Blalron, there is no force on earth capable of quieting the inane spoutings of that idiot.
I like Dio. And not just because I like almost everybody. But he kind of worries me.
You really need a vacation, Dio. One where you don’t think about politics and just relax. It’s probably not good for your health to stress out as much as you do.
Actually, I think in Dio’s case, it may be a good thing for his health that he goes off like he does. He certainly shouldn’t be building up cholesterol from the stress of keeping things bottled up inside. 
Bill Maher is a Libertarian, not a Leftist. He voted for Bush the Elder when he ran against Clinton.
Scylla, cool post.
I don’t agree with DtC’s comparison. I don’t think Hitler was as shallow as Bush or that Bush is as intentionally evil as Hitler. Bush acts out of impulse and stubborness. There’s no real insight there. His emotional and moral development are similar to that of an adolescent. (No offense to those of you still in high school!) For example, he may think that it is wrong to tell an out and out lie, but if he can get someone else to do it for him, then that’s not immoral. Or, if he just doesn’t tell the whole truth, then that’s not immoral.
Also like many adolescents, he’s exploitive. He also doesn’t seem to have a full grasp on the concept of death. And I think he probably lies to himself a lot.
But he is also capable of being manipulated by people who are much more like Hitler. I think that Europeans are more wary of how quickly this sort of thing can develop in a free and “nice” society. I think many are rather startled that we have re-elected him.
It is easy to get used to stepping over the line. This Administration has been holding prisoners without access to attorneys and without charges being brought against them and without following the Geneva Conventions. How quickly did we get used to that concept? This Administration was responsible for a prison facility in Iraq where people were tortured and murdered. How many people knew about that prison and for how long? How far up the chain of command did the firings go?
I think that the most important thing is that if DtC really believes that Bush is like Hitler, the last thing he needs to do is be quiet about it. No one gets to decide that for another person.
Sounds just like his dishonestly named show, “Politically Incorrect.” The only thing “politically incorrect” about it was the one poor slob they brought on to each show to represent the conservative viewpoint. I always felt the name of that show should have been “Three Liberal Panelists Plus One Liberal Host Gang Up On A Conservative”…but you know, now that I spell it out I can see that that would have been too cumbersome. 
I’m sorry, Zoe, but I think that to call Maher a libertarian rather than a liberal is pretty much a difference without a distinction. I know he regards himself as a libertarian – and perhaps technically he is – but he is almost always in total harmony with his liberal guests.
I sincerely hope you sneered at them. Cher’s ramblings (or those of any other celebrity) are nothing upon which to base so important a decision as your choice for president.
…or a distinction without a difference. :smack:
Christ, duffer, are you really that stupid? Hitler didn’t take over Germany with guns - he was a government official! When the threat to life and liberty comes, it’s not going to be something you can fight with a gun.
Read it in context to the other post. :rolleyes:
I get the feeling he’s pandering to his liberal audience rather than revealing his true colors. Jon Stewart, on the other hand, just seems to be more comfortable now expressing his views and I think his show is starting to suffer for it. Perhaps it’s not the show so much as the liberal audience which goes ape at any jokes against Bush which is starting to annoy me.
To be fair, though, even if the audience is quite partisan there has been no shortage of apery at the various Kerry jokes.
If you mean your OP, I don’t get it either.
Diogenes didn’t register until late 2002.
Just to throw in my two cents…I think both sides of this argument are being a little bit irrational. DtC is pissed (understandably) and using hyperbole to illustrate his anger and frustration, and most of you that are opposed to him are doing the exact same thing without even realizing it.
I can see the Bush=Hitler comparison and agree with it to a certain extent but it would work a lot better if it weren’t for that nasty little holocaust. I lost a lot of faith in humanity Tuesday night but I’m not ready to believe that anything like the holocaust can happen again in our lifetimes.
The holocaust killed, what, six million? The Vietnam war, which was certainly within my lifetime if not yours, killed about two million, plus maybe another one million in Cambodia.
The Iraq war has killed somewhere between 13,000 and 100,000 so far. So we’re down on the death toll.
The holocaust and the Vietnam war/killing fields of Cambodia were absolutely horrifying. The US fought against one of them, but did most of the killing in the other.
All it would take to break the record is for some asshole in the Pentagon to decide that nukes would be a good idea in Iraq or Iran.
Do you really think one person, sitting alone in the Pentagon, has the authority and power to launch a nuclear strike at an entire country made up of men, women and children, just because he thinks it would be a good idea?
The only person in this country who has the power to order a nuclear strike is the president, and I’ll guarantee you that he isn’t about to wipe out entire countries full of innocent citizens on a whimsical notion such as its being a “good idea.”
You’re taking this “Nuke 'em all and let God sort it out” rhetoric way too seriously. This country hasn’t used a nuclear weapon against another country in 60 years, and even then it was used as sparingly as possible even though the goal was to end a world war.
I have a very hard time imagining a scenario whereby this country would use atomic weapons against another country unless it was to forestall, or retaliate for, a similar attack on us.
Oh? You watched as the machinery of invasion geared up for months. See any evidence, any at all, that Iraq was preparing an attack? Do you see any evidence, any at all, that they could have attacked, even had they wanted to?
Nukes are just very big bombs. That’s all. Do you prefer a bullet when it comes to dispatching innocent civilians? Miss the personal touch, do you?
Cite?
My understanding is that most of the two million killed in Vietnam were killed by the Communist government after the U.S. abandoned the country.
In a slightly different vein from Starving Atrist’s or Kid Charlemagne’s replies, the vote you cited was in 1992. I would allow that his political views could evolve in 12 years.
Besides, some libertarians are these kinds of libertarians, as opposed to these kinds.
More of his guests seem to be the former, not the latter. Except for the one poor chump they bring in to be the butt of his other geust’s commentary.
P.J. O’Rourke is one of the few guests I’ve seen able to not only hold his own, but accept the ribbing with grace even as he fired back with equal gusto.
Maher also claims to have voted for Dole in '96.
For some unfathomable reason he counts Ann Coulter as one of his closest friends and constantly defends her against his liberal guests.
He was always very complimentary of Barbara Olson and after she was killed on 9/11, he left an open chair in her honor for a week on his show.
Maher has some views that are fairly conservative or even offensive to liberals. He’s very pro-military and opposes putting women in combat. He’s pro-death penalty. He’s expressed fiscal philosphies the tend towards the right. He defends tobacco companies and smokers’ rights.
He’s a civil liberatarian but I wouldn’t really call him a classic liberal. He does hate Bush, but that’s a sentiment which transcends ideology.
I dunno, didn’t we apply similar logic to SH for the invasion? He used chemical weapons before, he’ll use them again?
All nations of the world that have used a nuclear weapon raise their hand.
All nations of the world that have used a nuclear weapon twice raise their hand.