By Bill Maher

Only in a world where the word “intellectual” is attached to Paul Ryan can the media try and convince us that Bannon is some sort of genius. This is a man who’s world view is shaped by a book called “The Fourth Turning,” which seems to be the book assholes turn to after they’ve plowed through all of Ayn Rand and still can’t get laid.

“The Fourth Turning’s” thesis is that history unfolds in 80-year cycles, or “turnings,” (oooh, they coined a term!) and we’re due for another big one, which Bannon interprets as meaning a war bigger than World War II. But that’s not what the authors of The Fourth Turning meant, and even if it was, so what? It’s just some stupid book that Amazon sells in the category of “Divination,” along with tarot cards and “The Definitive Guide to Crystals.”

Neither of the co-authors of “The Fourth Turning” is a historian; in fact one of them, William Strauss, is best known as founder of the Capitol Steps, the political song-parody group, available for your conference or bar mitzvah. Sadly Strauss is dead now, but most of his work wasn’t in the field of Divination, it was writing songs like “Osama Sin Laden” and “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Korea?”