William "Bill" Maher, Jr., (innate January 20, 1956; last name pronounced "mar") is an American comedian, actor, writer and producer. He is virtually all easily-known for his television indicate Politically Incorrect and is currently a unsuspecting hosts a HBO talk show Real Time with Bill Maher. He is known for his liberal and, to a lesser extent, libertarian view on issues like drug legalization, while he personally identifies primarily by using a liberal worldview. Course, numerous left-wing and right-wing commentators have seen his views in specific issues when representative of their ideologic opposites, based on the political zeitgeist of the times.

Early life and career
Maher was natural inside New York City and grew up inside River Vale, New Jersey. He graduated from either Pascack Hills High School within Montvale, New Jersey. Maher is the product of the "mixed" marriage (Jewish mother, Roman Catholic father), and around his early could have-higher routine, he said that he would bring a lawyer to confession: "Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned... I think you know Mr. Cohen..." He received his Bachelor of Arts in English from Cornell University in 1978.

Maher has the material career as a stand-up comedian and still occasionally tours. He was hikers of the New York City comedy club Catch a Rising Star in 1979. Thanks to Steve Allen, he began appearing on Johnny Carson and David Letterman's shows in 1982.

He has appeared inside many films, unremarkably within the funny role. His feature film debut was in D.C. Cab (1983), and he has also appeared in Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death (1988) and Pizza Man (1991). He has too appeared around the total of guest roles in tv program, including Newhart, Murder, She Wrote, Roseanne (as a boudoir photographer), and Married... with Children.

Media
Talk show host
Maher is virtually all notable when a previous carrier of Politically Incorrect, which aired on the Comedy Central television network and later ABC. Maher is as well presently a carrier of Real Period by having Bill Maher in HBO.

ABC decided does'nt to renew Maher's contract for Politically Incorrect within 2002 after he made the controversial on-air remark, in which he, along by using guest political commentator Dinesh D'Souza, objected to the President and others calling the September 11 terrorists cowardly:

In a period of the era of the Vietnam War, the alleged cowardliness of U.s. "carpet bombing" from either high above the target was the most common theme among anti-war protestors. Nonetheless, in the context of the sensitive aftermath of the attacks, such a remark was deemed as well controversial for a bit of fiscal supporters. Although a bit of pundits, including conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh [http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=25267], supported Maher, pointing out the distinction between physical & moral cowardliness, corporations including FedEx and Sears Roebuck pulled their advertisements from a indicate, costing the indicate to a higher degree it returned. A indicate was later cancelled in June 16, 2002. In June 22, 2002, six years fallowing a cancellation of Politically Incorrect, Maher received a President's Award (for "championing free speech") from a Los Angeles Press Club.

An additional controversial reaction to Maher's comment come from either Ari Fleischer, who was a Press Secretary of the George W. Bush administration at the time. Fleischer [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010926-5.html#BillMaher-Comments responded] to the newsman's wonder all about Maher's firing by saying that population "need to watch what they say". Numerous population believed Fleischer was implying that loose speech was there is no yearn relevant inside Usa.

Maher's comment just about a cowardliness of terrorists followed a second controversial comment he processed in Politically Incorrect in which he likened dogs to mentally handicapped children: ABC was probably however treating using a fallout from either this statement once it decided does'nt to renew Maher's contract.

Within 2003, Maher became the hikers of Real Period using Bill Maher on the HBO cable television network, a debate indicate somewhat similar to Politically Incorrect, however by having the narrower choice of guests.

Since Will 2005 he's been a contributive blogger at The Huffington Post.

Press coverage
Within 1997, during cinematography of an episode of the game indicate Pictionary, Erik Estrada accidentally punched Maher in the face in a moment of exuberance, knocking him out cold briefly.

