Even so, executives at ABC weren’t prepared for the firestorm that ensued when he disputed that the 9-11 hijackers were “cowards,” then famously added, “We have been the cowards, lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away.” Maher’s show was canceled. Back on the air with a new HBO program, Maher spoke with NEWSWEEK’s Suzanne Smalley last week about the political climate in America and the shrinking tolerance for voices of dissent. Excerpts:
SMALLEY: You gave “Bowling for Columbine” director Michael Moore a hard time on your show the other night for using his Academy Award acceptance speech to attack the war in Iraq. Yet you yourself have paid the price for speaking your mind. When is dissent appropriate and when does it become obnoxious?
MAHER: My point with him, and he’s a friend, is [his acceptance speech] turned off the undecideds and that’s, to me, the cardinal sin of any political movement. Don’t turn off the people on the fence. It’s easy to preach to the converted. That doesn’t change anything or move your position forward. It’s similar to how in [Moore’s] brilliant movie–and it was brilliant–I literally felt sorry for Charlton Heston. And that’s not easy. He really sandbagged and badgered an old man with a failing memory. And, yes, Charlton Heston is on the wrong side of that issue, but you can make anybody sympathetic. Hey, we’re losing a popularity contest with Saddam Hussein. That’s like losing a school-board election to a pedophile.
So I guess you weren’t a fan of the San Francisco protest where peaceniks staged “vomit-ins”?
Let’s just say I don’t see how that’s going to sway the undecided. I think liberals have a tendency to talk only to themselves. The peace movement hasn’t done a good enough job of getting out the message of “we are not against fighting terrorism; we are just against fighting terrorism by invading Iraq, since Iraq is very tangential to the struggle at hand, which is 1) Al Qaeda and 2) the religion-based jihad types.” There’s also homeland security. It’s wonderful we have this nice reality show with the war on TV, but I don’t think it’s going to keep us any safer.
So you think the war in Iraq has made Americans less safe?
Right, and I think the peace movement should have delivered the message that we are all for the same goal, which is to be safe at home. I don’t question the president’s sincerity. He really thinks that [the Iraq war] is the way to do it. Why he thinks that is another story. I think they just couldn’t help themselves. I think they have a real itch about Iraq and they forced it into the template. I think it’s wonderful we are liberating these people who are under the heel of a horrible, brutal regime. But somewhere the rationale changed from “we’re doing this for us” to “we’re doing this for them.” Them. Us. Them. What are you talking about? If it’s for them then there are lots of thems in the world and we’re gonna be busy.
The Dixie Chicks recently came under fire after singer Natalie Maines said that she was “embarrassed” to be from the same state as Bush. The uproar is not unlike the witch hunt you endured. Have you spoken with Maines?
I sent her a little note. I told her, “I want you to know I’ve been exactly where you are and it’s OK. It will pass. People get hysterical in hysterical times.” I think people convince themselves they’re helping the war on terrorism by burning Dixie Chicks records, which is ridiculous. People know deep down the Dixie Chicks are not communists and they’re not on Saddam Hussein’s side. The other day I read a story and their manager was talking about how this came about and it was just like what happened to me. Days passed after the comment was made, but finally morning [radio] disc jockeys picked it up. They got people to write e-mails. It’s a whole campaign. It’s not real anger. It’s fake outrage that gets whipped up.
Why do Americans get so annoyed at celebrities with opinions?
People hate celebrities to begin with. They love-hate them. What they like to read about with celebrities is not how well they’re doing. People do not want to believe that someone living the fabulous life of Colin Farrell or J. Lo is happy.
Colin certainly seems to have a healthy and functional life to me.
But now he has a pregnant girlfriend, so it brings him down to earth. [The reporters ask,] “Colin, are you going to settle down now?” which really means “Are you going to stop having the kind of fun we’re not having? Please, please stop having so much fun when we’re not.” That’s what we can’t take.
