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Maher Marred by Misquote
Cornell Daily Sun ^ | September 24, 2001 | Matt Flahive

Posted on 09/29/2001 5:37:26 PM PDT by The American

Like many of you, I don't watch Politically Incorrect very often. Heck, it goes up against a rerun of the Peabody Award-winning Daily Show, not a tough choice in my book. So normally I don't tune in to Politically Incorrect and watch Cornell's own Bill Maher '78 lead roundtable, no-holds-barred discussions on current events. The show does not have a reputation for actually causing a current event, but last Monday, that changed. Maher might just have shown that our generation is headed for its own McCarthy-esque Red Scare.

On his Sept. 17 show, Maher talked about the recent terrorist attacks with his panel. One panelist said that the terrorist hijackers were warriors, not cowards. Maher agreed, "We have been the cowards lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That's cowardly."

For that statement, Politically Incorrect lost commercial sponsors and no longer airs in some parts of the country.

Irate viewers called the show's advertisers on Tuesday morning to say that Maher had called members of the American military cowards. A Houston radio station demanded Politically Incorrect be taken off the air. In a matter of days, KSFY in Sioux City, KLKN in Lincoln and WOI-TV 5 in Des Moines all yanked the show off their schedules. Sears and FedEx distanced themselves from Maher's viewpoints by pulling their commercials from the show. What the stations and advertisers inadvertently did was punish Maher for a misinterpreted statement.

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.

Now I completely disagree with anyone who calls American military personnel "cowards," but I respect the right to hold and share that viewpoint. So even if Maher meant to call members of the American military the c-word, I believe in the First Amendment and will let him speak his mind. And yet Maher is being punished for spreading that belief, a belief he says he does not even hold.

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?

It is our duty to stand by Maher, to stop people from running his character into the ground. Half a century ago, Americans stood idly by while Joe McCarthy ruined the reputations of countless people. The nation was concerned about communists, with good reason considering the unstable status of the world. McCarthy played on this fear for his own political gain, aggressively pursuing anybody he suspected might be a communist. The communist threat was real, but McCarthy overstepped the bounds of decency in his quest to defend America.

Could Maher's treatment be a warning sign for an impending repeat of the Red Scare? We as Americans must be careful that we do not turn our heightened defensive state into justification for the mistreatment of those different from us, either in background or in beliefs. Across the nation Arab-Americans and Indian-Americans have been assaulted because of their race. In Minnesota, three men of Middle Eastern descent were kicked off Northwest Airlines Flight 673 because of their ethnicity. Mosques and temples have been torched. Those unwilling to support an all-out assault on Afghanistan are treated like unpatriotic outsiders. How long until we roundup these "undesirables" and toss them into internment camps?

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? Will we mistreat those of Arab-American descent? Will we prosecute and persecute those we are scared of?

The terrorists who attacked America hate us because of our freedom. We have the freedom to say what we want, to worship as we please and to disagree with each other without fear of reprisal. Unless we watch our step, history will repeat itself and our nation will rescind those liberties. Make no mistake about it, we are in a fight against terrorism, but more importantly we are in a battle to defend our way of life. And if we choose to revoke people's freedoms when we find it convenient, then we have already lost the war.


TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events
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Hadn't seen this column posted anywhere, even though its almost a week old. Thought it might spark a nice discussion.
1 posted on 09/29/2001 5:37:26 PM PDT by The American
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To: The American
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.
2 posted on 09/29/2001 5:46:31 PM PDT by CaptRon
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To: The American
"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.

3 posted on 09/29/2001 5:47:24 PM PDT by Diogenesis
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To: The American
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.

4 posted on 09/29/2001 5:55:28 PM PDT by Double Tap
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To: The American
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.

5 posted on 09/29/2001 5:57:33 PM PDT by sargon
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To: The American
By the way, where is the "misquote" mentioned in the title?
6 posted on 09/29/2001 5:58:21 PM PDT by CaptRon
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To: The American
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.
7 posted on 09/29/2001 6:00:29 PM PDT by scotiamor
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To: The American
"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...

8 posted on 09/29/2001 6:04:41 PM PDT by yooper
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To: The American
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!
9 posted on 09/29/2001 6:05:28 PM PDT by Hillary 666
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To: The American
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.
10 posted on 09/29/2001 6:06:30 PM PDT by mr.pink
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To: Diogenesis
"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.

11 posted on 09/29/2001 6:07:27 PM PDT by Mike Darancette
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To: The American
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.

12 posted on 09/29/2001 6:07:44 PM PDT by InfraRed
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To: The American
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.

13 posted on 09/29/2001 6:07:59 PM PDT by pray4liberty
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To: CaptRon
"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.

14 posted on 09/29/2001 6:08:46 PM PDT by Eagle Eye
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To: Double Tap
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.

15 posted on 09/29/2001 6:13:03 PM PDT by Great Dane
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To: Eagle Eye
HOW you interpret what he said is up to the listener. He was not, however, misquoted.
16 posted on 09/29/2001 6:13:18 PM PDT by CaptRon
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To: The American
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.

17 posted on 09/29/2001 6:13:38 PM PDT by Hillary 666
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To: CaptRon, Larry lied
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

18 posted on 09/29/2001 6:14:25 PM PDT by Eagle Eye
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To: The American
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!!

19 posted on 09/29/2001 6:14:39 PM PDT by johniegrad
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To: The American
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?

20 posted on 09/29/2001 6:14:53 PM PDT by Cautor
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