I always thought Maher is a libertarian, not a “liberal” anyway.

“Progressives are also concerned about the growing popularity of Maher’s perspective among liberals. Last week Cenk Uygur, speaking on his popular left-wing show The Young Turks, railed against what he called the “Sam Harris, Bill Maher” wing of progressivism for their anti-Islam views. He compared Islamophobia to McCarthyism, or the anti-communist paranoia of the 1950s, explaining that while he shares Maher’s distaste for religion (Uygur, like Maher, is a proud atheist), he cannot abide mistreatment of Muslims in the name of liberalism.

“They think that they’re liberals, this whole Sam Harris, Bill Maher wing,” Uygur said. “You want to call yourself a liberal? You don’t know what a (expletive) liberal is. You want to call yourself a progressive? You’re not remotely progressive … You’re a foaming at the mouth neoconservative, and, yes, you’re discriminating against [Muslims].”

“The Left’s criticism of Maher isn’t limited to his disparagement of Islam, as his fellow progressives have long accused him of of being insensitive, racist, and ultimately self-defeating as a liberal. In 2010, he drew fire for joking that President Barack Obama was not acting like a “real” black president, wishing aloud that he would “[show up] in a meeting with the BP CEOs, you know, where he lifts up his shirt so you can see the gun in his pants.” He then assumed a stage voice, presumably in mimicry of a black man, and shouted “‘We’ve got a motherf***ing problem here?’ Shoot somebody in the foot.” Similarly, Maher was also widely criticized last summer for what many called a sexist tweet about slapping a woman, and infuriated women’s rights advocates in 2011 for calling Sarah Palin a “dumb twat” on his show.”

thinkprogress.org

Please, just stop. Let your inner rightwing feelings be known.