Bette Midler has always been a hero of mine. 

No, that's a lie, but it might get your attention. The only time I think of Bette Midler is when she says something mind-bogglingly stupid and is applauded by the clapping seals who adore her. It's not much that Midler is an idiot that annoys me; it's that so many people take her seriously. 

It's as culturally significant as the fact that The View is the most popular talk show on daytime TV. Finding four idiots to mouth off is the easiest task in the world; that millions of AWFLs to watch them is profoundly troubling. 

Midler's latest stroke of genius is her slap at Trump and supporters being "election deniers." In her failed attempt at whataboutism she asks:

You mean like this?pic.twitter.com/LQidIWC347

— IT Guy (@ITGuy1959) May 21, 2024

"Can you imagine what would have happened if Hillary Clinton had claimed the election was stolen?"

From this, we are supposed to extrapolate how unAmerican it is to question election results and are to become enraged at the double standard from which Trump is benefiting. 

Except, of course, the Democrats have spent nearly a decade denying the legitimacy of Trump's election. As they did in the Georgia governor's race in 2018 and, of course, famously, both electoral victories of George W. Bush. 

Democrats concede elections as often as they forego tax cuts, praise police, or refrain from bombing a third-world country. It happens, but if you expect it, you will likely be disappointed. 

Here are 24 STRAIGHT MINUTES of Democrats denying election resultspic.twitter.com/gDnNqfruWD

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 2, 2023

On one level, you have to admire both their consistency and persistence in undermining democracy. There are few things they won't do to seize and maintain power, although they have yet to assassinate Republican politicians. They are restricting themselves to bankrupting, jailing, and silencing them online. 

See New York City today, where the former President of the United States is sitting in a kangaroo court defending a case that even CNN thinks is a cruel joke. 

With Midler, you have to assume that she has no sense of irony when posting online about how oppressed Democrats are. Her manifest idiocy excuses her in my eyes. Making fun of someone so stupid and ill-informed is almost lame and even perhaps cruel. 

Yet that can't be true of all her fans and the AWFLs who see her as a political guide. For some reason, Hollywood icons have sway with a certain slice of the population who vote. AWFLs can vote, which makes you wonder about universal suffrage. 

Midler's ruminations on how Clinton would be eviscerated if she ever questioned an election is particularly dumb, given that she regularly warns that Republicans are getting ready to steal elections. It's like denying elections is her job, and applauding her accusations is the mainstream media's. 

Can someone please explain this to me:

Why is it okay for Hillary Clinton to accuse Republicans of planning to steal an election, while the Democrats' main critique of Republicans these days is their "stolen election" rhetoric? pic.twitter.com/mkipGAfxfO

— Michelle Tandler (@michelletandler) October 26, 2022

The period from 2016 through 2020 was one neverending string of "the election was stolen" propaganda. It wasn't until Trump made the claim, which is far more credible given how the media and Democrats went all-in on censorship and manipulating election laws, sometimes illegally. 

Liberals believe in the power of words to shape reality, and for them I think that is true. For those of us who live in the real world they look nuts.