My headline’s a lie. But *gasp* can you imagine?

Bill Maher uttered a female vulgarism when referring to former Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin on his HBO show Friday night.

“Did you hear this – Sarah Palin finally heard what happened in Japan and she’s demanding that we invade ‘Tsunami,’” Maher said. “I mean she said, ‘These ‘Tsunamians’ will not get away with this.’ Oh speaking of dumb tw**s, did you…”

Maher was offering an imagined Palin response in an apparent attempt at humor, as Palin had made no such statement.

The National Organization for Women (NOW) refused to comment on Maher’s use of the derogatory term. A rep told FOXNews.com it is a “known fact” that NOW does not correspond with FOX News.

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If you remember, during last Saturday’s “Real Time,” Bill Maher interviewed Representative Keith Ellison, one of two practicing Muslims in the U.S. Congress, but the only one to cry like a little girl during Rep. Peter King’s hearings on radical Islam last week. During the interview, Maher labelled the Koran a “hate-filled holy book,” made clear that a “vast, vast majority” of Muslims are not the problem and then asked Ellison:

Have you read Sam Harris’s book, The End of Faith?… [Harris] says, “On almost every page, the Koran instructs observant Muslims to despise non-believers.”

The Congressman responded with incredulity, calling the claim “absurd, ridiculous, and untrue” and insinuated the translation was wrong and that things were being taken out of context. Yesterday, Project Reason CEO Sam Harris (the same Sam Harris Maher quoted, who’s also an atheist and no fan of Christianity) responded with a lengthy article quoting directly from the Koran, which says in part:

When Maher asked how jihadists can justify their actions by reading these same passages in context, Ellison claimed that jihadists do nothing of the sort. Rather, they think in terms of “political grievances,” not religious doctrine, and those who oppose them have the true doctrine of Islam on their side.

It is not my purpose to defend the House hearing on American Muslims (which I did not get a chance to watch). But it is growing increasingly disconcerting to see moderate Muslims reflexively lie about the tenets of their faith. Of course, it’s hard to know whether Ellison was actually lying or is merely unaware of the contents of the Qur’an. But I have witnessed too many of these exchanges with Muslim apologists, both in public and private, to ignore the general trend. Who will reform Islam if moderate Muslims refuse to speak honestly about the very doctrines in need of reform?

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A commenter on our TV branch nails it:

Call me crazy but didn’t Ellison lay out exactly why we are having these radicalized Islam [hearings by Rep. Peter] King right now? ‘To weed out those who misuse the words of the Koran for political reasons…?’ Ellison should be supporting King not crying like a baby to undermine what King is doing.

Wish I’d said that, and how nice to once again see Bill Maher stand up for Western Civilization and take the truthful, non-PC stand that radical Islam is in fact a unique and dangerous threat to our country and the world. Maher loathes all religions (and isn’t a fan of King’s hearings), but unlike most of his liberal counterparts who aren’t as upfront about their loathing of Christianity, Maher’s at least willing to admit that comparing Islamists to militias, the KKK and those who shoot abortion doctor makes little sense. Not all evils are equal, and certainly not equal threats. As far as I know, Maher is the ONLY guy in the entertainment world willing to speak this truth and he deserves credit for doing so.

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First off, Tavis Smiley is obviously a dishonest and immoral moral relativist and Bill Maher is exactly right in smacking him down with this epic piece of wisdom: “When you tolerate intolerance, you’re not really being a liberal.”

Listen, I know Maher can be intellectually dishonest and unfair and vulgar and that his evangelical crusade to spread his disbelief in God makes an airport Moonie look like the picture of restraint. However, unlike Jon Stewart, Bill Maher does not hide behind a clown nose, he comes to wage political war and says so. You never hear Maher say, “Hey, I’m a satirist, don’t hold me accountable.” Unlike Jon Stewart, Bill Maher also doesn’t try to dictate the how the rest of us speak. While I can certainly see Maher holding a rally to mock Glenn Beck, I cannot see it ending with a sanctimonious speech in favor of political speech rules.

