Hitchens Gives Audience The Finger On Bill Maher’s Show

• August 26, 2006

Writer/author Christopher Hitchens on Friday night gave the finger to the Los Angeles audience of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher. As he laid out the case for how it’s Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who wants World War Three, not George W. Bush, Hitchens cited how Ahmadinejad “says the Messiah is about to come back.” Maher quipped: “So does George Bush, by the way.” That caused a loud eruption of audience applause and cheering, which led Maher to clarify: “That’s not facetious.” The crowd continued to applaud as Hitchens remarked, about those in attendance who had earlier cheered and laughed as Maher called Bush an “idiot” repeatedly: “That’s not facetious. Your audience, which will clap at apparently anything, is frivolous.” Loud oohs and groans emanated from the audience, prompting Hitchens to give them the finger as he castigated them, “Fuck you, fuck you,” while the groans continued.

Here’s the video (stolen shamelessly from Newsbusters and uploaded to YouTube for easier viewing):

First of all, why is someone like Hitchens wasting his time on Bill Maher’s show? Bill Maher doesn’t discuss issues seriously. He tosses out ridiculous barbs meant to be funny and then manipulates his audience as a cudgel to pound down anyone he doesn’t agree with. It is hardly a forum that results in any sort of meaningful debate.
Second, Maher’s reactions to Hitchens’ words on Iran is just another indication of how totally disconnected from reality the left is on the war on terror. Hitchens talks about the very real threat Iran and their quest for nuclear weapons presents, and Maher reacts with snide remarks about the President’s religion. As though Ahmadinejad’s extremist, “wipe the Jews off the map” form of Islam were in any way comparable Bush’s Methodist faith. As though Bush’s Christian beliefs had anything at all to do with the threat Iran and extremist Islam are posing for the world.
But this is just what the left does these days. From the leadership of the Democrat party right down to sycophant partisan dregs like Bill Maher all the left is about is opposing Bush. Oh they say that they oppose the terrorists and want to fight the war on terror, but all that ever comes out of their mouths are insults for the President and derision for what he is already doing to fight the war on terror.
When Bill Maher or any other leftist or Democrat comes up with a viable plan to fight against the problem of global Islamic extremism someone be sure to point it out to me. Until then, I’ll be busy supporting my President and the war effort.

Tags: War On Terror

http://Array dave

Ken McCracken writes:

I agree now with Dave

Stop the presses!
http://peatbog.net/ Sphagnum

While GWB may indeed believe the end of the world is coming, and may even believe it’s coming soon, he is not actively attempting to make it happen as Imadinnerjacket is…
http://www.kenmccracken.blogspot.com/ Ken McCracken

Yeah, why did Hitchens go on Maher’s show?

Its like inviting him in to lecture to a kindergarten class, and Maher’s audience of course showed just about that level of sophistication.
Dave

I would ask Bill Maher, where he gets the idea, that the President thinks the Messiah’s return is imminent. I have not heard Bush say such a thing.

Or, for that matter, how they got the idea that the only reason the President supports Israel (to the extent that he does) is so “Jesus will have a home when he comes back.” (Maher says this right after the clip above.) Because, of course, it’s impossible for Bush to support something for geo-political reasons, right?

I was reading Doyle the other day, and this one line from Holmes stood out: “It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.” (It’s from the mystery where he meets Irene Adler for the first time… The Something in Bohemia.)

This is exactly what Maher and his ilk are doing. Maher hates organized religion. He therefore decides that our Christian President is actually an insane fire-and-brimstone Fundamentalist. He then takes the fact (Bush supports Israel) and twists it to suit his biases (Bush supports Israel from his belief in the Second Coming!) It’s so boring and stupid.

Unlike Sherlock Holmes!
Dave

The funny part is, he was outdebated. Galloway destroyed him

Did we watch the same debate? All Galloway had were ad hominem attacks. Granted, they were very clever (he has studied rhetoric more than Hitchens), but he had no argument at all. The fact that Hitchens won so easily is made more impressive by the very left-wing moderator and audience at the debate.
http://ndblueblog.blogspot.com/ graeme

you know, when I was first saw the debate I thought “what was Hitchens doing debating a sheer opportunist like Galloway?” I have always been a fan of Hitchens, even when I disagree with him. But during the debate Hitchens showed he was just as much an opportunist whore as galloway. his arguments were weak and Galloway’s fiery rhetoric had more substance. If he would have had a real opponent, such as Chomsky,Cockburn or Finkelstein, he would be writing for people magazine right now.
Dave

