by Brent Baker
When Larry King suggested to Bill Maher on Friday night
that Americans “try to do good, don't we? I mean we're basically
good,” the former host of ABC's Politically Incorrect rejected the
notion: “No. Not for the rest of the world.” Maher proceeded to
charge: “Iraqis, I think, feel that if we drove smaller cars,
maybe we wouldn't have to kill them for their oil because
certainly the first Gulf War was about cheap gas.”
On the November 1 Larry King Live on CNN Maher espoused the
now standard left-wing view that President Bush is only pursuing
Iraq in order to distract attention from the economy. Maher also
said “I never understand middle class people cheering when George
Bush talks about tax cuts” since “it's politicians like him who
fought campaign finance reform. That's the reason why business has
not been held to the highest ethical standards” and thus caused
massive stock market losses.
Maher appeared in order to plug his new picture book of
posters he'd like to see exhorting the public to do what he wants
in the aftermath of terrorism, take-offs of actual World War II
posters, “When You Ride Alone, You Ride With Bin Laden: What the
Government Should Be Telling Us to Help Fight the War on
Terrorism.” Naturally, the posters focus on things like buying a
hybrid car.
The three most interesting exchanges:
• Maher: “As I said to my friend Mr. Leno the other night,
when he was pilfering me about it — I said, you know, Iraq is a
case of herpes that is now suddenly being treated like it was
cancer. I don't think in the last 12 years it became cancer. It
was a disease we were containing. And it smells awfully funny that
just after an election issue is needed — you know, the Bushes,
excuse me, are very good at creating an issue when an election
comes around. You remember the American flag issue, the pledge,
that nonsense that George Bush won on in 1988? OK, so three months
ago the issue was going to be the fact in the last two and a half
years the American economy has lost $8 trillion of wealth, which
is going to run into real money, Larry.”
King: “Keep counting up.”
Maher: “And suddenly that issue got thrown away because —
because we're going to get mustard gassed by Satan.”
• “I never understand middle class people cheering when
George Bush talks about tax cuts and how it's your money. But
they're not going to really see much of their money. It's also
their money that's been lost in the stock market. And the reason
why that stock market money was lost was because somebody was not
watching over the thieves. When George Bush says we're going to
hold business to the highest ethical standards, well, it's
politicians like him who fought campaign finance reform. That's
the reason why business has not been held to the highest ethical
standards. He's championing people like Harvey Pitt and William
Webster. So he talks a good game about it, but really, as I say,
they work on two tracks. Here's what we're going to do, here's
what we're going to sell them.”
• King: “Why do so many countries hate us? And you write
about that.”
Maher: “Yes. There's a few posters that have that theme
because I think it's important. Because I think-”
King: “We try to do good, don't we? I mean we're basically
good.”
Maher: “No. Not for the rest of the world. We take pride in
being big charity givers. We're in fact dead last among the
industrialized nations. We give an infinitesimal amount of our
money to people around the world. I think what people around the
world would say is it would take so little for this rich country
to help and alleviate so much misery and even that is too much for
them. We're oblivious to suffering.”
King: “And so we are hated because of this?”
Maher: “Yes, I think so. Iraqis, I think, feel that if we
drove smaller cars, maybe we wouldn't have to kill them for their
oil because certainly the first Gulf War was about cheap gas.
There's no doubt about that in my mind. It was about keeping gas
under $2 a gallon. So I understand why that would make people feel
like this is a country that doesn't care.”
And a country I hope that isn't upset that ABC is no longer
providing a broadcast network forum for Maher to spew his venom.
(This update courtesy of the Media Research Center.)