Now to the point:

Finally, can you imagine the same Jon Stewart who considers the most tolerant country in the history of world Islamophobic, standing up to Tavis Smiley in this way? Can you imagine Jon Stewart having the sand to speak the politically incorrect truth about the treatment of women throughout much of the Muslim world? I rarely agree with Maher, sometimes I don’t like him very much, but I know where he stands because he’s man enough to fly his partisan flag and carries no clown nose. Most of all, he’s willing to say out loud that it’s a contradiction to believe in human rights while denigrating Western Civilization. That’s worth something to me, whereas I see Mr. SmugFaceClownNoseSuperiorSpeechPolicer for exactly what he is.
Below is not a full transcript, it’s pull quotes courtesy of our friends over at NewsBusters. Be sure to read Noel Sheppard’s full write up:

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Rep. Anthony Weiner and Bill Maher are both, obviously, looking down the road towards the inevitable ObamaCare fight in the Supreme Court and desperately hoping to craft some sort of conflict of interest narrative that might remove Justice Clarence Thomas – a likely vote for overturning that pile of steaming socialism – from the case. The Wall Street Journal’s John Fund not only destroys that desperate talking point with inconvenient facts about a judge on the notorious Ninth Circuit, but in a beautiful act of intellectual judo, he effectively throws down the feminist card … twice. 

Argue with that, Lefties!

I must say that with all the personal vitriol and venom we’ve seen directed towards conservative women and Blacks lately, it was impressive to see (outside of a couple of harmless jokes) a substance-based debate surrounding Mr. and Mrs. Thomas. Maher can talk about Glenn Beck’s behavior all he wants, but all of America knows that the only person melting down on cable right now is Chris Matthews. One can only imagine the spectacle that spittle-flecked ball of Bachmann rage would’ve made of himself had he been on the “Real Time” panel last night. Just hearing the names Clarence and Ginni Thomas would’ve likely split his skull wide open as he screamed “APOSTATE!”  Thankfully, Matthews wasn’t there, though, and this ended up being a pretty good discussion.  

It’s also worth noting that on the very same evening Maher declared an end to Palin’s political ascent, she was giving the speech of her life.

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Do you know how they catch monkeys in Taiwan (and parts of India)?  A trap is set with a banana. The monkey saunters on by, reaches into said trap, and grabs the banana. The monkey – now with his fist clenched around the banana – can no longer remove his hand. At any point, he could opt to let go of the banana and run free, but instead he is trapped.  Hilarious isn’t it?

Bill Maher is that monkey.

See, Bill Maher’s a smart guy. None of us can deny that. A nuisance at worst, a more than worthy adversary at best, Bill Maher is the kind of intellectual whose worst enemy is his own pride. Smart people generally don’t make intellectual miscalculations; they make careless errors.  Sometimes, a mistruth is so often repeated in society that even smart folk like Maher accept it as fact. A good example would be Bill Maher’s constant claim that the Bible encourages slavery and the founding fathers were anti-Christian.

Firstly, Bill would be right to say that the founding fathers were anti-religion.  One could say the same thing about most pastors heading churches throughout the United States today. A disdain for man-made religion does not equal a hate for personal faith in God.  (more…)

In the post just  below this one you’ll see Bill Maher on the “Tonight Show” last night wringing his hands over the age old practice of using combat metaphors in the arena of politics. And yet, this comes from a man who just three years ago was not using a metaphor while discussing the benefits of a sitting Vice President’s death.

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The overall context is even worse.  The conversation surrounds an assassination attempt on Cheney.

