Bill Valliere

Generally I enjoy Real Time and Bill Maher's take on all things political, even when I don't agree with him. However, I just had an opportunity to watch the show which started with Ron DeSantis (ugh!!). The panel discussion portion of the show started by complaining about California Governor Newsom's decision to appoint a black woman to serve the remainder of the late Sen. Diane Feinstein's term in the U.S. Senate.The crux of Mr. Maher's arguement (and his guest panelist's as well) was that Newsom was somehow fixing a problem that no longer exists (black under representation). While I agree with Mr. Maher and his panelists that black representation in a wide variety of jobs in this country has come a long way, I feel that I must point out that Laphonza Butler will be the third black woman to serve in the U.S. Senate....ever, and will be the only black woman currently serving in the U.S. Senate. Meanwhile, the percentage of black women in the U.S. population is 7.7%. To argue that we no longer have a problem with representation in our government is at the very least, problematic. I think Mr. Maher can do better.