cannabisnews.com: Transcript: Bill Maher On Scarborough Country





Transcript: Bill Maher On Scarborough Country
Posted by CN Staff on February 16, 2005 at 12:09:52 PT
Program Air Date: February 15, 2005
Source: MSNBC
SCARBOROUGH: The much-awaited new season of “Real Time With Bill Maher” starts this Friday on HBO with his guests Robin Williams and Senator Joe Biden. And Bill is with us here tonight. Hey, Bill, good to see you.
MAHER: Hey. And Tommy Thompson is also going to be with us.SCARBOROUGH: Tommy Thompson. That‘s big. How could I forget the most electric guest that “Real Time” has had in how many years of existence now, two years? How long you guys been doing this? MAHER: Two years. This is our third year. Very funny, Mr. SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY. But Tommy actually is a pretty straight shooter, especially now that he is not in the administration. (CROSSTALK) MAHER: I like to get people on their way out the door. SCARBOROUGH: I always love talking to generals about two weeks before they retire, because they would lie the entire time out there: Yes, we have got everything we want. We love the president. He has given us everything our troops need. Then, about two weeks before they got out of office, they would stop whispering to you and they would start telling you just how bad the Pentagon was to work for. And it‘s about the same thing with politicians, too, isn‘t it? MAHER: Isn‘t it a shame that the only people who can tell the truth are the ones who are not in office. Like Governor—ex-Governor Gary Johnson. Are you aware of him? SCARBOROUGH: I am. MAHER: I think he was the governor of New Mexico. The only one in the country who can be so brave as to say marijuana should be legal, which should be a no-brainer, and yet it takes a guy who isn‘t in office to say something that benign. SCARBOROUGH: I don‘t know that that‘s a no-brainer, Bill, but I will say that...(CROSSTALK) MAHER: Yes, you do. And if we weren‘t on the air, you would...(CROSSTALK) SCARBOROUGH: Come on. MAHER: If we weren‘t on the air, you would agree with me. SCARBOROUGH: I don‘t think so. MAHER: Do you really think marijuana should be illegal? SCARBOROUGH: Well, I think that, just like alcohol, I don‘t think it helps people behind the wheel of a car. I don‘t think it improves anything.MAHER: Well, but why is alcohol legal? We don‘t organize our laws around what people might do if they are messed up. We say, you are messed up, and then don‘t commit crimes. But you are allowed to get messed up. (CROSSTALK) SCARBOROUGH: What about the legalization of other drugs? Do you think we should legalize cocaine? You think we should legalize heroin? MAHER: Let‘s just stick to marijuana, which has never killed anybody, never kills anybody. How come these drugs like aspirin, which kill 7,000 a year, alcohol kills hundreds of thousands, tobacco, they are legal, but the one that never killed anybody, that‘s not legal? (CROSSTALK) MAHER: You know, Joe, for a fact this is a no-brainer issue. Anyway, we‘re...SCARBOROUGH: Come on, Bill. We are talking about marijuana. Why don‘t we talk about Iraq?MAHER: OK. Complete Transcript: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6980984/Newshawk: PotpalSource: MSNBC (US Web)Program: Scarborough CountryAir Date: February 15, 2005Copyright: 2005 MSNBCContact: joe msnbc.comWebsite: http://msnbc.com/news/URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036789/CannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #34 posted by Hope on February 17, 2005 at 15:24:26 PT
Cannabis prohibition is a crime against humanity.
So true.
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Comment #33 posted by goneposthole on February 17, 2005 at 10:44:04 PT
it wasn't really Marxism or communism
It was a means to economically devastate other populations of different ethnic backgrounds. It is being done all of the time. The Bolsheviks did it with reckless abandon and with purposeful intent.That is why the Bush administration are being referred to as 'Busheviks.'That is why cannabis is illegal, it has massive economic repercussions and repressive results. It is a devious, cynical approach to the mistreatment of mankind. Cannabis prohibition is a crime against humanity. The effects are nihilistic.
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Comment #32 posted by Dankhank on February 17, 2005 at 09:58:44 PT
So your point is what?
