Hey Bill Maher - F* You

To say I've never been a fan of Bill Maher is a gross understatement. I've always found him self-righteous, smug and pompous. And that has very little to do with my, for the most part, disagreeing with his political opinions. But I've always found it best to just ignore people I find irritating.

That is until you piss me off. And Maher did just that when he degraded the city of Boston.

On his show "Real Time with Bill Maher," he basically criticized the Red Sox and the city of Boston for stopping at the marathon finish line and placing the World Series Trophy on it, along with a "617" Sox jersey (Boston's area code for those who don't know).

"So the parade, they go to the place where the marathon bombing took place, they put the World Series statue there and they sing 'God Bless America' and they say 'Boston strong' and they chant 'U-S-A,' you know. It was again, a bad day, three people died, that's terrible. More were maimed, that's horrible, but unfortunately that happens every day, in car accidents and everything else. I mean, your city was not leveled by Godzilla," he said

Yes, Bill. Every day three people die in car accidents. But you know what? Those are accidents, not acts of terror - big difference.

I think there are those who share his opinion, those who aren't from Boston who think that maybe we're "going overboard on Boston Strong." But they don't get it. This is how we are - we're loud, brash and we unapologetically support all things Boston. So when tragedy hits us at home, you can bet your ass we're going to band together and be as loud as we can. You know why? Because f* those guys who terrorized our city. They didn't break us - they brought us closer together than ever before. They made us stronger and prouder than ever to be from Boston. And we want them to know it.

Maher is known for shooting his mouth at inappropriate times. About a week after the most deadly terrorist attack on U.S. soil, Maher, a native New Yorker, sat down with a panel on his show, "Politically Incorrect" and said this about the men who flew the planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on 9/11 :

“We have been the cowards, lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That’s cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, it’s not cowardly.”

You don't agree with drones, Bill? OK, many people don't. But there is a time and place, and that was the wrong time. The mastermind behind 9/11? He was basically "lobbing" those planes from 7,000 miles away. And being willing to die doesn't mean you aren't a coward.

Those comments lost Maher his show - and rightfully so. Because that isn't what the people of New York, Washington D.C. and the rest of the U.S. needed to hear so soon after such a tragedy. "Politically Incorrect" is a gross understatement when describing his post-9/11 comments.

Not an attack of the same magnitude, death-toll wise, but a terrorist attack nonetheless, Maher's comments regarding the way the city of Boston celebrated were insensitive, rude and, frankly, offensive.

"We needed this," Mark Porcaro, of Boston, told The Associated Press after the Sox clinched the Series. "They were an easy team to get behind because they stood up for us when we needed them most."

That's how every Bostonian felt. So Bill Maher - f* you.

Boston Strong

I am from Boston. It’s where I grew up, where my family and most of my friends live. It is where my heart is, where my soul is, and it made me who I am. No matter how long I am away, Boston will always be “home.” I am, and have always been, proud to hail from Beantown.

Bostonians don’t have the reputation for being particularly modest. We are tough, mostly blue collar people, who work hard and play harder. We are a proud people – lest anyone ever go into a Boston bar and say something as sinful as “Go Yankees.” We support our sports teams and our politicians with unabashed loyalty, and we are proud of our heritage.

Being from Boston is like a fraternity; no matter where you go, you undoubtedly find someone else from Boston, and are instant buddies. You may have never met, but you share a past. 

Saying that Monday’s events shook me is a gross understatement. Seeing the terror at the Boston Marathon, happening in my hometown, shook me to my core. I’ve been right where the bombs went off, hundreds of times. I knew people who were right there when it happened. Luckily, no one I knew was gravely injured, but in a town like Boston, the loss of Martin Richard, Krystle Campbell and Lingzi Lu, who was in Boston studying at my alma mater, hurts us all on a personal level.

When I was a student at Boston University, we referred to Marathon Monday as “the happiest day of the year.” Every Patriot’s Day the town of Boston shuts down to all except sports; the Red Sox play a day game, the marathon takes place in the streets from Hopkinton, up Heartbreak Hill, and down to Boylston St., and the Bruins play a game that night. It’s our Mardi Gras, our New Years Eve. It’s a day everyone in Boston looks forward to each year; it’s a day that we celebrate being from Boston.

What happened Monday does not change that. The Marathon will forever have the scar of the lives lost and the bodies maimed, but we will not let it take away our spirit. We are Boston and we are proud – forever.
 

With tears in our eyes, we will sing the National Anthem louder than ever before; we will honor an 8-year-old by hanging his hockey jersey over the statue of Bobby Orr; we will never forget those lost, and we will not let those who did this get away with it.

Because if I know one thing for sure about Bostonians, it's that we are tough and we will overcome. Like everyone from Boston, I believe in my town – we always have, and we always will. Boston is a tough and resilient town, and so are its people. We are Boston, and we are strong.