Maher: Palin 'Sells Patriotism Like a Pimp' and is 'Leader of a Strange Family of Inbred Weirdos'

As NewsBusters has been reporting, Friday's installment of HBO's "Real Time" contained possibly the most vile political talk ever aired on national television.

In the final segment, host Bill Maher said, "Sarah Palin is a vainglorious braggart, a liar, a whiner, a professional victim, a scold, a know-it-all, a chiseler, a bully who sells patriotism like a pimp, and the leader of a strange family of inbred weirdos straight out of 'The Hills Have Eyes'” (video follows with transcript and commentary):

BILL MAHER: And finally, New Rule: Republicans have to stop thinking up intricate psychological explanations for why liberals don't like Sarah Palin or Michele Bachmann. Let me save you all some time. Are you ready? Because they're crazy people, people who are not that bright and full of awful ideas. Pretty much the exact same reasons we didn't care for George Bush and made jokes about him. So trust me, it's not because they have breast. It's because they are boobs.

Now, I'm not saying that sexism doesn't exist and isn't real. And we can’t, but we can't throw around the word "sexist" just to stop people like me from pointing out that Michele Bachmann, now running second for the Republican presidential nomination, isn't a dangerous nincompoop. And when I point out that Sarah Palin is a vainglorious braggart, a liar, a whiner, a professional victim, a scold, a know-it-all, a chiseler, a bully who sells patriotism like a pimp, and the leader of a strange family of inbred weirdos straight out of "The Hills Have Eyes,” that's not sexist. I'm saying it because it's true, not because it's true of a woman.

This came after: two of his guests talked about having violent hate sex with Bachmann and Rick Santorum; Maher compared Republicans to homocidal maniac Yasser Arafat, and; one of his guests said he wished Republicans "were all f--king dead."

Is this really what passes as civilized political discourse on HBO today?