EXCLUSIVE: Bill Maher on Islam spat with Ben Affleck: “We’re liberals! We’re not crazy tea-baggers”

[applegrove]

EXCLUSIVE: Bill Maher on Islam spat with Ben Affleck: “We’re liberals! We’re not crazy tea-baggers”

by Elias Isquith at Salon

http://www.salon.com/2014/10/06/exclusive_bill_maher_on_islam_spat_with_ben_affleck_were_not_crazy_tea_baggers/?utm_source=huffpost_politics&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=pubexchange_article

"SNIP........................


So, look, you mentioned last night’s show. I’m not going to ask you to debate Islam with me; I’m sure you have more than enough people trying to do that with you right now —

Yeah, let’s leave that for a while. I’ve said enough about that.

But I want to ask you how you felt the Ben Affleck/Sam Harris segment went. Did you feel frustrated as it was happening?

I think Sam and I and Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Salman Rushdie and everyone who is basically making the same point, I think we all feel frustrated because I think we feel like the people who are arguing with us are not listening.

We’re liberals! We’re liberals. We’re not crazy tea-baggers, y’know, and so it’s kind of hard to be making this case — based on facts, based on polling, I think based on what everybody really knows… I mean, do the people arguing with us, would they really open a lesbian art gallery in Ramallah? [Laughs] Or Karachi? Or Cairo? I don’t know if they would back up what they’re saying with actions.

We are not bigoted people. On the contrary, we’re trying to stand up for the principles of liberalism! And so, y’know, I think we’re just saying we need to identify illiberalism wherever we find it in the world, and not forgive it because it comes from [a group] people perceive as a minority.




..........................SNIP"