Yes, a thoughtless joke is equal to raping children and women.

No, it's not a race. You can't just redefine it for yourself to make a point. Sure, there are people who are racist against people of a certain complexion because they assume they are a members of a religion, which they are bigoted against. They are bigoted AND racist.

Did they all actually watch the clip, or are they just going by hearsay?

Not following your remark. It was in response to someone who called him pretty fucking racist. Never seen him be racist, only bigoted against religious people.

Again, NOT saying Bill can't be racist because he has black friends. I'm saying Bill was too comfortable using the term because of who he hangs around with.

I don't see that implication. I think that's reading a bit too far into it as the joke was not premeditated. If this had been part of his monologue, maybe.

How has he been pretty racist?…At most you can call him bigoted…But this is a man who hates religion in all forms.

I wasn't saying he can't be racist because he has black friends. I said he was too comfortable using the word because of who he hangs around with.

YEP!

That's bigotry, not racism. Islam is not a race.

It's not just that he's close friends with black people, it's black COMEDIANS. I hung around a lot of comedians back in the day, black and hispanic mostly, and they were always pushing boundaries with each other with non-PC language. You hang around that long enough you get comfortable saying certain words you…

I'm not excusing what he said. But I think it's the reason it slipped out without much thought. He forgot he wasn't at home smoking a blunt with Chris Reid.

No, it doesn't, and I said that. I just don't think he's a racist.

Actually I think they are still off and on again. Look up Bill Maher Superhead.

Well there are two possibilities then…Either he's a total racist and said it with malicious intent. Or he's far too comfortable around black people and forgets that he's not black and isn't allowed to say certain words. Knowing Bill, it's definitely the latter. He hangs around and is close friends with a lot of black…

I think it is defensible. I laughed when he said it because I saw that it was a comment on what the Senator was saying.

It's not like Maher called someone else the N-word, like Michael Richards did. Maher referred to HIMSELF as a 'house niggaa', playing off the Senator's comment about 'working the fields' because his choice of verbiage made it sound like slavery.

Louis once joked with Patrice O'Neal on Opie and Anthony that the word nigg*r was invented when a white man saw a black man acting like a nigg*r…so…yeah…I think that was far more risible than what Maher did, which was basically call HIMSELF a 'house niggaa'. He was playing off the Senator's comment about 'working the…

His joke was actually kind of funny in context. Would have been funnier if he was black but…I think it was pretty clearly not pre-meditated as this article is implying.

Maniac Ass…definitely should be the title of his next album.