Bill Maher Must Run For Congress

Bill Maher is the host of HBO's "Real Time With Bill Maher." I have been watching him for years. I love his political humor, his show on ABC and now the current version on HBO. Watching him during this economic crisis and his analysis of the problems facing America today, I have come to the following conclusion: BILL MAHER SHOULD RUN FOR CONGRESS.

Some might ask, why would Bill Maher be a good political candidate. The truth is, Bill Maher would be a horrible candidate under today's rules. He is an admitted pot smoker, very liberal or libertarian depending of the subject and is outspoken and is not politically correct. Bill Maher actually speaks his mind. Under the current definition of politician, Bill Maher does not fit the mold.

But that is exactly why Bill Maher should run for Congress. The current mold does not work. The current crop of politicians who say nothing, are afraid to offend, and while not being disagreeable agree on nothing. And the outcome: nothing gets done that actually helps regular folks.

Bill Maher will literally shake up Washington. He has no problem speaking his mind. In fact, he has been fired for just that: speaking his mind. Further, unlike many of today's politicians, he is knowledgeable on a variety of subjects. He speaks intelligently about the economy, the war, social issues and taxes. The same cannot be said for many in power today. Bill Maher would represent real change coming to Washington: Someone who is not afraid to speak his mind on a variety of topics he actually knows something about.

One thing Bill Maher will have no problem doing is speaking truth to power. Imagine if we had someone who was willing to stand in the well of Congress in 2002 and 2003 and argue against the war in Iraq? Despite the fear of being called unpatriotic and un-american, someone who could articulate that the war was wrong and the information being fed to the public was wrong was what was missing from that debate. Or imagine if someone would stand up and fight for the little guy right now during these hard economic times. Someone who is willing to rail against the political power of banks and Wall Street. Well Bill Maher has been doing this from the pulpit of his show. Every week he stands up and argues against what is politically popular but rather what is right.

More importantly, Bill Maher will be willing and able to stand up to allegedly the most powerful group in America: The American People. Bill Maher will say that we were living a dream during the housing bubble and that we are not willing to work very hard to put America back together. Bill Maher will remind us what civil liberties mean in America. He will stand up against the Conservative Right and Liberal Left and keep them both in check. He doesn't care about what is politically popular but about what is right. We need someone with this kind of integrity in Congress: There is a first time for everything.

Bill Maher will have to be convinced to run for public office. He might even have to held at gun point. But it is not like he is not already part of the political debate. He is the only liberal (if he is one) that has the guts to debate Ann Coulter. He routinely debates politicians on his show. And he has no problem telling them what they are doing wrong and steps needed to be taken to improve this country. Let's recruit him to take these ideas and put them to action. Take them to Washington and throw them at the power structure. At the very least, we will have someone speaking truth in Washington again and maybe be entertained at the same time.

For the record: I will argue Bill Maher should run for President, but I like Obama - For Now.