Bill Maher In Real Time
That being said, do you feel that political comedy is being dominated by liberals?
Of course it’s domin- … Uh, yes, it’s dominated by liberals for a very good reason. People act like this is a giant mystery. It’s not a giant mystery. The reason is the conservatives are dumber and the things they do are dumber and the things that they say are dumber. I have an entire file of crazy things that Republicans have said, and I tried to create a file of equally stupid things that Democrats have said. You can’t do it. I mean, Democrats are not always the prize. I have a lot of issues with Democrats. But they don’t say things like, “legitimate rape” (laughs), you know? They just don’t say things like that. And they don’t believe global warming is a hoax. They just don’t think and say crazy things. There’s no equivalent to Sarah Palin, for example, in the Democratic Party. I know they would like Nancy Pelosi to be her equivalent; they don’t like Nancy Pelosi, but you cannot like someone and admit they’re not an idiot and understand that Sarah Palin is an idiot.
That’s why they’re an easier target. They make themselves an easier target.
Do you know of any comics on the right side who are worthy of mention?
Dennis Miller. Dennis Miller became a right-wing comic. And, you know, I think he has an audience there on the right, but, uh, I never see him anymore anywhere. I’m sure he exists in that right-wing bubble, but I used to see him quite a bit, and I just don’t see him anymore.
This year, voter turnout was its lowest in 72 years, even though politics has saturated the media. Why do you think this is?
Well, I think partly it’s because they’re turned off to the notion that nothing gets done in Washington, and that all the parties do is bicker, and there is all this political gridlock. Now, of course, one of the reasons they are turned off to it is their own damn fault: They don’t pay attention. They vote against their own interests. They don’t understand the issues. They don’t bother to dig into the minutiae of politics enough to understand anything further than just to say, “Oh, a pox on both their houses.” Well, that’s not really going to get anything done. We got into this on a very detailed level this year when we tried to flip a district, and we looked into this district in Minnesota, where this guy named John Klein was running, and we were trying to flip him. He is, in our view, the epitome of the empty-suit Republican congress- man who just is owned by corporate interests and votes against the will of his own people. And what we found out in this district is, first of all, this guy wins just by hiding. He doesn’t make any appearances, he doesn’t debate anybody, and they don’t seem to care.
Just by default?
Yeah, just by default. This is what Republicans always want: fewer people to vote. That’s why they are always trying to figure out voter-fraud scams to get people away from the polls, and this works for them. And what we found when we went to the district was that most people didn’t even know there was an election going on. And if they did know, they didn’t know who their congressman was. And if they knew it was John Klein, they didn’t know what he did or what he voted for. Well, you know, people can rail against government on how bad it is, but it really has to start with them. Government is always, in a democracy, a reflection of the people.
Are you going to continue with the Flip a District campaign in future elections?
I don’t know. I mean, it’s possible, but you know, (laughs) it plainly didn’t work this time.
Do you see yourself as equal parts comedian and political activist? Do you see yourself getting more en- gaged in other ways in the future with politics?
Well, I’m a citizen. It’s my right. If I want to, I will. But, you know, I’m certainly first and foremost a comedian, and certainly when I’m doing stand-up comedy it always has to be about that. It’s just that what I talk about, what I’m interested about mostly, is politics and the issues, the faces. Some comedians are brilliant at making trivial matters funny and meaningful. It was just never my interest. I’m interested in the big things: religion, politics, and sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. But, yes, as a citizen, it’s certainly my right to speak out or even as I did in 2012, make a large donation to Obama.
What can we expect from you in 2015? Do you have any books or documentaries in the works, like Religulous?
Oh, no. I’ll be busy with the show and traveling with stand up. I mean, that’s pretty much enough for me. I never really was looking to becoming a documentary filmmaker. I wanted to make the one about religion because I thought no one else is going to do that. But having made that one, I feel like I harpooned my Moby Dick. I will leave the funny documentaries to Michael Moore. He’s the genius at it.
Last question, and you don’t have to answer it. Have you ever told a version of the aristocrats joke? The mythic joke that comics tell each other behind the scenes?
Yeah, I’m in that movie! I can’t remember what my version of the joke was, (laughs) or even what the joke is. It’s something about … Oh, I can’t remember. Some filthy, filthy, filthy, filthy … and then they’re called the aristocrats. Yeah, and it involved every political name in the book … no? Yeah, right (laughs). I mean, that’s one way you could do it, isn’t it?
