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Posted on 09/22/2001 9:01:35 PM PDT by quimby

Bill Maher, host of ABC’s very politically correct Politically Incorrect, once again went over the line on this post-Nightline show in hurling derogatory insults. He denounced President Bush as a "lying bag of manure after what he did today with the Kyoto protocol," before adding: "I mean, he never ceases to disappoint me in what a lying sack of [bleep] he is." Though bleeped by ABC, any viewer could easily tell the bleeped word was "shit."

Prompted by an e-mailed tip, MRC analyst Jessica Anderson found how Maher opened the Thursday night, March 29, program:

Maher: "Well, listen, I certainly had planned to talk about the Internet, and I want to do that, however, a brief apology. Last week I called George Bush a bad name. I compared him to a bag of manure -- I did. I said the only difference between George Bush and a bag of manure is the bag."

Bill Engvall, comedian: "I’m still trying to figure out what the bad name was."

Maher: "I’m sorry, I should have said that he’s a lying bag of manure after what he did today with the Kyoto protocol and global warming. This guy, okay, we don’t have to talk about it, but I just had to get it off my chest. I mean, he never ceases to disappoint me in what a lying sack of [bleep] shit he is."

Steven Weber, star of the NBC sit-com The Weber Show: "But during the election, what was your -- my favorite name for him was one that you coined, which was Drinky McDumb Ass."
Maher:: "Thank you very much."
Weber: "It was fantastic."
Maher: "Drinking McDumb Ass, yes, alright."
Engvall: "Feel better now?"
Maher: "I do. I got that off my chest -- while I can still breathe."

Sounds like he’s a "Bush hater." Will we soon be hearing journalists dismiss such attacks on Bush as coming from "Bush haters" as they tried to undermine the credibility of Clinton’s opponents by tagging them as "Clinton haters"?

Maher’s disdain for Bush hasn’t been contained to his ABC forum. MRC accountant Cheryl Michener, who serves as our celebrity magazine analyst, noticed that a March 19 People magazine "Chatter" column asked Maher and several others to name the "luxury item" they’d take with them if they were one of the contestants on CBS’s Survivor. Maher’s reply: "A calendar, so I’d know when the Bush administration is over and it’s safe to come back."

Thursday’s Politically Incorrect wasn’t the first time Maher had abused his position and gone over the line. Back on November 30 he told this "joke" about murdering someone he dislikes:

"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."

To watch a video clip of Maher telling it, go to: http://www.mrc.org/news/reality/2000/Fax20001201qt.html

A few months later Maher boasted that he was "proud" of that "joke" since it "hurt" Katherine Harris. The February 8 CyberAlert reported:

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 [February 2]. Wolf Blitzer asked Maher [on Wolf Blitzer Reports]: "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."
Blitzer: "What was that joke?"
Maher: "Well, it was something to do with when that Ryder truck, remember, was going up the highway to Tallahassee, and it was like the slow speed chase that we watched a few years ago with you-know-who."
Blitzer: "With O.J."
Maher: "Yeah. And it was something along the lines of hoping O.J. was gonna kill her."
Blitzer: "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."

END CyberAlert Excerpt

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