I hate it when I'm right. I really, really do.

Some time ago, I wrote a column - United We Stand, or Profits May Fall - about Bill Maher being in hot water over comments made on 'Politically Incorrect's' September 17th 2001 episode. You remember those comments? The ones where he supposedly called us cowardly... even if he really didn't?

At the time I wrote it, Maher was saying that he didn't think he'd have his contract with ABC for much longer. Things got really tense during the whole fiasco, and relations hadn't improved. It was also looking like David Letterman was going to be jumping ship and taking the time slot held by PI and 'Nightline.' At the time, I was hoping for the best, but something was telling me it was only a matter of a few months before the boom got dropped.

Well, after a lot of hoot and holler, Letterman stayed where he was, but - sure enough - ABC has just announced that Politically Incorrect is going to cancelled. In its place, we will be getting an "entertainment" show hosted by Jimmy Kimmel - one of the hosts of Comedy Central's trashy - but funny - 'The Man Show.'

Count me as one pissed-off fan. Shame on ABC for giving into ninnies and nincompoops. Shame on them for delivering the ultimate form of corporate censorship on a show that was supposed to push buttons in the first place.

What's really angered me throughout this whole matter wasn't what Maher said, but rather what he didn't say. You probably read that he called us 'cowards,' but did you get it in context?

The show in question was the first instalment they taped after 9/11. Maher was talking about the matter with conservative writer and commentator Dinesh D'Souza:

D'Souza: "Bill, there's another piece of political correctness I want to mention. And, although I think Bush has been doing a great job, one of the themes we hear constantly is that the people who did this are cowards."

Maher: "Not true."

D'Souza: "Not true. Look at what they did. First of all, you have a whole bunch of guys who are willing to give their life. None of 'em backed out. All of them slammed themselves into pieces of concrete."

Maher: "Exactly."

D'Souza: "These are warriors. And we have to realize that the principles of our way of life are in conflict with people in the world. And so - I mean, I'm all for understanding the sociological causes of this, but we should not blame the victim. Americans shouldn't blame themselves because other people want to bomb them."

Maher: "But also, we should - 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're right."

(Item: we've since learned, courtesy of the 'Osama Unplugged' tape, that a number of the 9/11 hijackers had no idea they weren't going to be landing. Still, the ones coordinating the hijack and/or flying the planes knew all about that part of the plan.)

Two days after the show's broadcast, when the furor hit the fan, Maher explained what he meant:

"In no way was I intending to say, nor have I ever thought, that the men and women who defend our nation in uniform are anything but courageous and valiant, and I offer my apologies to anyone who took it wrong. My criticism was meant for politicians who, fearing public reaction, have not allowed our military to do the job they are obviously ready, willing and able to do, and who now will, I'm certain, as they always have, get it done."

Of course, that wasn't good enough for some. Sears and Federal Express pulled their advertising. Michael Eisner, ABC's owner, criticized the comments. When Letterman was looking ready to jump ship, the ABC execs were all too ready to hand that time slot over to him. And while 'Nightline' - which would have been scuttled in that move as well - was later given a 2-year committment, PI didn't get jack.

Except for the public support of a few, brave people, like David Horowitz, Arianna Huffington and Rush Limbaugh, Maher was left twisting in the wind. Now he's been let loose.

ABC Chairman Lloyd Braun said the comments Maher made had nothing to do with the decision to cancel PI. I say that's a crock. I think that, had Maher not made those comments, PI would have been renewed for certain. The show's been around since 1993, survived its move to ABC in 1997, and has been going strong ever since - why get rid of a sure thing just a few seasons before its' ten-year anniversary?

One word for you: Money.

Losing big-time corporate sponsorship of the program cost ABC some cash, and they don't think they're going to be able to recoup it. Maybe putting a fresh new face (ironically enough, also from Comedy Central) in the slot gives them a chance to try and recoup it. And I bet Mr. Kimmel will be told which side of the bread the butter's spread on... won't he?

As I said in my earlier article, it's all about the money. Once you get big and people 'own' you, your voice is no longer quite your own. You can be bought and sold like a sack of potatoes, and traded away for a sack of coal. Vision and integrity are subordinated to the almighty dollar, and one misguided boycott or slanderous criticism is all it takes for God Mammon to smite you into yesterday's news.

But what a bass-ackward smiting this was. I think Bill's opening monologue of that program - the first show they taped after 9/11 - says it all.

"I do not relinquish," Maher said, "nor should any of you, the right to criticize, even as we support, our government. This is still a democracy, and they're still politicians ... Political correctness itself is something we can no longer afford. Feelings are gonna get hurt so that actual people won't, and that will be a good thing."

After the show was done taping, the audience gave Maher and his guests a standing ovation. Maybe it was just catharsis, or maybe they remembered what it was really all about in the first place. A pity ABC can't remember a damn thing.

I hope my readers will join me in wishing Bill Maher luck and success in whatever he chooses to do from here on out. For a man with his talents, I'm sure something good will present itself soon.

"'Cowardly' was the injurious word uttered by Maher. Well, let me use it now where it really belongs - to describe ABC if it decides to cancel a show that is, after all, called 'Politically Incorrect.'" - Arianna Huffington