'Penn P.I.' mixes humor, politics

The sold-out show in Irvine left no stone unturned in ridiculing issues from drug use to Miss America. A cranky comedian, a witty West Philadelphia native, an eccentric NBA owner and a right-wing senior class president. That mix of fiery celebrity panelists brought more than 1,100 students together into a sold-out Irvine Auditorium for Friday's Penn Politically Incorrect program, which headlined this weekend's "No Place Like Penn" events. In a modified version of his late-night talk show on ABC, Bill Maher kept the typically apathetic Penn audience on the edge of their seats for 1 1/2 hours as he peppered the panel -- which included The Daily Show's Lewis Black, Philadelphia Daily News columnist Elmer Smith, Philadelphia 76ers owner Pat Croce and Senior Class President Lisa Marshall -- with issue-oriented questions and his sardonic humor. With topics ranging from presidential politics to presidential blowjobs, from the legalization of drugs to the proliferation of women's athletics, from the Trenchcoat Mafia to Miss America, it didn't take long for Maher to find room for confrontation. Especially with Marshall. As the the panel's only female, only student and only Republican, Marshall was the primary target for most of Maher's quick-lipped lashings. "I fuckin' hate it when kids are more conservative than me," the Libertarian Maher told Marshall, who is also the co-president of Penn's College Republicans. "There should be no such thing as a young Republican." Lucky for Marshall, Smith jumped into the discussion, coming to her defense. "I personally like the idea of young Republicans," Smith quipped. "It means there is a chance they might grow out of it." But it didn't take long for the discussion to move past the definitions as Maher hit the issues head on. "Now is the time to party. Take drugs," Maher told the student crowd, drawing a roaring applause from a crowd that Maher sensed was otherwise conservative. "But don't do too much drugs. Do the right amount," Maher sarcastically warned. "It's the people who give drugs a bad name who fuck it up for everyone else -- the people who O.D." While Marshall said she was definitely against the legalization of drugs, the caustic Black noted that stricter enforcement would penalize "recreational cocaine users." And Smith said that in his opinion, the current drug enforcement policies are not working. "The war on drugs has turned into a war on people -- certain kinds of people," Smith explained, noting how the West Philadelphia neighborhood where he grew up is under close police scrutiny. "They're not all black. I mean, some are beige." Other politically incorrect topics discussed included the Lewinsky affair, the lack of females interested in politics, the amount of time professional athletes spend thanking Jesus and, as Maher bluntly put it, whether "you can be a fucked-out slut and still be Miss America." At times, the conversation dragged on -- with Maher abruptly changing topics or manipulating panelists' statements to create controversy. And on more than a few occasions, Maher had to prompt the typically outspoken Croce, who seemed out of place in a discussion that mainly centered around politics. But the biggest disruption to the political banter were problems with the microphones, which forced Maher to halt the debate at least three times and made it difficult for even the closest-sitting audience members to hear. Despite the audio problems, both students and organizers said they enjoyed the show. Tangible Change Committee Co-Chairperson Theo LeCompte said he thought the event went extremely well. "It was funny, Bill [Maher] was on and we had a great panel," the Engineering junior noted. And some even picked out -- or picked on -- a favorite panelist. "The issues were interesting and timely but I would have liked to see a little more of a stance from Lisa Marshall," Engineering senior Josh Finkelstein said. "She was a little too political." And College junior Nathan Bull said he thought that "our class president didn't have much to say but Elmer Smith was a riot."