The Chicago Tribune is reporting, an article entitled Congressman slams Maher over Army remark (anyone else tired of headline writers overusing the word “slam”?) that Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala. is saying Bill Maher’s remarks “border on treason.”
As luck would have it, I quoted Maher’s remarks in a previous entry. So, I suppose that Republican Alabaman asshat (or is that Alabaman Republican asshat?) would accuse me of treason as well. Bachus said, “I think it borders on treason. In treason, one definition is to undermine the effort or national security of our country.” He also said, “I don’t want him prosecuted. I want him off the air.”
The offending passage in question:
New Rule: The people in America who are most in favor of the Iraq war must now go there and fight it. The Army missed its recruiting goal by 42% last month. More people joined the Michael Jackson Fan Club. “We’ve done picked all the low-lying Lynndie England fruit.” And now we need warm bodies. We need warm bodies like Paula Abdul needs…warm bodies!
. . .
Now, I know you’re thinking, but, Bill, I already do my part with the “Support Our Troops” magnet I have on my Chevy Tahoe. How much more can one man give? Well, here’s an intriguing economic indicator. It’s been over a year since they graduated, but neither of the Bush twins has been able to find work. Why don’t they sign up? Do they hate America or just freedom in general?
And that goes for everybody who helped sell this war. You’ve got to go first. Brooks and Dunn, drop your cocks and grab your socks! Ann Coulter, darling, trust me, you will love the Army. You think you make up shit!
Curt Schilling, b-bye! You ended the curse on Boston. Good. Let’s try your luck in Fallouja. Oh, and that Republican Baldwin brother, he’s got to go so that Ted Nugent has someone to frag.
But mostly, we have to send Mr. And Mrs. Britney Spears. Because Britney once said, “We should trust our president in every decision that he makes, and we should just support that and be faithful in what happens.” Okay, somebody has to die for that.
Full text at: http://www.hbo.com/billmaher/new_rules/index.html
Apparently Rep. Bachus has forgotten his oath to uphold the Constitution which includes, inconveniently for him I suppose, the First Amendment. I just hate jackbooted thugs, even of the solely rhetorical variety.
Update 5/25/05 Bill Maher has responded to Rep. Bachus:
. . . But a congressman, there’s someone who can actually DO SOMETHING to help our troops. In fact, a case could be made that it’s a lot more treasonous for someone in his position to be wasting his time yelling at a comedian. Shouldn’t he be training his outrage at such problems as troops not having enough armor? Wouldn’t that ACTUALLY support our troops more? And citizens of this country who claim to support our troops should write this man and tell him GET BACK TO WORK! DO SOMETHING THAT ACTUALLY COULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO SOLDIERS IN IRAQ!
And by the way, these “comments” were part of a longer, scripted comedy piece in the modest proposal tradition. I can see why administration supporters would want to deflect attention away from the gist of the piece, which was this: now that we can’t meet our recruiting goals, maybe it’s the people who were so gung ho for this war to begin with who should step up and go fight it. But of course it’s always easier to distract people. . . .
Leave a Reply