Maher Marred by Misquote

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

[Eagle Eye]

He said what he said and he is facing accountability right now.

WHAT did he say? Rather, what do you THINK he said?

Did you read the article, see or hear Mahr's comments in context?

[rockfish59]

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

[Elkiejg]

Letter to Matt Flahvie:

Mr. Flahive feels Bill Maher has been the victim of a "witch hunt" because of his statement that the military were cowards. True, Mr. Maher has every right to express himself in this free society. Just as true, sponsors and TV stations also have a right to express themselves by ending their relationship with him.

If Mr. Maher had wanted to really speak the truth, he would have said "former President Clinton was a coward when he bombed an aspirin factory to take the attention away from his personal scandal". But unfortunately, Mr. Maher has always shown himself to be a lacky of the Clintons.

Sorry Mr. Flahive, Maher got what he deserved.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

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

Maher's character? Pardon me while I go bust a gut laughing.

[CaptRon]

OK, I checked it out. Don't see the relevance.

[Eagle Eye]

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

Not may article. Not my title.

How can you justify saying that he called the military cowards after you read his quote and his clarification? I'd LOVE to be able to fry is butt over a statement like that, but he didn't say that. People (you can even see it on this thread) don't care about the truth, they just want his neck.

Care to answer any of my questions in the previous post or this one? Or are you, too, so out for Mahr's neck that the truth doesn't matter?

[Double Tap]

Dinesh D'Souza: Bill, there's another piece of political correctness I want to mention. And, although I think Bush has been doing a great job, one of the themes we hear constantly is that the people who did this are cowards.

Bill Mahr: Not true.

Dinesh D'Souza: Not true. Look at what they did. First of all, you have a whole bunch of guys who are willing to give their life. None of 'em backed out. All of them slammed themselves into pieces of concrete.

Bill Mahr: Exactly.

Dinesh: These are warriors. And we have to realize that the principles of our way of life are in conflict with people in the world. And so -- I mean, I'm all for understanding the sociological causes of this, but we should not blame the victim. Americans shouldn't blame themselves because other people want to bomb them.

Bill Mahr: But also, we should -- we have been the cowards lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That's cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, it's not cowardly.

Where in that transcript did Bill Maher/Mahr use the words Clinton, politicians, or government? Who is lobbing missiles if not the military?

[Double Tap]

I'm slow, but I'm catching on quick.

[CaptRon]

How can you say I'm trying to justify anything? The gist of my first reply is that he is at the mercy of the viewing public and he rolled the dice and took his chances. My second post merely says that he was not misquoted. Misunderstood maybe, but not misquoted.

[jwalsh07]

Maher's a coward and a sycophantic libertine piece of crap. He's getting what he deserves and even though this particular incident may not warrant it. The irony is delicious. It could have all been avoided if he had spoken the truth, that Clinton was a coward and guilty of lobbing missiles at came;s asses to cover his own ample derriere. LOL

[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.

[Eagle Eye]

Who is lobbing missiles if not the military?

As a vet, I didn't take it that way. The military executes the orders, they make no policy. Those orders have higher origins, the policy makers.

If you really have difficulty determining who he menat by 'we', then why odn't you take him at his word instead of what you would have liked him to have said?

It is fair to nail him for what he says or does, not what people assume or misinterpret his words to be.

[Always Right]

Why anyone would defend an idiot like Maher is beyond me. Maher was not misquoted and his statement said exactly what it has been interpreted. Maher is a spineless little liberal who hides behind the lable of libertarian. Like most liberals, he is not honest about who he is.

[Robert A Cook PE]

Further, it's "Dinesh" who's going out of her way to compliment the terrorists by citing their bravery in committing suicide (actually showing they are cowards by attcking innocents and deliberately targetting civilians without warning ....), and who Bill Maher is desperately working his words - through a string of several sentences TOWARDS his agreement with her.

No misquote at all .. he just got quoted.

And got caught.

By the way .... when a burgular shoots his unarmed victim, then turns his weapon on himself when the police arrive ... more "brave" than the police because he took his own life, and they walked up to the door ready to face HIS return fire?

[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?

[Eagle Eye]

Maher was not misquoted and his statement said exactly what it has been interpreted.

Where did Mahr call the military cowards? At worst he made an unclear statement that he later clarified. But I doubt that you wanted to hear or believe his clarification. You didn't raise a fuss when he bragged about masturbating several times a day, but you will over this. Right.

Was Rush wrong in his assessment? Isn't Rush "always right"?

Why do I 'defend' Mahr on this, even though I cannot stomach his show? (The last one I saw was when Bill Glass was on and I cannot remember being able to stomach even Mahr's monologue in previous shows) The truth means something to me and I don't believe that Mahr is getting treated fairly. Neither does Hannity or Rush. Now where does that put you? are you willing to reconsider and be fair or are you blinded by your hate of the guy?

[Revolting cat!]

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

[Double Tap]

You know why I will not take him at his word. He didn't issue his statement about him meaning Clinton or the politicians until pressure was being applied by the public to can his ass. Even after pressure was applied and it was clear that his butt was on the stove, he could barely croak out a response that he meant Clinton/politicians.

When he said "We", that implies one of two things.

1. That we, the American people, are cowards for lobbing the missiles.

2. That the military are cowards because they are the ones that pull the trigger.

Since the citizens of the USA didn't know a thing about that, I'll just have to assume he meant the military.

Please forgive the tone of my post, I've read your post before and always thought them of sound reasoning, but you are wrong on this one.

IMHO

[Eagle Eye]

They hate Mahr so badly that all they had to hear was what they wanted to hear. Your post went over most of their heads.

Me? Mahr and Dennis Miller both make be barf. But I wouldn't sit still and let either go down under false accusations. Many here would and will...

[Double Tap]

By the way .... when a burgular shoots his unarmed victim, then turns his weapon on himself when the police arrive ... more "brave" than the police because he took his own life, and they walked up to the door ready to face HIS return fire?

That's a damn good point, Thanks.