule: Now that liberals have taken back the word \"liberal,\" they also have to take back the word…” — Bill Maher", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Bill Maher", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“New Rule: Now that liberals have...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/new-rule-now-that-liberals-have-taken-back-the-word-liberal-they-also/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/new-rule-now-that-liberals-have-taken-back-the-word-liberal-they-also/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```