Is Bill Maher afraid of offending anyone? His fans - and that includes me - would have to say "no." ABC cancelled his show "Politically Incorrect" after he said the 9/11 terrorists weren't cowards. He made a documentary, "Religulous," mocking organized religion. "Real Time with Bill Maher," the HBO show he has hosted since 2003, has earned many protests, particularly over his merciless mocking of the Roman Catholic Church's sex scandal.
It's this spirit he brings to "Bill Maher: But I'm Not Wrong." His ninth HBO special was filmed before a live audience at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts in Raleigh, N.C., on Feb. 13, 2010.
Getting Political
Dressed in a short sleeve black shirt and blue jeans, Maher runs out to an enthusiastic crowd. "I picked the right city this time," he says. He wants to reward them: "In this economic time, a dollar is a hard thing to come by. I know I better be fucking good."
Not surprisingly, the economic crisis provides Maher with a rich source of material. "I picked up a fortune cookie the other day and it said, 'Pay up, deadbeat," he says early on. He sympathizes with the economic calamity President Barack Obama inherited upon taking office: "He is the maid after Led Zeppelin has left the room."
The conservative movement's hatred of President Obama has been at a frightening intensity since he took office, and Maher zeroes in. "They're always getting their panties in a bunch about some stupid, sentimental, symbolic bullshit," he says of the right wing, citing as examples the manufactured controversies over the president removing his jacket in the Oval Office and Michelle Obama's comment during the 2008 presidential campaign about finally being proud of her country. He attributes the birther movement and rise of the Tea Party to simple racism and criticizes Tea Partiers for being nostalgic about the 1950s, a time he correctly points out was less than ideal for minorities.
George W. Bush is out of office, but Maher spends plenty of time bashing him. He considers Bush an example of the Republicans becoming a party of anti-intellectual "bimbos." Another example, of course, is Sarah Palin. One of Maher's funniest bits has him mocking Palin for needing to write "tax cuts" on her hand.
Fighting the Iraq War for oil inspires another very funny line. Speaking of war, Maher pulls no punches when criticizing right-wingers who claim to support the military. "Love of our troops is the ultimate in fake patriotism," he says. "We pay them like shit, we fuck them and trick them on deployments, we nickel and dime them on medical care when they get home, not to mention the stupid wars we send them to. Yeah, we love the troops the way Michael Vick loves dogs."
No Faith
It wouldn't be a Maher performance without criticism of religion. There's actually a whoop from the audience when he introduces the topic.
Given his history, Maher is somewhat tame when it comes to the Catholic Church, although he does have a great line about the Pope's Facebook page. Here he's more concerned with religion in general, calling it "mass delusion. Anytime there's mass delusion bad things do follow." Among the "bad things" Maher blames religion for: suicide bombings, suppression of women and homosexuals, the Inquisition, the Crusades, most wars and child sexual abuse.
Bottom Line
"But I'm Not Wrong" is always thought provoking and sometimes very funny. Maher fans won't be disappointed, although a good segment of "New Rules" on "Real Time" is funnier. If nothing else, it demonstrates what Maher has long said: comedy didn't die when Bush left office.
Join the Conversation