How did [birtherism] grow to the point where half of Republican primary voters believed it? It wasn’t just the silence of Republican leaders, it was the failure of people like Tom Brokaw to just dismiss it as racism from the beginning,” Maher wrote.

“People like him are always championing ‘balance’ over objectivity,” he continued. “They have to bring everything back to a discussion about how ‘both sides’ are guilty, instead of doing his job as a referee. If every single journalist just simply labeled birtherism what it obviously is — racism — the cancer wouldn’t have infected half the party. Maybe 25% or so, but most would be like, ‘Okay, this isn’t socially respectable.’”

“Every journalist knows [birtherism] comes from a racist place, so why can’t they all be as no-bullshit about it as Chris Matthews?” Maher wrote.