World Famous Comics: When You Ride Alone You Ride with Bin Laden
When You Ride Alone You Ride with Bin Laden
By: Bill Maher Publisher: Phoenix Books Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 132 Publication Date: August 01, 2005 Release Date: August 01, 2005 Studio: Phoenix Books
Product Description: Political provocateur Bill Maher tells it like it is in a useful and hilarious guide for the many Americans who want to do more here at home to help the war effort, but are at a loss as to what.
Thirty-three dynamic new posters and several classics from our governments archive, accompanied by text from one of our leading pundits and cutting-edge comedians make this the perfect book for this time in our nations history, the zeitgeist of one-year-post-9/11 America. This is the book that will help Americans make the connections between what we do and how it can help our troops and ourselves.
Having always defined political correctness as the elevation of sensitivity over truth, and being an optimist, I guessed that after 9/11, Americans would judge all matters pc to be an indulgence herewith unaffordable. Boy, was I wrong.
I only laughed once ^ I listened to the audio book. I only laughed once during Bill Maher's 3 hour diatribe. I've only watched Maher on TV a few times. I didn't realize that in this book, he pretty much criticizes the American public for being too complacent about terrorism. We ought to be fighting terrorism by driving less and using less energy, so that we buy less oil, the profits of which eventually end up in the hands of Osama bin laden et al.
And we ought to be paying teachers, firemen, and policemen more. I can never understand why millionaire entertainers say such things when they are at the top of the salary food chain.
But what really upset me about this book are several anti-Asian sentiments. Maher contends that racial profiling is fair and practical. He makes fun of Norm Mineta, Transportation Secretary, for the impractical security policy of screening little old ladies the same as young muslim males. He implies that Mineta was unduly influenced by the evacuation of Japanese-Americans. He implies the evacuation was fair because of the severity of the situation. He jokes about Jeffrey Dahmer raping and brutalizing a male Chinese teenager, which the police categorize as a domestic dispute. He implies the bombing of Japan was fair because it showed the people what mass destruction was about, and it stopped the war.
He obviously hasn't studied JA incarceration and relocation. It wasn't fair. It was conducted on behalf of white farmers who wanted Japanese farmers out of California agriculture. Many Nisei demonstrated their loyalty to the US, but I do not know a single Nisei who ever said that evacuation was fair or necessary. Hiroshima showed how little a yellow life meant to the white men who decided to drop the bomb. It wasn't just a matter of being practical.
Maher even misquotes an old Chinese proverb. I think it's only fitting that Maher ends his 2002 book by saying Americans have dominated the world for 2 centuries and should go for a 3-peat. Because in the 21st century, China will be the dominant but politically incorrect and even more practical superpower. And maybe in 20 years, some loud-mouthed Chinese entertainer will joke about an aged Jewish-Irish-American former comedian-pundit who was brutally raped and then eaten by a fellow prisoner.
One last comment-- the audio book is 3 discs, and each disc is one 60 minute track, making it hard to scan.
Verbal Crap from an Intellectual Featherweight ^ Bill Maher is one of the poster childern for famous people being indulged for thoughts and in this case, words that would have been ridiculed in any decent school. Maher only seems willing to preache to the choir. Pointing out his own party's failings is beyond him. I checked this book from the library and was glad I didn't waste my money buying it. Mad Magazine is better written and much cheaper.
New Rule: Everyone should have to read this book. ^ When You Ride Alone You Ride with Bin Laden: What the Government Should Be Telling Us to Help Fight the War on Terrorism - And Still Isn't is a parody of a World War II propaganda poster that read "When you ride ALONE you ride with Hitler !", which suggested that automobile owners carpool to conserve gasoline for the war effort. This isn't just ironic today - it is a complete epiphany for those of us who understand History really repeats itself.
I must applaud HBO's host of Real Time with Bill Maher because he has the courage to speak his mind on topics most Americans staunchly are ignorant of. Like Maher points out - the United States is full of people who are wasteful when it comes to everything from oil, food, and the things we should be conserving and happy to have ready access to. FREEDOM!
Maher critiques of the war in Iraq are right on. He pulls no punches and he shouldn't. Bill Maher is intelligent, funny, and has written another fine book for anyone interested in discovering real truth in real time that may change the way they view our government's practices.
I am a father, a veteran, an author, and a concerned citizen. We need more people like Bill Maher, John Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and Ron Paul in this world who know what they are talking about when they choose to be serious.
Oh yeah - Bill - if you need me to come participate in the panel, I think I can silence Christopher Hitchens for you when he gets too pompous and contrived.
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Excellent Book! ^ Excellent Book. Short and to the point. A great level of intelligence - about what is wrong with out system!
Great Audiobook ^ I purchased the hardcover first and found it to be pretty slim on actual content for the price--the posters really didn't add a whole lot to Maher's commentary. The audio book, narrated by Maher, is delivered in his dry comedic style and as such is much funnier. Maher is, first and foremost, a comedian, and this book has to be heard to be enjoyed.
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