When I saw Bill and Michael ("The fork") Moore both on their knees in front of Green Candidate Ralph Nader begging Ralph not to run so the Democrats win the '04 presidential election, I thought that Maher had pretty much shed any mantle but leftist.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RysZy331YK0
He is not funny. Who goes to his shows? (on purpose?) Do they merely open the doors to the tapings and let people wander in?
If he was equally funny with conservative views, he would not have a job.
And I think he knows it- he goes over the edge with liberal idiocy because he knows his career depends on it.