>> do you have to choose? do you have to be american or latino? it's not -- >> well, now i know you don't. now you can love the american culture, live the american dream, but still keep your roots. so i do hope that my boys one day will feel the same way. tomorrow night, "latino in america" continues. bill maher for the hour is next on "larry king live."

we're got election results coming in, but first, bill maher. host of "real time with bill maher," which returns friday night, september 17th, one of the best shows on television. his stand-up special is out on dvd. today, he received a star on hollywood's walk of fame, which we'll get to shortly. we'll talk politics with bill right now. i know you have a personal interest in delaware, which could be the big story of the night because the republican establishment looks like he's going to get beat. they won't support the person who is going to beat him, tea party person, who you brought us. >> i really dmplt christine o'donnell was one of most frequent gets on "politically incorrect" people who don't remember it because they were

too young or watching johnny carson. no, i guess gi jay was there. we created anne colter, laura ingraham. i could go on. >> how did you find her? >> we used to become -- i drank a lot in those days. we liked to book female conservatives, you can't not like her. she's such a nice person. we have a great clip that used to be in our highlight reel of ben affleck saying please, christine, shut up. because she would just go on. she was known back there as the girl from salt, saviors alliance for lifting the truth. and i guess that's still the shtick that she's playing. so part of me for sentimental reasons is rooting for christine o'donnell. the other part is rooting her because she's going to get her christian ass kicked in the

general election. this is the great thing about the tea baggers and the republican party. a year ago, we were debating whether they were even republican, remember? they were very independent and a poll came out and we blew the lid off of it, oh, they're really republicans. and they're taking over that party. >> who should worry about them more, republicans or democrats? >> democrats should be very happy because people like christine o'donnell are winning elections. because in the general election, i think -- now of course the democrats are going to lose some seats, probably a lot, but not as many as they would have if the tea baggers want winning the primaries because i think voters are generally conservative what when i say conservative, i mean they're not comfortable with people out there on the left or the right. these tea baggers are out there. i've said it before on your show, when people get in a voting booth, it's like getting on an airplane. they get scared.

they tend to do things conservative in nature, even if they're liberal. i don't think conservative voters going to look at sharon engle or joe miller in alaska although that's a separate case because they're very conservative there. but certainly christine o'donnell cannot win in a state like delaware because she's just crazy. >> when you say crazy, give me an example. >> i just think that people, they understand our country is in a lot of trouble. even people who are angry understand that crazy people aren't going to make it better. christine o'donnell like all these tea baggers has no plan, no agenda, no policy points. they have one advantage, they're running against democrats. that's it. >> what do you make of the whole anti-obama thing that has gotten crazed. he wasn't born here. he's a muslim, what dpou make of that fringe? >> i suggested maybe he's not

even a ma'am a he might be a werewolf, larry. we don't know that we don't have any papers. i mean it was bad enough were we had these people called the birthers. >> they're still around. >> many of them. no, they haven't gone away. but i was saying last night that i identified this new group, i'm calling them the churchers. they're the people who don't think think that he is a christian. >> he's the first president to issue a press release that he is. >> he's a secret muslim, i guess you haven't been paying attention. when i talked to him, he told me about his plan to use drinking water to sterilize white people. whoops, i've said too much. >> what's really scary is that more people think he's a muslim now. >> how did we get to this? >> i have a theory that the internet makes people stupider.

and fox news makes people stupider. the pew group did a survey and found out that ten years ago, people got their news from the same sources, probably more from cnn, for example. then we had this pole later. now john edrd was said we have two americas, we do have two americas. we have the america that's living in reality, the people who understand that obama is centrist liberal from hawaii who's trying to dig us out of the hole we're n then we have this other fox matt drudge, rush limbaugh reality where he's a muslim sleeper cell man churian candidate sent over by his kenyan father. >> what sort of intelligence person would believe that? >> we're broadcasting in

