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.
WHAT did he say? Rather, what do you THINK he said?
Did you read the article, see or hear Mahr's comments in context?
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.
Maher's character? Pardon me while I go bust a gut laughing.
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?
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?
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.
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.
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?
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?
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
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...
That's a damn good point, Thanks.
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