Marx wrote his tome as Christians with power oppressed Christians and others with no power.His religion may or may not be germaine. He observed a rotten system and proposed a response. Workers Unite!Marx can't be held responsible for how his ideas were perverted by people in power wanting to keep and extend that power.The fact remains that he wrote his book in an atmosphere tailored by the oppressors to foster interested "followers."On the heads of the power elite of England at the time I rest my case ...
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Comment #31 posted by goneposthole on February 17, 2005 at 09:04:12 PT
It was a problem of religious bias and persecution
Karl Marx was Jewish. The Bolsheviks were of Jewish background and the Revolution of 1917 was more of a religious war than it was of political ideologies. Many Christian churches were burned to the ground in Moscow whereas synagogues were left standing. 
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Comment #30 posted by ngeo on February 17, 2005 at 08:37:37 PT:
"Religion"
My two cents' worth: Religion is an organized means of social control in the interest of the elite of any society. Nobody needs 'religion' to get in touch with the universe that surrounds us. And true 'god' doesn't need our worship, only our realization.
Any social organization at all is in effect a means of control of some humans by some other human(s), ideally for some common 'good' but more likely for personal gain. 
There would be no problem with social institutions if those who guided them pursued a common human purpose. But those who guide us know no common human purpose. 
After considerable idle speculation I have come to the conclusion that the common purpose of humans is to create new harmonic systems - in other words, to grow, with harmony as our guide. This is what the universe - 'god' - does. Considering the state of the world, we are being led in ignorance by people who have convinced us they are enlightened. This age is not much different than any other previous age. Its major product is weaponry. I believe the figure is that 5,000 humans die each day from the effects of modern social institutions. Some enlightenment.
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Comment #29 posted by Dankhank on February 17, 2005 at 08:11:56 PT
atheists caused?
EJ i admire your tenacity, but consider this ...Karl Marx wrote "Das Kapital" while living in industrialized England where the ruling class of Christians banded together to protect themselves ...The most awful of oppression was taking place at that time of the Factory Owners over the workers. In fact the oppression was so bad that someone HAD to try to imagine another way. "Dictatorship of the Proloteritat," meaning that workers should unite to protect themselves is what Marx invented.If those Christian Factory Owners hadn't Squeezed so harshly it's possible that "Das Kapital" would never have been written.so, all deaths from Communism really emanate from the Christian Factory Owners, politicians, even priests and preachers in Industrialized England. They created the climate in which "Das Kapital" had to be written. 
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Comment #28 posted by Hope on February 17, 2005 at 07:41:41 PT
Thank you, E Johnson
I've learned something here.It is way too easy to blame religion for everything. I was thinking the same thing that Dankhank wrote in his comment. I had the “knowledge“ of these facts, but let my thinking , curiously enough, block them out so I could easily lay so many horrors of mankind at the feet of religious fanatics. It was easier than thinking further. A mind made up is a calmer mind. Reigns of death and persecution, especially with Taliban news so fresh in our minds, tends to make me jump on the anti-religion band wagon. I was conveniently ‘not remembering‘ a lot of very relevant historical facts. Pol Pot comes to mind right now, along with Stalin, and Hitler.I shudder when I think of the horrors committed in the name of religion….but the fact is the horrors visited upon others by those who hate religion has been mind numbing in it‘s callousness. We don’t want to think about it. It’s harder to think about some smooth talking, power mad leader leading us into death and mayhem. We tend to just say in our hearts…”Lunatic”…and not give it much more analytical thought.Thanks EJ…it’s very easy to find oneself in a sort of knee-jerk attitude about why people do the evil things they do.Imagine this….No human ever killing another human….for any reason.
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Comment #27 posted by goneposthole on February 17, 2005 at 07:39:35 PT
genetic engineering?
The genetically engineered sheep 'Dolly' died pre-maturely. I think I'll let life itself handle the genetic engineering. When man gets involved, he tends to screw things up a tad too much. The Nazis broke new ground in eugenics. Not a good example to follow. I suppose cannabis users could be used in experimentation. Anybody for that idea?
