Maher, Maher, Pants On Faher

Well actually, on CNN. As one of our readers pointed out, we watch CNN so you don't have to. We discussed the Republican New Hampshire debate on this site, and since CNN sponsored the debate, they naturally felt they had to get some classy intellectual to do the same thing. They chose Bill Maher.

As always, Maher was calm and deliberative, handling Anderson Cooper's questions with aplomb and solid intellectual rigor. Cooper asked Maher which of the Republicans at the debate he would vote for if he had to choose one of them. He chose Ron Paul (nope, I'm not going to say anything). Republicans are "selling their souls to the corporate interests who back them and who have just horrible, society-killing ideas about America." Paul, you see, is not part of that hideous group--a cut above (or something). Is it possible I actually meant rigor mortis?

Some time back, Maher had referred to the GOP slate as being so bad that he had seen "more appealing lineups on an episode of Law and Order, Special Victims Unit." Cooper asked if Maher had changed his mind at all after the debate. Said Maher: "No. Of course it got even worse." He then went on to describe Republicanism as a religion (and we know how the great one feels about religion) that has baseless dogma such as "reducing taxes will somehow magically increase revenue." That's the first half of the Laffer postulate. Maher forgot the part about cutting spending at the same time taxes are cut.

Maher then added "you have seven people up there who believe that "somehow by keeping the profit motive in the health care system that's going to solve the problem. So, you know, it's very hard for someone to watch that debate who is not in that bubble, and I am not in that bubble." I guess they don't have bubbles in la-la land.

When Cooper asked what Maher meant by "society-killing," he singled out Tim Pawlenty, then wandered a bit. "Well, like Tim Pawlenty and every one of them competing for this idea of continually reducing taxes when we are--on the one hand they are screaming about how we're in debt and on the other hand the answer is to somehow decrease revenues. You know, they all act like God created the world in January of 2009, and then Barack Obama completely screwed it up." Huh?

I know a mere peasant like me shouldn't question the great intellectual, but he seems to have confused "revenue" with "taxes." Reducing taxes and reducing government spending = increased revenues. And it's not a theory, nor a religion, it's simple fact. I'm not sure what he actually meant, but if he meant Bush, W decreased taxes but did nothing to reduce spending, thus sending Laffer off the curve.

And then came the piece de resistance or coup de grace, or something French. Cooper asked Maher if Anthony Weiner should resign after the ongoing revelations of his sexting and lying. That did it. Abandoning his usual calm tone, Maher got a bit exercised. "At this point, yes. Not because I think he did anything so incredibly awful. I mean Dick Cheney used to go out and shoot birds by the hundreds that were like in a cage. To me that's a lot more psychotic than anything Anthony Weiner ever did. But the point is this is America. We have to live in reality." Again--huh?

Well, if all else fails, bring up Dick Cheney and demonstrate your expertise in matters of hunting. Even Cooper was taken a little aback by that one, and responded with "Dick Cheney wasn't shooting birds in a cage. He was hunting." Maher then launched into a deep discussion of the subject he obviously knows so much about: "He was not hunting, Anderson. There's a difference between hunting which, I'm not a big fan of either, and when you go out into this controlled situation where they--I forget what they do to the birds but they do something where they can't fly. It's the equivalent of shooting fish in a barrel [another form of hunting, I guess]. And yes, look it up. That's what they did. He shot and killed an incredible number of birds for absolutely no reason than a blood lust."

At least Maher didn't channel Rosie O'Donnell after she made a totally crazy statement about fire never melting steel by saying "you could Google it." Blood lust? Crippled birds? And that, ladies and gentlemen, is my final "huh?"