Last night on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, Bill Maher, in an interview with Democratic Presidential candidate Christopher Dodd, called Ron Paul "my new hero". Here is the video of the exchange that referenced Dr. Paul, with the transcript:
Transcript of Maher/Dodd exchange:
Bill Maher: A poll recently, this week, said the Congress has a lower approval rating than the President. This is really sad news for the country. I mean, as much as the country has lost patience with George Bush, what they're saying is; after November and after the elections that the Democratically elected Congress, that they expected big change, and what they're saying is, they don't see it. What do you say?
Christopher Dodd: Well, I'm a strong supporter of, and have been, of what's called the the Feingold-Reed proposal, which calls for beginning re-deployment of troops in Iraq immediately and terminating it by the end of March, the 1st of April, of next year. That gives us a year to begin to re-deploy; done it well, done it carefully. I happen to believe, that short of that, it's gonna be very difficult to change policy here. We need a total change of mission, or this is gonna get worse, the chaos is gonna grow, it's gonna be more and more difficult to the Iraqis to make a decision about the kind of country they want. A month and a half, two months ago Bill, there were only about three of us that were for the Feingold proposal. Today there are 30. The Republican proposal calls for benchmarks, very different. But I get a sense that they're moving in that direction. They realize as well the President's status-quo policy in Iraq is not gonna fly. So it's beginning to change. While I agree it's gonna take some time to get there. I it's very important to state very clearly where we stand on these issues. I happen to believe we oughtta be re-deploying, gotta begin that process. I think the idea that we can spend these kind of monies and expect the Iraqis to come together at a later date is unrealistic. It's getting better, it's not there yet. My view is we oughtta be rejecting supplemental proposals here that done have some clear definitions.
Bill Maher: So you're saying get out now?
Christopher Dodd: (*indistinct*)
Bill Maher: I wish it were. I watched the Republican debate, and I saw this guy Ron Paul, who has no chance of winning it, and therefore he was very honest, and he's my new hero. I used to think he was Rupaul (laughter). And then we had him on our show a few weeks ago and I realized he was a completely different person (laughter). And he spoke real truth about the war on terror, about 9/11, about Iraq. He said "you know what, they hate us because we're over there." They don't hate us because of our freedom, or any of those stupid slogans that the Bush people put out. I'm just wondering why a Democrat isn't saying things like that. Say, a Democrat that could use a bump in the polls (loud applause).
Christopher Dodd: Well, if you're talking about 9/11. 9/11 to me was a unprovoked attack on the Untied States, and I would disagree with Ron Paul on the assumption that we somehow provoked that decision by Al Qaeda to hit us in New York.
Bill Maher: No, no, no, excuse me Senator, but that's just what the Republicans did to Ron Paul in the debate, they twisted what he said. He wasn't saying that we were "asking for it". He was saying that we should listen to our enemies, and maybe the reason their mad at us is because we have been medaling in the Middle East. We were in Saudi Arabia, that's what Bin Laden was mad at us for, now we're in Iraq and we're screwing up that country. Maybe if we listen to them, instead of just saying "we're always the good people," we would actually make ourselves safer (loud applause). I mean, with all due respect, what do you have to lose?
Christopher Dodd: Well, if you're talking about that issue, I don't disagree on that point here. That's what I'm saying, supporting the Feingold proposal which calls for re-deploying our troops within the year. That's the strongest position out here. You're not gonna do it in a week, or a month, 140,000 troops; it's gonna take time to get it done over the next year. And clearly, I would advocate having direct negotiations with Syria, Iran, that you've gotta begin dealing with people you don't necessarily agree with all the time, to discover what other options there are are in resolving all these disputes. It isn't just military force; we oughtta be using diplomacy, politics, economic issues to reach out to people. And that I totally agree with. The idea that you're gonna contain, or sustain, the war in Iraq, and not end up radicalizing vast segments of the population, I think is unrealistic. That's happening today as you and I are talking here.
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