April 17, 2025
For many years Friday has been my favorite day of the week–because that’s when Bill Maher’s talk show, Real Time, comes on.
I have mentioned him frequently in The Doctor’s Inn because I admired this socio-political firebrand who seemed courageous when speaking truth to power. Though he invited the Left and the Right to his panels (he even had Ann Coulter as a guest on his show more than once) he had a decidedly Left leaning.
My favorite installment (that I showed to my college students many times) was when Bill pretended to be “Q.” This was a simultaneously hilarious and poignant sketch.
But after his recent White House dinner and subsequent April 11th show–I can’t see myself tuning into MAX at 7pm on Fridays anymore–and this was before I read the Keith Olbermann diatribe about Bill.
When Kid Rock (who had arranged Bill’s White House dinner invitation) asked Bill what he thought of the experience Bill reportedly said: “mind blowing.” At that moment I knew that Bill had changed. That somehow King Donald had subdued him.
I wondered if Bill would be doing a show the first Friday thereafter. Unsurprisingly– Friday the fourth of April came and went without a Real Time installment. I was pretty sure that Bill needed an extra week to collect his thoughts–and that worried me.
Then, on the following Friday (4/11), Bill debriefed US on his visit to the White House.
I could feel the change in him with his opening words–delivered with a new smugness–a smugness that carried with it an aura of superiority.
My fears of a change for the worse (bad karma) were solidified when Bill interviewed Steve Bannon. Instead of skewering one of the principal organizers of January 6th, (who forecast the next day’s revolution on his January 5th radio show)–Bill seemed to be currying his favor.
The aforementioned Keith Olbermann suggested that Bill had sold out to keep his show with MAX and made other disparaging remarks that I won’t repeat here. But I understood where Keith’s passion was coming from (having never forgotten an Olbermann diatribe against Bush & Cheney). That was a merciless spanking that sends shivers down my spine to this very day.
Part of my new take on Bill was informed by his reaction to guest panelist, Josh Rogin. I don’t know much about Josh, except to say that he is a journalist, has a column in the Washington Post and is an analyst for CNN. He seemed knowledgeable and articulate. Bill’s audience clapped a few times for Rogin’s comments, while Bill seemingly disregarded Rogin’s narrative.
The easiest explanation for Bill’s flip was–as Olbermann suggested–that Bill wants to keep his job. The easiest explanation for King Donald’s ”gracious” behavior is that he is an actor–after-a-fashion. He did, after all, pioneer The Apprentice.
And now King Donald lives in his latest reality show–which Bill seems to have become a part of. After years of making millions, Bill has apparently become a member of the elite.
Gosh, Bill—I preferred you as the Court Jester rather than another courtier…