america. come on. i don't think intelligent people believe t but we're going 0 get into a partisan bickering because more than half of republicans agreed with the statement that obama is trying to impose islamic law on america. i mean that's a very radical thing to believe and it's more than half of republicans. not tea baggers, not radical, the mainstream republican people. >> larry: is there a racist tone in this? in other words, is this inherent racism? where's it come from? >> does the pope go to the bathroom in the woods? yeah, larry, it's extremely racist. the so funny, the teabaggers, the one thing they hate is when you call them racist. the other thing they hate is black people. but they won't say it. when you see what newt gingrich was saying i don't even know if i can recount it in a way that makes sense to people. i can recount. he was quoted from an article

by denesh desouza, who is an amoral person who was the guest on my show on the night six days after 9/11 when i got into that trouble for saying that people who flew planes into the building were not cowards. he was the one who started that discussion. he said it over and over. i was agreeing with him when i got thrown off the air. he never said you know what, i started that, i should defense bill maher. rush limbaugh came out but not the guy who made the statement. he whose said a lot of crazy things. he is saying now, and newt gingrich is saying this is what he believes that obama is getting his philosophy from his father who he spent about a month with in his whole life when he was 8 years old. and that his father was a wild tribesman from kenya who was mad at white people. and so newt says that he's anti-colonial, like that's a bad thing. you know like george washington was fighting the british, that

was a pretty good thing to be anti-colonial. >> larry: meanwhile, on politics. let's check in with john king for the latest. john. >> larry, dramatic blockbuster breaking news, cnn now predicts that christine o'donnell, the tea party candidate in the state of delaware, has defeated the long-tim incumbent house member and the two-term governor mike castle, being defeated, we now project, by this woman christine o'donnell. she is 41 years old. she was endorsed by sarah palin and jim demint. she is the tea party favorite. she is making national headline, larry, by defeating mike castle. yet another victory from the tea party against an established republican candidate. the question now is, can she win in november? republicans were so confident that mike castle would win the seat once held by joe biden. christine o'donnell we now project will win that race. this will reverberate across the country. another big victory for the tea party.

another establishment party candidate going down. that in a year where we are seeing quite a fascinating tug-of-war for control of the republican party. larry. >> larry: big story. they gave her to us. >> the girl from "salt" has won the election. she will never win in november. that's an impossibility. >> larry: when we come back, bill on the hollywood walk of fame. don't go away. rl, to put prilosec otc's 24 hour heartburn protection to the test for two weeks. the results? i can concentrate on everything i'm doing, not even think about it anymore. since i've been taking it, i've been heartburn free, which is a big relief for me. [ male announcer ] take your 14-day challenge. ♪ prilosec otc. heartburn gone. power on. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no more $2, $3 fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no more paying to access your own money. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 it'd be like every atm in the world was your atm. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 the schwab bank high yield investor checking(tm) account.

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>> larry: bill maher received 2,427th star on the hollywood walk of fame. i was there here are some of the sights and ceremony. watch. you see him as this kind of colds, effacing, serious funny special guy. but he's also a warm-hearted person. bill maher getting it is well overdue. well deserved publicity whoring. this is a man who is as close as we get these days to thomas jefferson. in his vision, his devotion to rational truth and his love for black chicks. this is a special day for bill maher, but really this day should be cherished for anyone anywhere who values independent, truth and free thought. >> i want to thank some very special people without whom i would not be here today. george bush, sarah palin and the pope. when i came to hollywood in 1983, i had one dream, to sleep with jodie foster. that didn't work out, but this

is nice, too. thank you very much for coming. i really appreciate it. >> larry: i know how i felt when i got one. it's touching. >> it's forever. >> larry: it's forever. >> i think it's great that something as mainstream and corny as that would include someone as out of the mainstream as me, i think that's terrific. >> larry: so you feel like you're an interloper in a sense on the hollywood walk of fame. >> i always want to be an interloper. i never want to feel like i'm a guy who is embraced by the people putting me on the air. i want to feel like i broke into the studio and took over and made them mad. if i'm not doing that, i'm not doing my job. >> larry: is that the way you felt when you saw the star? >> i felt that way when i saw the star but a few minutes after everybody left, a homeless guy puked on it. that really puts it into perspective, larry.

