Bill Maher HBO Specials

I'm Swiss (1x7)

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"I don't hate America," comedian Bill Maher declares during I'm Swiss, recorded in March 2005 in Portland, OR. "I love America. (But) I'm embarrassed." And there we have not only the source of the title (his discomfiture, he jokes, has led him to pretend he's from another country) but also the crux of Maher's overall presentation on this, his third DVD taken from a program that was first shown on HBO. Maher's tendency toward smugness and superiority regularly provoke the wrath of his opponents on the far right. But despite his disingenuous claims to the contrary ("I'm not making this up, I'm just reporting," or "I'm not being partisan"), he certainly can't be accused of not having a point of view. His targets are many in I'm Swiss, ranging from reality TV to Cialis ("the boner pill") and even Civil War reenactments, but he reserves most of his scorn for "the morals and values crowd" and George W. Bush. He excoriates the former for turning the '04 presidential election into "a referendum on boys kissing," part of their campaign to "legislate taste" while using their "nonsensical and spiritually unnecessary" religious devotion to claim the high moral ground. As for Bush, Maher's comment that "sometimes this guy is so retarded, he could be on death row in Texas" is one of his milder jabs; and when it comes to the Iraq war, describing Baghdad as "the galleria at Halliburton Square" pretty much sums up Maher's feelings about that. Much of what Maher says during this 99-minute monologue (plus a Q&A session with the audience that's included in the bonus material) is genuinely funny, especially a segment called "Master P's Theater," in which he translates rap lyrics from Ebonics into "white." But make no mistake about it: Bill Maher is one infuriated fellow, and whether you love him or loathe him, I'm Swiss provides ample food for thought