Bill Maher Slams Rush Limbaugh, Dick Cheney, George Will Over BP Oil Spill, Climate Change Denialism (VIDEO)

On "Real Time" this week, Bill Maher took on conservatives for dismissing the Gulf oil spill and the climate change movement.

"Rick Perry says it was an act of God. I think it was an act of Dick Cheney," Maher said, referring to the Bush administration's energy task force. "And it shows the disastrous results of having lobbyists write laws."

Later in the program, he slammed Rush Limbaugh for dismissing the oil spill as "natural."

Here's his quote about the oil spill "The ocean will take care of this. It's as natural [the oil] as the ocean water is." That's right, a petrochemical stew is very natural to wetlands. You know what, you dipshit? Mercury's natural too -- you don't put it in your Cheerios.

Finally, he revisited the debate he had with George Will over oil on "This Week".

"Why haven't we actually gotten off the oil? One reason is global warming deniers like George Will. He knows better."

Maher also discussed the failed car bomb attack in Times Square and criticized the war in Afghanistan:

Let's compare Bush to Obama in a more serious way. Bush always used to say "We're fighting them over there, so we don't have to fight them over here." And we would all go "Oh, you moron." But that's basically the policy Obama is doing. Obama may call it something different, but doubling down in Afghanistan and sending more troops in there is fighting them over there, so we don't have to fight them here. But I'd like to say, "Memo to the administration: They're already here." So what is the point of us being in Afghanistan?

WATCH:

Comments

[TQQ]

10:26 PM on 06/26/2010

Bill Maher is boring.

[jenna2929]

01:13 PM on 06/27/2010

he's hilarious.

[TQQ]

09:27 PM on 06/27/2010

boring.

[chabuka]

12:37 PM on 06/26/2010

We haven't got off the oil for one simple reason..greed, all those "deniers" of Global Warming are making a killing on dividend checks....every one of them has stock and bonds in oil,gas and coal...they are so greedy they don't care who gets hurt or poisoned or killed, as long as its not them..they think their money will buy them and their loved ones "safe passage" and they will never be personally touched by any of this destruction or fouling of the earth...hope they all have tickets to be the first to colonize Mars....because that will be the only safe place left, if we don't actively a pursue a cleaner, safer alternative energy.

[ghostofpatrickgray]

07:56 PM on 05/29/2010

If there was justice in this world, Dick Cheney would have to appear on Bill Maher for a full hour and answer questions. The panel asking questions would Valerie Plame, her husband Joe Wilson, David Iglesias and Josh Marshall. And he wouldn't be allowed to leave the set until he answered each and every question they posed to him for the full hour.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/28/AR2005102801172.html

http://www.nationaljournal.com/about/njweekly/stories/2006/0209nj1.htm

http://www.democracynow.org/2006/2/10/exclusive_interview_murray_waas_on_how

http://www.democracynow.org/2005/10/12/exclusive_interview_murray_waas_on_how

[mudrake2]

10:13 AM on 05/26/2010

Bill Maher is an illiterate when it comes to anything scientific. That means he has absolutely no business speaking about climate change or things related to the petroleum industry. Nearly everyone on this site is a hypocrite, or incredibly ignorant. We all share a responsibility for the spill. Why? Because of our insatiable demand for oil. If you deny this fact, then I assume you commute on foot to and from work, all your electricity is from coal or alternative energy sources, you use no plastics, grow you food yourself without the benifit of petro chemical derived fertiizers, nor purchase anything packaged in plastics...the list goes on and one. We demand oil and we demand it inexpensively. Does no one see the contradiction? It has to come from somewhere. There are risks entailed in its production and transport. Get over it. The Gulf? Despite the doom sayers, who by the way, are not letting this "disaster" go unexploited, the Gulf will clean itself up. This is not Alaska, or the North See. The oil is already biodegrading and yes it will be messy for possibly a few years, but the microbes are already working on it. Chill out, have a beer and enjoy the unseasonably cool weather down here on the gulf. Nobody really LIKES to swim in the Gulf, thats why the hotels have pools.

[DocSkull]

11:01 AM on 05/28/2010

"Nearly everyone on this site is a hypocrite, or incredibly ignorant. "

Except you right?

Just because we use oil doesn't mean that we have to suck up every kind of law breaking and misdeeds that comes with it. Just the opposite, it mean that we all bear the special charge of making sure that this resource we own collectively is handled properly.

[mirandawrights]

02:20 PM on 05/23/2010

Baby Paul keep saying that everything is an accident or an Act of God. True libertarians believe in deregulation and lack of government actions, and even government in particular. But to say that not only British Petroleum but also Massey are victims are absurd.

As for Dick Cheney, Bill Maher's satire will only prove correct over time. Cheney will have done something.