I’m just saying if [Cheney] did die, other people, more people would live. That’s a fact. [full transcript below the fold]

This is the mistake guys like Maher make when they start complaining about the speech of others, especially when you’ve personally said something on national television about how much better the world would be if the Vice President were dead. The bipartisan use of crosshairs on a map doesn’t even begin to compare to that, nor do jokes about your opponent being afraid to leave the house. Maher isn’t using a metaphor here. In front of millions of rabid partisans, he’s painting a picture of how much better the world be if that Cheney guy was dead.

I personally don’t remember Maher saying this and it’s obviously a classless thing to say but if someone had made an attempt on Cheney’s life with a VHS tape of this quote between their teeth, it wouldn’t be Maher’s fault. Though according to his own reasoning, just the opposite is true.

Furthermore, this is the man who probably didn’t have his “Politically Incorrect” contract renewed at ABC for making a controversial statement about the “bravery” of the 9/11 attackers just days after the attack. Many on the right, including Rush Limbaugh, stood up for him and yet here he is on the “Tonight Show” justifying ABC’s decision to fire him because he has just devolved into a being who now sounds like Ari Fleisher reminding us to ”watch what we say” — something Fleischer said when asked about Maher’s 9/11 comments.

Are these this week’s New Rules, Bill?

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Bill Maher looks to be the final holdout in the Blame Republicans For The Arizona Shootings Bunker. The best proof that he’s now pretty much alone is that given the benefit of witnessing the backlash and not being on the air Saturday, yesterday both “The View” and Jon Stewart figured out it wasn’t a good idea to go there and in fact went in the complete opposite direction of their cohorts on the Left, taking the obviously correct position that political rhetoric, metaphors, and obscure maps don’t kill people.

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If you watch the video above, however, you’ll see that Maher apparently used his three three days to figure out a different tactic that he thinks allows him to blame the right (though not “directly,” he claims) and to keep the meme alive a little longer. It’s the age-old tactic of desperation we call ”moving the goalposts.”

In order to avoid having to explain the extreme vitriol we’ve seen on the left for over a decade now, Maher’s now declared that anyone responsible for violent and over-the top rhetoric who isn’t an elected official, simply isn’t worth talking about.  He dismisses them as “nuts” who are unworthy of discussion and not part of the problem. Of course, in order to move the goalposts of the debate where he needs them, Maher is pretty much labeling MoveOn, MSNBC, the Hollywood left, and his pal Markos Moulitsas as “nuts,” but if it allows more smearing of conservatives, it’s doubtful they’ll mind. (more…)

HBO’s Bill Maher is known for being outrageous. And usually, his outrageousness is directed at things most Americans would place under the heading of “Traditional Values.” For this reason, a large swath of our population long ago chalked Maher up as a liberal ideologue and went on about their business.

However, it now seems that at times Maher wants to be taken seriously as a sane, social critic, and sometimes he actually has something interesting  to say, as when he recently spoke out against Islam’s continued encroachment into the Western world. Maher worries about Islam’s spread because he believes Western values are “better” than Islamic ones. And when given every chance to retract or recant such statements, Maher instead insists that the correctness of his statement is proven by the fact that Christians and Jews laugh off criticism of their religions, while Muslims make “death threats to cartoonists.”

But there’s an inconsistency in Maher’s social criticism, and it lies in the fact that he appears too ideological to allow himself to fully follow his own maxims or embrace his own truisms. For instance, after fighting off accusations of racism (for his comments about Islam), Maher told his detractors: “It’s not because of [their] race, it’s because of [their] religion.” Is this not something Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, and dare I say Juan Williams, have all said as well?

This is a well reasoned, succinct, and demonstrable point of view.

But after saying it, Maher was so bothered by the impact the Tea Party had on the 2010 midterm elections that he turned around and compared Americans to dogs: arguing that they “cannot understand actual words,” but instead only understand “fear.” (Here Maher makes the same mistake that Sheryl Crow made when she lashed out at Tea Partiers by saying: “These people…really don’t even know what the issues are, they’re just swept up in the fear of it and the anger of it.”)

