By Bill Maher

Remember back in the 2008 campaign, when Obama was caught on a recording talking about working-class voters in old industrial towns decimated by job losses, and said:

"They get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

The right wing went nuts. How elitist. How demeaning. How out of touch. Even Hillary Clinton called it “elitist”, “demeaning”, and “out of touch.” And of course, Obama later apologized, saying: “If I worded things in a way that made people offended, I deeply regret that.”

Well, at this very moment, Republicans in Tennessee are pushing a bill to make the Bible the official state book. It had already passed the House last year and was approved by the Senate last week. This comes just weeks after voting to make the M82 sniper rifle the official state rifle. Those are the issues they’re focused on: guns and Bibles. And not even a policy issue about guns or religion, mind you. They just want to affirm that “We like guns” and “We like Jesus.”

We used to have a thing on my old show called “Rude, But True.” And you could call what Obama said “rude.” You can even call it “elitist” or “demeaning,” if you like. But isn’t it also true? And is this not part of the problem with today’s Republican Party – that they focus on symbols of their identity rather than what government actually does?