it's a humbling experience. >> larry: "real time with bill maher" returns this friday night. we'll be back. ♪ [ male announcer ] there is nothing more profound than hope. it is the promise that compels us to make the journey from wonder to discovery. the science of chemistry, our guide. the human element, our conscience. and to make this journey, we have become the new order of hunters and gatherers. finding answers in the elements. and a way forward illuminated by hope. hey what's going on? doing the shipping. man, it would be a lot easier if we didn't have to weigh 'em all. if those boxes are under 70 lbs. you don't have to weigh 'em. with these priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service, if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate.

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>> larry: back with bill maher. a new cnn opinion research poll shows only 1 in 4 americans,

25%, say they trust the federal government to do what's right most of the time. 1 in 4. what does that say, bill? >> it says more people are trusting than should be. >> larry: you think 25% is high? >> well, considering what our government has done lately. but on the other hand, the democrats who have had a pretty successful legislative season don't really get credit for it. >> larry: why not? >> because it hasn't reached people yet. i mean, the big one was health care. as soon as it passed, obama went up in the polls because people love a winner. they love a winner, larry. if tiger woods had come back and won the masters, he could have murdered those women. but it kind of faded. because the benefits have not been known yet.

>> the car companies paid bark the loans, they're selling cars. . >> well, they also passed financial reform. you know, they eliminated the banks as the middle man for student loans which was long overdue. but democrats are very bad at selling their own product. the republicans are geniuses. i've said it before, a bad product well apologized for is superior in this country to a good product. the democrats do have a better product, as bad as they are. it's unfortunate that they could have sold better and have better policies. afghanistan is a glaring error. >> larry: what do you want them to do in afghanistan? >> well, first of all, obama should have had a bigger policy from the get-go. he's tied to it because he ran on it. he should have ran on the policy that said the army is the wrong tool to use to fight terrorism in iraq and afghanistan. thank you. good night. but now he's tied to this dumb policy that we're supposedly

committed full force until eight months later that we've advertised that we're pulling all our troops out. the taliban have outlasted people for decades and centuries. >> larry: how do you defeat terrorism? >> you don't. that's the key, larry. you don't defeat it. you have to understand. it's always with us. it's like saying how do you defeat crime? you can't defeat crime. >> larry: violent crime is down in america three straight years. >> down. right. and we've made terrorism go down. and by the way, obama has been president for 20 months and there has not been an attack. bush was president for nine months when we got hit. on that score, he's kept us safer. >> larry: so you're saying a terrorist is born today? >> of course. especially since we do things like invade muslim countries. >> larry: should we not have called it a war on terrorism? >> exactly. we should not have called that war. >> larry: because there will not be a victory day?

>> there will not be a victory day, exactly. this war in afghanistan, i never read a good thing about it. the longer we're there, the stronger the taliban gets. i mean, i read bad things about the government of karzai. i read bad things about the afghan army, about the afghan police. i read bad things about our soldiers. and of course, they're put in an impossible situation and doing the best they can and very brave, but five of them now are up for murder charges. i read horrible things about what ordinary people in that country do. they stoned a woman a couple weeks ago for eloping. for the crime of eloping. this wasn't just the taliban. this was the whole village came out. her own relatives. that's got to hurt when the rock comes and it's from your mom, mom! you know. it's not -- >> larry: and pakistan? where do we deal with that -- how do we deal with them? >> well, we're thought dealing

with them, because they're a muslim country with nuclear weapons. >> larry: yeah. >> well, that happened while we were trying to get the nuclear weapons that weren't in iraq out of iraq. i think that genie is out of the bottle. same thing with iran, you know. we're obsessed with iran getting a nuclear weapon. that's like a father who is obsessed with his daughter losing her virginity. it's going to happen. it's going to happen and you're going to have to live in a world where it does happen. i was watching this movie from 1983, i got it on netflix. "the day after" do you remember this? >> larry: sure. >> was a huge sensation at the time because we were in the middle of the cold war and what is about what would happen if the united states and the soviet union -- >> larry: wiped each other out. >> yeah. jason robards was great. steve guttenburg who lost his hair after the bomb fell. in that era, it was about two