First of all, I would argue that the Tea Party was not driven by fear as much as by principles (although the argument could be made that they did fear further damage to this country by Democrats if Republicans didn’t win in 2010). (more…)

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Transcript courtesy of Mediaite:

And when I say Westerner, I mean someone who believes in the values that Western people believe in that a lot of the Muslim world does not. Like separation of church and state. Like equality of the sexes. Like respect for minorities, free elections, free speech, freedom to gather. These things are not just different from cultures that don’t have them. … It’s better. … I would like to keep those values here.

We’re not sure anyone but Bill Maher could get away with telling these truths without losing their job due to a Soros-funded jihad launched by those blacklisters over at Media Matters. That’s what they did to Juan Williams, and we are curious as to why Eric Boehlert and the rest of his lotion boys have been so quiet over this.

Not to mention CAIR.

And what about Jon –meet my fatwa-loving pal Cat Stevens but can’t we all just get along — Stewart?

We don’t want to encourage any attacks on Maher, but consider this Exhibit 11,412 in the open and shut case proving their stunning but always predictable lack of principle.

While Jon Stewart puts on his safely PC Detached Irony Mock-Fest a little later today, keep this unexpected moment from last night’s Real Time with Bill Maher in mind. After noting that Mohammed is now the most popular name for newborns in Britain, Bill Maher stopped his panel and audience cold by asking, “Am I racist to feel alarmed by that? Because I am. And it’s not because of the race, it’s because of the religion. I don’t have to apologize, do I, for not wanting the Western world to be taken over by Islam in 300 years?”

Cut to: Awkward.

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This clip is an excellent representation of how insidious political correctness has become, we can’t even stand up for own culture anymore without a few hundred people acting as though Bill Maher just lit a cross on fire. Multiculturalism is now the highest value on the Left — the tolerating of intolerance in the name of racial sensitivity – which is why the slow creep of Sharia Law has gained a foothold in the Western world. A couple weeks ago, on the air, Maher scolded Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas over the title of his book “American Taliban,” by saying in effect, “I love you Markos, but we are not the Taliban.”

Maher’s wrong about most everything but he’s obviously right on this, and this is the fight of our time, no? Maher is also smart enough to know that this moment of pushing back against the very foundation of liberal orthodoxy would come with the price of temporarily becoming the bad guy, and he did so anyway. He deserves credit for that and so does Margaret Hoover for wanting to have a discussion. But shame on Lawrence O’Donnell, Reihan Salam, Zach Galifianakis and the audience — not for disagreeing, but for doing something worse: throwing off a very clear vibe that there was no way in hell this discussion was going to take place. (more…)

Several weeks ago, the “Right Network” premiered with many conservative programs in its lineup. I recently watched  an episode of one of the network’s new shows entitled “Right 2 Laugh.” The stand-up comedy program featured a few strong conservative comics and highlighted the fact that there are so few right-leaning comedians in the mainstream media today.

From Bill Maher to Jon Stewart to David Letterman, the television airwaves are full of comedians with their own programs who lean to the left and love skewing those on the right. Many of these comedians have attracted widespread praise and admiration for their talents. Comedians on the right, however, often haven’t had a television forum to criticize those on the left.

Hopefully, that will change with “Right 2 Laugh.”

Comedian Evan Sayet hosts the new show. At the beginning of the episode I screened, Sayet opened the show with a few jokes and introduced the featured stand-up comics.  (more…)

For an industry peopled by so-called progressive types who love to bash their ideological opposites as racist bigots who want to oppress anyone who doesn’t check the “Caucasian” box on those obnoxious affirmative action questionnaires on employment applications, it sure seems funny that …

…there’s a real possibility that for the first time since the 73rd Oscars 10 years ago, there will be no black nominees in any of the acting categories at the February ceremony. In fact, there are virtually no minorities in any of the major categories among the early lists of awards hopefuls.

