N.C. State Goes `Incorrect'

The event was held at Stewart Auditorium on the N.C. State University campus. Saturday's stop was part of the program's 10-campus college tour.

The forum followed the usual show format, but it will probably never air on ABC. Instead, it will be shown throughout the fall semester on College Television Network - a television network reaching more than 1,550 locations at colleges and universities.

The show kicked off 30 minutes late, but the largely N.C. State student crowd filled time by cheering the Wolfpack's earlier football victory over UNC.

Maher started the show with a monologue, in which he skewered both major party presidential candidates - Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore.

Maher said Gore's campaign focused on distancing himself from President Clinton, and no action was more symbolic of that than the infamous Gore-Tipper kiss at the Democratic National Convention.

"The kiss was (Gore's) way of saying, `I'm not Bill Clinton. I fucked my wife,'" Maher said.

Maher added that Bush's campaign was an effort to tie Gore to Clinton.

"The Republican campaign is all about guilt by association," Maher said. "They act like Gore was holding Monica's hair the whole time."

Maher also attacked the Republican National Convention that took place in early August.

"The Republican convention disgusted me because it's not true, it's not who they are," Maher said. "The last time Republicans had that many black people on stage, they were selling them."

After the 20-minute stand-up routine, the show moved to its usual panel format. The four guest panelists were actor Jay Thomas; Doug McBurney, founder of shadowgov.com, a Web site that focuses on justice issues; John Hood, president of the John Locke Foundation, a conservative think tank in Raleigh; and N.C. State student Natalie Duggins.

The hourlong discussion touched on many issues in American politics, including legalization of drugs, gun control and gay rights.

Almost from the outset, McBurney's often controversial views were under attack from both the panelists and members of the audience.

At one point, McBurney said democracy as a form of government was a failure, and we should instead move to a constitutional monarchy.

"I think we should have a king who is responsible to God," he said. "Democracy creates a million little tyrants instead of one man who can take responsibility."

After several minutes of debate, a visibly frustrated Thomas said he would need to drug McBurney just to hang out with him. That statement received the loudest applause of the night.

Even the question-and-answer session that followed was eventually reduced to a debate between the panelists - this time about the war on drugs.

Maher said the legalization of drugs would not only make narcotics safer but would also reduce crime.

But Hood quickly countered, saying that legalization would encourage more drug use. "All I'm saying is that it is a factual matter that if we legalize drugs, more people would use them."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.