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Comment #26 posted by 420toker on February 17, 2005 at 07:32:33 PT
good thoughts all arround
Yes communist countries did kill many of their own civilians but not to supress religon. Their laws all had extreemly harsh penalties. I have a friend who's father was sent to the Gulag for 30 years for an administrative mistake that didnt harm anyone or anything. It was simply an error. Their country was one of harsh penalties to keep the populace in line. Religon as it is today breeds intolerence and we are fighting one right now. How many people die when Iran puts down a revolt. Or when Afghanistan was taken over by the Taliban. Remember to count those 3000 people in the twin towers in with the religon deaths. It doesnt matter if you dont like the religon that killed them.Likewise Christianity has killed many millions from all of the Wars (crusades, Inquisitions) and thru their damaging doctrine (some dont allow for physican assistance, blood tranfusions, modern drugs, STD preventing birth control) I think the key with all of this is extreemism, extreem gvmt, extreem religon.  I like this litmus test. If someone dies, screams in pain, bleeds or has a broken family as a result of something you or your organization is doing, it probably is not a good thing to encourage or practice.
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Comment #25 posted by Sam S on February 17, 2005 at 07:24:50 PT:
Bill Maher, marijuana, and religion
First, I'm sure most people believe Bill is right about mauijuana.on religion:There is only one story of science and how many hunderds of religious stories. What are the chances that one of these religions is correct? That's right, zero. Science is our only hope. Especially genetic engineering. Just the facts please: Religion and superstition are the same damn thing. If there was no death, there would be no religion. And it would help if the religions of the world didn't brainwash their children from early age. When you step on an ant, he goes to the same place that we go when the party is over. Get over it and don't plan on having cotton candy with jesus when you die.Sam S
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Comment #24 posted by E_Johnson on February 17, 2005 at 07:05:20 PT
So Taylor121
Was John Lennon imagining Soviet Communism?There was no religion, so there must not have been anything to kill or die for.So why was there so much killing and dying?
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Comment #23 posted by Taylor121 on February 16, 2005 at 21:11:50 PT
Echoed
""Imagine no religion, It's easy if you try ...Nothing to kill or die for, a brotherhood of Man"
"Echoed by A Perfect Circle
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Comment #22 posted by goneposthole on February 16, 2005 at 20:18:19 PT
smoke some cannabis
everybody.When Rome was finished with Carthage, 500 000 Carthagians bit the dust. The Phonecians and the Sumerians were wiped out by the Assyrians.The Arawak indians were wiped out. Millions of natives along the coast lines of the American continents died at the hands of the Spanish Conquistadors. Millions of Native Americans died when the US gov. decided it was time to extirpate the Native Americans along the eastern seaboard. It's your 'Trail of Tears.' The Crusaders decimated a population of some 77,000 to a mere 3,000 in a matter of three days.When the Allies bombed Dresden, they first bombed the surrounding areas. The bombed out areas forced the German people to move into Dresden. More German civilians died than Nagasaki and Hiroshima combined. Kurt Vonnegut was a prisoner of war in Dresden and witnessed the aftermath of the Allied bombing of Dresden.All war through all of the centuries since 4500 BC.The communists aren't alone in their efforts. Albeit, they did the best job of all."Living is a crock of shit." -- Kurt Vonnegut
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Comment #21 posted by ryno35 on February 16, 2005 at 19:53:08 PT
Dankhank
China and Russia didn't have to attack anyone, they killed millions of their own instead. As E_Johnson said below, atheist's killed many more people in the 20th century then have been killed in the name of religion throughout history.BTW, Hitler was a big fan of Nitchze who was an atheist.Evil men do evil things for many reasons, none of them good. Jesus' message was peace and forgivness. Evil done in His name does not lessen or pollute that message.
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Comment #20 posted by E_Johnson on February 16, 2005 at 19:36:08 PT
Are you serious dankhank?
