Be More Cynical

Bill Maher opens his 2000 hour with a straightforward defense of a bad attitude: Americans aren’t too cynical, they simply aren’t cynical enough. He argues that what looks like cynicism is actually a necessary defense against a naive public that believes wealthy talk show hosts actually shop at Kmart. The premise sets the table for a breakdown of the impending presidential race, aiming at an electorate that doesn’t know enough to see through political spin.

Filmed at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, the set captures the comedian during his Politically Incorrect tenure, just months before the Bush-Gore election. He works through the outgoing Clinton administration, attack ads, gun control, and the war on drugs. He takes direct aim at George W. Bush, dismissing the candidate early with a flat, “I don’t like this little prick”.

He also test-drives arguments about organized religion that would eventually become a recurring theme in his later work, drawing a hard line between the philosophy of Jesus and the behavior of modern Christians.