Bill Maher
From dKosopedia
Bill Maher is a brilliant comedian, actor, writer and producer. He is most notable as the former host of Politically Incorrect, which aired on the Comedy Central television network and later ABC. Maher is also currently the host of Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO.
Maher was born on January 20, 1956 in New York City, grew up in River Vale, New Jersey, graduated from Pascack Hills High School in Montvale, New Jersey and received a B.A. in English from Cornell University in 1978. He is the product of a "mixed" marriage, a Jewish mother and a Roman Catholic father, In his early stand-up routine, he said that he would bring a lawyer to confession: "Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned... I think you know Mr. Cohen..."
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Political Ideology
Maher is a self-described libertarian but his views sometimes apear no differnt from mainstream American liberalism. He eschews the extremist libertarianism in favor of reasonable government regulation of corporations, foreign aid, public schooling, campaign finance reform, environmental laws, Social Security, affirmative action, minimum wage laws, gun control, support for the United Nations, income redistribution through higher taxation, and reproductive freedom.
Punishment by Big Business
The increasingly conservative ABC television network decided not to punish Maher by not renewing his contract for Politically Incorrect in 2002 after he made a controversial on-air remark, in which he, along with guest political commentator Dinesh D'Souza, objected to the President and others calling the September 11 terrorists cowardly:
- "We have been the cowards lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That's cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, it's not cowardly."
In the aftermath of the attacks, the remark made him appear "too controversial" to the slow witted and thus for corporate financial support. In this context "controversial" means smart and insightful. Companies including FedEx and Sears Roebuck pulled their advertisements from the show. These decisions allowed ABC to cancel the show on June 16, 2002.
In 2003, Maher became the host of Real Time with Bill Maher on the HBO cable television network, a debate show somewhat similar to Politically Incorrect, but with a narrower selection of guests.
Celebrity Personal Problems Conservative Voyeurs Love
Maher was formerly involved in a relationship with model Nancy Johnson a.k.a. "Coco Johnsen". However, when this relationship become both verbally and physically abusive Ms. Johnson ended it and in November of 2004 she sued Maher for palimony.[1]
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