Bill Maher and Jay Leno -- AGAIN

UPDATE, February 10, 2009: Bill Maher and Jay Leno, February 10
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UPDATE, November 19, 2008: Bill Maher and Jay Leno, November 19
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(Screen grab/ NBC)

It seems like Bill Maher was just on the Tonight Show a couple of weeks ago.

Actually, it was the end of August. Still, two appearances in just over two months is too much.

Naturally, Jay Leno and Maher talked about presidential politics.

Maher said that John McCain is getting desperate. His new slogan: "McCain - the White Obama."

"I think he's desperate to get to the White House because the White House is acutally an excellent managed care facility."

How creative! A joke about McCain's age! That Maher is such a comic genius!

He sang Obama's praises and equated him with Jackie Robinson.

Maher said the attacks against Obama now are "veiled racism."

He said that's all the Republicans have at this point. They're just throwing out anything, hoping to hurt Obama.

Maher claimed, "Rush Limbaugh says he's an Arab."

He then quoted Sarah Palin's line, "He's not like us."

Maher made up his own smear: "He's got a big black uncircumcised penis and it smells like curry."

Leno laughed and said he hadn't heard that one. It was clear that the audience wished it hadn't heard it.

Maher said race should be taken off the table.

He said whatever a person writes on the Internet is taken to be true as long as it's not followed with "LOL."

Maher told Leno that he intends to write: "Barack Obama is white. In fact, he's Irish. It's O'Bama."

Obviously, Maher believes that race is preventing people from supporting Obama. He charges a sector with the American population of being racist. They'd vote for O'Bama, but not Obama.

Has Maher considered the possibility that some Americans don't want to vote for Obama because of his extreme liberal positions, his lack of experience, his poor judgment, and his character? Skin color and ethnic identity aren't factors.


Leno asked Maher for his prediction on the outcome of the presidential race.

"I think this race is already over."

Maher blames Sarah Palin for dooming John McCain's bid for the presidency.

He said, "Competence is like pornography. You know it when you see it."

"Gov. Avon Lady just doesn't pass the smell test."

At that, there were some boos, as well as some applause and cheers.

Maher noted that Palin's defenders say she's is a quick study.

He asked, "How stupid was she to begin with?"

Maher called John McCain very brave, "but it's not the Middle Ages."

"We need a smart guy."

The assumption there is that McCain isn't smart, certainly not as smart as Obama.

Maher dug himself a deeper hole when he belittled small town voters, the people who care about values.

"They're narcissists. They want someone just like them -- a dummy."

Maher thinks small town Americans are dumb. How very Hollywood and Obama-esque of him!

The audience didn't like that dummy "joke" at all.

After the commercial break, Maher and Leno talked about the economy.

Maher lamented not having two of the champions of the little man around to help with the crisis.

He cited John Edwards and Eliot Spitzer as the two Democrats who fought for the little guy. He complained that they were forced into exile because of sex scandals.

Maher said, "A lot of girls in America, Jay, are just hos. They want to be hos."

Again, no love from the audience.

Leno called both Edwards and Spitzer hypocrites. Maher would have none of it.

From there, Maher moved on to six-star hotels. Five-star hotels aren't good enough anymore.

He said that at a six-star hotel "when they say, 'Can I help you with your bag?' they mean your scrotum."

The audience did not respond well to that at all. There were audible groans.

Maher was ticked off that the audience wasn't appreciative of his "brilliance." I think he blamed them for not getting it. I doubt he blamed himself for bombing. I don't think he questioned the quality of his material.

After all that "fun," Maher got down to business and hawked his religion-bashing film, Religulous.

Maher claimed that people love the movie. He said the movie doesn't attack religion. What?

Anyway, he went on to discuss his own religious upbringing.

"I'm not bitter. Yes, I was brought up Catholic, but I was never molested. I'm a little insulted."

Sure, I buy Maher's assertion that his movie doesn't attack religion. Why would I doubt him, especially after a comment like that?

Again, his remarks were met with groans of disgust.

For once, Maher didn't receive a lot of positive reinforcement from the audience.

If the reaction of the audience is indicative, I don't think his appearance convinced many people to shell out money to see his movie.