Reply #38: I don't think he's a comedian, or rather not much of one. He is really an opportunist.

[Dr Morbius]

He says things that he knows will be perceived as outrageous because he knows that's where the money is. He is outrageous literally for the sake of outrageousness. This is a calculated move by Maher to get attention. It's business, and he's an opportunist. It's the same thing done, on the other side and to a much greater scale, by Glenn Freaking Beck. Bill Maher and Beck are cut from the same cloth: they don't mean half the crap they say. They both understand that any attention, negative attention or positive attention, can make you money.

Maher is plenty smart enough to have realized before he used this joke how it would be seen. The fact that he used it indicates he wants people to be outraged. It gets him attention. Rather like a baby screaming; first, get the attention. Then, you can proceed with getting what you want.

This is Bill Maher saying something outrageous to draw attention to himself. This ain't comedy. This is pathos.