Two people who agreed with Marx on religion were Stalin and Mao.Buddhist monks and nuns in China were hanged in public.I knew a physicist from Russia whose father was a rabbi who was arrested by Stalin's secret police and died in a labor camp, just because he was a rabbi.The people who agree with Marx have far surpassed religion when it comes to the sheer numbers of dead and imprisoned.Stalin killed MILLIONS, and so did Mao.Religious warfare and oppression doesn't even come close to equalling the death toll from murderous modern atheists in the USSR and Communist China.Modern atheism has been the most murderous force in history.
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Comment #19 posted by Hope on February 16, 2005 at 18:16:00 PT
Wouldn't it be great if there was a religion
that above all stressed love, forgiveness, tolerance, and non-killing? What would happen to the peoples and the nations of the earth if everyone stopped killing his fellow human kind?
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Comment #18 posted by Dankhank on February 16, 2005 at 17:17:39 PT
Religion is the Opiate of the Masses ...
Just as Bill inferred there were one or two odd good things from most anyone, I agree with this observation from ... Karl Marx, wasn't it?No attacking country with it's attacking armies has been what could be seen as Atheist. Every country has had some kind of religious underpinning to it's agressive behavior. The USSR, perhaps, but they never attacked anyone. Peoples Republic of China perhaps, and they only attacked us in Korea.The Nazis had some kind of mystical, spirit of the forest thing going, as most of the rest of the countries in Western Europe were "Christian." The Crusades were ALL about religion. I believe that Religion has killed more people than anything else. Where else can you get the kind of energy you need to persecute people that way, if not from some "higher being or idea?"Bill Maher is right, you can teach a child anything. Teach them that a man born in Judea in the year Zero was a blond white man with long flowing hair ... (a miracle, I guess ...)The Catholic Church is killing Africans today. The Church says that any form of birth control is wrong, making AIDS easy to get. The idea, I guess, is that if you have illicit sex you should die horribly. Lovely ...Christian Churches allowed slavery to exist for how many centuries?John Lennon had it right ..."Imagine no religion, It's easy if you try ...Nothing to kill or die for, a brotherhood of Man"
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Comment #17 posted by Hope on February 16, 2005 at 16:51:35 PT
He's thought provoking
and funny. I don't agree with him about everything, but he says what a lot of people think and he's funny. First and foremost, I think, he's a comedian and entertainer. I've always thought that about Limbaugh, too. I disagree with Limbaugh more than Maher. He's probably wrong about religion‘s effect on the decisions of the powers that be. It's pretty well entrenched. I can’t see it becoming a thing of the past any time soon.I don't think he means he's anti spirituality as much as he saying he’s anti-religious. He, and a lot of other people resent the power of entrenched organizations that set themselves up like some sort of bureaucracy between believers and their image of God and not only do they want to bureaucratize your situation in the next life…they want to tell you how to live every minute of this life..I am thrilled that a popular entertainer is not afraid to mention the injustice of marijuana prohibition.He's a pretty good spokesman. He gets more air time than Ethan and Bruce. People listen to him that might not pay any attention to the rest of us.
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Comment #16 posted by Taylor121 on February 16, 2005 at 15:52:53 PT
Bill wouldn't advocate
"Anti-religion has killed and tortured far more people than religion has, and anti-religion managed to accomplish this feat in just a few short decades in the 20th century."And being a person that doesn't believe in religion and is against it (anti religion) doesn't mean you want to force others into not believing it. Rather, I think Maher's approach was to simply make some damn good logical points. If you were taught Jack n the beanstalk as a little kid as a truth, heck anything when you were little, the authortative figure that adults take on at that age can have a profound impact on your thought processes the rest of your life. The same can be said about anything. Child experences filter down into your adulthood and form beliefs. 
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Comment #15 posted by Taylor121 on February 16, 2005 at 15:50:11 PT
I agree with him on everything
I happen to agree with him on his religious comments, and I do happen to believe in God and the mind. But I respect any religious person that understands his/her religion to the point where they don't persecute or force others to abide by their beliefs. But no one here can deny that a majority of the religious right is misusing their religious beliefs in the name of persecution. We can all agree that marijuana should be legal, and that should be our focus. We should recognize that America is a religious nation and we need to show why the religious communities need to embrace cannabis legalization as the more humane route from prohibition.