In the meantime, he has to answer about WMD, Valerie Plame, Haliburton, and domestic spying.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/interactives/cheney/timeline.html

http://www.nationaljournal.com/about/njweekly/stories/2006/0209nj1.htm

http://news.nationaljournal.com/articles/0215nj1.htm

[DocSkull]

11:03 AM on 05/28/2010

It certainly isn't a libertarian ideal to turn government control over to a corporation.

[argylesocks9]

02:23 AM on 05/23/2010

It must have been an act of Dick Cheney. (Didn't Rand Paul say that as well?)

After all, Dick Cheney does God Like Stuff all the time.

He can find WMD when no one else does.

http://www.counterpunch.org/wmd05292003.html

He can declassify whatever he wants.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/about/njweekly/stories/2006/0209nj1.htm

[Coyote50]

10:27 AM on 05/18/2010

Here's a report on what they think is going on in the Gulf for the poor fishies. There's a report of what they can see so far. Frightening.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#37201312

[seajewel]

01:26 PM on 05/17/2010

Bill Maher needs to stop comparing Obama to Bush! They may do similar things, but they are coming from different places and not even in the same context.

I don't agree with everything Obama does, but I would not put him in the same category as Bush. Maher needs to stand firm in his criticisms while still getting behind Obama and giving him more credit. Maher is getting too critical in his old age, and narrow minded on things like religion even if he's right, he won't let anyone else speak and lumps everyone into the same category at religious lunatics. Just like being a celebrity does not automatically make you Britney Spears.

I still love Bill Maher...he's right on about most everything, just hope he doesn't go down that slippery slope of being too narrowly focused.

[BlueBelt]

07:54 PM on 05/12/2010

If you right-wing retards don't like Maher, don't watch him, no one cares what you think!! Are you not better served with some Glenn Beck fanpage anyways?

[charliethompto]

08:09 PM on 05/12/2010

If your Dear Leader has his way, you won't have the option to blog on anyone's website. After all, this information thing gets in the way of his message.

[LibDrummer]

02:53 PM on 05/13/2010

Yeah, like you are a fountain of knowledge there Charlie.

[mom2luke]

09:25 AM on 05/18/2010

in what respect, charlie?
you're saying obama's going to be handing out little red books? if this info thing is getting in the way of anyone's msg it's your dumbo leader's (Rush)...even Brit Hume was repeating his idiotic msg the the ocean can handle hundreds of thousands of gallons of gushing oil for days/weeks/months on end b/c it is "natural". what a CROCK. "WHERE'S the OIL?" demanded Hume of Juan Williams. Juan, dumbfounded couldn't even understand the question because it was so ridiculous. Now I know where cranky Hume was getting his talking points. WHAT an IDIOT!! It's one thing for Rush to do his obnoxious contrarian thing for ratings, but it's his idiot followers that are the problem. they so astound us w / their crazy beliefs we freak out trying to explain to them that White is White and Black is Black. They are so out of touch even about what is OBVIOUSLY the truth about the fact that this oil disaster is trashing the environment...don't they like beaches and seafood that doesn't smell like oil fuel? when will they believe it? when it makes its way to east coast beaches? my. how. elite. of. them.

[bobsmith22224]

07:46 PM on 05/12/2010

I could care less about global warming and I'm sick of hearing about it. I am, however, concerned with pollution. I'm an avid hunter and fisherman and the places for these activities are becoming less and less plentiful. In many instances, we're unable to eat the fish we catch due to the toxins found in the water. I'm no treehugger but I do agree that we need more regulations on companies that pollute our god given lands.

[ixington]

11:35 PM on 05/12/2010

Climate change and pollution are intimately connected and in most cases identical.

[Poptech]

01:03 AM on 05/13/2010

Wrong, Climate change has nothing to do with pollution.

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is not pollution and Global Warming has nothing to do with pollution. The average person has been misled and is confused about what the current Global Warming debate is about, greenhouse gases. None of which has anything to do with air pollution. People are confusing Smog, Carbon Monoxide (CO) and the pollutants in car exhaust with the life supporting, essential trace gas in our atmosphere, Carbon Dioxide (CO2). Pollution is already regulated under the Clean Air Act and regulating Carbon Dioxide (CO2) will do absolutely nothing to make the air you breath "cleaner". Regulating Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions through either 'Carbon Taxes', 'Cap and Trade' or the EPA will cause energy prices (electricity, gasoline, diesel fuel, propane, heating oil ect...) to skyrocket.

Seeing is Believing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2qVNK6zFgE

[Poptech]

12:41 AM on 05/13/2010

Pollution has nothing to do with Climate Change and this bill will do nothing to make the air or water cleaner, it will simply make the energy you use much more expensive,

http://www.populartechnology.net/2008/11/carbon-dioxide-co2-is-not-pollution.html

[LibDrummer]

03:01 PM on 05/13/2010

Typical of most of you flat earthers, your refference makes no point and is has no facts in it. Just saying CO2 is not pollution does not make it so, no matter how many times faux news repeats it.

"1.The act or process of polluting or the state of being polluted, especially the contamination of soil, water, or the atmosphere by the discharge of harmful substances."