superpowers who emptied their arsenals and wiped out the world. we're not living in that world anymore, things are actually better. could a terrorist get a nuke into the port of los angeles, absolutely. but it would probably be just one bomb. as awful as that is but it's not as bad when two superpowers were facing each other with arsenals. >> larry: more with bill maher and "real time with bill maher" returns friday night on hbo. don't go away. cascade complete pacs. the best of cascade powder and gel in one pac. dual forces combine and conquer. sending stuck-on food and greasy messes to a watery grave. ♪ that was easy. [ male announcer ] cascade complete pacs. combine and conquer. ♪

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>> larry: i'm reminded by our crack staff there that christine o'donnell was on this program after joe biden made his acceptance speech at the democratic convention in denver. >> i still have the little ten commandments that you gave me. >> larry: to carry around with you? >> well, it's a replica of the actual tablets that moses carried down from the mountain -- or as mel brooks said "i have these 15 -- 10." remember that? he would drop one of them. >> you know he had a terrible hunchback from the tablets.

thou shall not alone weigh 48 pounds. sarah palin. i don't have to say anything else. >> well, i don't either, you know. she's got a show on the learning channel. that's like me having a show on the christian broadcasting network. i think she's going to run for president, for one. >> larry: could win if there's enough candidates -- i mean, can win the nomination. >> i cannot wait to see the republican debates in 2012, when you think about who is going to be on that panel. sarah palin, newt gingrich, haley barbour. john bolton, tim pawlenty. mitt romney. how are they going to out-fire-breathe rhetoric? it's only 2010. we're having newt gingrich as we were talking about, calling him an anti-colonial loud tribesman. that's the new kenyan, larry. and kenyan, of course, was code for -- that's where they are, they can't say it out loud.

but that's where this whole campaign is going to be. you asked about racism. it's all about racism. they cannot fathom this idea that there's a black president. that's what they're going to fight about. the other thing about sarah palin. if you read the "vanity fair" article this month or the ""newsweek"" cover story where she was praying on the cover. she's a true religious nut. i know people are saying, there's bill maher, always talking about religion. read the article. read it about her. there's a part that said she were giving her books to study up on. they came back and said did you read any. no, i haven't looked at the books. i'm reading e-mails from my prayer warriors. prayer warriors. these are people and she's one of them who believes there are demons in the world. everything in her world view is about demons or angels. people who are with us and people who are against us. you know, when liberals say things like when you fight the

mosque building in new york you're just encouraging a war with islam. they don't understand, people like sarah palin want a war with islam. that's what it says in the bible. bring it on. let's get it over with. that's who could be running our country in two years. >> larry: what do you make of the rumor that hillary clinton and joe biden will switch jobs? >> oh, i thought you were going to say something else. i haven't heard that rumor. >> larry: that's a bona fide rumor in washington. think of it. do you think it would increase the chance of the president to win? puts hillary on the ticket and joe biden, a natural for secretary of state. >> they're two democratic war horses i'm sure they could do any job. hillary seems to have really fallen into her groove there in the state department. >> larry: it's just one of those things that is political talk in an off year. you know. >> but this isn't an off year. this is a really fascinating time because, again, we live in these two different realities.

