Friday

'The infallible pope can say he's sorry, but this recovering alcoholic can't even say he's wrong'

Comedian/talk show host Bill Maher is promoting the upcoming season of his HBO show, and as usual, had some interesting things to say about a few topical issues. Read a full interview here , but if you're short on time, check this out:

On a certain surge:
The people in Iraq don't want this. The people in America don't want this. The Iraq Study Group doesn't recommend it. The Democrats are against it. Most [Republicans] are against it, even though many of them wouldn't say so out loud. But George Bush, he knows better. That is a kind of arrogance that is very hard to swallow at this point, especially when it's costing this many lives. Even the pope -- remember he said something bad about the Muslims a few months ago? The infallible pope came out and said, "Geez, my bad. That came out wrong. I didn't mean that." Yeah, the pope can say he's sorry, but this recovering alcoholic from Midland, Texas, he can't even say he's wrong.

Why are we in Iraq, anyway?
It's so over. The country is ethnically cleansing itself. It's already a partitioned country. What are we fighting for over there? Why are we fighting to keep Iraq together? Iraq has only been a country since what, 1932? That's seven years younger than Paul Newman. Why are these drawn-on-a-map borders worth one more American life? I have no clue. And I don't think [Bush] does, either.

On Hillary, Bill and effective government
The Clintons have a reputation for a number of things that baffles me. Yes, he's got a wandering eye, and yes, he's oversexed or whatever. But really, Bill Clinton is a policy wonk. He's the kind of guy who gets into the details of it, and so is she.

Government -- they used to teach it in college. It's actually something you should study and learn and know how to do. The Republicans always run on the idea that government isn't very effective. Well, not the way you do it. But it can be effective.

Does anyone doubt that if Bill Clinton was president during the Katrina storm that he would have been on top of that? He would have been all over that situation! He would have had the right people. He would not have slept for a week. That's the kind of guy he was.

I'm not saying there wouldn't have been problems -- it was a storm -- but as well as it could have been handled, he'd handle it. These people know how to do government; that is their passion. And it is something that can actually be done effectively.

What we're seeing with the Bush administration is that when you outsource government jobs to private contractors, both here and in Iraq, that's where the trouble is -- those are the people who are greedy and unchecked and corrupt and inefficient.

7 comments:

Andy D said...

I have a pretty low opinion of Bill Maher already. I think most of the summary is wrong. Just on the surge, where is his data about who does and doesn’t support it? In America, most people don’t support it, but that is changing. Over the last week, the number of Americans who support the surge has gone from 23% to 36%. If the surge works, I think more will support it. In Iraq, I haven’t seen anybody try to figure out what percent of the population likes it and what percent doesn’t, but a lot of Iraqi’s do support it. The Iraqi government supports it. Of course, those who are attacking us like Al-Queda and Al-Sadr don’t like it, but I wonder why they don’t?

The Pope said he was wrong. He shouldn’t have. He was giving a speech and quoted a previous Pope. Because of that, Muslims all over the world went crazy and started burning buildings and attacking churches and embassies. He said he was wrong to stop the violence. I think more people should have supported him instead of giving the message to the Muslims that if they cause enough damage they are correct.

The only comment I will make on the Clintons is that Bill thought Saddam was a bad guy and told the world that Saddam had Al-Queda ties. Perhaps Bill should have left the interns alone, and gone after Saddam.

Much of the blame for Katrina belongs on the heads of the local and state officials that failed in their job. The Federal government’s response could have been better, but the local and state officials really dropped the ball. I am not sure Bill could have done any better, but I know the media would have helped him try.

Didn’t mean to post to much of a tirade on here, but I am really not a Bill Maher fan.

Matthew Smith said...

Wow, Andy. I enjoyed our little back-and-forth on your blog, but I did not enjoy your comment here.

One thing I always try to do when making my points is to provide reference; you seem more inclined to prepetuate Limbaugh-esque falsehoods (the media let Clinton get away with murder, people are behind the surge) without giving a real world reference.

I don't believe the number, but dude, 36% is nothing to be happy about (unless your name is George W. Bush and you just heard that your approval ratings had gone up).

familyman said...

I love Bill Maher! Ha Ha, that doesn't surprise you does it Andy?

And Andy, that "he should have left the interns alone" crack isn't really fair.

He probably could have handled the intern and still gotten a lot done, but if you'll remember, he was spending a lot of his time dealing with a ridiculously frivolous impeachment. The impeachment was what was taking his time and energy away from more important things.

Hey Matthew, love your blog. I'll be back if you don't mind.

I'm from the Chicago area!

Matthew Smith said...

Familyman - welcome! Write in anytime (especially if you agree with me).

I am always dubious when celebrities want to use their status to get on a political soapbox, but even his haters have to respect Maher's legitimate media chops. While he cut his teeth in comedey, you'd be hard pressed to find many other TV hosts who are as direct with their guests and their political commentary as Maher. Maybe you don't always agree with his point of view, but damn, you gotta respect his balls.

lifeintheG said...

What's going on here? Is it possible that someone other than Justin or myself reads this loathesome blog? Cats and dogs living together! Mass hysteria!

I love Bill Maher.

Matthew Smith said...

As much as it would make sense for one of my oldest friends to read this blog, alas, Justin is not a regular reader.

That douche.

Andy D said...

Hmmm, sorry about the disappointing comments to this post. I promise to try better next time.