Posted 11/15/2006 9:18 PM ET E-mail | Save | Print | Reprints & Permissions
By Steve Friess for USA TODAY
Whether dressing up as a stingray-barbed Steve Irwin or expounding on religion, Bill Maher polarizes.
The host of HBO's Real Time With Bill Maher (Fridays, 11 p.m. ET/PT) performs tonight as part of The Comedy Festival in Las Vegas. Maher also appears Saturday in Comic Relief (HBO and TBS, 9 p.m. ET/PT) to raise money for Hurricane Katrina victims. He chatted with USA TODAY:
Q: How happy are you with the election?
A: I'm incredibly happy. The moderate majority in the last two elections was cowed into voting for Bush because they were afraid, and the fear card was still working. It stopped working.
Q: You caused a flap right after 9/11 with a remark construed as insulting to American troops. The same thing happened recently to Sen. John Kerry. You seemed really angry on his behalf on your show that week.
A: There's a lot of fake outrage in America. There's enough to get truly outraged by that they don't have to turn their sights on people misspeaking or a botched joke. It's such a cynical way of doing business because George Bush knew what John Kerry was saying just as those guys back in 2001 knew what I was saying. ... It's doubtful that something Kerry, the Dixie Chicks or I say is going to affect the morale of the troops.
Q: Who can't you get on your show?
A: Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, John McCain, Barack Obama. They know they're chicken.
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