Will Bill Maher be fired by HBO or resign before 5/1/08 for the disparaging remarks he made about Catholics and the Pope?

He's disparaged Catholics and religion in general since his show moved from "Politically Incorrect" to the censorship-free HBO environment. I can't imagine that all of a sudden he would get canned for doing something he's been doing on HBO for years.

Bill Maher is an American Hero

Bill Maher is an American Coward. He routinely stacks the deck in his favor with both the audience and the panelists because he cannot support his own beliefs.

That being said, do I think he should be fired for his comments: No.
It was wrong for both Don Imus and Randi Rhodes to be fired over what they said.
Censorship is a slippery slope that cannot be allowed to gain momentum.
Let the marketplace decide his fate and show ratings decide his future.

Bill Maher consistently has a "conservative" right-wing perspective on the panel with whom he duels in the marketplace of ideas. He also has guests - live and via satellite feeds - who are right-wing. Go to HBO.com and search the archived shows to see the list of Republicans, right-wing pundits, authors, bloggers, politicians, etc. that he has on his show. Ann Coulter, the Goddess of Evil, even used to be a regular! Also, he always supports his insights and perspectives with convincing evidence, which is refreshing in these anti-rational times that we live in. Yes, his audience is very left-wing - they're going to see Bill Maher. I dare say if Bill O'Reilly had a live audience talk show - most of his audience would be right wing.

Thanks, Crowe for a well-phrased rebuttal.

Thank you for a thoughtful rebuttal. Often I find classic liberal arguments to consist mostly of name calling.

I still say Bill Maher has only token conservatives on his show. Just like Rome used to be fair about representing all religions, just before throwing the Christians to the lions.

I know of some conservative pundits who refuse to appear due to the lopsided liberalism blatantly displayed on his show. As you candidly admit, <<Ann Coulter, the Goddess of Evil>> no longer appears on his program, probably due to his charade of fairness, or she is fresh out of books to sell. He is an opinion journalist and not a news journalist so he does not / should not try to show both sides of an issue, or be objective in his stories.

As for <<he always supports his insights and perspectives with convincing evidence>>, why is he planning on apologizing for remarks on a previous episode. While I did not watch the show, I have found a quotation of his remarks, which I believe are unedited:
"In fact, whenever a cult leader sets himself up as God’s infallible wingman here on Earth, lock away the kids. Which is why I’d like to tip off law enforcement to an even larger child-abusing religious cult. Its leader also has a compound, and this guy not only operates outside the bounds of the law, but he used to be a Nazi and he wears funny hats. That’s right, the Pope is coming to America this week and ladies, he’s single!"

This may be comedy to some people but I do not find it particularly funny. I am not a Catholic - in fact, I do not attend church, but I think this crosses a line in civilized society. However, I do not feel he should be booted from the airwaves, unless his ratings fall to a point where he no longer delivers a profit to HBO.

as a recovering catholic, myself, there is still a soft spot inside me for this faith.... they spoke of cafeteria catholicism this week.... i consider myself a Burger King Catholic: evry once in a while, a little religion and faith does a body good, but there's no way in hell I'm going to McDonalds...

Viva Maher, without him, someone else would have to say it!

As a footnote: My wife (non practicing or "In Recovery") and her family are Catholic and they all love Bill Maher. They are all very liberal and I am often surprised that they ever gave consent for me to marry their wonderful daughter. LOL.

As I watched this I couldn't help but think over and over: It isn't libel if it's TRUE. The nazi/funny hat remark is obviously a joke and nothing more, but when a major (or cult) religion abuses children they are going to take a hit in prestige, and be made fun of. Get used to it.

As a practicing and unrepentant Catholic, I can take a joke. Maher slams everyone who deserves it. I also agree about the name calling of those classic liberals like Hannitty, Rush, and Michael Wiener, I mean Savage. Not to mention Coulter(who is losing it fast) and Bill Kristol. Real conservatives A la AuH2O and the magnificent Bill Buckley are rolling in their graves.

clever spelling on Barry's last name wize1, ..er.. owl1!
He was a Gentleman's gentleman aptly refered to as "Mr. Conservative"
the insult to his intelligence with the goings ons today...hrumphh...