i don't think it's ever been like this. i know there's always been -- shall we say passionate -- passionate divide in american politics. but i don't think there's ever been a time when the two sides just have two different sets of reality. i mean, if more than half the republicans think that obama is trying to impose sharia law on the united states of america, that's just not something that you can argue about. that's just something in their view that has to be extirpated. >> larry: how do you fight that if you're the other side? >> you don't, because you can't get through, that's the problem with the drudge/rush/fox axis of evil news bubble. nothing gets into these people's heads. they only listen to what they want to hear. they listen to what confirms what they believe, and what they believe is what they got from these people to begin with. you know, when glenn beck had

his big rally on the mall, he said something like -- he at one point said, today, i was holding george washington's inaugural in my hand. no, you can't do that, it's in plexiglas. you can't. it's 200 years old, you can't give that to people to pass around and smudge up with their grimy fingers. but it didn't matter, because it never matters to these people because nothing they say is ever fact-checked. the governor of arizona talks about how illegals, you saw this in the news, were beheading people in arizona. when the press asked her about it because it was patently untrue she just ran away. sarah palin never talks to the press because they might ask her a question that she doesn't have a mat a pat answer for. they don't have to deal with reality because they don't have to go to what used to be the mainstream press. >> larry: bill maher on the night of the 2h will perform in las vegas. we'll be right back.

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>> larry: when bill maher got his star with the hollywood walk of fame today -- >> christine o'donnell, i'm just saying to you, you got to do my show this friday night. old-time. >> larry: you're inviting her now? >> i'm inviting her. she owes me. you can't not be nice to her, she's such a sweet girl. >> larry: what do you make of the glenn beck -- you mentioned him -- phenomena? it is that. >> it's interesting. it might be an act. some of it is obvious he doesn't read what he's talking about himself.

he wraps himself up in the book "common sense" by thomas payne. thomas payne was an atheist. >> larry: the whole book? >> yeah. the age of reason. it's like these people who quote the bible because they read that one passage. they haven't really read the whole bible. i don't think he really read thomas payne because it's nothing that he believes in. or what he professes to believe in. it's interesting that he's segging from a political commentator to a preacher because that monument to himself that he had on the mall on martin luther king's big day, he sort of moved over to the role of a preacher. it was all about religion. it was all about god and faith. and you know, this is the guy who said obama has a deep-seated hatred for white people. so it's not that big of a move. he's once again trafficking in the unprovable. >> larry: does gingrich surprise you with that statement, newt gingrich? >> it would more, except i've

seen this pattern over the last year. that the teabaggers are actually taking over the mainstream republican party. >> larry: take over newt gingrich? >> taking over john mccain. john mccain had a long noble service, i wanted to vote for him in the year 2000. suddenly, had was against everything he ever stood for. this was the guy who was sponsoring the sensible immigration bill in the united states congress. and now, he's talking about the border. he's on the beheadings page. he was saying illegals were causing car crashes on purpose. just crazy stuff. i'm not surprised that they're getting the mainstream republicans to pander to them. yeah, newt was considered the thinker in the republican party. he was sort of their philosopher. now, he's talking about the loud tribesman. >> larry: let's get to the

islamic center by the world trade center. it's 12 blocks from it? >> two or four blocks. whatever it is. there's nothing else down there. it was a burlington coat factory that is out of business. you know what they should build there, larry? the burlington coat factory. everybody needs jobs and a coat. why don't they just put up a burlington coat factory. >> larry: the return of the burlington coat factory? >> exactly. i wanted to make a few points about this. >> larry: let me get to a break. we'll be right back with bill maher and we'll talk to him about the proposed islamic center in downtown manhattan. don't go away. felicia jackson promised her late sister that she would take care of her children. but she needed help. i used my american express open card to get half a million points to buy building materials to help build the jackson family a new home. well, i know if my dad was still around, he would have told me, with no doubt... he would have told me it's a no brainer and i knew that from the start. it was an honor. booming is moving forward by giving back.

