Maher's Attacks

CALLER: A question for Bill. Bill, it's been reported that Saddam Hussein's handgun that was taken off of him when he crawled out of his hole over there is now adorning the walls in the Oval Office. What's your opinion on something like that?

LARRY KING: I think it's in a side -- private room off the Oval Office.

BILL MAHER: well, Bush said he'd disarm Sadaam. We thought the weapons would be a little more substantial than that.

That's typical of President Bush -- the symbolism, not really policy stuff but the symbolism.

What I'm more concerned about is his dog is also on Lynndie England's leash. And that, I think is very disturbing.

CALLER: Hi, Larry. Hello, Bill, how are you?

MAHER: How are you doing?

CALLER: Good. Thank you. You're super.

If you were given the opportunity to become president today, what are the three major problems you would take care of immediately -- aside from Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rice?

KING: We have 45 seconds. Three problems, solve them, president Maher.

MAHER: Well, first of all, it's safety. I mean, President Bush is running on the idea "I have made you safer". Just those pictures from Abu Ghraib Prison have not made us safer.

I heard him say today, "well, our critics say we stirred up a hornet's nest, that nest was already stirred up".

To a degree that nest was stirred up.

But if millions of young Arab men now say "I'm going to sign up for Jihad, because this is exactly what I thought would happen: the Christian Army would come over to Iraq and take pictures of us and point at our wieners, and now I am going to war" -- that's how he's made us safer.

KING: On that note, thank you, Bill. President Maher speaks.