Sense when is Bill Mahar a DEMOCRAT

[bigdarryl]

All day i have heard republicans complaining what Bill said about Cheney. They are trying to say the democrats are not going after Bill for what he said.first off Bill is NOT a democrat and has stated in the past he's not, but he does admit to being a liberal.in fact i have heard him go after the democrats more than the republicans. he said on Larry King show a few months ago that he though Hillary is the most polarizing person for the democrats to pick in 08 and she can't win because she tries to be all thing to people. thats more than i can say about the republicans going after one of there own. So for them to try and say the party as a whole isn't going after him is ludicrous.

[MADem]

1. Since never. He is a libertarian. He says it all the time. NT

[unblock]

3. well, true, but there's libertarian-left and libertarian-right

depending largely on whether you care more about "get the government out of the bedroom" vs. "get the government out of the boardroom".

maher is pretty clearly on the libertarian-left side.

[MADem]

17. Whatever. He wants to fry criminals in electric chairs, AND smoke pot.

That is the kind of Libertarian Party member he is, per his own words.

[talkinghead]

6. He is not a libertarian

He may have libertarian values when it comes to social freedoms but He most certainly is not a libertarian and if he says he is then either he does not know what the word means or he is highly inconsistent.

[Syrinx]

7. I'm sure he knows the meaning of the word

He's a libertarian, not a Libertarian. There is a difference.

[talkinghead]

8. I know the difference

trust me. And he is definitely not a libertarian.

[MADem]

14. Well, you challenge him personally on that. I believe him, not you. NT

[MADem]

13. I beg your pardon. He has stated that he is a Libertarian on his program. And in other venues as

well. Not once, but maybe half a dozen times that I have PERSONALLY witnessed.

What does it take? He has SAID that's his affiliation. Who are you to argue with him?

Are you calling the man a LIAR, like in the below cited, rather disturbingly snarky SALON article? Or do you insist that he conform to YOUR IDEA of what he "ought" to be, to suit a preconceived notion?

More than one person I have known describes Libertarians as Democrats who want to kill incarcerated criminals convicted of heinous crimes, or Republicans who want to smoke pot. He has described, and continues to describe, himself as a libertarian.

You should employ that wonderful internet device known as GOOGLE before you shoot off your keyboard with assertions in refutation. It would save you embarrassment. His political affiliation is unequivocal--at least according to him.

Are we at a point in time where people can declare a party affiliation, and any old so and so can ARGUE with them about it, simply because they don't check every (assumed to be) appropriate block? What's next, we follow them into the ballot box to 'check up' on them?

Cites: http://archive.salon.com/ent/tv/feature/2001/08/01/maher/index.html

With the White House and Congress solidly conservative and the Senate on a constant Democratic deathwatch, these are not the best of times to be teetering left of center. And so the host of ABC's "Politically Incorrect" has done a rather political thing.

He's come out as a libertarian.

For Maher, this isn't a recent phenomenon. Maher had been calling himself libertarian well before Bill Clinton left for Chappaqua, N.Y. And why not? The host of the late-night political discussion program has never been above raising a few eyebrows.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1198918,00.html

You describe yourself as a Libertarian. Is that even a political designation anymore?

I don't know. There's no one in the Libertarian Party who breaks through, even to Ralph Nader status. I've always thought of it as allowing people to do anything they wanted to do as long as it doesn't hurt somebody else. Sometimes people say to me, "You're not a real Libertarian because Libertarians believe there should be no gun control." I'm not a radical Libertarian, O.K.? Every party has something of a big tent.

They describe themselves as THE PARTY OF PRINCIPLE. http://www.lp.org/

Let's start with Webster's definition:



Libertarian: A person who upholds the principles of individual liberty especially of thought and action. Capitalized: a member of a political party advocating libertarian principles.



Libertarians believe in, and pursue, personal freedom while maintaining personal responsibility. The Libertarian Party itself serves a much larger pro-liberty community with the specific mission of electing Libertarians to public office.



Libertarians strongly oppose any government interfering in their personal, family and business decisions. Essentially, we believe all Americans should be free to live their lives and pursue their interests as they see fit as long as they do no harm to another.



