MAHER ISN’T FINISHED WITH HIS O’DONNELL COLLECTION…. Two weeks ago, Bill Maher, who’s had extremist Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell on as a guest 22 times over the years. aired a clip from 1999 in which O’Donnell explained that she “dabbled into witchcraft,” and even had a date that included a “midnight picnic on a satanic alter” where there was “blood and stuff.”
In reference to his video collection of her appearances, Maher added, “I’m just saying, Christine, it’s like a hostage crisis. Every week you don’t show up [on my show], I’m going to throw another body out.”
Last night marked “Week Three of the Christine O’Donnell comic hostage crisis.” In the new installment, O’Donnell talked in 1999 about her religious experimentation, and when asked if she was a witch, she said, “I was. I was.”
O’Donnell added, “I was dabbling in witchcraft, I’ve dabbled in Buddhism. I would have become a Hare Krishna but I didn’t want to become a vegetarian … because I’m Italian and I love meatballs.”
The “Politically Incorrect” episode was aired in July 1999, a few months before the more widely-known clip about her background in witchcraft.
Maher added last night that he has some regrets over embarrassing O’Donnell, but that “feeling passes” when he considers what a truly awful senator she’d be.
It’s worth emphasizing that on the Christine O’Donnell Richter Scale, this new revelation doesn’t register nearly as high as some of her other recent gems. We are, after all, talking about a major party nominee to the U.S. Senate who’s lied repeatedly about her educational background, is suspected of campaign embezzlement, is suspected of tax fraud, rejects modern science, hates gays, has crusaded against masturbation, has talked about stopping Americans from having sex, and embraces a hysterically extreme political worldview.
By comparison, her background in witchcraft, Buddhism, and inclination to become a Hare Krishna seems quite mild. That said, much of the religious right considers those who’ve “dabbled” in these minority faiths to be wicked, so concerns about her among some conservatives may be intensified by last night’s clip.