Within November 2004 Maher was sued for 9 million dollars by his ex-girlfriend, Nancy Johnson a.k.the. "Coco Johnsen", for palimony. Johnson claims that Maher did non fulfill promises processed to her & that he physically & verbally abused her. [http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/1111041coco1.html] Maher publicly refuted her allegations in Larry King Live on November 23, 2004. His attorney responded to the suit using the claim that Maher occurs as "confirmed bachelor" & never promised to marry or even trend lines Johnsen & that California law doesn't allow the palimony lawsuit brought by Ms. Johnsen. In Might Two, 2005, a superior court judge dismissed the causa.

Around late Can 2005, Alabama Congressman Spencer Bachus sent a letter to Time Warner's board of directors requesting Real Time exist as cancelled due to remarks Maher manufactured all about moo recruit statistics on the Could 13, 2005, episode which Bachus felt were mortifying to the armed services & around bad taste. Maher's comment was "More people joined the Michael Jackson fan club. We've done picked all the low-lying Lynndie England fruit, and now we need warm bodies." Maher responded by reiterating his trend lines for a troops & request how come a Congresswoman criticized him instead of actually doing something just about the condition. [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theblog/archive/bill-maher/fruit_1561.html]

Worldview
Political views
Maher describes himself as a libertarian and celebrates libertarian figures like Larry Elder and P.J. O'Rourke. He favors unfair denationalization of social security, ending corporate welfare, and legalizing drugs, gambling, prostitution, and pornography. He supported Bob Dole in the 1996 U.S. presidential election. He has expressed disdain for several of the liberal positions on hate crime, sexual harassment, etc. when existence "things that make women nod". Yet, Maher does trend lines numbers of stances which are then within straight opposition to libertarian ideology and/or associated with liberalism, including government regulation of corporations, foreign aid, public schooling, a ban in homeschooling, campaign finance reform (which he has since repudiated, locution "OK, we tried it, it didn't work"), environmentalism, affirmative action, minimum wage laws, gun control, income redistribution through higher taxation and government funding for abortion. He supported Ralph Nader in the 2000 U.S. presidential election.

Maher publicly supports PETA, a controversial animal rights organization, and has expressed his antipathy for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries in general, on a evidence that it make their money away from curing humans world health organization come manufactured cast by ingesting the unhealthy food that society urges upon the public. On the August 11, 2005, episode of Larry King Survive, Bill Maher announced he is non the vegetarian and eats meat rarely. He claimed he is however the board member of PETA & supports carnal rights.

Before the 2004 U.S. presidential election he became very forthright in his opposition to the reelection of George W. Bush and his support for John Kerry as the best candidate to defeat Bush, rather than the candidate most in agreement with Maher's views, going so far as to publicly kneel on his show, with director Michael Moore, and beg Ralph Nader to drop out of the race. Following, he is usually considered the liberal. Maher typically says that a word "liberal" has been below a belt demonized, & when you took the elections he criticized Kerry for existence ashamed of the word. Maher himself seems comfortable by owning existence known as the liberal, though he is periodically known as the "libertine socialist" by political commentators such as Jonah Goldberg. Maher likewise supports a death penalty (though most liberals don't) and abortion and euthanasia (though most conservatives don't), often stating his position semi-humorously when "I am pro-death". Inside expanding on this statement, he reveals his concern that a size of the human population has already led to significant damage to the globe's ecology, so that he is in a main in favour anything that would tend to reduce the size of aforementioned people.

He was originally opposed to the war in Iraq, but has get less skeptical of it since a Iraqi election of 2005. He continues to criticize a administration for applying bad intelligence leading up to a war, & for what he perceives when mis-misdirection of the war.

Maher responded to the claims that liberals come "out of touch" using conservative morality & a idea that this led to George W. Bush's re-election & a profits of the Republican Person in the 2004 general election by locution "Stop saying that blue state people are out of touch with the morals and values of the red states. I'm not out of touch with them, I just don't share them."

