Interesting observation by Mickey Edwards writing in The Atlantic:

Yes, I know I'm retro, but until this weekend I had never seen nor heard the apparently quite famous Bill Maher. That oversight has now been remedied thanks to some seriously brilliant producers at ABC television who were insightful enough to book Mr. Maher as a participant in the roundtable political discussion on "This Week."

Although I had not seen Mr. Maher nor heard him with my own ears, I had heard of him from friends who apparently thought him to be quite a "hoot," funny, witty, and pretty darned smart. In imagining him from those descriptions, I pictured a modern-day George Carlin, maybe even a lineal descendant of Cheech or Chong. Adept at skewering, skilled at eliciting gasps, a provider of secret pleasures ("right on," one wished to say).

What a surprise, then, to find that in fact Mr. Maher is neither funny nor smart. He is, I found, nothing more than just one more of those full-of-himself mean-spirited bigots whose certitude and nastiness so poison the well of democratic discussion. […]

I had actually been watching something else on television (a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald), but switched in time to watch Mr. Maher's performance. I'm glad I did. Had I not done so, I would have continued to be among those blissfully unaware of what a dolt he is, of how hateful and venomous and destructive of civility and intelligent discourse he is.