More organized crap from the shitheads on the right, no doubt. Luckily, Bill can take it.

"There's a time and a place for everything, protest included, and a talk show audience is neither."

What would you rather have talked about on the show - Britney Spears rehab, stupid pet tricks, Bill Maher's affinity for hookers and drugs? Talking about Dennis Kucinich being excluded from a debate is a legitimate (I would argue important and entertaining) topic for a talk show. Something we should all care about living in a so-called democracy.

"Don't be gentle with them. Ass-kicking is what's called for." yea, i guess, but if anne coulter said that about somebody who didn't like her (and i'm sure she has) we'd be offended. i'm a little uncomfortable with the blatant double-standard at play here. "ass-kicking" has tended to be a republican sensibility, and we all see how well that's worked out for them.

Don't think it was coming from 'the right', Paul. At least one of the hecklers was a Kucinich supporter who was protesting Dennis being shut out of MSNBC's debate (I agree with him in principle, not in approach). Another one was shouting for NBC to talk publicly about impeachment, and that call obviously isn't coming from 'the right'.

Bill obviously supports the political outsiders. The guys who represent an opportunity to effect REAL change in the federal government.
Dennis Kucinich, Ron Paul..., he's had good things to say about them, and he's given both of them ample opportunity to be seen and heard on HIS show. (Both have appeared on Leno in recent months, for that matter)
These two are simply NOT the guys to heckle over Kucinich being silenced, unless you're an idiot!?!?
Then again, maybe Leno offers the best (or ONLY) opportunity to get in among a live TV audience and shout your message to the world..?

anyone has every right to heckle maher or coulture or anyone else but not on a talk show. bill maher's comedic talk show on cable tv, is full humor, whereas when anne coulture goes and speaks before college campuses or book signings or for church groups, she is dead serious with her hatred for just about everyone who ain't RIGHT and White.

RockDoctrine:
We do not live in a Democracy--"so called" or real. The United States is a Constitutional Republic.

I believe that the hecklers were already there and planning to speak out, regardless of who was there. I don't think it had anything to do with Maher. LOL, and I'm still laughing at your quip about Maher being some kind of badass. I love the man, but I don't find him physically intimidating in the least.

But what really bothers me is your last sentence. It seems like I've been hearing the line (or a variation thereof) "there's a time for this" when it comes to speaking out. Ironically, I first remember hearing it after 9/11, when Ari Fleischer was addressing what Bill Maher said on "PI" (and what got him subsequently cancelled). And that mentality has led to things like the "free-speech zones" planted by the Secret Service wherever Bush visits.

The reality is, or it should be, that there isn't a proper time or place to speak out. To those in power, including General Electric and NBC, it's never going to be the right time to call them on their decisions. So they (and apparently, people like you) say when someone speaks out "this isn't the time". Which leads me to ask, "what is the time?" How exactly would you expect these hecklers to speak out? The corporate media censors many progressive views from print and the airwaves. So their only avenue in which they can ensure that they might be heard by a lot of people, is to do things like they did on Leno.

And it takes a lot of courage to do that, whether you think it's stupid or not. Those people risked ridicule, jeering, probable physical harassment, and were probably arrested. All just to speak their minds and do what they felt was right. That's a lot more nobler and reflective of what this country claims to stand for, than sitting behind a computer screen and saying that Maher should have "kicked their asses."

The only one at fault here, and the only one you should be talking about and criticizing, is NBC for not letting Kucinich debate, and the terrifying precedent a court set by saying NBC was within their First Amendment rights to do so. And the Mother Jones blog has not done so, but they slam a few hecklers at a Leno/Maher taping. I might as well be reading American Standard or Newsmax.

I agree with Jeff. For people to have to resort to those actions of heckling, one could ask just why they felt they needed to resort to such tactics? Maybe it is precisely the point that they did what they did because they and their point of view are being silenced by the media. Duh? But, watching Maher react and his words, it seems though that his actions were misunderstood. My reaction, watching the replay, told me he felt it was unnecessary to make the statement because everyone seemed to recognize the fact of what they were saying, i.e. both he and Leno. In other words, in his circles, it was common knowledge of the truth of the matter so why blurt it out on his appearance? If both the host and he had ignored the dialogue completely, one might form an opinion against them but this is not how they responded. They're objections were that the person didn't get his message out coherently nor was he able to adequately convey it. Plus, I felt I heard no negative response to the message they felt was being delivered.

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