Rating: 
Summary: THE MOST IMPORTANT BOOK SINCE SEPT. 11TH
Review: BILL MAHERS'S MASTERWORK IS ONE OF UNEQUELLED INSIGHT,HUMOR,AND PATRIOTISM.EVERY ELECTED OFFICIAL SHOULD READ THIS.IT COULD ,IN FACT, MAKE AMERICA SMARTER,STRONGER AND LESS DEPENDANT ON OUR ENEMIES.AS FUNNY AS IT IS BRILLIANT,IT ALSO SHOULD BE READ BY EVERY AMERICAN BECAUSE AGREE OR DISAGREE...THIS BOOK MAKES YOU THINK.BRILLIANT,BRILLIANT BRILLIANT.
Rating:
Summary: TELL IT LIKE IT IS PHIL...ERRR...I MEAN BILL
Review: Tell it like it is Phil...errr. I mean Bill
Hey, Dr. Phil isn't the only one who tells it like it is. Bill Maher pulls no punches and says it all with wit and humor. I love the way he trashes todays climate in light of these nutty terrorists. ...
Rating:
Summary: Bill Maher is a Real Patriot
Review: Do you know about any of the sacrifices for freedom, made during World War II? Bill Maher uses examples of these sacrifices, plus updated versions of World War II posters, to give historical context to the war against terrorism. He is not afraid to challenge established viewpoints, and he has lots of evidence to back up his views. ...my thanks to Bill for making my Christmas shopping easier!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Bill Maher... the Model American?
Review: Being an avid "Politically Incorrect" viewer for many, many years, I've seen and heard Bill Maher say some really incredible things, and some incredibly stupid things. Many misguided people will believe that, after the September 11th attacks, Bill was being stupid, unpatriotic, and unfeeling when hrefered to our military efforts "cowardly". It's something that Bill really wan't able to explain to people while his show was on the air. Well, consider this his retribution... he proves in this book that, not only is he EXTREMELY patriotic, but he also has an EXTREMELY great grasp on politics, and is still EXTREMELY funny.Bill is tired of politcal correctness and other such practices that keep our country from being everything that it can be. He dwells on various topics ranging from oil consumption (in terms of automobiles and liht bulbs), truly coming together as a country and making REAL sacrifices, religion, the futile and meaningless drug war, airport security, freedom of speech, American arrogance to anything foreign, and national security. All 132 pages are filled with intellectual and amusing observations and recommendations by Maher. His comic relief in the midst of some hardcore political discussion will definitely catch you off gaurd (I found myself laughing out loud many times), and when you have finished the book, you will sit back and think: "Damn, that was so funny... but damn, he is SO RIGHT." This is why many people love the likes of Bill Maher and Al Franken... they are funny, but they are also serious about everything they say. The reason I did not give this book a perfect 5 stars is that it is a bit short (lots of illustrations, white space, and large lettering), but in some cases, it makes it even better. I finished it in 2 hours... you could buy it and keep it in the bathroom and still learn alot from this book!
Rating:
Summary: excellent positive propaganda
Review: This collection of 33 WWII-ish posters range in subject matter from terrorism to the drug war and America's love affair with (big) cars. Each is accompanied by a one- or three-page Maher rant and often by a reprint of an inspirational vintage poster. I found the posters themselves as well as the commentary quite moving and Maher, often strident and sometimes bullying, nevertheless reveals a heart that loves America.
Rating: 
Summary: Screaming on his knees
Review: I will preface this review with the fact that I come from a perspective extremely critical of U.S. foreign policy and of its constant wars ("low-intensity" conflict, the "war on drugs," the wars on oil-containing nations, and the War o[f] Terrorism). That said:
It appears Mr. Maher was stung quite painfully when Ari Fleischer, Bush's then-press-secretary, singled him out for denunciation after Maher said on his talk show, Politically Incorrect, that, whatever the 9/11 hijackers were, they were not cowards. As a result, the stricken Mr. Maher lost his show.
