Guess where this quote comes from:

“The Middle East looked nice and cozy for a while, everything looked fine on the surface, but beneath the surface there was a lot of resentment, a lot of frustration, such that 19 kids got on a plane and killed 3,000 Americans. It’s in the long-term interests of this country to redress the long-term causes of these extremists and radicals exploiting people and causing them to kill themselves and kill Americans and others.”

If you said a Democrat who then got ripped apart by the punditocracy for calling the 9/11 hijackers exploited and victims of greater forces – you’d be wrong. If you said President George Bush in his Rose Garden press conference yesterday and that nothing was said by the Foxians, you’d be correct.

So – can Bill Maher have his job back?

This article appears in May 25 • 2007.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.