In a nutshell, we are advocates for a smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom.



If I had to guess, that's the bits that appeal to him.

Sheesh. The guy is what he IS. He isn't an icon, he isn't a hero, he isn't a touchstone. Hell, he avers he fucked Ann Coulter. He is an entertainer who touches on political subjects. His programme is enjoyable because he gives "our team" a platform, and people like him because he did so when others did not. But he's no MOSES....he is not JESUS....he's certainly not Muhamad.

He's a horny old guy who eschews marriage, romance, the concept of institutionalized "coupling" and doesn't have more than three or four dates with the same lady for fear of palimony/breach of promise problems (see his dalliance with a dreadful not so young, disgrace-to-the-profession flight attendant http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/1129041maher1.html for additional information). He shook that problem, and he's even more cautious as a consequence.

He's no role model. He's a fellow who gives us TV time on his show, who allows us space on his platform, and who has earned a following amongst us as a consequence. But damn, he is NOT our MESSIAH, and woe to any one of us who thinks that.

[talkinghead]

15. I think he calls himself a libertarian based on what he thinks a libertarian is.

The basic maxim of libertarianism is that we have the right to act as we please so long as we do not harm the rights of others. I would say he only agrees with that statement on some issues but not others. Believing that such a statement applies universally does not mean that one is a radical libertarian. Radical libertarians are anarchists. You can still be a libertarian, believe in this principle 100% of the time, and still recognize the need for the rule of law.

[MADem]

16. There you go--telling US what he THINKS. You don't KNOW. Unless you are him.

And I suspect you are not.

Do read the interview. He says he is a Libertarian.

L

style, not "l" style.

Who ARE you to speak for him? How very presumptuous.

I suspect you are speaking from what you WANT him to be, rather than what he in fact is.

[ourbluenation]

2. What he said was that if Dick Cheney were dead, fewer people would be dead. That's true...

doesn't mean Bill wants him dead. He was just stating a fact. He applauded huffpo for pulling the comments leaft by people on her blog re: dick cheney.

[Stevepol]

4. In Repub-speak, when you state facts, you're smearing.

But when you call somebody a faggot you're just getting even for all the smears (facts) used to pillory the family values Republic-rats.

[Vickers]

5. Since Coulter called Edwards a faggot.

:eyes:

[election_2004]

9. He's a "Libertarian"

Although he supported Ralph Nader in 2000.

Maher is about as "Libertarian" as a Women's Studies major named Heather.

[Greeby]

10. On the Nader part

There is video on youtube (which I posted a couple of weeks ago) of Bill and Michael Moore getting on their knees and begging Nader not run

[talkinghead]

11. The fact that he supported Nader should show you that he isn' t a libertarian

[MADem]

18. That is an absurd construct. The fact that Linc Chaffee couldn't bring himself to vote for Bush

means he's not a Republican, then?

Funny, the poor bastard ran (and lost) on the GOP ticket.

People cross the line all the time without changing party affiliaton. To make assumptions about party affiliation based on a vote in a given election is foolish. Ever heard of Reagan Democrats?

We're far better off NOT projecting our desires or assumptions on people whose job is to entertain us on the box in the living room for substantial compensation. They'll always disappoint if we place that sort of faith in them.

[Moderate Dem]

12. I don't know if anyone's noticed this

But all three shows this season have been really fairminded. Maher seems to have found a good combination this year.

[Major Hogwash]

19. He voted for Nader in 2000 after he said he would support Harry Browne.

In fact, Maher thought the entire 2000 campaign was so boring he constantly referred to it as Gush/Bore.

He made fun of Gore being "wooden" during the debates, his claim of "inventing the internet" which claim Gore never made, and of Gore being an "intellectual" - as if that were a bad thing!

[churchofreality]

20. Bill is in love with Arianna, therefore he hates Hillary

I love his show though, and he doesn't give a shit about if he offended anyone with that comment. In fact he spent half the show saying that we should call the death of our soldiers "wasted" lives because it is true and that by saying "sacrificed" we are using semantics to avoid the debate.