He appears to have decided to respond to this downturn with a frothing-at-the-mouth, wrapped-in-the-flag nationalist rant, curiously intermingled with a platterful of liberal (and sometimes even radical) argumentation in regard to the injustices and inanities in U.S. foreign and domestic policy. Inbetween his rants, he makes excellent points in terms of "why they hate us," and in our (the people's) complicity with the crimes of empire. But, without fail, he returns to anti-enemies-of-the-state and anti-Islam polemics, eerily reminiscent of the "Hate Week" histrionics against Goldstein, Orwell's official enemy of the state in _1984_.
It is apparent that he is trying to vindicate himself by criticizing the "war on terrorism" from an ardent pro-war and pro-empire position.
But Maher, in this book, did not just fall into line in response to his chastening. He decided to attempt to be one of the ideological drill instructors of the punditry, calling for his critics (and, of course, the rest of us) to fall into line as well -- but be nicer about it. In essence, it seems as if he is trying to bark as loudly as his avowedly-right-wing counterparts as he co-opts their position.
It's an extremely ambivalent book -- he makes many excellent points and raises many important issues not raised by mainstream pundits (as other reviewers here have indicated). I recognize this, and it is indeed good. But, the problem is that the overall message undermines these arguments and smothers them in soothing generalities that, in turn, smother critical thought.
In his conclusion, he denounces all critics of American foreign policy and empire, self-righteously reaffirming the conservative line that America's is the gentlest bloody-handed empire (my not-so-complementary interpretation) in history, and therefore is praiseworthy. Of course, Chileans, Nicaraguans, Salvadorans, Vietnamese, Haitians, Iraqis, Venezuelans, Grenadans, Cubans, and so on, would disagree. His quasi-historical concluding polemic, naturally, fails to substantiate itself, but rather speaks in sweeping, comfortable generalizations that pamper our traditional self-image and, in effect, reaffirm the conservative line. In the end, he becomes one of the best assets the neoconservatives could ask for -- an impassioned "liberal" who, in effect, argues their case but merely whines about methodology. A splendid example of false consciousness in action.
(Incidentally, this friendliness to the conservative worldview is confirmed by the praise received from self-avowed "conservatives" and rightists in these reviews, and from none other than Ann Coulter in her glowing comment quoted on the back cover of the book. If you ever hear conservatives call someone a "reasonable liberal," that should raise some flags.)
When it comes down to it, he is part of the upper echelons of the mainstream press establishment, and he responded hysterically to an outright threat to his ability to stay there. Rather pathetic to observe, really. However, the neocons and "regular" cons can surely enjoy the thrust of his book.
Rating: 
Summary: The Proboscis Monkey Is A Scornful Pharisee Who Contradicts!
Review:
Maher's antagonistic!!!! He's suspicious, ever since his P.I. days to inordinate Larry King appearances, where he's imposing his intolerant viewpoints bent exclusively to his bigoted agenda. All these 80+ reviewers who don't sentence Maher's shortcoming drivel to below-average ratings are either traitors, steeped in self-hate OR are willfully subservient to unfounded innuendo, with emphasis on being easily mistaught! In this perpetration copying yellow journalism, Maher commits SO MANY believability contraventions, it's one half-truth or embellishment repetitively.
What seriously outrages me is Maher imitating borderline psychosis, angrily overdoing critical over-ANALysis of petty matters-painful examples being schizophrenically furious fixation on what he, tyrannically, calls rightful reasons to join the military, namely people who reject comfortable lives of wealth for service, and scorching contempt for persons using medication to achieve goals, meaning dieting. Maher's next fault: psychotic pride, assuming he's qualified to lead people in all topics, overstepping into the A-B-N-O-R-M-A-L. The oppressive persecution with which he forms his unstable ideas resembles dictatorialness in Rome. His sneering spite for everyone not sharing his twisted misguidance is palpable in how absolutely he dictates his beliefs.
His book reeks in literacy, aesthetic and adeptness. Maher spitefully attempts humor, but can't redeem his sorrowful face there either!!!! When one's trying to absorb his content, it's usually destroyed by underhanded infiltrations of exerting jokes, which are ALWAYS coarse or awkward!!!! Maher's an incompetently R-E-D-U-N-D-A-N-T jackal, squandering 33 bogus mini-chapters for discussion that would've fit in two, since his fleeting thought-processes are condensed as: 1) "Where's better security in airports????!!!!", or 2) "Why can't Americans get their priorities straight????!!!!"