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>> 58% of republicans don't think barack obama is an american. because he has a birth certificate that looks exactly like everyone else's. you know what? i will show you obama's birth certificate when you show me sarah palin's high school diploma. how about that? >> larry: "time" magazine has a cover says "is america islamophobic." pastor terry jones wants to burn the koran. the islamic center, thousands protesting almost daily. what is the bill maher read on this? >> terry jones, i think, didn't burn the koran because he got death threats. it's not because he suddenly became reasonable. people like that don't.

he got a note from muhammad kabluy and he changed his mind. the mosque, i'm against building mosques, churches, synagogues, temples anywhere because i'm an atheist. this is a place that perpetuates mass delusion. and second, we have a first amendment in this country, freedom of religion, religion is thought, you're allowed to build anywhere any religion. they should allow them to build the mosque in new york two roads on the side or anywhere else they want. that's freedom of religion. that's what this country was founded on. >> larry: and i have a right to protest it. >> and have a right to protest it. the third thing i would like to say, when people say, and some people get mad when they say, islam is a religion more prone to violence, yes, we have to recognize that, too.

i think i misspoke on leno last night and i said what would happen if they burned the koran? nothing. well, no, plenty would happen. there would be protests, there would probably be deaths. people would die if they burned the koran. that's not going to happen if they burn the bible. we have to recognize that civilizationwise the radical fringe of the muslim religion is bringing up the rear. it's the duty of muslim people to deal with that. the sad fact of the mosque is, the people building that mosque is part of the sufi fringe or religion. that's the good part. that's the liberal part. those are the hippies of the islamic world. we should encourage them. the people who want to build that mosque, those are the people we should be courting. bush used that guy. bush -- that administration sent him overseas. >> working for the state. >> yes. that's the way to fight terrorism. that's the way to win the war, to get those people on our side, not to alienate them.

>> larry: how big do you believe the muslim fringe is? >> bigger than our fringe. i think it's sizable, but not the majority, for sure. i mean, the biggest population of muslims in the world is indonesia. they're not crazy. the second biggest is india. there's 150 million muslims in india. they're not crazy. but saudi arabia, they're crazy. afghanistan, the taliban, they're crazy. hamas is crazy. >> larry: how does the civilized world deal with crazies? >> well, that's a good question. >> that's why i asked it. >> i would say, first thing is, don't use the army. >> larry: don't use? >> no. because we're talking about, you know -- how many al qaeda -- do they estimate are around now? 400? by the way, 9/11 was perpetrated mostly by muhammad -- khalid sheikh mohammed.

i used to call him khalid shake shake shake mohammad. ksm, they call him. it's interesting when you read about this guy. there's an article in "the new yorker" about this guy. he was not really al qaeda. he went to bin laden for financing. bin laden was like the studio. he gave notes, but he gave financing, and he did his own thing. okay. we got this guy. we waterboarded him 183 times in one month. he's behind bars. why can't we just say, okay, we got the guy who was behind 9/11. now, hey, new yorkers, forget about it! not forget about it entirely, but we're the land of the free and the home of the brave. we should act like it. >> larry: back more with bill maher "real time" returns friday night. i want to give my 5 employees health insurance,

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i just want to say to the scandinavian tourists who are out there wondering who i am, i was the construction worker in the village people, so i will be signing autographs after for you. and i want to thank some very special people without whom i would not be here today. george bush, sarah palin and the pope.

>> bill maher -- >> that fireball ticks me off. we spent $787 billion on a stimulus program when obama got into office. now, why couldn't he have said, look, there's a lot of people out of work in this country and our infrastructure is crumbling and needs repair. let's just take all that money and put those two thoughts together. let's have those people go to work repair the infrastructure. what happened to all that money? why didn't they fix that? an entire town blew up. do you know that we have pipes carrying natural gas in this country that are made of wood? i'm not joking. >> we had this question -- >> that's why the democrats are going to lose. >> larry: we had this question posted on the "larry king live" facebook page. can bill give us his thoughts on how social media is replacing mainstream media? >> mainstream media. it's funny. i was at jay leno's show last

