By David Edwards on 5/15/2006, 5:55pm PT  

Guest blogged by David Edwards of Veredictum.com

Part 1: Maher's Monologue, Panel Discussion

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Playing Time: 10 minutes

Part 2: Panel Continued, New Rules, Maher's Closing Rant

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Playing Time: 12 minutes

Friday's episode of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher was the final live broadcast of the season. The panelist were musician John Legend, national security expert Richard Clarke, and academic Cornell West.

Maher took the opportunity of the season final to focus on slamming President Bush. Maher said that Bush was such an easy target that he had avoided having a Bush theme throughout the season.

Discussion of recent stories about the NSA's domestic programs really took over much of the show. Maher's panelist were outraged at the Bush Administration's abuse of power. Cornell West was highly critical of human and civil rights abuses while Richard Clarke warned of the dangers that happen when an incompetent government employs excessive power.

Due to the length of the video, it has been split into 2 parts. Both parts contain clips from the show that focus on Maher's criticism of Bush and the NSA's domestic spying.

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