The worst objectionability is Maher's self-righteous pretexting. Unacceptable, is his insinuation to mishandle aspects of foreign policy in ways resembling rebukable socialism. Maher's short-sighted failure imposes a refusal of isolationism. Fine-except it's distorted to his hinderingly unqualified views. Maher discloses how shoddily unestablished he's business-wise, demonstrated in his continuous sighing over people nowadays taking things for granted, although that's the manifestation of technological and economical advancement, as people's productivity increases at performance. Maher refuses to practically rationalize Bush's suggestion to help the country after 9/11, which was shopping. Instead of understanding consumerism's the backbone of economies, Maher usurps more "fundamental" advice should've been given!!!!
Despite amassments of heinousness, I'm overjoyed at buying this crappiness. Maher's a LIBERAL, despite others' ill-versed fabrications. His maltreated excess of self-loathing is quite convincing. The only reason that I bother these days with noticing liberal-sensationalist tripe is to examine its content to discover the incurably many, ruthless schisms in truth. I'll dissect lie-after-half-truth-after-exaggeration, to expose Maher's ulterior motive of bending facts to the subjection of his plot: Ridicule Americans as "ignorant" or "gluttonous".
Sinfulness #1: p.24, paragraph 1, L.3-4. Maher justifies terrorists' actions and 3rd-World's envy of America. To plant something plotted to verify his slur, Maher blasphemes America inflates produce prices while others starve. Factually, inflated prices (which are enacted to reduce spoilage of produce) reduce domestic production, thereby allowing poor countries' farmers' goods to become competitive. His charges are illicit and ludicrous because he lets the 3rd-World evade blame reserved for it alone, from policies like mismanagement of aid to destitute, abuse of manufacturing workers paid next-to-nothing, and governments' cover-ups of AIDS.
Trespass #2: p.29, last paragraph, L.5. He perpetrates half-truths, damning America for having 2% of world's oil without expanding that America-like Russia-multiplies that subjugated figure to 9% in oil production. Thereby, America's not in such dire graveness as Maher inflates.
Breach #3: Chapters DOPE, CRAZY TALK. Maher demeans relationships between drugs and supporting terrorism, and defames America's drug war. Maher prevaricates that heroin's the "only drug" which benefits terrorism, when cocaine's predominant in South America's drug war. Maher subterfuges that the "only" connection's Afghanistan's Northern Alliance, trading opium. Yet Columbia's FARC annually receives payments of $600 million from wrathful coca farmers to fight Colombia's military, who're funded by U.S. government!!!! Iniquitously shocking Maher stoops to defending injury-sponsoring Colombian farmers, but decries America for spraying their vice-fields. This is an unprincipled plan from Maher to blame America's reaction, instead of the problem's cause: coca farmers.
Evildoing #4: p. 69, paragraph 6, L.1-infests whole chapter. Maher's imperfectness professes America should mother the 3rd-World. Uneducated-in-the-slightest Pharisees everywhere will persist loathsomely equating non-military aid with the "right kind of 3rd-World assistance". B-A-L-O-N-E-Y!!!! Maher's boycotted from calmly examining facts. Cato Institute's extensively studied, since WWII to the present, countries who've received non-military foreign-aid-results are sup-par!!!! By Cato's study, foreign-aid DOESN'T help countries whose economic policies are so constraining they need economic reform. I.E., out of 100 countries from 1980-1995, ones with A/B ratings attained real GDP growth, while countries with F-policy ratings endured shrinking, because countries receiving foreign-aid are encouraged to misallocate aid into primarily the opposite of its intent: economic stagnation. Maher also scandalizes Congress subsidizing farmers-yet it's foreign farmers who're the aggressor: 3rd-World countries injure American farmers by imposing cheap labor on their peoples, facilitating their farmers to sell their products affrontingly undervalued.
