I don't know what it is about Bill Maher but no matter how many points he makes that I agree with, and no matter how much I laugh (and this was fairly funny interview) I just can't stand the guy.

As much as I agree with Bill, I simply can't concur with his view about Lebanon.

For him, the conflict started in the last few weeks. It's been 20+ years now.

cheers

The Canada analogy was in very poor taste and you think someone like Bill Maher would make an attempt to better informed on the events and history of the situation. If his analogy is true then I suppose the equivalent of this ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5255966.stm ) would be destroying Newfoundland?

I used to kinda like Bill until I saw his comments about Israel. Here's an alternate comparison, instead of US/Canada: What if, during the 1980s, black South Africans were shooting rockets from the "Bantustans" into Afrikaans-controlled Pretoria?

What a douche.

I love him. I don't think there's a person I agree with more than him. I loved his Ricky Martin line... tee hee :)

I agree with you, Thaddeusphoenix. There is something I just don't like him.

I actually think Jay's line about it being German beer was possibly the best line.

I have seen Maher defend mAnn Coulter before. I think only to keep his access to her Adam's apple.

However, I enjoy his show, and his commentary. but he is a tad in the self-righteous vein.

All in all, he's funny. Leno on the other hand...

He's redoing his last show with the infinitly unfunny Leno--Real Time Redux. I recommend downloading the podcast in which he states the same things--minus his glib take on Isreal-Lebanon conflict--only funnier.

Dan, you can be sure black South Africans would have been shooting rockets into Afrikaan-controlled areas if they were being financed by Iran or Syria.

By the way, what gave black South Africans the 'moral high ground' (as y'all like to say) is that they weren't attacking whites with violence. The Arabs could learn a thing or two, instead of always resorting to violence, bigotry and hatred. If they weren't going around blowing up buses and killing Jews around the world, they'd have had their state right now -- granted it would be another dictatorship like all the other Arab states, but at least they'd have had it.

you know what, Zak, I actually agree with you. Blowing up buses is not the best way to get what you want.

Zak- Weren't attacking the whites with violence? Did you miss some days in history class? There was most definitely a violent armed struggle against the white imperialists in South Africa by the native majority. Using pacifisim as moral persuasion only works when you're fighting a power open to moral persuasion. Israel is not such a power (nor is the U.S., nor was the South African gov't.). Your reference to Arab "violence, bigotry and hatred" is laughable when one considers the Jewish-supremacist mentality of the Israeli state--that and more than half a century of genocide perpetrated by the Israelis against the native Arab populations of the region.

The violence of the oppressed bears no moral equivalency to the violence of the oppressor, especially when the oppressor is being armed by the U.S. (Iran seems to be coming up a bit short on helicopters, tanks, and bulldozers lately, doesn't it?)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0801/p09s02-coop.html

Cheers,

bill maher's opinion on warrantless wiretapping is completely indefensible. he is completely for it, ive seen him state his opinion more forcefully before--something like "yah id rather not be spied on, but id really rather not have a dirty bomb go off in my neighborhood."

it really makes me suspect hes just an opportunist. hes smart enough to know that theres no reason warrants cant be had, and his framing of the issue is completely dishonest. the fisa court is not anti-american, nor does it make us less safe. saying "ok ok we're in danger, just gotta get used to less freedom" pisses me off.

its called the fucking constitution you asshole. its not negotiable.

and besides, who has more power bush or al qaeda? im more suspect of bush, cause he actually could destroy america, al qaeda doesnt have a chance.

i dont care anymore that maher is against the drug war and all the rest. hes a bastard.

What's not to like about Maher? I think he's hilarious!

I agree with Dan. I'd like to add that pacifist movements only became popular after several decades of colonisation in South Africa and in British India. When foreigners originally came to those regions and began colonising them, they faced stiff and violent resistance that continued for quite some time. Eventually after being 'broken' though prolonged periods of submission did indigenous peoples resort to non-violent tactics. Israel, a relativly new entity, has been trying to assert its dominance in ways that are reminscient of old colonial settlers... so why is it so surprising of violent backlash?

that reminds me of something a conservative once said(i believe i heard jim pinkerton on bloggingheads.tv say this): if youre gonna occupy a foreign peoples you need to either give them reconcilliation and a two state solution, or you need to ethnically cleanse them (like we did in america). it doesnt work to just continually subjugate a people, a long term occupation is always going to make people suspicious and hostile.

people say "well if israel left the west bank and gaza completely, gave into all the terrorists demands, etc, the terrorism would still continue"

but i dont buy it. if they gave in hamas would be satisfied, hezbollah says they would ceasefire, all thats left is islamic jihad and maybe a couple others. reducing the number of enemies would certainly make it easier to fight them. though it still wouldnt work if they just refocused their focus from hezbollah to islamic jihad. theyd need a change in strategy too.

get the mossad on them or something i dunno. im not qualified to say really.

the end goal should be de-escalation, it doesnt help to constantly escalate things. sometimes its necessary (like afghan war) but usually it exacerbates shit.