An over abundance of CO2 in the atmosphere is a harmful substance.

The fact that there are cost involved does not magically change the problem. IT is completly irrelevent in defining the problem.

[rshrink]

02:11 AM on 05/15/2010

This is a phony politically driven website link.

[nursewithahope]

07:31 PM on 05/12/2010

These companies have made a fortune on drilling and getting this oil. They never prepared for a disaster, even though that comes with the territory???? They can destroy an ecosytem, economy and create hell on earth and truly there are people out there not willing to hold them accountable. Maher's comments are just another version of what so many of us feel. Whether you support off shore drilling or not, the consequences of incompetence, greed, and back room deals is in the destruction that is yet to come. So, if you don't like the way the information is presented, don't shoot the messenger. Facts are facts, and this disaster will have not go away in a few days/weeks. The media will move on to more exciting "stories" but ruination of the habitat and live's of people will still be there. Big companies also bank on that when they are so reckless with our lives and habitat.

[charliethompto]

07:53 PM on 05/12/2010

"These companies" have averaged 5% return on their investments. "These companies" employ tens of thousands of Americans with good paying jobs - not one of which was created by the trillion dollar folly passed by congress. "These companies" are run by humans - and humans are fallible.

Would you propose that we shut down congress because they have screwed things up so badly? Would you end most of the social programs because most are rife with corruption and many have failed in 40 years of socialism to make our country better? Then why slam the oil companies when they have one disaster every 20 years? Are there greedy people in the oil business - you bet! Are there greedy people running social programs - you bet! Should we end both because people act as people will?

[akcoins]

08:53 PM on 05/12/2010

BP is on probation in Alaska for neglecting safety measures for mechanical equipment, and humans. They have had numerous spills on the North Slope because of this, and one fatality. They did the same thing in Texas and killed what 15 people? They are irresponsible and just because they employ umpteen people doesn't give them the right to pollute and kill people. The blowout was a preventable mistake, and then they try one thing and if that doesn't work try another to seal it. Why aren't they getting them all together and trying them one after the other instead of having all this lag time between efforts. All these companies that share responsibility for this are pointing the finger at each other. They need to be regulated just like wall st needs to be regulated.

[rshrink]

01:54 AM on 05/15/2010

They are not good paying jobs if they destroy that which sustains life. Secondly, they are putting people out of work by destroying the resources that others rely on. You are using poor analogies. Congress can be changed and will be soon. Social programs are not corrupt. That is a myth you get from Fox and others with an agenda. We don't have 40 years of socialism. We have capitalism and have had for a very long time. And no, greedy people don't run social programs. There is no money in that. Check it out. They are non-profit programs with average to below average pay. One does not get into social services to make big money. The two don't go together. That is like saying teachers are greedy. Most have to work two jobs to earn enough money. Your themes are tired and known to be bogus for at least the past 100 years. You just believe what you want to believe. Sorry Charlie, your beliefs are not present in the real world.

[mkaycia]

07:15 PM on 05/12/2010

rnc should pay for it this is another bad idea from the bush/ republican base they should pay no other person should . that is the fact to bad if you don't like it, it was you moronic ideas

[nobodyasked]

05:32 PM on 05/12/2010

nothing better than reading a bunch of comments from people mostly headquartered in calif, spewing out sage advice while supporting a bankrupt union dominated state.

[rshrink]

01:56 AM on 05/15/2010

I didn't know those migrant workers had a union.

[Sonkwa Sonkwa]

02:46 AM on 05/16/2010

pwn3d

[mom2luke]

10:08 AM on 05/18/2010

since you didn't ask, how do you know where we "mostly" are headquartered ?
I've lived in houston (and stepped in oil at galvasten beach), VA, DC, FL (stepped in globs of oil there too)...and yes in Calif, but only when I was 5 yrs old as a military brat.
and where do you live? are u an oil company plant? or just a right wing oppositional-disordered nut who likes to hang out on huff post to raise our blood pressure by spewing out non-sequestors?

[hvr]

05:29 PM on 05/12/2010

Bill - "Oh, you moron."

[realpoliticalgenius]

04:55 PM on 05/12/2010

I canceled HBO two years ago and when they asked me why I was canceling I told him it was because of Bill Maher.

[WilhelmKein]

05:25 PM on 05/12/2010

If that's true, it means there were programs on HBO which you enjoyed, but you chose to deprive yourself because Bill Maher thinks you're an idiot? You must hold his opinion in very high regard.

[yellc]

05:58 PM on 05/12/2010

Bill's tanking ratings are proof who's watching him now - less and less folks are tolerant of his emotion-based reasoning (oh wait a minute, wrong word, I meant emotion-based rants)

[ScotK]

06:43 PM on 05/12/2010

Well then you make up for me. I subscribe to HBO when Bill's season starts and cancel it when it ends. Btw, I don't think a real political genius would stick their head in the sand when someone says something they don't agree with.