Bill Maher.(Interview)

Talk-show host and comedian Bill Maher was only living up to his reputation when he spoke his mind after the World Trade Center bombings. His television show, "Politically Incorrect," had won a loyal following by offering heated and sometimes brutal political debates between celebrities, rock stars and expert guests each night. Maher was the master mediator.

Even so, executives at ABC weren't prepared for the firestorm that ensued when he disputed that the 9-11 hijackers were "cowards," then famously added, "We have been the cowards, lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away." Maher's show was canceled. Back on the air with a new HBO program, Maher spoke with NEWSWEEK's Suzanne Smalley last week about the political climate in America and the shrinking tolerance for voices of dissent. Excerpts:

SMALLEY: You gave "Bowling for Columbine" director Michael Moore a hard time on your show the other night for using his Academy Award acceptance speech to attack the war in Iraq. Yet you yourself have paid the price for speaking your mind. When is dissent appropriate and when does it become obnoxious?

MAHER: My point with him, and he's a friend, is [his acceptance speech] turned off the undecideds and that's, to me, the cardinal sin of any political movement. Don't turn off the people on the fence. It's easy to preach to the converted. That doesn't change anything or move your position forward. It's similar to how in [Moore's] brilliant movie--and it was brilliant--I literally felt sorry for Charlton Heston. And that's not easy. He really sandbagged and badgered an old man with a failing memory. And, yes, Charlton Heston is on the wrong side of that issue, but you can make anybody sympathetic. Hey, we're losing a popularity contest with Saddam Hussein. That's like losing a school- board election to a pedophile.

So I guess you weren't a fan of the San Francisco protest where peaceniks staged "vomit-ins"?

Let's just say I don't see how that's going to sway the undecided. I think liberals have a tendency to talk only to themselves. The peace movement hasn't done a good enough job of getting out the message of "we are not against fighting terrorism; we are just against fighting terrorism by invading Iraq, since Iraq is very tangential to the struggle at hand, which is 1) Al Qaeda and 2) the religion-based jihad types." There's also homeland security. It's wonderful we have this nice reality show with the war on TV, but I don't think it's going to keep us any ...