# First Bill Maher, next YOU **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 27, 2001, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-bill-maher-next-you/84196 "2001-09-27T21:59:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NothingMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b77776/32.png) [@NothingMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NothingMan)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2001, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-bill-maher-next-you/84196/1 "2001-09-27T21:59:13Z")
Can we please back the hell off Bill Maher ? This is what happened if you haven’t heard yet : on the show that aired Sept. 17th, Bill made the statement that he felt the suicidal plunge the hijackers took was anything but cowardly and that the U.S. governments launching scuds miles away was more on the timid side. Do I agree with what he said ? No not really, I think it was ill-timed and thoughtless and course. **But** , he has the **right** to say it. Sponsers are pulling ads . . . and they have a right to do so. The White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer attacked Bill during a press conference yesterday. Huh ? Surely this guy has more important things to take care of. Now it comes out today that Disney (who of course owns ABC) is considering cancelling the show. What ?! This is bullshit ! Hello, earth to Disney suits, the show is called “_Politically Incorrect_”. I do not agree with what he said or his politics, but I will fight for his right to say it. I refuse to believe in the wake of the horrific events of 9-11 that we now have to give up our first amendment rights. Where does this end ? - **NM** ---
**Author:** ![Amok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f17d59/32.png) [@Amok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amok)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2001, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-bill-maher-next-you/84196/2 "2001-09-27T22:12:43Z")
So you’re saying Disney will be canceling my show next? Why, the nerve of those bastards… ---
**Author:** ![Esprix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprix/32/7899_2.png) [@Esprix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprix)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2001, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-bill-maher-next-you/84196/3 "2001-09-27T22:19:55Z")
It’s a shame no one is boycotting the person who said it, but rather Maher, who simply agreed. And I do agree - the show is called _Politically Incorrect_. What did they think they were getting, the _MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour_? Esprix ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2001, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-bill-maher-next-you/84196/4 "2001-09-27T22:23:33Z")
Stop being facetious, **Amok**. I think **NothingMan** has a valid point. Maher and Stern and all the other ‘shock’ personalities are the canaries in the coal mine, so to speak: Anyone trying to destroy the First Amendment will target them first, because few people will risk standing up for the idiocy they spew. Our legal system is heavily based on the precept of ‘common law’, or the set of previously decided cases on an issue. So once the precedent is set, it will be that much easier to silence more mainstream voices. So when they are silenced, the rest of us have to take notice, like the miners had to move quickly once the canary had died. Like the old cliche says, “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party” as regards individual liberties. ---
**Author:** ![NothingMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b77776/32.png) [@NothingMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NothingMan)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2001, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-bill-maher-next-you/84196/5 "2001-09-27T22:25:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Amok \* > \*\*So you’re saying Disney will be canceling my show next? Why, the nerve of those bastards… \*\* I’ve seen your show **Amok** , it sucks. 😉 Point taken though, perhaps I should have named the thread someething else . . . like “_Disney is the Devil_”, or something equally obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Amok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f17d59/32.png) [@Amok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amok)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2001, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-bill-maher-next-you/84196/6 "2001-09-27T22:38:43Z")
> [@](#): > > **Derleth** wrote: > Stop being facetious, Amok. I think NothingMan has a valid point. He very well might, but I do think the OP title reached a bit rhetorically. > [@](#): > > **NothingMan** wrote: > I’ve seen your show Amok, it sucks. > > Point taken though, perhaps I should have named the thread someething else . . . like “Disney is the Devil”, or something equally obvious. Fair enough. And about my show, well, making a quality most requested Polka videos program just isn’t as easy as it sounds… ---
**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2001, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-bill-maher-next-you/84196/7 "2001-09-27T23:04:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NothingMan \* > **Sponsers are pulling ads . . . and they have a right to do so.** So sponsors have a right to pull ads from a show if they want to, but a network doesn’t have the right to pull a show if a decrease in sponsors no longer make it as profitable? Hell, even Bill Maher said he wouldn’t blame ABC for axing the show. He realizes it’s a business. Maybe it’s lame for people to react the way they do towards Bill’s comments but if that’s the case, the sponsors are more lame for reacting to it than is ABC for thinking of the bottom line. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2001, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-bill-maher-next-you/84196/8 "2001-09-27T23:20:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Alphagene \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by NothingMan \* > > **Sponsers are pulling ads . . . and they have a right to do so.