An Awful, Ghastly, Horrible Liberal': Prominent Atheist Scientist Lashes Out at Bill Maher After He Allegedly Called Palin's Son 'Retarded

It seems PZ Myers, an atheist scientist who has made a name for himself in the non-theist and "freethought" movement, is less-than-pleased with Bill Maher. Following allegations that the comedian recently called former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's son, Trig, "retarded," Myers lashed out on his blog. In a stinging, yet short, rebuke, he called Maher "an awful, ghastly, horrible liberal."

In the blog post, entitled, "God***nit Bill Maher," Myers opened by decrying attacks on children, calling them "disgusting." He also said that, in the past, conservatives who laughed at quips about Chelsea Clinton when she was a child showed "the derangement of the right wing."

In this photo provided by HBO, Bill Maher hosts the season premiere of "Real Time with Bill Maher" Friday, Jan. 25, 2013, in Los Angeles. Credit: AP

But his words were no less excoriating for Maher, a liberal, who, as TheBlaze reported last night allegedly insulted Palin's son during a recent Las Vegas event.

"Now Bill Maher is laughing at Sarah Palin’s Down syndrome child. It’s the same thing," Myers wrote. "The one thing I can respect about Palin, that she seems to treat all of her children equally, is a joke to Maher."

From there, he became even more candid about his views on Maher and his comments, writing, "Thanks, guy, for being such an awful, ghastly, horrible liberal, and for lowering yourself to mocking the children of your political opponents."

Palin, too, reacted strongly. The former Republican vice-presidential nominee sent two messages in response to the alleged comment.

"Hey bully, on behalf of all kids whom you hatefully mock in order to make yourself feel big, I hope one flattens your lily white wimpy a#*,” she wrote, adding in a subsequent tweet, "I’m in your neck of the woods this weekend, little Bill. Care to meet so I can tell you how I really feel?"

A YouTube video that shows a portion of Maher's Las Vegas show doesn't include the exchange that unfolded between the comedian and Las Vegas television personality Ron Futrell. The journalist claims he was escorted out of the event after he confronted Maher several times during the show after the "retarded" quip was made.

A description of the following video claims that there was a heckler who wasn't identified; this portion of the performance wasn't caught on video, either. That said, you can see Maher insult Mormons, among other cohorts, during his presentation (caution: language):

In 2011, TheBlaze interviewed Myers after we published a poll on the existence of Adam and Eve and he, among other atheists, purposefully skewed the results in their favor.