Religious views
Maher is opposed to organized religion. He has described religion as a neurological disorder that spreads guilt & hate among humans when offering nothing reciprocally. Inside 2 separate appearances in Real Period, atheist comedian George Carlin and Maher alleged that organized religion occurs as stimulator of numerous of society's problems, & that a practices of faith come mired by owning hypocrisy. Maher credited Carlin's deem inspiration for him to speak retired against faith.

Maher has said numbers of days that religion works under a pretext of morality, however that its dogma usually keep close at hand nothing to run using morality; that religious prohibitions come existence confused by using moral law. Inside Maher's learn from, good because a religion prohibits the consumption of pork or even even decries homoeroticism, that doesn't mean that ingesting pork or existence gay come immoral acts. Instead, Maher argues that an immoral human is a single world health organization harms others; an activity which harms an additional human like execution or even rape would become an immoral work. This is likewise the traditional libertarian position.

Maher opposes religious monuments like The Ten Commandments being placed inside or even touching court houses, saying that this would violate a separation of church and state. He has countered a assertiin of conservative Christians world health organization claim that Western law is according to a x Commandments by saying that of a ten, merely 2 (the prohibitions on slaying & larceny) use to Western law. A more commandments, he argues, like honoring there are no god prior to a Judeo-Christian God, keeping a Sabbath holy, or honoring thy mother & thy father, are non Western laws in the least. Around guide to the guide that the divine moral authority is necessary, he suggests "Couldn't we just get together and agree on the few basic [Commandments] that are laws? Like 'Don't take my stuff, and I won't kill you'?"

Maher has declared in many appearances of Larry King Live that he does, indeed, believe inside God, but that religion is nothing to a higher degree tradition & superstitious notion. He asserts that faith will bring answers to questions that "cannot possibly be answered". Questions like "Where do I go when I die?" or even "Is there a heaven?", he says, come impossible to guide. By claiming to use a answers, Maher argues, religion is dishonorable & it "stops people from thinking".

In Maher's virtually all recent appearance in Larry King Survive he said he was an agnostic, implying that he may be an agnostic deist.

Credits
Bibliography
''Does Anybody Have a Condition Thereupon? Politically Incorrect's Greatest Hits, 1996 (ISBN 0679456279) Does Anybody Have a Condition therewith? A Right of Politically Wrong, 1997 (ISBN 0345412818) Confessedly Story : The Novel, 2002 (ISBN 0743242513) When Your family Ride Alone You Ride Sustaining Bin Laden: What a Government Should Exist as Telling Usa to Help Fight the War on Terrorism, 2003 (ISBN 1893224902) Keep a Statue of Liberty Closed: The Freshly System, 2004 (ISBN 1932407472) Fresh System: Civilized Musings from either the Timid Observer, 2005 (ISBN 1594862958)

Filmography
The Aristocrats (2005) .... Himself Tomcats (2001) (uncredited) .... Carlos Bimbo Movie Bash (1997) Don't Quit Your Day Job'' (1996) .... Funny's Table Say What? (1992) .... Host Pizza Man (1991) .... Elmo Bunn Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death (1989) ... (aka Jungle Heat or even Piranha Women in the Avocado Jungle of Demise) .... Jim Out of Time (1988) .... Maxwell Taylor House II: The Second Story (1987) .... John Ratboy (1986) .... Person Guest Club Med (1986) .... Rick Rags to Riches (1986) (aka Foley and a Girls From either St. Magazine) .... Freddie D.C. Cab (1983) (aka Street Fleet) .... Bill

Television
''I personally'k Swiss (2005) (HBO) .... Himself Bill Maher: Triumph Begins home (2003) (HBO) .... Himself Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO) (2003–Present) .... Host Bill Maher: Become Further Misanthropical (2000) (HBO) .... Himself Politically Incorrect (Comedy Central and ABC) (1994–2002) .... Host Charlie Hoover (1991) .... Elliot The Midnight Hour (1990) .... Host Hard Knocks (1987) Sara (1985) .... Marty Lang

Special appearances
MADtv'' (2005) .... himself