Maher Panelist Denies Bin Laden Behind 9/11, Calls U.S. 'Murderously Meddlesome'

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“Artist/Activist” Mos Def, a hip-hop musician and actor, matched Rosie O'Donnell Friday night on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher in espousing a bizarre 9/11 theory which absolves Osama bin Laden as he also characterized George Washington and the Catholic church as “terrorists,” maintained that terrorists have legitimate grievances and trashed America as the threat to the world. [Be warned, this posting includes numerous profanities in accurate quotations.] Def contended that “George Washington and all them dudes was terrorists as far as the Queen was concerned,” charged that “the Catholic church's stance about child molestation is a form of terrorism in and of itself” and when asked by Maher if bin Laden was behind destroying the World Trade Center, declared “absolutely not.” Def asserted that “highly-educated people in all areas of science have spoken on the fishiness around the whole 9/11 theory.”

A few minutes later, Def defended terrorism as a response to America's misdeeds: “Let's deal with the fact that there are valid reasons even to a lot of terrorists' arguments, quote unquote, terrorists' arguments about why are they frustrated with colonial presence, imperial presence. The way that this government has pursued its foreign interests has been meddlesome, murderously meddlesome.” Directing his ire at President Bush, Def asserted that “this administration and this government has sought to suppress everyone and no one has sought to suppress America in quite the same way,” yet the U.S. goes “to these places and fucking kill[s] people.”

IMDb's bio page for Mos Def, whose birth name was Dante Terrell Smith, with a rundown of his movie and television show roles from Monster's Ball to Spin City to NYPD Blue.

Transcript of some highlights, or lowlights, from the September 7 Real Time with Bill Maher on which Mos Def was joined on the two-man panel by radical far-left Princeton University professor Cornel West:

MOS DEF: When the Revolutionary War was going on, George Washington and all them dudes was terrorists as far as the Queen was concerned. [The Queen? A King ruled Great Britain at that time.]

....

DEF: I don't believe it was bin Laden today, I don't believe it was never him. I think it's some dude just standing, I don't even, I can't even believe. I don't even, I'm sorry, I'm from the projects, I know danger. I don't feel no danger from that shit, those mother-fuckers.

BILL MAHER: But you don't think bin Laden knocked down the Word Trade Center?

DEF: Absolutely not.

MAHER: Come on.

DEF: I don't. I don't. You know what, I don't.

MAHER: That's where you lose me, my friend, and I'm so on your side, but you know what.

DEF: In any barbershop I am so not alone, I'm so not alone.

MAHER: That doesn't mean you're right.

DEF: That don't mean it is not valid neither. Highly-educated people in all areas of science have spoken on the fishiness around the whole 9/11 theory. It's like the magic-bullet and all that shit.

MAHER: Then what happened?

DEF: I don't believe these mother-fuckers have been to the moon either, but that's just me.

....

DEF: The Catholic church's stance about child molestation is a form of terrorism in and of itself.

....

DEF: Let's say these terrorist cells and all this al Qaeda is the boogie-man, okay, that's it, right. Why are they upset? Let's deal with the fact that there are valid reasons even to a lot of terrorists' arguments, quote unquote, terrorists' arguments about why are they frustrated with colonial presence, imperial presence. The way that this government has pursued its foreign interests has been meddlesome, murderously meddlesome.

MAHER: I agree with you and, you know, this is how dumb Bush is. He flies into Iraq this week and he lands at this giant base that, by the way, Saddam Hussein built, where there's ten thousand American troops. This is the problem, that they're in the heart of the Muslim world where we have a giant military base. This is a stone in their shoe. They're never going to stop-

DEF: It will be a stone in our shoe. No country has had the access, or even the ambition, to occupy us the, to occupy us, them. This administration-

MAHER: Calm down.

DEF: This administration and this government has sought to suppress everyone and no one has sought to suppress America in quite the same way. No one has even had the ambition. People want to be America's friend. People want to get along. Send me some movies, send me some Levi's, will you hang out with me? Everybody wants to be America's friend and America go to these places and fucking kill people. That shit is crazy.