[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.

[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.

[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.

[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?

[rockfish59]

nothin' personal but, will ALL please stop posting this moron's name? he's as bad as clinton!

[TheWriter]

Uhm, Matt...

Maher has a Constitutionally guaranteed right to say pretty much any thing he wants, presuming it's not willfully slanderous.

That being said, he does not have a Constitutionally guaranteed right to a television show, sponsors, or viewers.

So sorry you can't wrap your mind around that...business is business, and if his foolish blatherings pissed over a bunch of viewers and sponsors, they are free to NOT support or listen to his foolish blatherings any further. "I'm sorry" just doesn't cut it anymore.

As for McCarthy...check your facts, young man. After the fall of the Soviet Union, several books were released proving that MCCARTHY WAS RIGHT.

[aruanan]

Rush had a good take on this. He said that since obviously no one in the military could have initiated the cruise missile attack on Afghanistan without the order from the president himself and since Clinton was the one who did it and since Maher was loath to directly blame Clinton, he used "we" and that is what landed him in all the trouble. If he had just said "Clinton was a coward for sitting in his office thousands of miles away and ordering the cruise missile strike without having to personally put anything on the line in order to distract attention from the sex scandal his ungovernable libido and unwillingness to tell the truth put him in" there would have been little disagreement; certainly none from the people now doing all the bitching about Maher's remark.

There are entirely too many people of the Left and the Right who seem to think that entering a state of high dudgeon over someone else's lack of patriotism or spirituality is itself a positive exercise of morality. It's only an exercise in emotional masturbation and accomplishes nothing except for confirming their sense of self-righteousness.

Now, it's true that some people are more righteous or patriotic or intelligent than other people, but it's not their sense of being so that effects that state. Unfortunately, too many people are too ready to let the sense substitute for the hard work required to bring into being the actual state. Why go through all that hassle to be superior when you can just feel superior by relying on the dereliction of others to make oneself seem relatively better?

[Revolting cat!]

Maher married by Ms Quote? What's that all about? People magazine stuff - leave FR out of this , please.

[eazdzit]

Ethis are preached and not practiced by many posters.

Cheers:^)

[He Rides A White Horse]

Now I completely disagree with anyone who calls American military personnel "cowards," but I respect the right to hold and share that viewpoint.

Fine. Corporations are also entitled to be associated with anybody they want to as well. Or would the author force them to sponsor Maher.

A few days later, Maher clarified his stance. "I never meant to imply nor have I ever thought that our actual servicemen are cowardly... it's our government, it's our politicians, who have been cowardly in not letting the military do their job." Sounds like a reasonable statement that actually compliments the United States military. Yet Sears, FedEx, KSFY, KLKN and WOI-TV 5 are still sitting on the sidelines.

I wonder where this author was when John Rocker was being crucified. Oh that's right, the liberal press was calling for everything but his public execution.

In other words, Maher is the victim of a witch hunt. This brings to mind a famous widespread bullying from just a few generations ago -- Joe McCarthy's character-destroying investigations of "communists" in the 1950s. Will America again shun those with dissenting opinions and jump to conclusions about those it fears?

No, that would the Stalinism of political correctness. As practiced by your pals for the last two, three decades.

And if we choose to revoke people's freedoms when we find it convenient, then we have already lost the war.

I can't stand these people. Denying freedom is a way of life for libs, and now he wants to cry about some strawman.