Perhaps The Stupidest Thing Ever Said About 9/11

And there have been so many. (Conspiracy theorists, I do so mean YOU.)

But my personal choice is something Bill Maher said, a week or two after this tremendous outrage, when he said that the hijackers of the airlines hadn't been "cowardly." "Say what you want," Maher said (or in words to that effect), that wasn't cowardly."

Now, what's wrong with that assertion? Well, it's astoundingly callous (self-centeredness is rather an obvious trait in Maher's manner of discourse), terribly, terribly stupid and presumes that hijacking a plane full of innocent victims and them crashing it into a building in hopes of killing many other innocent victins is somehow "brave." Say what you want, Maher remains an amazing fool in many ways (including his oft-stated core misogyny), and that more people didn't call him out on his scabrous remarks remains beyond me 11 years later. It doesn't seeem to affect his ability to get name guests for his HBO show, either..

There is an old episode of the show where Bob Newhart ran an inn in Vermont ("it's "Newhart!", right?) that features an appearance of Maher from his acting days. He plays a former suitor of Stephanie's who returns to try and win her back. He's unsuccessful. (Thank goodness, or that very funny show would have immediately become unwatchable for me.)

The thing that struck me the most about Maher's appearance there, however, is how utterly unimpressive the man seems when measured up against other human beings free of the fawning which seems to infect his current tv show. Not only is he terribly short, he's simply wimpish-looking, a bit squashed, with a bad hairline and a worse nose. And if these observations strike others as cruel, fine. They're really no more cruel than the sort of things Maher regularly says about people he dislikes (politically, socially, whatever). The guy has no physical impact,  no Eastwoodian oomph, whatsoever.

I bet it bugs the hell out of him, too.