Lawmaker: Comedian's joke 'treason'

WASHINGTON -- An Alabama congressman says comedian Bill Maher's comment that the U.S. military already has recruited all the "low-lying fruit" is possibly treasonous and at least grounds to cancel the HBO show.

Republican Rep. Spencer Bachus takes issue with remarks on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher," first aired May 13, in which Maher points out the Army missed its recruiting goal by 42 percent in April.

"More people joined the Michael Jackson fan club," Maher said in giving a comic twist to his commentary. "We've done picked all the low-lying Lynndie England fruit, and now we need warm bodies."

"I think it borders on treason," Bachus said. "In treason, one definition is to undermine the effort or national security of our country."

"I don't want him prosecuted," Bachus said. "I want him off the air."


U.S. Constitution, Article III, Section 3: "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort."

The drug war is a war on the American people. This is much closer to the Constitutional definition of treason than a comedian joking about military recruiting.