By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
November 15, 2002
The beginning of the end for the late, great television show “Politically Incorrect” came shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
“We have been the cowards, lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away,” said host Bill Maher. “That’s cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building–say what you want about it, it’s not cowardly.”
Advertisers such as Sears and Federal Express immediately pulled their ads. Some stations stopped airing the smart program. And White House spokesman Ari Fleischer got in on the action, stating during a press conference, “It’s a terrible thing to say and it’s unfortunate. There are reminders to all Americans that they need to watch what they say, watch what they do. This is not a time for remarks like that. There never is.”
Calling from his Los Angeles home, Maher, 46, says, “When I was being scolded by the White House press secretary, I was thinking what he said was creepier than anything I ever said. I was thinking, ‘Well, no. We love this country because we don’t need to watch what we say.’ In Iraq, you have to watch what you say. In many societies, you have to watch what you say, including some democracies like our friends in Egypt.”
When Maher started doing the late-night gabfest in 1993, viewers weren’t sure what to make of it. Or him. Was he being sarcastic? Was he just rude? Or perhaps he just liked to argue? The truth is, at times all three were right on the money.
“Once we ran a contest that basically asked, ‘Politically incorrect or just stupid?’ ” he says. “When I was first doing the show, we were trying to explain what the concept of it was. People misinterpreted ‘politically incorrect’ as shocking, which it sometimes can be. To me, it just means truthful–not liberal or conservative, but just keeping it real. It may be rude, but it doesn’t mean it’s not true.”
Maher hardly has been idle since the show’s cancellation earlier this year. Now touring the country with his stand-up act–which brings him to the Chicago area this weekend–Maher has written When You Ride Alone You Ride with Bin Laden (New Millennium Press, $27.95)
“I didn’t intend to write this book,” he says. “I just got the idea for it and I couldn’t stop. It all came together very quickly. I thought of it in June, stayed up until 6 a.m. working on it every day for the next three months and then it went off to the publisher before Labor Day. I got the title for the first part of this book from an old World War II poster book. There was this overriding spirit then that the government wasn’t afraid to point the finger and say, ‘Get into the game and do your part.’ They shamed people into taking action.
“My mother is 83. She said, ‘We were not the greatest generation until we had to be.’ The war happened and they responded. I wish civilians would do that now and have this spirit that we can make a difference in the war. But our government doesn’t tell us that. They just tell us to shop.”
Here’s what else Maher had to say:
Favorite place to shop: [Laughs.]
Favorite Chicago restaurant: Magnum’s. Is that a steakhouse or a condom? I had a really good swordfish there.
Dating: I don’t need someone to complete me. They might botch the job.
Most romantic thing he did for a girlfriend: I took her to Paris once. In France, not Texas.
Biggest misconception about him: That I live in the Playboy grotto and date bunnies. They’re thinking of Jimmy Caan, not me. In my whole life, I went out with one Playmate and then she dogged me on Howard Stern’s show.
Biggest misconception about American men: That we’re having sex all the time. The truth is most guys live lives of quiet desperation.
Thing that got you into trouble the most on your show: Besides the obvious? When I said you have to lie to stay married. I don’t mean it as a putdown, but no way can you be in a long-term relationship and not lie.
Alpha Male: If you marry Al Gore, he will not cheat on you. But you’re married to Al Gore. It would be much more interesting to be married to Bill Clinton, who is an Alpha. And Bush, of course, is Delta House.
“Politically Incorrect” vs. stand-up comedy: I miss doing TV but I love stand-up. I never used to get standing ovations and almost always get them with this show.
The last word on Chicago: It’s my favorite city to go out in after a show. It’s the last city in America that has all the big-city stuff without the bad attitude. Yet.
