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May 24, 2005
On America …
I’d really like you to read this piece from the Associated Press and contemplate what the hell this country’s coming to when a member of the House of Representatives tries to get a commentator fired for expressing an opinion.
Mind you, accusing a dissident of treason for exercising his right of free speech is exactly the same tactic as accusing Bushites of being Nazis … except, as Bill Maher pointed out, Hitler was lawfully elected.
Congressman slams Maher over Army remark
By JEFFREY McMURRAY
Associated Press Writer
Published May 23, 2005, 6:11 PM CDT
WASHINGTON -- A congressman says comedian Bill Maher's comment that the U.S. military has already recruited all the "low-lying fruit" is possibly treasonous and at least grounds to cancel the show.
Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., takes issue with remarks on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, first aired May 13, in which Maher points out the Army missed its recruiting goal by 42 percent in April.
"More people joined the Michael Jackson fan club," Maher said. "We've done picked all the low-lying Lynndie England fruit, and now we need warm bodies."
Army Reserve Pfc. England was accused of abusing prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
"I think it borders on treason," Bachus said. "In treason, one definition is to undermine the effort or national security of our country."
In a statement released Monday night, Maher defended his support for the American armed forces.
"Anyone who knows anything about my views and has watched my show knows that I have nothing but the highest regard for the men and women serving this country around the world," Maher said in the statement.
Bachus said he was appalled after watching a rerun of the show shortly after returning from a visit to Germany, in which he met with a paralyzed American soldier in the hospital. He has since written to Time Warner, HBO's parent company.
"I don't want (Maher) prosecuted," Bachus said. "I want him off the air."
Thanks to Charlie Meyerson for the AP story.
Posted by Mike Gold at 05:26 PM | Comments (23) | TrackBack
May 02, 2005
On turning off comments
We're turning off comments in order to do some obviously necessary maintenance. Bear with us... we'll have them back on as soon as we can.
UPDATE: We're back, and even found some old comments that never went live before. Post away.