** > > So sponsors have a right to pull ads from a show if they want to, but a network doesn’t have the right to pull a show if a decrease in sponsors no longer make it as profitable? > > Hell, even Bill Maher said he wouldn’t blame ABC for axing the show. He realizes it’s a business. > > Maybe it’s lame for people to react the way they do towards Bill’s comments but if that’s the case, the sponsors are more lame for reacting to it than is ABC for thinking of the bottom line. \*\* So the obvious solution is boycotting Disney. ---
**Author:** ![NothingMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b77776/32.png) [@NothingMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NothingMan)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2001, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-bill-maher-next-you/84196/9 "2001-09-28T00:31:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Alphagene \* > So sponsors have a right to pull ads from a show if they want to, but a network doesn’t have the right to pull a show if a decrease in sponsors no longer make it as profitable? > > Hell, even Bill Maher said he wouldn’t blame ABC for axing the show. He realizes it’s a business. > > Maybe it’s lame for people to react the way they do towards Bill’s comments but if that’s the case, the sponsors are more lame for reacting to it than is ABC for thinking of the bottom line. \*\* If in fact the reason they are pulling the show is because they cannot find advertisers and thus cannot make a profit, then I agree. However what I have read has led me to believe that this is not the case in this instance. The suits are “mad” at what they percieve to be an un-patriotic remark. So it would seem that the reason they are threating _P.I._ with cancellation is due to a statement protected by the first amendment. I think that they have a responsibility to protect the freedom of speech (esp. on a show of this nature). Am I naive ? Maybe. Again, I am concerned about where this could lead . . . ---
**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2001, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-bill-maher-next-you/84196/10 "2001-09-28T01:18:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Derleth \* > \*\*So the obvious solution is boycotting Disney. \*\* I would think that the proper response would instead be to boycott the sponsors who withdrew. ABC [_defended_](http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=entertainmentnews&StoryID=232379#) the show saying That _PI_ is “a show that celebrates freedom of speech and encourages the animated exchange of ideas and opinions.” Looks like your beef should be with FedEx and Sears. ---
**Author:** ![bubbrrr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df788c/32.png) [@bubbrrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubbrrr)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2001, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-bill-maher-next-you/84196/11 "2001-09-28T01:43:08Z")
Yes Bill has every right to keep his show, if he has the money to finance it himself. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2001, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-bill-maher-next-you/84196/12 "2001-09-28T04:40:02Z")
Why does everyone love to bring up the first amendment when stuff like this happens? Let’s be clear, the **government** is not going to arrest Bill Maher, or take any legal action of any type against him. That is what the first amendment deals with, right, the government restricting speech? Or am I just some kind of complete jackass? What may happen is Disney will stop **paying** Maher to say this stuff. He will remain free to speak his mind to anyone he wishes without fear of prosecution, only he won’t get paid by Disney to speak over the airwaves. Nobody is paying me to spew my personal idiocy to the masses, am I being denied my rights too? BTW, anyone wishing to support Maher in this matter should most certainly write FedEx, Sears and ABC, that is how you can make a difference. It was people like us writing these companies that caused them to take action in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![MysterEcks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@MysterEcks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysterEcks)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2001, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-bill-maher-next-you/84196/13 "2001-09-28T04:46:38Z")
Thank you, **Cheesesteak** –for a moment I was afraid that everybody in this thread had the idea that the Bill of Rights applied to a corporation. Yes, of course you’re right. ---
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2001, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-bill-maher-next-you/84196/14 "2001-09-28T04:49:20Z")
Oh for God’s Sakes, this is still news? I don’t have cable so I don’t get a lot of the Hollywood/Political news. Anyhow, he said something. It was ill timed, his show is about speaking one’s mind. I sit there and want to throw bricks at my TV for some of the things his guests says. I say, keep him on the air. It will blow over. Shit, people were more quick to forgive Clinton for, of all things, lying to the nation he leads and Bill Maher has to put up with that? Ugh, even Fallwell and Robertson got off easier than Maher did. What a twisted country we live in. