Bill Maher, Why I hate the SOB

During the Elian Gonzalez saga of late 1999 and early 2000, Bill Maher like many others dedicated several shows to that ongoing story. His show at the time was called Politically Incorrect, and aired on ABC after Nightline. Maher, who is a comedian come self-styled political commentator, argued in favor of the simplistic view that this was just a custody matter and that the boy needed to be with his father. Setting aside his argument (which of course he was/is entitled to) what pissed me off was his reaction to what one of his panelists said.

This was 5 years ago and I don't remember who the panelists were, but Maher usually tried to show some diversity in his choices, although the conservatives chosen were often inarticulate. This one panelist said something to the effect of "If fidel castro loves kids so much, why did he sink a tugboat, killing women and children." Of course the panelist was referring to the sinking of the 13 de marzo, a tugboat which was commandeered by freedom seekers, in 1994. Bill Maher's answer to this very relevant question was a scoff. He scoffed at the panelist as if he had been reading magic spells from Harry Potter. I'll never foget the look on Maher's phallic face. He just brushed the panelist off as if he were a young child uttering nonsense and moved on to the next panelist.

Later Bill Maher's show was cancelled. He complains that he was "Dixie Chicked". I wouldn't have a problem with him being "Dixie Chicked" even if that were true, because I believe in every American's right to "vote with their feet" and not support artists that they don't agree with. But the truth is that Bill Maher committed a bigger sin than being against the Iraq war, he was a ratings loser. But what do you expect when you put an unfunny comedian on TV competing against Leno, Letterman and Conan O'Brien? Now, of course, he has a show on HBO (which I don't subscribe to). Interesting thing about HBO, since it's not commercially supported, it is not rated by Nielsen. Too bad. I'm sure his act is just as unfunny on cable as it was over the air.