What the liberal media might call a “predominantly white” crowd…

I mean, we have the likes of Cher wondering why anyone who isn’t white, rich and Christian would want to be a Republican. Brilliant political mind John Cusack supports the idea of a “Satanic death cult center” outside of Fox News headquarters. Actor John Hamm agreed the Tea Party is a racist institution – on the show hosted by a guy who is upset that President Obama doesn’t act like a “real black president” with a “gun in his pants.” And white comedienne (?) Joy Behar says that only the majority (read: white people) can be racist. Well, I guess as a white chick, she should know. Plus, she studied sociology in college and everything!

Yes, these are the people who believe they set the social narrative in America. And yet…and yet…they don’t seem to live up to their own hype! I mean, here we have what might be the first Oscar night in 10 years with no ethnic minority actors/actresses nominated for an acting award. My goodness, what will George “Smug” Clooney have to say about it?

Actually, considering the high amount of tripe coming out of Hollywood lately, I should think that those excluded from the nominee list would be thrilled by their narrow escape. (more…)

***UPDATE: Commenter Shinsnake says it so much better than I do:  “It’s a matter of democratizing the entertainment industry, not owning it and locking out liberals. Besides, anytime you can put a conservative up against a liberal viewpoint, the conservative is going to win out. It’s just nature. Staying away from these mediums is the very reason this problem even existed. Just entering into the the arena, conservatives have already won.”

Over at Radio Equalizer, Brian Maloney interviews Rush Limbaugh over the criticism surrounding his decision to appear on this Sunday’s episode of “Family Guy,” or as his critics describe it, “that disgusting program.” Below are a couple of snips from the interview, but you’ll want to read the whole thing:

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This is my third Family Guy but first as the star. Seth MacFarlane doesn’t hate me. Or Andrew Breitbart, who he met on Maher’s show and really liked. …

Seth was among the FIRST to reach out to me in Hawaii when I had that heart scare. I am not helping the Hollywood Left. His show is going to be on the air regardless what I do.

BUT, the better way to look at this is that they bent for me. I did not bend to them. It’s not as though I endorse or support libs on this show. The other way around. A huge lib character becomes a conservative.

When a little of this controversy erupted yesterday over why — Rush or no Rush — Big Hollywood was promoting a “Family Guy” episode, I jumped into the fray and wrote: (more…)

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The above video is the after-show “Overtime” segment not shown on HBO. A continuation of the round-table segment with Andrew Breitbart, conservative talk show host Amy Holmes, “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane, Bill Maher, Carl Sagan’s widow Ann Druyan, and Pat Tillman’s brother Richard. 

I attended the taping last night, an interesting experience to say the least, especially the after-party. Remember that scene in “Rocky III” where backstage after the big, brutally violent match between Rocky and Hulk Hogan they all take a nice photo together? It was kind of like that in a bizarre but altogether pleasant way. After all the pre-fight tension and the battle itself, afterwards everyone just wanted to hang out together, have a good time and relax.

Below is one of last night’s highlights, where Andrew finally calls Maher out for his “libertarianism” charade. You get the sense from Maher’s reaction that he might not have known that he’s no longer a libertarian. The look on his face is priceless — a man thinking, “You know what, I may not be what I think I am.” (more…)

REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER CONTINUES ITS EIGHTH SEASON

SEPT. 24, EXCLUSIVELY ON HBO;

ANDREW BREITBART, AMY HOLMES AND SETH MACFARLANE

ARE ROUNDTABLE GUESTS;

ANN DRUYAN AND RICHARD TILLMAN ARE INTERVIEW GUESTS

REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER continues its eighth season FRIDAY, SEPT. 24 (10:00-11:00 p.m. live ET/tape-delayed PT), exclusively on HBO, with an instant replay at 11:00 p.m., following the live presentation.  Allowing Maher to offer his unique perspective on contemporary issues, the show includes an opening monologue, roundtable discussions with panelists, and interviews with in-studio and satellite guests.