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Comment #14 posted by E_Johnson on February 16, 2005 at 15:37:27 PT
Hope I disagree
Religion is how people with spiritual feelings are able to band together to protect each other, and their spiritual values, in a world based on survival of the fittest. If religion ends up being abused, it is because some humans will find a way abuse anything they get their hands on.Anti-religion has killed and tortured far more people than religion has, and anti-religion managed to accomplish this feat in just a few short decades in the 20th century.
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Comment #13 posted by E_Johnson on February 16, 2005 at 15:32:42 PT
Bill Maher, plus and minus
I think he's great for "our cause" but I think his comments on religion are really dumb. Scientific research is showing that religious feelings may be genetic, not learned. And the only societies to "free" themselves from religion did so by imposing state authority that was far harsher and more punitive than any religion that existed at the time.I'd like to hear his comments on whether men who hate women end up dating goldiggers who sue them for palimony.Wink wink... ;-)
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Comment #12 posted by lombar on February 16, 2005 at 15:30:53 PT
PI was too thought provoking to be allowed.
I used to like watching PI as well. It was depressing when they canceled it. I wrote a comment to him on his website when it first launched about how I believed that ABC canceled him because of his attitiude towards cannabis. Too many comments about hitting the bong and such. Although he did not confirm that directly, he or one of his staff did write back. I believe it was a backhand way of confirming my assertion.
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Comment #11 posted by Hope on February 16, 2005 at 15:05:37 PT
Bill Maher
He was great. He's the antidote to Rush Limbaugh.
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Comment #10 posted by Hope on February 16, 2005 at 14:53:28 PT
I liked this, too.
MAHER: Excuse me. Religion is a bureaucracy between man and God. 
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Comment #9 posted by Hope on February 16, 2005 at 14:44:22 PT
I laughed out loud when I read this...
"I think it justifies crazies."Once again...so right and so funny.
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Comment #8 posted by Hope on February 16, 2005 at 14:34:57 PT
Important
Read the rest of Maher's "appearance" on the show. I think it's important how he handles the rest of the show. Every anti possible will eagle eye it for signs of stupid thinking.Perhaps we too could discuss some points in the show, because suddenly it's all the more relevant because the man has just admitted to smoking.Of course if he doesn't "mess up"...then they will think he's lying.It is very brave what Bill Maher is doing.
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on February 16, 2005 at 14:23:24 PT
Max Flowers 
I think I would second that! I haven't seen him since he is on HBO. I only saw him when he had PI. I liked him then. Maybe I need to break down and get HBO.
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Comment #6 posted by Max Flowers on February 16, 2005 at 14:19:02 PT
Here's my feeling:
BILL MAHER FOR PRESIDENT! 
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on February 16, 2005 at 12:58:01 PT
It Was Good
Joe was laughing too! I wish we could catch these things in transcripts that we can only see. It really was good.
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Comment #4 posted by Hope on February 16, 2005 at 12:55:02 PT
I hate to admit it
but old Joe's comeback on that one was a good "burn".I hope he was smiling when he said that.
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on February 16, 2005 at 12:50:22 PT
More From The Transcript I Missed!
SCARBOROUGH: The reason why I was looking forward to talking to you tonight was the fact—I remember I was on your show. MAHER: Sorry. I just got high before I came on and it just came out. SCARBOROUGH: Exactly. (LAUGHTER) 
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Comment #2 posted by Hope on February 16, 2005 at 12:32:21 PT
Didn't he, though?
Handle that well? Without exception, that's the best comeback I've seen in the marijuana discussion when the "pursued" take that tact as they flee having to expound on the truth of the matter.
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on February 16, 2005 at 12:18:11 PT
I Like How Bill Maher Handled The Baiting
SCARBOROUGH: What about the legalization of other drugs? Do you think we should legalize cocaine? You think we should legalize heroin? MAHER: Let‘s just stick to marijuana, which has never killed anybody, never kills anybody. How come these drugs like aspirin, which kill 7,000 a year, alcohol kills hundreds of thousands, tobacco, they are legal, but the one that never killed anybody, that‘s not legal? 
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