Arrive Magazine - May/June, 2007

No matter how intriguing his
guests are, the host
remains the smartest guy in the room.

his latest being New Rules: Polite Musings from a Timid Observer. And Maher is a regular blogger at the high-profile Huffington Post, from noted raconteur Arianna Huffington. He and Huffington go way back, to 1993, when she first was a guest on Politically Incorrect. Since then, she’s been a Maher regular, and even served as his “reporter” on the floor for political convention coverage in 1996, for an effort called

Strange Bedfellows.

“We’ve been dear friends for a long time now,” Huffington says. “He’s a great talent because he speaks the truth without an allegiance to anything but the truth. You don’t have to agree with him, but you will agree that he speaks brilliantly about what he believes. He brings a deep sense of knowledge and understanding about his topics, to provide a great sense of depth, which is the key to great satire—in addition to making us laugh, of course! The only thing

that frustrates me about Bill is that I’ve been on the campaign for so long to get him married. I’ve gone on his show and presented my case, and, as a result, I’ve been inundated with photos and résumés. He may be getting close to getting married one day. But even his mother has told me, ‘Give up on him, Arianna.’ He’s made his life work the way it is.”

The blog, like all of his outlets, gives Maher another vehicle to vent his worldview. But it’s a bit confusing as to what exactly that view is, given his contradictions. Maher supports PETA, drives a Lexus hybrid and has spoken out about the dangers of global warming. Yet, he also supports ending the National Endowment for the Arts and establishing partial privatization of Social Security. He dismisses the liberal take on issues such as hate crime. He supported Republican Sen. Bob Dole for president in 1996, and ridiculed President Clinton with the same zeal as he does President Bush. He considers rabid conservative bomb-chucker Ann Coulter a friend, even if he feels she’s pushed her act a bit too far lately. “You could make those observations about anyone, really,” he says, acknowledging the contradictions. “That’s what makes people interesting—that they’re not so utterly

predictable. In my own head, all of these positions make perfect sense to me.” For the record, he states he is neither a registered Democrat nor a Republican. Or a Libertarian, for that matter, which many people believe Maher to be. “I agree with a number of the Libertarian positions,”

he says. “But apparently, not enough of them, because they want no part of me, either.”

No, the club that will have Maher is that of the comedic universe. In the end, it’s the only club Maher ever wanted to join.

“I get to do what I’ve always wanted, on TV and in clubs,” Maher says. “Sure, you need to say something interesting about politics and even convey some outrage. You have to make commentary on events of the day in a way that people haven’t thought of before. But, in the end, my first obligation is to make people laugh.”