The roundtable guests this week are journalist Andrew Breitbart, radio host Amy Holmes and “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane; Ann Druyan, creative director of NASA’s Voyager Interstellar Message Project, and Richard Tillman, brother of Pat Tillman, are interview guests.

Other HBO playdates:  Sept. 26 (1:00 p.m., 2:55 a.m.), 27 (8:00 p.m.) and 29 (11:00 p.m.) (more…)

In a Real Time segment that will shock none of you and disappoint many of you, Mad Men star Jon Hamm suggests the Tea Party has a racist “secret agenda.”  Is there something that happens to you when you become a huge star in Hollywood, the type of star that simultaneously has an Emmy-winning television show and the number one film in America, that makes you unable to understand that Americans are often partial to limited government and Constitutional principles without being a part of some racist vast right-wing conspiracy?

You almost have to thank Maher for asking the question.  If he was a conservative, you’d immediately think he set Hamm up to say something stupid.

Remember when American comedians went after the powerful in an effort to bring them down to earth with the sharp satire of accountability? Today, they appear to only protect the powerful. Well, unless the powerful aren’t liberal enough. As things stand now you have the likes of David Letterman and Louis C.K. savaging Sarah Palin’s family, SNL terrified to rip Obama with any real zeal, cartoonists proclaiming President Teleprompter too cool to mock, and Will Ferrell films flaking for corrupt public unions, all in an effort to protect the corrupted leftist elitists currently holding power.

It’s like we now live in an alternate universe you might call … North Korea.

In desperate Hail Mary moves to protect Obama and Democrats from what’s looking like a November rout, three of the left’s most beloved Palace Guards have just upped their game considerably. Bill Maher’s now openly blackmailing Delaware Republican Senate Candidate Christine O’Donnell, threatening a weekly drip-drip-drip of videos he thinks will ruin her candidacy unless she agrees to appear on his show – which is where he’ll really pull out the stops to finally win that Emmy by attempting to destroy her:

ABC News:

On Friday, Maher released on his new HBO show, “Real Time,” an unaired clip of O’Donnell admitting to a brief dalliance with witchcraft.

“I dabbled into witchcraft — I never joined a coven. But I did, I did. I dabbled into witchcraft. I hung around people who were doing these things. I’m not making this stuff up. I know what they told me they do,” she said.

“One of my first dates with a witch was on a satanic altar, and I didn’t know it. I mean, there’s little blood there and stuff like that,” she said. “We went to a movie and then had a midnight picnic on a satanic altar.”

O’Donnell appeared on the political talk show on 22 different episodes, and Maher has said he will air a clip of O’Donnell every week until she agrees to appear on his show.

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Some of you may recall that early in the morning of July 28 of 2006 actor Mel Gibson was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving in Los Angeles, California. During that arrest, it was reported that Gibson was alleged to have launched into a brief but vehement denunciation of Jews that were “responsible for all the wars in the world.” Famed at the time for having produced and directed the film The Passion of the Christ (2004), Gibson’s anti-Semitic tirade was the feature of news reports throughout the media for weeks after the incident.

The same cannot be said, however, for Oliver Stone who just last weekend launched into his own anti-Semitic rant. Coverage of Stone’s outrageous comments, arguably as bad as Gibson’s, has been met with a virtual shrug from the Old Media, especially the TV newsers.

On July 25, 2010, the London Sunday Times released an interview with Oliver Stone that featured his claim that Hitler is often treated too harshly by history because of the “Jewish domination of the media.” (The Sunday Times article is on a subscription only site)

Stone lamented the fact that few people are seemingly aware that Hitler killed “25 or 30 million” Russians saying, “Hitler did far more damage to the Russians than [he did to] the Jewish people.” The reason no one knows this, according to Stone, is apparently because of powerful Jews in the US. (more…)