Washington, D.C. (Rightcommentary.com): Apparently, Bill Maher, host of the HBO show, “Real Time,” decided his life wasn’t complicated enough. To remedy that problem, Maher, decided to make highly inflammatory remarks about the Pope - essentially calling him a Nazi.

As Benedict was readying for a six-day trip to the United States, Maher was critical of the Catholic Church because he feels the religion was treated differently after its sexual abuse scandal because of its history, size and clout. Maher also took comedic jabs at the pope, commenting on his attire and harping on the fact he was part of Hitler Youth — a group he was forced to join and one he eventually fled.

Maher said: “If you have a few hundred followers and you let some of them molest children, they call you a cult leader. If you have a billion, they call you ‘pope.’ ”

In response to a large outcry about those remarks - Maher offered a rather tepid response, stating (April 18, 2008):

“So, on that score, you know what, my Catholic friends, I will never make the “pope is a Nazi” joke again. Because, you’re technically right, OK, and also because it distracts from the main point. And the main point I was making was that if the pope, instead of a religious figure, was the CEO of a chain of nationwide day care centers who had thousands of employees who had been caught molesting children and then covering it up, he would have been in jail.”

Not exactly what I’d call the most robust of apologies.

Personally, I find Maher’s show to be without much entertainment merit. However, given how the media excoriated Imus, Ferarro, Richards, and Gibson - why does Maher’s remarks receive such tepid condemnation?

I do not believe that we, as Americans, have a right to be free from being offended. I think people have to use their judgment about what they believe - and quite frankly alot of the stuff out there in the media and in the discourse is going to rub people the wrong way.

I do, however, take note that had Maher said something equally offense about - oh say a black candidate running for President - I suspect Maher would have been fired…. (Ferarro)

Or perhaps if he had called the Pope a “nappy haired hoe” - he would have been fired. (Imus)

Or perhaps if he had suggested the Pope have a “fork up his *ss”  - he would have been fired. (Richards)

Or perhaps if he had called the Pope a “f______ Catholic” - he would have been fired. (Gibson)

I guess its just okay to be mean and nasty to people - so long as its Catholics… ?

I don’t care if Maher gets fired or not… I think he’ll eventually be off the air because his show is terrible. But I do find it disturbing that many people think defaming the Pope is okay - and HBO is willing to tolerate it given their own internal policies.

Not that I support them, but The American Life League, a Roman Catholic group, has set up a Web site asking for the outright firing of Maher. It might be something readers are interested in reading.