Just saw Bill Maher on Jay Leno. Funny and witty as usual, was enjoying the show so far, till Mr Maher started talking about Israel. Man' what's got into him? What a lot of rubbish Mr Maher said, such idiocy as: -"What if a terrorist organization (talking about Hezbollah) took over Canada and started sending missiles to Maine and Montana?" or -"GWBush is the best president we've ever had on the subject of Israel?" Has he been watching to much of Fox News? Was he stoned? Drunk (like Mr Gibson...) or was he really thinking the crap coming out of his mouth? If so, this is sad. Mr Maher must know the FACTS, even the biased media gives it to him. There are: -Hezbollah is a resistance movement, created during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon (Mr Sharon was the commander in chief) in 1982. Hezbollah forced Israel to back down (partially), leading to the partial rethdrawal of 2000. -Israel has been illegaly occupying Palestine and parts of Lebanon for 30 years. -Israel (the IDF) has killed more civilians than Hamas, Hezbollah, Al Qaida...combined. (from 2000 since the start of this conflict, Hezbollad missiles had killed...6 Israeli civilians). -Prior to the abduction of a IDF soldier by Hamas, Israel had kidnapped 2 palestinian civilians (the day before) -Israel has also kidnapped members of the Palestinian Parliament, as well as bombing their offices. -Israel said that it was attacking Lebannon to free the 2 captured soldiers. It seems like a fake excuse now that we know that the IDF had actually been planning an attack on Lebanon for more that a year. Also, killing 1000 civilians, destroying a whole country where 200 000 people have flown and left their houses...a bit of a strong reaction, isn't it? -Hezbollah chief (Nasrallah) has always said that he will stop RETALIATING if Israel stopped boming his country and well as agreed to exchange the Israeli prisonners against some of the 1000 Lebanese political prisoners rotting in Israeli jails. Nasrallah also agreed to a ceasefire. -Any sensed person know that there is a bigger agenda. The US wants Iran out, Israel is therefore giving a hand. All the nonsense about Iran giving weapon to Hezbollah...(where are the facts?) that you see on TV, reminds me of something...the WMD of Irak....do forget the past, people. -Hezbollah is winning the war. It hasn't been that popular around the muslim world for ages. On the other hand, hatred for the US and Israel has grown, grown, grown.

Anyway, if Bill knew all that, and said what he said anyhow, all respect I had for him has now gone. He who always tells us that he doesn't like religion, is actually defending a state, based on lines of the Bible. Weird, really weird.

yeah great interview! I was actually in the audience that day. i uploaded my video of the interview of the segment to youtube.com but they deleted it. How do you get to keep it on your site?

I totally agree with kvjl. As a Canadian of Lebanese descent I was doubly offended when he used that over-simplified Canada analogy to explain the conflict to the misinformed and not-so-bright Americans. He turned out to be the biggest idiot of them all. I actually liked bill maher until he made those statements. He must have been stoned or else his half jewish blood is impairing his thought.LOL

his view on Lebanon and Israel is the same way he couldn't understand wArd Churchil's view of terrorism.

It is not that terrorist attacked the U.S, something happened before that, that caused it. U.S has done a lot of stuff around the world.

now its not all black and white. But then thats the way everyone likes to see it.

oops I meant I totally agree with 'Frank'!

Israel needs to withdraw from Lebanon, including the Sheb'a farms, as soon as possible.

Hezbollah needs to give up all of its weapons when this happens.

Syria and Iran need to stop pushing weapons into Lebanon once the Israelis have left.

If Hezbollah continues to hold arms after the Israelis have left, then people must accept that they are terrorists.

You cannot call yourself a resistance movement if there is no occupation to resist, and they cannot continue to hold weapons because they are not affiliated with the Lebanese army.

Valkesh, you are wrong.

The reason why Hezbollah exists as an armed resistance movement is because of Israeli military aggression such as its invasion and occupation of South Lebanion from 1982-2000.

Without Israel's occupation of SOuth Lebanon, there would be no Hezbollah group in South Lebanon. You can't argue your way out of this.

Israel has continued to violate Lebanese sovereignty, not just in occupying Shebaa Farms.