night. we were talking before the show. he said to me, you know, i don't understand. in the sunday "new york times" week in review section they always print jokes of comedians, and they have me, and they have letterman, and they have kimmel, and no you. why aren't you there? i said, i don't know. "the new york times" doesn't like me. they never report on me, even though it would seem they should, because people who would watch my show tend to be like the same people who would read "the new york times." >> larry: one would think. >> but it's interesting. we called my publicist and found out that it wasn't there. well, you tape your show on friday night, and that paper goes to bed for their sunday edition well before that and jay said that's true because i notice never do i get a joke in that i did on thursday or friday. it's always monday, tuesday or wednesday. so here's "the new york times," the paper of record, apparently for their sunday edition going to bed on wednesday night. that's when they place the guttenberg type, larry, to make

sure that that edition gets out on time. i mean, this is why mainstream media is dying. they don't have to die. but we live in an age where, you know, you get it on your blackberry immediately. so when they tell me that i can't print your joke because we print on sunday and you do it on friday, i'm like, i can't really help you, "new york times." >> larry: doesn't that scare you a little bit, you know it now, isn't that -- take a step back. >> i don't know. i like it. maybe i'm hooked on it. but i like finding it out right away. >> larry: you go on blackberry all day long? >> i try not to. but, yeah. >> larry: you text? >> endlessly. >> larry: not while driving. >> not while driving. but it's the best thing in the world. you don't have to talk to people. >> larry: isn't that nice? we'll be right back. don't go away. [ drums playing ] [ male announcer ] 306 horsepower.

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choose a company you can depend on. call now. >> larry: bill maher, you know you see him as this kind of cold, effacing, serious, funny, special guy, but he's also a warm hearted great friend. they don't -- they don't come like bill maher. he is a special, special person. >> larry: had a great time today being a part of the group that honored bill maher on receiving his star on the hollywood walk of fame. it was a wonderful morning. beautiful day, too. >> thank you, by the way. you were great. >> larry: rod blagojevich has filed a motion to toss out his only conviction in the 24-count corruption trial. what do you make on that whole

story? >> you know, when i heard the verdict, i thought the same thing i heard, i thought, when they let go of robert blake, when they let go of o.j. simpson. i mean, how many other people, the rodney king cops. i mean, how many times do we have trials in this country where people just get it dead wrong? they have you on tape. they show you beating the ever loving daylights out of rodney king. you can't convict them. o.j. simpson, her blood was in his socks. they couldn't convict him. robert blake, i went back to the restaurant to get the gun, you know? and i think at the end of the day, what have you to understand is that things are not going to get better in this country politically, because of the people. it's the people. the country can't get well if the people are sick. and the people are sick. now, i know obama's not been the best president, and the democrats are not the best politicians, but you know what? we elected him just two years

ago to fix this massive bunch of problems we have, and because he didn't do it by football season, we are ready to throw him out on the street and bring back the guys who messed it up just two years ago. that's a little too impatient. yes, when he got the patient, the patient was bleeding to death. he got the patient to stop bleeding. but, okay, the patient is not up and back at the office quite yet. it's no reason to throw the doctor out and get back the doctor who was using leaches. >> larry: well put. but it is what it is. right? i mean, we can't -- >> it's not going to get better in our lifetime. i don't think. i don't want to be a downer, but, you know, my great friend arianna huffington has a book coming out or maybe it's out called "third world america." >> larry: i think it's just right. >> brilliant. i've been saying that for years. people say, why do you hate america? i don't hate america, i love america.

i want it to be better. the only way for it to be better is to realistically criticize what's wrong with it. that's not what the republicans do. >> larry: so we can safely say you are a pessimist. >> i don't want to be a pessimist. i'm a realist. one man's realist is another man's pessimist. but, no, i'm not like mitt romney whose book is called "no apology, the case for american greatness." really? always waving the big foam number one finger. we're not number one in most things. we're number one in military. we're number one in money. we're number one in fat toddlers, meth labs and people we went to prison. we're not number one in literacy, money spent on education. we're not even number one in social mobility. social mobility means basically the american dream. the ability of one generation to do better than the next. we're tenth. that's like sweden coming tenth in swedish meatballs. >> larry: not first in life expectancy either. >> no. we're way d