Now this is not a show for the feint of heart. On this program, Mr. Belzer attacked Mother Theresa and host Maher joined in the mockery. Maher also suggested that President Bush had an addictive personality and had substituted his addiction to alcohol for an addiction to Christ.
Mr. Maher has been in the news quite a bit in recent months. First he made an outrageous remark disparaging the dignity and humanity of retarded people. Then he likened Catholic communion to pagan cannibalism and blood drinking. You'd think these kinds of comments would put him on the fast-track to early retirement. Instead, he continues to enjoy a comfortable and secure position as a popular ABC-TV talk show host.
So what's Maher's secret? How is he able to avoid going by way of Al Campanis or Jimmy-the-Greek? I attribute his staying power to his ability to hoodwink the public into believing that he actually holds “politically incorrect” views, when in fact his opinions march in almost perfect lock-step with those of his Hollywood and Big Media patrons. Campanis and The Greek — now those guys were politically incorrect! But Maher? He's just another spoiled Hollywood liberal who's carved out a clever niche for himself by operating undercover. Kind of a Bill O'Reilly of the Left.
During Tuesday’s Politically Incorrect Maher displayed a predictable lack of respect for Ronald Reagan on the occasion of the former president's 90th birthday. He declared that “the Cold War was so much more won by Harry Truman at the beginning and Gorbachev at the end than Ronald Reagan.” Reagan simply talked while Clinton took action, Maher claimed, asserting that “it was Bill Clinton who actually did” eliminate deficits and welfare.
Slamming Reagan and lavishing undeserved credit on Clinton — now there's some daring commentary!
On the same show, socialist gadfly Michael Moore — a man who has hosted prime time shows on NBC, Fox and Bravo, by the way — spewed: “He gave weapons to the Ayatollah, so that he could raise money for the Contras, which then helped bring a crack epidemic into the United States. That’s what Ronald Reagan did and that’s his legacy!”
While setting up the segment on Reagan’s legacy Maher said the following:
“Let’s talk about Ronald Reagan. It is his 90th birthday today and this is a big event for Washington DC. And of course, the ex-President did some good things, but you know, to me, a lot of Republicans have two blind spots: their hatred of Bill Clinton and their deification of Ronald Reagan. You know, when it comes to Ronald Reagan, they’re like the doting parents of an eight-year-old — everything he does is remarkable!”
After an anti-Reagan tirade by the utterly predictable and always fashionably “correct” Moore, Maher returned to his original theme: “You know, usually we wait until someone is long gone, so history can make a judgment, before they want to put him on Mount Rushmore, on a coin, on a license plate. In other words, Ronald Reagan should jump ahead of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln onto the license plate….But you know what, as I said, I mean, to give credit to Reagan for ending the Cold War because he was there at the end, when it was really the Berlin Airlift, the Marshall Plan, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Gorbachev….But when it came to things he just talked about, like eliminating the deficits and eliminating welfare, it was Bill Clinton who actually did those things.”
Controversial stuff. If I didn't know better, I'd think this guy was Lenny Bruce come back to haunt us!
Here's one final example of Maher's brand of cutting edge, “politically incorrect” humor.
The joke in question occurred on the November 30 Politically Incorrect on ABC. Maher’s line in full: “Now earlier today, a rental truck carried a half a million ballots from Palm Beach to the Florida Supreme Court there in Tallahassee. CNN had live helicopter coverage from the truck making its way up the Florida highway, and for a few brief moments, America held the hope that O.J. Simpson had murdered Katherine Harris.”
During a January 11 Prime Time Thursday interview, Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris told ABC’s Diane Sawyer: “Perhaps the most difficult moment was when one person said they were disappointed the Ryder truck, that everyone was watching on TV, that O.J. Simpson hadn’t murdered me, or something like that.” Sawyer then played a partial clip of Maher’s joke: “And for a few brief moments, America held the hope that O.J. Simpson had murdered Katherine Harris.” Harris commented: “That was not pleasant.”
Now to CNN last Friday night. Wolf Blitzer asked Maher: “Is it ever, do you ever go too far in your jokes on Politically Incorrect and you say to yourself: 'Well, maybe I pushed the envelop a little bit too much?'”
Maher replied: “Yes. But, you know, that's what being on the edge means. Unless you fall off a little once in a while, how do you know where the edge is? I don't know if you're referring to, I saw Katherine Harris on some, I think it was an ABC show a couple of weeks ago, complaining that what hurt her most about the whole ordeal that she went through — never mind that most of it was self-inflicted — was a joke that we did here. And I must say I was proud.”
After reviewing the joke with Maher, Blitzer said: “Oh, well, that sounds pretty rough.”
Maher: “Well, Wolf, if you'd like me to come over there and hold your hand, I can. You'll get over it.”
Seems to me it’s funny-man Maher who can’t get over George W. Bush’s victory.
Earlier, Maher admitted voting for Ralph Nader. Blitzer queried: “You know, for those of us who watch your program regularly, you obviously come across with sort of a tendency towards being a liberal. I don't know if you voted for Ralph Nader or didn't vote for Ralph Nader, but—”
Maher: “I did.”
Blitzer: “—but the word is that you did, obviously. Was that a mistake now that you've seen of the people who are going to be in the Cabinet? I'm sure that Ralph Nader is not happy that Gale Norton is going to be the Interior Secretary, John Ashcroft the Attorney General.”
Maher: “Yeah, well, that's the party line. First of all, you know, I would object to being called a liberal. I'm a Libertarian. That's a little different. And I know Ralph Nader isn't. The point was to vote for someone who didn't make me cringe. And I felt like I accomplished that. Is the Bush Cabinet environmentally unsound? Yes.”
Oh, so he's a Libertarian. Once again, an eminently safe choice.
Make no mistake about it, America. Whatever he claims to be, Bill Maher is as politically correct as they come.
(If you wish to email ABC-TV with your comments about Mr. Maher and his program click here.)
(This article was prepared using research obtained from the Media Research Center.)
