Bill of Rights

Long before Stephen Colbert became our favorite pundit to wax politically insane, Bill Maherwas attacking spinmeisters everywhere with his show Politically Incorrect. Audiences were glued to his celeb-panel talk show, which would find politicos of the day shouting about things such as welfare reform, while stars got angry (Janeane Garofalo) or confused (Pamela Anderson). Meanwhile, Maher, a libertarian, would piss off liberals, who called him right-wing, and conservatives, who called him a hippie. It's also fun to watch him on his current show, Real Time, which picks up where Politically Incorrectleft off.

Maher, who visits town today, recently released a snarky political tome: When You Ride Alone You Ride with Bin Laden: What the Government Should Be Telling Us to Help Fight the War on Terrorism. It's a picture book that evokes the war propaganda murals of the '40s and '50s, and in it, he scolds us for not living up to our grandparents' example in World War II. It's almost a convincing argument, until you realize this: Dude's a comedian.
Thu., April 13, 8 p.m.