Bill Maher Recap: Liberal Means Never Having to Say You’re Sorry

March 5th, 2007 10:40 AM

If the nation’s educators really wanted to obtain a long-term perspective on the job they were doing teaching Americans reading comprehension skills, they should publish conservative articles on the Internet which included a feedback mechanism. As they read all the vitriolic hate mail, they’d be amazed at the percentage of responses indicating a third grade level or lower understanding of what they actually published.

No finer example of this premise has occurred recently than when NewsBusters published an article about HBO’s Bill Maher clearly showing regret over the failure of terrorists to assassinate Vice President Cheney.

To begin with, the headline read: “Bill Maher Sorry the Assassination Attempt on Dick Cheney Failed.” For those needing assistance, this headline didn’t state that Maher said he was sorry. Instead, it indicated that he was sorry.

Forgive me, folks, but there is indeed a difference. Anyone that has ever had a friend, a lover, a child, a parent, or just simply had any encounter with a fellow human being should know that there are many occasions when the species homo sapien expresses and/or shows regret without actually vocalizing “I’m sorry.” In fact, many pet owners would likely suggest that their dog or cat has clearly indicated such an emotion when they’ve been caught doing something wrong.

With that in mind, anyone that watched the video of Bill Maher’s sickening performance this past Friday night – and/or read the transcript – who can’t glean from the festivities that Maher was clearly sorry the assassination attempt failed should immediately find a learning center to assist him or her in improving reading comprehension skills.

To truly drive this point home, it was quite obvious Friday evening that Maher’s regret was even clear to Rep. Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts). For those who missed it:

Scarborough: If someone on this panel said that they wished that Dick Cheney had been blown up, and you didn’t say…

Frank: I think he did.

Scarborough: Okay. Did you say…

Maher: No, no. I quoted that.

Frank then asked Maher: “You don’t believe that?”

Maher responded: “I’m just saying if he did die, other people, more people would live. That’s a fact.”

I’m sorry, folks, but even Frank understood what Maher was saying.

Alas, loosely paraphrasing Ali MacGraw’s character from “Love Story,” it seems in this case that liberal means never having to say you’re sorry – or, to understand when someone is without them vocalizing it.