Speaking with Howard Kurtz about how he always gets booed when he tells an Obama joke, Maher said "we get a very supersensitive liberal audience" on HBO's "Real Time," and "it's always that limousine liberal crowd that just has their finger on the politically correct button...That's what bugs me the most about liberals is that they just -- they object before they even know what they're objecting to."
Despite Maher also claiming that "especially on campuses in the last 10 or 15 years, the repression of speech has come more from the left," one got the feeling the "Real Time" host wasn't being completely honest about his distaste for liberals when he later complained about Democrats: "We don't really have a party that represents me or any progressives."
As you'll see from the following partial transcripts, Maher's positions were rather hypocritical (video embedded below the fold, relevant sections at 24:00 and 31:30):
(Video available here for Internet Explorer users.)
HOWARD KURTZ, HOST: You have feasted for a long time on George Bush and Dick Cheney. We're in a new era now. On your program a while back, you told a joke about President Obama.
(VIDEOTAPE)
BILL MAHER, HBO: You know who's superstitious about Friday the 13th? Republicans. They say the country is having bad luck because we let a black cat in the White House.
KURTZ: Do you remember the audience reaction?
MAHER: Yeah. Well, they boo me a lot when I talk about Obama.
KURTZ: Why is that? What does that tell you?
MAHER: It tells me that we get a very supersensitive liberal audience. You know, I mean, this is one reason I always have trouble doing charity events. I'm all for charity, but the events -- you know, it's always that limousine liberal crowd that just has their finger on the politically correct button. You know, they're just ready to -- ooh. Yeah. That's what bugs me the most about liberals is that they just -- they object before they even know what they're objecting to.
KURTZ: Aren't these your people, Bill?
MAHER: No, not when they do that. I'm much more of a -- you know, I'm a free speech person. And I would say especially on campuses in the last 10 or 15 years, the repression of speech has come more from the left.
In sum, he doesn't like liberals because they object before they know what they're objecting to and they repress free speech.
Yet, after a commercial, Maher had the following exchange with Kurtz:
MAHER: You see, this is my point about the Democrats. We don't really have a party that represents me or any progressives. The Democrats really are what the Republican Party used to be. I think the Republican Party, which is at record low levels, that should go away entirely. The Democrats are what the Republicans used to be. A corporatist party that represents big business and doesn't stand up for progressive issues. And then we need a whole new party which is what the Democrat Party used to be. Because, again, Obama has not said anything about gun control. Ever since Al Gore lost Tennessee in the year 2000 Democrats have not had the...
KURTZ: They have died away.
MAHER: ...guts to stand up on this issue.
Fascinating: Maher hates liberals but wishes there was a whole new party further to the left than the Democrats.
Doesn't add up, does it?
