SkimIt
"A rough week for the clueless" is how Bill describes the phony hype over the all-too-obvious admissions of Lance Armstrong for doping and Jodi Foster for being gay. Despite that joke it is the more serious issue of gun control that leads the long and varied list of topics covered tonight by Bill and his guests former Nebraska Senator and Governor Bob Kerrey, ex-Ohio Congressman Steve LaTourette, comedian Martin Short, and journalists Rula Jebreal and Michelle Caruso-Cabrera.
Real Time With Bill Maher airs on HBO Fridays at 10:00 pm ET.
Former Senator Bob Kerrey: "Iraq-Afghan Guys Have it Worse" Than Vietnam Vets
"The Iraq-Afghan guys have it worse" than he and his fellow Vietnam veterans, Nebraska's Bob Kerrey tells Bill, because "we came back and we came home - they go back." Kerrey, who served in the Senate and was governor, says he supports the President's nomination of John Kerry and Chuck Hagel for the cabinet "because it's very helpful in both state and defense to have people who served in a war."
"Ronnie Reagan is Che Guevara" Compared to Today's GOP Says Martin Short
The radicalization of the Republican party and efforts by some moderates to bring it back to the center started things off for Bill and his panel tonight. Conservative CNBC journalist Michelle Caruso-Cabrera and former Ohio Republican Congressman Steve LaTourette agreed that their party needs to and may finally be coming back toward the middle. They have to, added comedian Martin Short, because the GOP has gone so far to the right that "Ronnie Reagan is Che Guevara" compared to these guys. As for the "self-contained city" that former FOX commentator Glenn Beck is trying to found, LaTourette joked that it would be some kind of "Disneyland" for the right. Bill, however, said that while he often jokes of Republicans "living inside the bubble," that "Glenn Beck is actually building the bubble."
"We're The Gun Country" Says Bill
Although admitting that he owns a gun, Maher notes that he is "not proud" of that, as "it's not an accomplishment." America is "the gun country," and while he agrees with the points the President made this week to tackle the issue, adds with disappointment that "it's pretty tame stuff." While Mr. LaTourette lamented that there are "lots of angry young white guys" out there who are committing these massacres, Ms. Caruso-Cabrera said that just like with drugs, it is not "supply" but "demand" that "we need to control."
"Right-Wingers Use Fear" Here and in Israel Says Journalist Rula Jebreal
In both Israel and in the United States, "right-wingers use fear" to gain power and push their agenda, Palestinian-born journalist, screenwriter and leading foreign policy expert for both MSNBC and Newsweek told Bill and his panel. Lamenting that Benjamin Netanyahu will likely retain power in the February elections in Israel, Ms. Jebreal says that this means more settlements will be built in disputed territories, only worsening the crisis. This is a mistake for Israelis as well as for Palestinians she added, as it means "they will have to be an apartheid state" if Israelis are to retain both land and their identity.
The discussion then turned to torture, specifically as depicted in Zero Dark Thirty, and how America's reliance on that practice is the "worst propaganda against us." As she explains, "I live in a region where torture was applied by regimes," and those regimes have fallen or are falling.
New Rules
As always, Bill ends the night with the seriocomic "New Rules" segment. Tommy Lee Jones took the first hit ("Meh in Black") for looking so unhappy at the Golden Globes. Bill noted that sure, Tommy Lee Jones was disappointed that Lincoln did not win, "but the last person to have less fun in a theater was Lincoln."
Bill also took a shot at TV drama Downton Abbey, Los Angeles weather forecasters and Lance Armstrong ("The Wages of Schwinn"), noting that if he and other people are going to keep confessing their sins to Oprah, that she "has to start wearing a collar."
Best Lines
"I missed you like my I missed my fake dead Internet girlfriend" – Bill
"It's only three days until the second historic inauguration - or as it's known in John Boehner's house 'Black Monday.'" – Bill
"The NRA accusing anyone of being paranoid is like a septic tank saying 'you need a mint.'" – Bill
"I'm a gun owner. I'm not a proud gun owner. It's not an accomplishment." – Bill
