Group wants Maher fired

By Uriah A. Kiser

Published: April 24, 2008

STAFFORD — A Stafford-based organization, led by Judie Brown, is upset about recent comments made by an HBO talk show host about the Pope.

The American Life League has launched a campaign aiming to remove comedian Bill Maher from the HBO cable network’s lineup of shows, for comments they say personally attacked and offended many Catholics across the country.

On April 11, during the live broadcast of “Real Time with Bill Maher,” Maher drew correlations between the Catholic priest sexual abuse scandal, and a polygamist society that was recently raided by government agents in Texas.

“If you have a few hundred followers and they let you molest a few hundred children, they call you a ‘cult leader.’ If you have a few thousand, they call you
Pope,” said Bill Maher.

The comedian, who is admittedly against all forms of religion, went on to say that “cults get raided, religions get parades.”

Maher also called the Pope a “Nazi” during the same broadcast. 

“If he had said anything about the Jews, Muslims or blacks he would have already been fired by now,” said Michael Hichborn, media advisor with ALL. “They expect Catholics just to turn the other cheek.”

Hichborn said the group’s petition drive has seen “tremendous success” in the last few days.

The group, which represents Catholics nationwide, said it is urging people to cancel their subscriptions to HBO, and to any other Time-Warner-owned and operated service.

“The First Amendment protects the people from government repercussions from free speech, but not the free market; HBO should have fired him a long time ago,” said Hichborn.

Time-Warner has not released a statement about the incident, but does note on its company Web site: “We rigorously uphold editorial independence and artistic expression, earning the trust of our readers, viewers, listeners, members and subscribers.”

Maher has since apologized about his Nazi comment, but stated on his show that he does not plan to back down from his anti-religious stance.
Hichborn said that his group is in talks to stage a protest outside of the Time-Warner offices in New York, if Maher continues to keep his late-night talk show.