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Maher hosts Bergen, Scahill, Frum and Dyson this Friday on HBO

By April MacIntyre May 4, 2011, 19:29 GMT

08/29/2010 - Bill Maher and guest - 2010 Primetime Emmy Awards - HBO\'s Post Award Reception - Arrivals - The Plaza at the Pacific Design Center - Los Angeles, CA, USA © Keadrick D. Washington / PR Photos

This Friday night sees "Real Time with Bill Maher" - May 6 (10:00-11:00 p.m. live ET/tape-delayed PT), on HBO.

The roundtable guests this week are educator Michael Eric Dyson, journalist David Frum and correspondent and author Jeremy Scahill.  Journalist and author Peter Bergen is an interview guest.

Dyson, in an appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation," said Trump's accusations about Mr. Obama's history were meant to imply that "Obama is not up to snuff.

"This is racism by inference," he told CBS' Bob Schieffer. "Skepticism about black intelligence and suspicion about black humanity have gone hand in hand throughout the history of this country in feeding the perception that black people don't quite measure up."

"The reality is that Barack Obama has been called to account by a man who has nothing near the intellectual credibility or the social standing that the president has," he added.

Condemning Trump's efforts, described as "conspiracy theories, half-hearted truths [and] factual errors," Dyson claimed that attacking POTUS was "retroactive bigotry" - and that Republicans need to clairfy their positions on Trump's remarks.

"Unfortunately, Donald Trump has commandeered the bully pulpit," Dyson said. "If he is indeed the voice of Republicans, they ought to say so. But if not, they ought to distance themselves from him and suggest that this obsession with the birth of Barack Obama has to be put aside to deal with more serious and sustained issues.

"Make no mistake: This is part of a racist trajectory," he added.

On CNN, David Frum wrote a column where he asked Americans to forget Trump's actions:

"Here's hoping that we have at last seen the end of this ugly insinuation that there is something less than fully American about the black president with the exotic name." 

"Well, in a way, this operation in Pakistan was the culmination of the life’s work of General Stanley McChrystal, who headed the Joint Special Operations Command from 2003 to 2008, and was the man tasked by the Bush administration with leading a global assassination campaign of people that the administration determined to be high-value targets or terrorist threats or militant threats to the United States. The current commander of JSOC is Admiral William McRaven, who himself is a former Navy SEAL. And this really is the most elite force within the U.S. military."

Jeremy Scahill, Puffin Foundation Writing Fellow at the Nation Institute and the author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army also blogs at TheNation.com

Scahill says in an interview with DemocracyNow.org "The individuals who we believe actually killed Osama bin Laden are reportedly members of Navy SEAL Team Six, also known as the Development Group. And those are probably the most elite forces in the world. General Barry McCaffrey said these are the most dangerous people on planet earth. This operation was carried out by a drone that was overhead, 25 SEALs, and then shooters that allegedly stormed this compound. The role of JSOC within the broader U.S. so-called war on terror has been a surgical strike force."

Maher has starred in nine solo specials on HBO, including the hour-long presentations “Bill Maher…But I’m Not Wrong,” “The Decider” and “I’m Swiss” (both nominated for an Emmy® in the Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special category), “Victory Begins at Home,” “Be More Cynical,” “The Golden Goose Special” and “Stuff That Struck Me Funny,” and two half-hour stand-up specials, plus the HBO specials “30 Seconds Over Washington” and “Comic Relief VI™.”

Maher was the creator and host of “Politically Incorrect,” which was produced by HBO Downtown Productions and debuted on Comedy Central in 1993.  The series moved to ABC in 1997 and ran through 2002.

     Other HBO playdates:  May 8 (12:30 p.m., 2:40 a.m.), 9 (8:00 p.m.) and 11 (11:00 p.m.)

     HBO2 playdates:  May 6 (2:30 a.m.), 7 (9:00 a.m., midnight), 8 (7:00 p.m.) and 10 (10:00 p.m.)