"Show me a man wearing an American flag pin in his lapel, and I'll show you an asshole," says Bill Maher during a recent New Rules segment.
Calling it the "first genuine controversy" of the 2008 presidential campaign, Maher brings up last week's "shocking news" that Democratic candidate, Illinois Senator Barack Obama, does not wear an American flag pin.
"So apparently, he and America are no longer going steady."
Quips Maher: "Why don't you just stab the Statue of Liberty in the eye while bitch-slapping a 9/11 widow?"
Obama came under media scrutiny after expressing to a reporter that wearing the pin seemed like a "substitute for true patriotism."
Continues Maher, "Another in a series of bullshit non-stories that have zero effect on the troops, the war, or anything in the real world. Or, as Fox calls it: Breaking news."
One personality called it "too much information," saying that Obama was showing a sign of insecurity by not simply saying he was making a fashion statement.
"This is typical press hypocrisy," says Maher. "They say they want someone who doesn't give pat political answers, but when they get one, they call them a loser. They say they don't want safe robots like [Sen. Hillary Clinton], but they create conditions where only that species can survive.
And then, they give cover to people like Sean Hannity, who reported on No-Pin-gate...and then had to call a doctor because his fake outrage hard-on lasted longer than 72 hours."
"Of course, the Republicans are the party of Mark Foley, and Ted Haggard, and Larry Craig, and countless other closeted homosexuals... so their fixation on jewelry is understandable."
Video of the entire monologue, and the remaining New Rules segment, is below. It was broadcast on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher on October 12, 2007.