"Since Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in May 2000, there have been hundreds of violations of the "blue line" between the two countries. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) reports that Israeli aircraft crossed the line "on an almost daily basis" between 2001 and 2003, and "persistently" until 2006. These incursions "caused great concern to the civilian population, particularly low-altitude flights that break the sound barrier over populated areas". On some occasions, Hizbullah tried to shoot them down with anti-aircraft guns. In October 2000, the Israel Defence Forces shot at unarmed Palestinian demonstrators on the border, killing three and wounding 20. In response, Hizbullah crossed the line and kidnapped three Israeli soldiers. On several occasions, Hizbullah fired missiles and mortar rounds at IDF positions, and the IDF responded with heavy artillery and sometimes aerial bombardment. Incidents like this killed three Israelis and three Lebanese in 2003; one Israeli soldier and two Hizbullah fighters in 2005; and two Lebanese people and three Israeli soldiers in February 2006. Rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel several times in 2004, 2005 and 2006, on some occasions by Hizbullah. But, the UN records, "none of the incidents resulted in a military escalation". On May 26 this year, two officials of Islamic Jihad - Nidal and Mahmoud Majzoub - were killed by a car bomb in the Lebanese city of Sidon. This was widely assumed in Lebanon and Israel to be the work of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency. In June, a man named Mahmoud Rafeh confessed to the killings and admitted that he had been working for Mossad since 1994. Militants in southern Lebanon responded, on the day of the bombing, by launching eight rockets into Israel. One soldier was lightly wounded. There was a major bust-up on the border, during which one member of Hizbullah was killed and several wounded, and one Israeli soldier wounded. But while the border region "remained tense and volatile", Unifil says it was "generally quiet" until July 12."

Guardian, 8 Aug 06,

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0808-23.htm

Valkesh and other pro_israeli people ignores the fact that the Arabs in Lebanon also has the right to self defence against Israel, who dropped 660,000 artillery shells and nmearly 40,000 rockets and bombs on civilian areas and infrastructure, compared to the 3920 old and obsolete rockets that the Hezbollah fired in retaliation.

Hezbollah is a resistance movement fighting that became legitimate by fighting against israel's attacks and incursions against Lebanese sovereignty.

I will support the case that Hezbollah should disarm only if Israel does as both of them disrupes the peace in the Middle East, not just 1 party.

Any other interpretation of the Israel's attacks on Lebanon is one-sided and objective. and ignores the atrocities of a rogue terrorist state who has received and defied 22 UN resolutions denouncing its activities, 7 more than Saddam's Iraq.

That's Israel btw.

Bill's a name-calling hack, and he's wrong about damn near everything.

Maher is such a jackass. He calls our President an idiot twice and has the nerve to say that Bush tortures people. Can someone please show me the proof where we have tortured people? No one can because there is none. If you disagree with the war or a certain policy that's fine. It's ok to disagree. But I am so sick of these liars who will say anything to get their ideology across.

Bill Maher is an intelligent and hilarious thinker, but he won't go near 9-11 being an inside job. The reason became apparent on the Tonight Show when he implied that the 9-11 truth community (which includes Rosie O'Donnell and many high-level military) is saying that the Bush administration, and George Bush himself, is soley responsible for pulling it off -- which couldn't be further from the truth. What the community says is that a network of corporate and military insiders have infiltrated key positions in order to facilitate this -- and other -- false-flag terror attacks. It's much wider than the Bush administration! Bill shoud get Webster Tarpley, author of "9/11: Synthetic Terror -- Made in the USA", on his show. Get this out in the open and talk about it without pre-conceived notions.

Maher is a tool for the Synagogue of Satan.Alway starts off with the feel guilty for the jew.Bill is a ashkeNazi jew and is in no way related to the Hebrews in the bible.He is a member of what is known as those who call them selfs jew but are not.They are the synagogue of Satan. On pg. 76, of Rabbi Jack Moline's book GROWING UP JEWISH, we read:

"For years, anti-Semites have accused Jews of controlling Congress, and for years it has been denied. Ironically, as of 1984, the Jews do control Congress. A recent survey of the 435 representatives, shows that for all practical purposes, 219 are practicing Jews. Interestingly, twelve members of the Black Congressional Caucus are Ethiopian Jews. On the Senate side, an astounding 62 out of 100 Senators identify themselves as Jews." (What he means by this I am not sure; possibly that they are Christian Zionists who vote the straight Zionist ticket every time - ED).

And he wonders why people dont like so called jews.They are the true haters.

Bill is an idiot. He lives in a very liberal part of this country and surrounds himself with like-minded people and then proclaims, "Obama is smarter than all of us!" Oh, really Bill? Then why didn't he pass healthcare? Why didn't he close Gitmo? Why didn't he get us out of war? Why did he do NOTHING as a Senator (except vote for all this spending)? Why did he lie (and continues to) about earmarks, lobbyists, unemployment, spending, etc. I could go on, but what's the point? Dumb people like this will simply believe what they want to believe no matter how wrong it is. The truth is both parties are to blame, both should be aboloished, and the "status quo" of ripping us American taxpayers off should be stopped and people like Obama and Bush should be jailed!