But Not a Drop to Drink

The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal.com’s “Best of the Web” written by the editor, James Taranto.

NOTE: The excerpt below is from the 10/24/11 BOTW archives:

But Not a Drop to Drink
“Water Appears to Be Plentiful in Solar System and Beyond”–headline, NationalJournal.com, Oct. 20

Bill Maher Sells Out
Our friends at NewsBusters.org note that Bill Maher, the ostensible comedian who hosts the HBO show “Real Time,” said this on last Friday’s show:

Since 2005, I think, the number of drone missions has gone up by something like 1,200%, and for good reason. You know, we can do it a lot cheaper. It’s cheaper, we can get closer to the target and therefore kill less civilians. They can stay up longer. I’m sold. I’m going down to the dealership tomorrow. I’m hoping they have a hybrid. . . .

And I’ve heard people say, “Well, this is not good because, you know, this is like a video game.” Good. Why is that a bad thing that it’s like a video game? I don’t understand why it’s a bad thing. I know the argument is, “Well, you know, it makes us more likely to go to war if we don’t have to, you know, risk our troops.” How could we be more likely to go to war than we’ve already been?

Yes, this is the same Bill Maher whose most famous utterance, a decade ago on ABC, was this:

We [America] have been the cowards. Lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That’s cowardly.
[Terrorists] staying in the airplane when it hits the building. Say what you want about it. Not cowardly.

ABC fired Maher for that remark. It looks as though he learned his lesson well and can now be relied upon to do the bidding of his corporate overlords.

For more “Best of the Web” click here and look for the “Best of the Web Today” link in the middle column below “Today’s Columnists.”