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2001, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-bill-maher-next-you/84196/15 "2001-09-28T04:57:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Alphagene \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Derleth \* > > \*\*So the obvious solution is boycotting Disney. \*\* > > I would think that the proper response would instead be to boycott the sponsors who withdrew. > > ABC [_defended_](http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=entertainmentnews&StoryID=232379#) the show saying That _PI_ is “a show that celebrates freedom of speech and encourages the animated exchange of ideas and opinions.” > > Looks like your beef should be with FedEx and Sears. \*\* Thank you. > [@](#): > > Why does everyone love to bring up the first amendment when stuff like this happens? Let’s be clear, the government is not going to arrest Bill Maher, or take any legal action of any type against him. That is what the first amendment deals with, right, the government restricting speech? Or am I just some kind of complete jackass? > > What may happen is Disney will stop paying Maher to say this stuff. He will remain free to speak his mind to anyone he wishes without fear of prosecution, only he won’t get paid by Disney to speak over the airwaves. > > Nobody is paying me to spew my personal idiocy to the masses, am I being denied my rights too? > > BTW, anyone wishing to support Maher in this matter should most certainly write FedEx, Sears and ABC, that is how you can make a difference. It was people like us writing these companies that caused them to take action in the first place. I agree fully, but I stand by my posts. How? Simple. If the networks are going to go back to the ‘Voluntary Codes’ that dominated the 50s (unlikely, I know, but possible), they will start the same way governments start: By axeing the extremists. So keeping an eye out for this sort of thing and creating the right kind of noise is essential if we want to keep the big financiers in line. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2001, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-bill-maher-next-you/84196/16 "2001-09-28T05:16:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by techchick68 \* > **Anyhow, he said something. It was ill timed, his show is about speaking one’s mind.** No, it’s not. It’s about Maher speaking his mind and either shouting down or mocking anyone who dares speak their minds if they disagree with him. The best episode was the one where Andrew Dice Clay and Oh, hells…actor more famous for his tan than his skills as a thespian…turned the tables on him and discussed cigars over Maher’s protests. ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2001, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-bill-maher-next-you/84196/17 "2001-09-28T10:52:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tengu \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by techchick68 \* > > **Anyhow, he said something. It was ill timed, his show is about speaking one’s mind.** > > No, it’s not. It’s about Maher speaking his mind and either shouting down or mocking anyone who dares speak their minds if they disagree with him. > > The best episode was the one where Andrew Dice Clay and Oh, hells…actor more famous for his tan than his skills as a thespian…turned the tables on him and discussed cigars over Maher’s protests. \*\* Must have changed since the last time I saw it. Maher ORIGINALLY acted as a moderator, tossing out topics and then letting others (usually two from either side of the political fence) discuss, and tossing in the occasional pithy comment. ---
**Author:** ![Beagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Beagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beagle)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2001, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-bill-maher-next-you/84196/18 "2001-09-28T11:59:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cheesesteak \* > \*\* Let’s be clear, the **government** is not going to arrest Bill Maher, or take any legal action of any type against him. That is what the first amendment deals with, right, the government restricting speech? > \*\* Correct, for full credit use the term “state action doctrine.” This applies not only to the [First Amendment](http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/1stcases.html) but other constitutional provisions as well. Personally, I thought Maher got a raw deal. He was merely pointing out that guys who crash a plane into a building on purpose are not “cowards” in the classic sense of the word. Yes, their target selection was cowardly, but the actors were not. **Alphagene** said everything else I would say. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2001, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-bill-maher-next-you/84196/19 "2001-09-28T14:27:23Z")
[QUOTEHe was merely pointing out that guys who crash a plane into a building on purpose are not “cowards” in the classic sense of the word. Yes, their target selection was cowardly, but the actors were not. **Alphagene** said everything else I would say. \*\*[/QUOTE] Know what? IF THEY WERE ATHEISTS, YOU COULDN’T call the cowards! These fucking morons (hijakcers) were ABSOLUTELY CONVINCED THAT THIS WAS THIER ticket to PARADISE! CAPISH?! THEY WERE COWARDS! PEOPLE PLANNING SUICIDE ATTACKS SO THAT THEY CAN LIVE ETERNALLY WITH ALAH ARE THE BIGGEST FUCKING COWARDS AROUND. THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE BLESSED TO BE ATTACKING CIVILIANS WHO COULD NOT COUNTER THEM, THEREBY GUARANTEEING THEIR DELIVERINCE TO PARADISE AND FAME AND ALLAH…ETC ETC! It was clear to these people, in their minds: They are doing the greatest, most wonderful thing for Islam and for themselves and their family! GREAT PARADISE FOR everyone! THEY were completely indoctrinated in this belief, SO THEY WERE COWARDS, BECAUSE IT WAS NOT SUICIDE TO THEM. IT WAS NOT SUICIDE TO THEM. NOW, PEOPLE HAVE A RIGHT TO MAKE STATEMENTS LIKE BILL MAHR, BUT … THE STATEMENT WAS FUCKING ASSASSINE. THESE HIJAKCERS WERE NOT COMMITTING SUICIDE, SO THEY WERE NOT FACING FEAR, THEY WERE ENTERING PARADISE. BIG FUCKING COWARDS IS CORRECT. GOT IT? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Gazoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@The\_Great\_Gazoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Gazoo)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2001, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-bill-maher-next-you/84196/20 "2001-09-28T14:46:14Z")
One point: The whole world is going to be Disneyfied very soon, so get used to it. The result of the battle on terrorism will be the “Disneyification” of the world. BTW, \*\* Philster \*\*, relax, man. You’re going to have a heart attack. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-bill-maher-next-you/84196.md?page=2)