Hate the Player, Not the Game

 Goddamn it. This Bill Maher v. Larry David shit just won't go away. Why are we getting these extra innings news cycles all of a sudden? It's so very unnecessary. Maher is a jerk, David is a comedic genius and Trump is a manipulative, malignant narcissist asshole. Maher fell for Trump's *charm* because he's a malignant narcissist too. Game doesn't always recognize game. Maher got played.  Pretty, pretty simple.

It's not about Trump being Hitler, or Hitler adjacent like I saw on a CNN clip. Larry David wrote an allegorical NYT piece about him meeting Hitler in 1939 and falling for his charm. Obviously, it was a take on Maher's dinner with Trump. Maher got played by an older, more experienced man, as if he were a young intern, enamored of the man's power. And he swallowed. These things happen. They shouldn't happen to a guy with Maher's decades of television punditry experience though. He should really be embarrassed. He knelt before the King. And he talked about it. 

He's been making fun of Trump for years. He knows what Trump's been up to all this time with the racism, misogyny, the etcetera and the etcetera. We all do! Do we expect that Trump might have quiet moments where he's not on camera and performing as Trump? Of course. He had a TV show where he played a billionaire lording over celebrities pretending to be his minions and parleyed that persona into the presidency. I didn't watch. I don't watch crap like that, but I have seen clips. He fired Gary Busey. Who wouldn't fire Gary Busey? I'm firing Gary Busey from this post- right now! He'll never be mentioned again! Done.

Trump has been performing all his life, pretending to be a billionaire deal maker and playboy. He has probably always been a millionaire of some degree, but his affair with Stormy Daniels pretty much blew the doors off of any reality that he might be a ladies' man. He screwed up by taking on a professional penis afficionado who knows up from down and cucumber from mushroom. Trump has, I suspect, a bad habit of believing his own bullshit. 

But can he be subdued and reflective? Sure, when the occasion calls for it. The man has no shame when it comes to hugging an America flag or *dancing* like an idiot in front of millions. He knows that his fans love that about him. It makes him relatable. Trump could drop his pants at a rally and take a shit on stage and maga would marvel; "I shit too!" I shit you not.

So, sit down for a dinner with a comedian who makes fun of you, and talk casually with that guy for a couple of hours and show him your nice guy side. It's pretend. He can do it. Who hasn't sat down with family and played nice with a relative they don't like? There's a performer in all of us that needs to come out at social occasions. 

Nobody cares that Maher met with Trump. They care that he got so easily played by Trump. One narcissist met another for dinner, and he surrendered to the bigger star. He just didn't know it, then or now. And that is embarrassing for him. 

Comments

  1. MaggieApril 25, 2025 at 12:03 PM

    I was never a fan of Larry David, but the Fuhrer bit was pretty clever. Has Maher made any comment?

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousApril 25, 2025 at 12:21 PM

    Too many comments! He's enjoying the attention. He's really a lot like Trump, enamored of his persona as well as being a bully without portfolio- like Trump. Larry David is a genius though. He WAS George Costanza. I didn't see a lot of "Curb Your Enthusiasm", but it had its moments.

    ReplyDelete

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