Getbig Main Boards > Politics and Political Issues Board
Bill Maher: Better If Cheney Is Dead
Dos Equis:
I guess it's important to keep in mind that this guy is a comedian.
Sunday, March 4, 2007 9:21 p.m. EST
Bill Maher: Better If Cheney Is Dead
Bill Maher has stirred outrage once again, this time saying it would be better if Vice President Dick Cheney was dead.
On his HBO show "Real Time," Maher and his guests were discussing the assassination attempt on Cheney last week, and the fact that the Huffington Post web site removed comments regarding readers' disappointment that Cheney had not been killed.
According to NewsBusters.org, the conversation went like this:
Maher: What about the people who got onto the Huffington Post – and these weren’t even the bloggers, these were just the comments section – who said they, they expressed regret that the attack on Dick Cheney failed.
Joe Scarborough: Right.
Maher: Now…
John Ridley: More than regret.
Maher: Well, what did they say?
Ridley: They said "We wish he would die.” I mean, it was hate language.
Barney Frank: They said the bomb was wasted. (laughter and applause)
Maher: That’s a funny joke. But, seriously, if this isn’t China, shouldn’t you be able to say that? Why did Arianna Huffington, my girlfriend, I love her, but why did she take that off right away?
Later, the panelists continued the discussion:
Ridley: It’s one thing to say you hate Dick Cheney, which applies to his politics. It’s another thing to say, "I’m sorry he didn’t die in an explosion." And I think, you know…
Maher: But you should be able to say it. And by the way...
Frank: Excuse me, Bill, but can I ask you a question? Do you decide what the topics are for this show?
Maher: Yeah, I decide the topics, they don’t go there.
Frank: But you exercise control over the show the way that she does over her blog.
Maher: But I have zero doubt that if Dick Cheney was not in power, people wouldn’t be dying needlessly tomorrow. (applause)
Scarborough: If someone on this panel said that they wished that Dick Cheney had been blown up, and you didn’t say…
Frank: I think he did.
Scarborough: Okay. Did you say…
Maher: No, no. I quoted that.
Frank: You don’t believe that?
Maher: I’m just saying if he did die, other people, more people would live. That’s a fact.
Despite Maher's outrageous comments, few in the media picked up the story -- although Ann Coulter's comment use of a gay slur in reference to former Sen. John Edwards received widespread attention.
Maher got in trouble once before with his televised comments. After the 9/11 attacks, Maher said on his ABC show "Politically Incorrect" that the hijackers were "warriors" and not "cowards."
Within months the show was canceled.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2007/3/4/213100.shtml?s=lh
ToxicAvenger:
bravo..!
i'll stand side by side with the guy calling me sand ni gger and fight for his right for freedom of speech..
ribonucleic:
I like Bill and I agree with him about most things. [His favorable comparison of the physical courage of the 9/11 hijackers relative to our Air Force bomber pilots, for example.] But to think that Cheney being assassinated would save lives is foolishly naive. If anything, it would provide an excuse for more killing.
That said: there are a lot of people - myself included, of course - who would not only feel no sadness, but would take a malicious satisfaction in seeing Cheney made a victim of the geopolitical terror through which he has already helped to murder hundreds of thousands of people. Poetic justice is all too rare in this world.
However, it does not ennoble us spiritually - let alone advance our cause - to endorse such base feelings or make use of our First Amendment protections to advertise them. And the boundary between "I'm not sorry he's dead" and "I'll be happy if he dies" is a dangerously nebulous one. So this is an occasion where I wish Bill had found a more constructive way to express his justified contempt.
Dos Equis:
--- Quote from: ribonucleic on March 05, 2007, 08:07:32 AM ---I like Bill and I agree with him about most things. [His favorable comparison of the physical courage of the 9/11 hijackers relative to our Air Force bomber pilots, for example.] But to think that Cheney being assassinated would save lives is foolishly naive. If anything, it would provide an excuse for more killing.
That said: there are a lot of people - myself included, of course - who would not only feel no sadness, but would take a malicious satisfaction in seeing Cheney made a victim of the geopolitical terror through which he has already helped to murder hundreds of thousands of people. Poetic justice is all too rare in this world.
However, it does not ennoble us spiritually - let alone advance our cause - to endorse such base feelings or make use of our First Amendment protections to advertise them. And the boundary between "I'm not sorry he's dead" and "I'll be happy if he dies" is a dangerously nebulous one. So this is an occasion where I wish Bill had found a more constructive way to express his justified contempt.
--- End quote ---
Ah so you do have limits. :)
Cavalier22:
9/11 hijackers had nothing to lose but everything to gain (72 virgins, etc)
if i believed that i would have no problem blowing myself up
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
Go to full version