A link to the much-discussed Hitchens/Galloway debate so others can make their own decision:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6804714963382152969&q=Hitchens
robert108

Ken: Didn’t you really mean: “…a baboon with followers…”?
2Hotel9

Damn davey, just when we are ready to write you off you show flashes of intelligence. And thanks for the link. I had that debate in a file and lost it during my last DSR. Hitchens goes on several of the televised debate format shows and usually gives as good as he gets. Maher’s audience is adversarial and purposelly so, it is part of his schtick. And it is all Maher has got. What are his Arbitron numbers again?
http://www.kenmccracken.blogspot.com/ Ken McCracken

Graeme, I agree now with Dave that you must have been watching some other debate.

Galloway did not, to my recollection, make one single statement of substance during the entirely of his exchanges with Hitchens. I do remember him saying lots of things about how horrible a person Hitchens was, and how Hitchens was “in the gutter” – but I kept waiting for his great triumphal flourish of fact and it never, ever came.

Galloway is a buffoon with followers, and nothing more.
robert108

Ken: I watched those debates as well, and Galloway never laid a glove on Hitchens.
Dave

Maher’s comedy worked a lot better when Clinton was in office. (Either that, or he was more of a libertarian back then.) Now, he’s just become an Al Franken clone, and his show has devolved into left-wing talk radio babble.
http://ndblueblog.blogspot.com/ graeme

Why did Hitchens go on Bill Maher? Because he is a fucking whore. He went on “tour” will George Galloway for christ sake. They debated the war in Iraq and who has a bigger ego. (cspan aired it a while back) The funny part is, he was outdebated. Galloway destroyed him and I hate George Galloway and his big brother appearing ass. I was rooting for old hitch simply because I respected him as a writer.

Hitchens shift to the right is as much for financial reasons as ideological. It is a sad pathetic display of political opportunism that would make Al Gore blush.

Not to mention he used the same “al-Zarqawi in Kurdistan” argument as proof of Al-qaeda in Iraq before the war. This has been debunked by everyone from my next door neighbor with the tin foil hat to Dick Clarke (the bandstand host and former counterterrorism czar) Bin Laden was working with Kurdish Islamists to kill Saddam. Bin Laden offered the most dangerous regime in the middle east (SAUDIS) jihadist to fight against Saddam in the first Gulf war. Saddam was watching Zarqawi, probably debating whether to kill him or not.

Hitchens argues like a marxist. Offhandedly dismiss anything that you don’t agree with without giving evidence why it is not acceptable. I sure hope his books sell.
http://www.kenmccracken.blogspot.com/ Ken McCracken

Yeah I vehemently disagree that Galloway ‘destroyed’ Hitchens, it was quite the reverse actually.
Sluggo

I would ask Bill Maher, where he gets the idea, that the President thinks the Messiah’s return is imminent. I have not heard Bush say such a thing.
It seems that Mahr is doing what neo-liberals, (as opposed to classical liberals), like him do best, quote from leftist doctrine. They know what Bush is thinking, because that is what ‘is written’ (i.e. self-evident) about Christians.

Those on the Left have lost the ability to think objectively, or rationally. Ayn Rand was right when she referred to them as “headless bodies”.
http://SayAnythingBlog.com The_Whistler_ofnd

Hitchens argues like a marxist.

I’ll have to take your word for it.
Dave

I used to be a fan of Maher (before he became a boring, predictable, knee-jerk liberal), and what’s weird is that Hitchens has been on his show several times. And his appearances were all pretty similar to the one up above.
http://bullwinkleblog.com/ bullwinkle

I used to be a fan of Maher (before he became a boring, predictable, knee-jerk liberal), and what’s weird is that Hitchens has been on his show several times. And his appearances were all pretty similar to the one up above.

Then he remembered he had a mirror and could see the same thing at home.
http://sayanythingblog.com robport

Even a stop clocked is right twice a day, Davey.
http://sayanythingblog.com robport

Did we watch the same debate? All Galloway had were ad hominem attacks.

You guys have to remember that Graeme also thinks that Hugo “Israel is worse than Hitler” Chavez is what’s best for Venezuela as a country.

SayAnythingBlog.com

Hitchens Gives Audience The Finger On Bill Maher’s Show

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