Bill Maher On Mitt Romney & Bain Capital: "This Is The Same Thing That Makes Guys Like Tony Robbins Rich"

What a nest of vipers we live under. ("Under" being the operative word.) Or is it a "hive," as Arthur Brisbane, the outgoing public editor of the New York Times called it?

Snakes out to bite us, bees out to sting us, it's just so hard to tell anymore. 

Whatever it is, naturally, when Bill Maher made the statement that's become the title of this post, he probably didn't know Oprah Winfrey - the woman who brought us Barack Obama and promotes Tony Robbins - also parks her money with Mitt Romney's Mormon-owned Bain Capital, but it figures, doesn't it?

As Oprah privately (yet famously, thanks to publisher Nan Talese) told author James Frey after dishonestly grilling him on her show about (what else?) honesty:

"It's just business."

Yep, business, that's all it is.

Along with a few healthy doses of hypocrisy, and deception, and lying:

Winfrey was mentioned at a recent national cult conference in Connecticut, according to Philadelphia-area expert David Clark. A former Bible-based cult member who later worked as an exit counselor, Clark said attendees recommended Winfrey get cult-awareness training so she would be attuned to how people can be brainwashed.  

"My main concern is Oprah's long history with New Age people," Clark said.  

Clark remembers Winfrey criticizing brainwashing early in her TV career. Since then, he said, she's been associated with New Age spirituality gurus whose messages and tactics have some cult-like qualities.  

Guests who have appeared on Oprah to promote mystical philosophies include Gary Zukav, who offers "spiritual guidance," and self-proclaimed "lifestyle-makeover expert" Cheryl Richardson. Winfrey has also been aligned with New Age-religion author Marianne Williamson and celebrities who promote similar beliefs, such as actress Shirley MacLaine and spiritualist Deepak Chopra.   

"She definitely has a New Age cocoon of sorts," Szimhart said of Winfrey. 

So now, after nests and hives, we have a cocoon. Well.

Call cultism what you will, but - the more I look into it - the more incestuous it is, the more deadly, and - now with TWO presidents wrapped up in it - it just keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger,...