Slight #5: p. 118, paragraph 5, L.5-7. Maher fails with Muslim boys entering madrassas to become terrorists. That's not madrassas' preeminent goal-it's radical Islam's teaching's costly side-effect. Most enrollees don't emerge ACTING on their teachings. Besides not being directly answerable, S.A. doesn't sponsor madrassas singularly. There're also Arabs from many countries across the Middle East funding them. It's double-dealing to segregate S.A., because Pakistan is also threateningly active in developing madrassas.
Rating:
Summary: It'll make you think
Review: This book is a collection of essays illustrated with posters that are take-offs on WWII-era posters. Maher challenges us to think about how we have not been asked to sacrifice or step forward in the war on terrorism as citizens were in other wars in our country's past. He also challenges the administration's actions (or lack thereof) on several fronts.
I didn't agree with every essay, but I did find each one thought-provoking. Wouldn't it be grand if such a book could spur discussion and action on levels from local to international?
Rating:
Summary: Still on target after all these years
Review: "When You Ride Alone," is exactly what you'd expect from comedian Bill Maher: it is crude, funny, irreverent and thought-provoking. Maher's book is deliberately intended to parallel the calls to sacrifice and resolve that were evident during World War II. Artists have has reworked famous WWII posters and slogans ("Loose Lips Sink Ships," "I Want YOU!" and the title poster that substitutes Osama for Hitler) to give the war on terror the same significance and urgency that citizens were urged to feel when faced with fascist aggression.
Unfortunately, many of the issues that Maher raised are still relevant today, 3 years after the the September 2001 terror attacks. Americans have not been asked to sacrifice. Other than a few thousand soldiers killed or wounded, most Americans continue in the same habits of mind and body that feed the terror networks. We know little about the culture of the Islamic world. We still buy oil-guzzling SUVs and we still burn electricity with reckless abandon, regardless of how these habits indirectly help finance oil-producing nations, which (in case one isn't aware of it) bred the fanatics who attacked us. We are still satisfied with slogans and posturing (placing flag decals on our cars rather than voting) that have no effect on our preparedness.
It's frightening how Maher's snapshot of our national security has hardly changed in 3 years. Security at our airports, ports and borders is still dangerously porous. Other than pre-emption, our leaders have offered no new vision of independence from our enemies. We greedily accept tax breaks rather than beefing up the emergency services that saved us on September 11. Not that I am on board with all of Maher's thought. He comes across as anti-religious, though his real problem (rightly enough) is that a literal reading of scriptures (anyone's scriptures!) is dangerous. He also seems a bit too fond of racial and ethnic profiling to protect us from terrorists. (If we stop frisking grandmothers at airports, won't terrorist just dress as grandmas?)
The book's subtitle, "What the Government SHOULD Be Telling Us to Help Fight the War on Terrorism" is still apt in late 2004. That makes this book prophetic, but it also ought to scare the wits out of anyone who loves freedom and security.
Rating: 
Summary: Smart, short, too many posters
Review: This book showcases Bill Maher's politically incorrectness in all areas, from the much-discussed (our energy dependence and its connections with terrorism) to the intriguingly under-discussed (diamonds, and the same). Maher writes very short essays (in big print) on a wide variety of terrorism-related topics, calling for real lifestyle changes and honesty in an attempt to shake us out of our everything's-changed-but-how-I-live slumber, interspersing them with WWII-style posters mocking our politicians and our misconceptions. At least one of them is guaranteed to offend - notably the one about the silliness of codified religions.
Though the essays are generally smart, funny and incisive, they're too short, scattershot, and the posters get considerably less inspired as the book goes on. There's simply not enough written material: it can be read easily in an evening. One gets the feeling that if Maher had the drive, he could be a modern-day Voltaire. Instead the essays, pungent and entertaining as they are, just scratch the surface of his topics and are at best loosely held together by the theme of sacrifice in a new world - something which he seems to go a bit overboard with, even if you agree with him on oil and diamonds.
Hopefully, he'll find the inspiration someday to settle down and write a real "serious" 300-pager. Minus the pictures.
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