Maher Marred by Misquote

Cornell Daily Sun ^ | September 24, 2001 | Matt Flahive

[The American]

Hadn't seen this column posted anywhere, even though its almost a week old. Thought it might spark a nice discussion.

[CaptRon]

Mr. Maher inhabits a world in which his livelihood depends on his relationship with his viewers. He has no "right" to his TV show, nor is he guaranteed its longevity. There is no issue of censorhip or "McCarthyism" here. He loses viewership, ABC loses advertising income, he loses his job. It's the life he chose. Perhaps he should have remembered this before opening his mouth. He is NOT the poster boy for the First Amendment, no matter what the lefties would like.

[Diogenesis]

"Like many of you, I don't watch Politically Incorrect"

THINKING: It is boring, tiring, and less interesting than the WeatherChannel.

Politically Incorrect lost commercial sponsors and no longer airs in some parts of the country. "

THINKING: Nonetheless, since Maher loves Clinton, I support him with knee-pad diligence.

[Double Tap]

It is our duty to stand by Maher, to stop people from running his character into the ground.

ROTFLMAO!!!

It's our duty to voice our opinion, just as Maher did. If the sponsors wish to pull their support for the program, so much the better.

[sargon]

In other words, Maher is the victim of a witch hunt.

Nonsense. Witch hunts were rooted in religious and/or political law, and administered by the "state."

Maher excercised his free speech.

The people who are criticizing him are excercising their free speech.

The sponsors who decided to pull their ads are excercising free choice in their business practices.

And the stations which pulled the show are excercising their free choice as well.

If Maher and his show have problems, it is because of his free speech and others' free choice. In a free society, criticism flows copiously, and he placed himself in a very small minority with his statements.

[CaptRon]

By the way, where is the "misquote" mentioned in the title?

[scotiamor]

no doubt the entire Cornell student body turned out to defend John Rocker's First Amendment right to criticize folks who ride the subway to the Mets statium; and weren't they out front defending Dr. Laura's right to criticize the homosexual lifestyle? Oh that's right, freedom of press only applies to those who support the revolution - all others must be muzzled. I keep forgettng that about America's left wing.

[yooper]

"In other words, Maher is the victim of a witch hunt."

Yeah right. If Maher meant that he was referring to politicians, that's what he would have said, in which case he would have been referring to Bill Clinton, which he certainly wasn't, since he's a liberal Clinton buttboy.

No, he was indeed referring to the military. It was only after he had a hot fire built under his worthless carcass (and lost sponsors and airtime) that he issued his bogus explanation and apology. He's lying...

[Hillary 666]

All of these attempts at double-talk are worthless. I heard what he said just fine. Bill Maher is a worthless puke, the stations that dumped him are right, and I will encourage other stations to dump this worthless scumbag!

[mr.pink]

Wasn't Maher a Clinton doctrine enthusiast? His criticisms seemed to be directed toward that particular style of the undertakings of the brilliant group of debauched sadists (Albright, Clinton, Cohen, Berger), that he cheered.

[Mike Darancette]

"We have been the cowards lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That's cowardly."

What Mahr hasn't mentioned, even yet, is that the Military was AGAINST the 1998 cruise missile attack on Sudan and Afghanistan.

The coward-in-chief was completely responsible for these attacks, attacks ordered by Clinton to draw attention away from his bimbo problems.

Mahr, didn't specifically mention the military in his statement at the time (I was watching the show). But since Mahr's lick spittle mentality will not allow him to say what really happened he deserves what he is now getting.

[InfraRed]

When is the First Amendment going to guarantee my right, to one-half hour per night of national coverage by a mainstream network? I could pi$$-off a significant portion of the country too (mostly commies), just like Mr. BM.

"... by abandoning every value except the will to power, they follow in the path of fascism, Nazism and totalitarianism. And they will follow that path all the way to where it ends in history's unmarked grave of discarded lies." -- President George W. Bush, September 20, 2001.

[pray4liberty]

In other words, Maher is the victim of a witch hunt.

So was Dr. Laura.

Bill Maher probably will not be thrown into an internment camp for his beliefs, or what others perceive to be his beliefs, but his situation raises questions we need to answer. Will we respect those we disagree with?

Liberals don't respect those they disagree with, they try to destroy them...and this is called "tolerance."

It is my humble opinion that this person is waking up to what his fellow liberals have really done, and he's just looking for a convenient scapegoat to pin the blame on.

[Eagle Eye]

"We have been the cowards lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That's cowardly."

Where does Mahr call the military cowards? How can anyone take that statement to mean the individual officers and NCO's that performed the launch sequence? How can anyone take that to mean anything other than the political leaders? Who here disagrees with calling clinton's attacks cowardly?

BTW, did you see or hear the exchange in question in context? I haven't heard form anyone who actually saw or hear it in context that thought that it was a slam on th military. I'm exmilitary and cant stand Mahr. He should get hell for what he says, not for what people think he said.

[Great Dane]

It's our duty to voice our opinion, just as Maher did. If the sponsors wish to pull their support for the program, so much the better.

LOL, don't you know, free speech is for them only.

[CaptRon]

HOW you interpret what he said is up to the listener. He was not, however, misquoted.

[Hillary 666]

Bill Maher exercised his right to say what he wanted. We exercised our right by writing ABC and their sponsors, who rightfully pulled their ads. Mr. Maher is a loser and so are his defenders. He has the right to say what he wants, but with his rights comes accountability.

The author claims that Bill Maher should be able to say what he wants without accountability. Wrong! He said what he said and he is facing accountability right now.

[Eagle Eye]

If you want to see a freeper in action, Larry Lied is calling our special forces cowards and standing by his words on another thread. Once given the opportunity to clarify himself, he stood by his words.

Larry Lied calls SF cowards

[johniegrad]

Do any of these morons understand what the First Amendment is about? There was no government intervention to prevent Maher from expressing his opinion nor from preventing the author of this article his right to openly express his stupidity.

There is no McCarthy attempting to forward his own political career or agenda. This is grass roots activism at its very finest. This is ordinary Americans organizing around a common cause and using new means of communication to express their displeasure in a way that is effective. The fact that the student author of this article can't see the difference makes his diatribe all the more ridiculous.

Matt Flahive: Pull your head out of your ass or you're next!!

[Cautor]

Could Maher's treatment be a warning sign for an impending repeat of the Red Scare

Heck no--we already creamed the commies. But, where is the HUAC when we really need them?