Maher is neither super smart nor particularly left. His old Politically Incorrect show was pretty much down the middle, and he made his bones mocking Dubya after Iraq, which is not exactly scaling the Mount Everest of political commentary. He has nothing to say about shit like income inequality, health care, or free trade or any complicated issue. He'll give you the kind of "liberal" view you'd get at any Santa Monica dinner party and nothing deeper or more thoughtful, because hes interested in superficial entertainment, not substantive policy issues. Which is fine as far as it goes, but that kind of facile and unthinking approach leads to getting played by someone like Milo.