Bill Maher has said a lot of REALLY dumb things throughout his career, but this howler uttered with a straight face on HBO's Real Time Friday might possibly be his stupidest.
"Do you know who the role model for every president should be? Jimmy Carter" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
BILL MAHER: America needs to start defining peace as strength. Do you know who the role model for every president should be? Jimmy Carter. Because he is the one out of all of them who figured out how to sit in office for four years and never fire a shot. And every President's negative example should be Dick Cheney who even shot his friends in the face.
So Hillary Clinton, I hope you're listening to this. And I hope you remember that the reason you lost your primary battle in 2008 was because you voted for the Iraq War and some guy named Obama was smart enough to be against it. And in your upcoming campaign, I mean, if there is one, who knows? Anything could happen. I hope you know you don't have to run as an Iron Lady. That was your mistake last time. Because what good is being the first female president if you still have to be a dick?
To begin with, many Americans and historians believe Carter was the worst president of the 20th century if not in our nation's history.
Ignoring his poor economic record and staying with the issue Maher was focusing on, Carter's handling of Iran could conceivably be the biggest foreign policy blunder of any man to sit in the White House.
It was indeed his refusal to support the Shah that led to the Islamic Revolution and eventually our hostage crisis.
Years from now, historians might claim that it was Carter's poor handling of Iran that led to the Islamic extremism the world has been battling ever since and may continue to for decades to come.
Is that REALLY the role model every president should follow?
I think not, Bill.
