Last night's show was one of the few that was truly delightful. I'm not a fan of PJ ORourke, tonight he was more palatable than usual.

One of the problems I have with his comments about Bush and the US people is that we're a democracy. The people chose him, twice. In a democracy the people are responsible for their leader and if that leader is not representing us then we must remove him. Along with freedom comes responsibility. We haven't removed him and it doesn't look like we're going to either, so to a semi-intelligent person it’s difficult to buy the "we're not with stupid". We have no one to blame but ourselves for the mess we’ve created and pretending it’s just the doing of one man is a pathetic excuse IMO. This is just another example of one of the major flaws with US culture and possibly the world today. The unwillingness to take responsibility.

Dar, This is a republic, if America were a democracy we would have long since collapsed under our own selfishness and appathy.

If America were a democracy we wouldnt have bothered with congress the senate or much of the other trappings of our government. To have a democracy you dont really have a constitution to protect you.

If you have enough neighbors, they can vote you off your property and divide it up between themselves. Of course if they can fool you into thinking you live in a democracy, I suppose they can do anything they want as long as they can show enough voter turnout or electronic ballots.

C.

I notice you didn't post Maher's defense of Israel and Israel's fight for survival.

Particularly telling was Netanyahu's recounting of when a Brit criticized Israel's defense tactics and Netanyahu said, well, the last time London had 400-odd missiles dumped on it, you know what you Brits did? You firebombed Dresden and destroyed half of Germany. Our response is disproportionate -- disproportionately restrained.

Not fond of Netanyahu, but the truth hurts.

Dear Bill, I am much more afraid of the American people than I am of the terrorists. You may be a little isolated get out and see America most Americans are just like bush, that is to say bush is very helplessly average. The averae IQ in America is 98 http://perdurabo10.tripod.com/id1048.html Thanks for putting on the good fight

i second dar.

ohhh..responses like captain black's are frustrating. Yeah yeah... we know about the strict definition of democracies. Doesn't address Dar or her point in the least. What Dar is trying to say is that the problem with America is that America actually elected Bush twice. So for Maher to say it's just the dumb cheese head in the white house is not fair. Roughly 50% of the United States are on board with Bush which really reflects badly on America.

Particularly telling was Netanyahu's recounting of when a Brit criticized Israel's defense tactics and Netanyahu said, well, the last time London had 400-odd missiles dumped on it, you know what you Brits did? You firebombed Dresden and destroyed half of Germany. Our response *is* disproportionate -- disproportionately restrained.

First the analogy is a poor one on a number of counts. It's a cute story and Netanyahu is obviously mighty proud of it, as is the Israel does no wrong crowd. That it is a poor argument doesn't seem to matter. First Hezbollah wasn't firing missiles into Lebanon prior to Israel massive attacks against Lebanon, an important difference don't you think? Many think that the firebombing of Dresden was criminal. In light of that, Netanyahu's argument is simply an Ad hominem attack. You do it too, so it's okay if we do it. Do I need to remind you that two wrongs don't make a right? Finally Israel had 'smart bombs' making it easier to avoid civilian casualties something not available during world war two. Had Bill asked Ben about the cluster bombs dropped in the last three days of the conflict, especially in light of the fact that they knew a cease fire was imminent and also knowing that the use of that weapon would leave hundreds of bomblets in civilian areas that would inevitably kill and maim innocent civilians it would have been something worth posting.

I believe it was Southpark that said tht the great thing about democracy is the ability to say one thing, and do another.

Maher: Israels 'Dennis Miller'

I was STUNNED by the Netanyahu interview. Bill allowed the pro-Israel platform to spew its one-sided argument while nodding along. "I will work for you" i believe Maher actually said.

One of the things that i love about Maher is that i don't always agree with him. But this obvious political pandering was a VNR for Israel. I was ashamed at what a sycophant Bill showed himeself to be.

box

Sorry Captain, "Representative Democratic Constitutional Republic". I guess the fact that I didn't want to write an essay to discribe our government system means my post and the point I was making in it are invalid. Next time I'll be more clear.

Have to agree with your comment Dar (with the priviso that it's not all that clear cut that Bush was in fact chosen).

Dar is on the money, we(as a nation) ARE with stupid. We(as a nation) elected the Idiot King not once, but twice. And we're not going to get away w/ it I'm afraid. That being said we are way past the point of solving our problems through the political process. Also, is Bill a paid spokesman for Israel now? And did he give Bibi 15 minutes to drone on and on un-interrupted last nite? Or was I really drunk?

Dar,

Actually, I'm in the Bush was never elected camp. Read "Best Democracy Money Can Buy", by Greg Palast. Certainly the majority of Americans haven't been voting for Bush. In strict number terms. We might have gotten to the bottom of this had 9/11 not happened. In any event, it is certainly true that there is a huge swath of American who hate their president. Bush wasn't elected, he was placed in power by chicanery, and oil money.

Im not trying to be quite as much of a picky prick as some may have painted me.

The point is that there is an important difference, and to some extent it works to our disadvantage to repeat the error, its common I know, but as long as we reinforce it by repetition it's not going to go away (the idea that we are infact bound only by the will of the majority).

Or maybe it is just a goddamned piece of paper after all.

Like us backward atheists who go around saying goddamned so much.

C.

C.

One does feel a lot of frustration toward the American people. Whether the elections were stolen or not, half of the country supported this gruesome boob. That has started changing, only recently.

It appears than many Americans have to have their own teeth kicked in before they start to give a shit.

The great American individualist is very much a thing of the past. You buy your acceptable version of individuality in clothing stores and automobile dealerships.

You embrace a politicized quasi religion that doesn't threaten or call your greed, laziness, and narcissism into question. But makes you feel all righteous about the evil and carnage you support.

That does not describe all Americans but it does accurately describe a huge layer of the population.

The American people do share responsibility for what is done in your name.

However, what we see in this clip is very good propaganda as it helps make it more embarrassing for anyone to support this idiot.

Hey, it worked against Clinton. This is one situation in which ridiculing this ass is a small but useful political act. But that is just the starting point.

Living outside the States, it is very easy to get the impression that half the country is utterly dead ignorant and determined to stay that way. Proud of it and determined to maintain it.

The American people do have to share responsibility for what is happening in your country.

bush wasnt democratically elected. he got the most electoral votes in 2000 but lost the popular vote. he also got the most votes in florida as well but the supreme court changed that reality. how quickly people forget.