This is strange territory for Maher – mocking someone for nude pictures, and yet Maher has been a Playboy mansion regular. Like other ultraliberals– take CNN’s Roland Martin wanting to "go gangsta on the GOP" – Maher wants Barack Obama to roll over Republicans, not negotiate with them:
Obama's difficulties with health care reform in Congress remain a sore spot for Maher. "I don't know why he doesn't just demand that the House pass the Senate bill, and then tweak it in reconciliation and tell Glenn Beck to shove his tea bag up his a**. Could he do that?"
Gavin added:
In fact, Maher thinks Obama needs to stop worrying about Republican support entirely. "I've been trying to tell the president over and over again about the right wing: They're just not that into you. He's the wrong party, the wrong age, the wrong color and no matter how much he reaches out, they're just never going to vote for him."
As for the upcoming season of "Real Time," he expects to pay plenty of attention to newly elected Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.).
"This Scott Brown looks to me like he's going to be a real a**hole," says Maher. "Anybody who could win an election with the slogan, 'I drive a truck,' just really bothers me. ... 'Mr. 41' also bothers me that he signs '41' on all his autographs because he's so proud that he can block votes on things that the majority of Americans want. He's a regular Gandhi — if Gandhi took off his diaper and posed for Cosmo."
Gavin began the article oddly, suggesting some kind of persuasive equivalence between Maher and Walter Cronkite. (Patrick, he's hiding away on HBO!)
They once said, if you lose Walter Cronkite, you lose the nation. But what happens if you lose Bill Maher?
The liberal comedian has surprised friends and foes alike by adding President Barack Obama to his list of usual targets, such as conservatives and the religious right.
"He's just a president and like any president you have to hold their feet to the fire," Maher tells POLITICO.
Maher, who initially praised Obama, changed his tune last season on HBO’s "Real Time with Bill Maher," his hour-long political show. He knocked Obama for not standing "up for the 70 percent of Americans who aren't crazy."
"This is not what I voted for" he said, after Obama had failed to meet Maher's expectations on health care and climate change. "What he needs in his personality is a little George Bush. ... What we need to do is to marry the good ideas that Barack Obama has with a little bit of that Bush attitude and certitude."
Isn't it fascinating to see Maher wanting Obama to have just a fraction of Dubya?
Maher says his increasing ire against Obama is beginning to be encouraged from the left. "I used to get booed for it and now everyone seems to be marching to that beat," Maher told POLITICO, adding that he's noticed at stand-up shows that his loyal liberal fans have started to appreciate his outspokenness against Obama."
