Free link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/opinion/larry-david-hitler-dinner.html?unlocked_article_code=1.BU8.5Fxi.Ud-PKJPsZteI&smid=url-share

That’s it for talking to the other side…

Then again, they don’t want to talk to Democrats.

This is the power of comedy, this is the power of art.

For a while there, during last week’s show, I thought Bill Maher was going to avoid talking about the backlash to his “book report” about having dinner with Trump…

BUT NO!

It took a while, after the monologue, after the interview of Douglas Murray, but Bill couldn’t help himself. Maybe this is because he’s unfamiliar with the internet he keeps denigrating. Because if Bill was on it, he would have known to…STFU!

You never respond to the haters. Look how much good it did for Gayle King, it not only extended the Blue Origin story but made her a laughingstock even amongst those who don’t even know her! You commit a faux pas, at least admit it.

Which Bill should do going forward, but that would crack his image. It would humanize him, then again, he doesn’t want to be human, he wants to sit above it all in judgment.

Funny how all these years later we know that the real genius is Larry David as opposed to Jerry Seinfeld. Jerry is safe. He doesn’t swear, he doesn’t offend, in his own way he acts separate from the rest of us, just like Bill Maher. But Larry? He’s all too human, he’s got pet peeves, he holds a grudge and operates on truth. It may be his truth, but it’s truth. Furthermore, Larry is willing to go where most people are not. Forget that he’s attacking Maher in this piece, he’s not endearing himself to Trump either. All those entertainers, never mind business leaders, like the tech leaders who sidled up to Trump and have now been screwed by the man, should take a lesson.

And note it was not a Havard graduate pushing back. Kudos to Harvard for standing up to Trump, but Harvard does not breed rebels, if anything it turns out those who truly believe in the system who are building the blocks of a career oftentimes from just beyond consciousness, pushed by their parents. They don’t want to risk decimating what they’ve erected. I’d say they’re just like the caving law firms, but in truth THEY ARE the caving law firms.

No, to push back…

“When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose.”

Bob Dylan had it right, which is why revolutions are usually fomented by the young.

But if you went to a government school, as the Republicans call public schools…

You’re just another schnook, just another idiot like the rest of us. And Larry attended the outpost of Jewish education known as the University of Maryland, out of state, so he had to pay full freight, but having a degree from that institution won’t even get the door open, it has no gravitas.

Furthermore, Larry has an arts degree. I know, today’s parents are laughing, STEM BABY! But when AI takes almost all of the coding jobs… An arts degree is about thinking. And it’s this thinking, these arts, that are not only the bedrock of America, they’re our greatest export and influence.

That’s the power of art, the power of culture.

Also, Larry is a product of his era. When you were taught to think for yourself. Larry’s behavior would be anathema amongst millennials, who won’t speak up for fear of being ostracized by the group. No, Larry’s a pure boomer, he’s willing to stand up and endure the consequences. While mocking the idiocy of the government and the system like Arlo Guthrie in “Alice’s Restaurant.” Harvard grads believe in the system, but you have to be a product of public school to disown it, to laugh at it.

How many times has Bill Maher told us he went to Cornell?

When was the last time you heard Larry David mention his alma mater? You may not even think he went to college, he doesn’t ooze education, never mind where.

So comedy speaks truth to power, cuts through all the b.s. This is what music used to do in the sixties, but today’s musicians are as mercenary as Harvard graduates. They can’t risk alienating a single gatekeeper or fan, never mind being uneducated on the issues.

So now what?

Any Democrat with a profile is going to be wary of being snookered by a Trumper, those who believe in MAGA. I mean you have to suspend disbelief to talk to these people. Who believe in a third Trump term, who get their news from outlets you may not have even heard of and believe every word that comes out of Trump and his minions’ mouths.

No, underneath this satire is a message, don’t be conned. And fight back. Proudly.

Which Bill Maher used to do. He single-handedly popularized the idea that Trump would refuse to leave office if he lost in 2020, and he was RIGHT!

But we live in a what have you done lately world. And that’s in the rearview mirror.

How does Bill Maher remake himself?

As a man of the people. But that’s anathema to Bill.

BUT THAT’S WHO LARRY DAVID IS!

So who do the hoi polloi trust and believe in more? LARRY DAVID!

Bill still believes in the pre-internet paradigm, where celebrities were believed to be better than the rest of us. That’s been blown to bits, however the rich are still revered. And in truth, Larry David is richer than most… “Seinfeld” is ever present on the screen today!

So, George Clooney killed Biden in the “New York Times” and now Larry David has shot an arrow through the soul of Bill Maher and set an example for the entire non-Trumpian community.

We are not living in normal times. Do not shrug and say there’s nothing you can do. Do not hide for fear of retribution.

If this thing can be turned around, and I mean the country, it won’t be by wonks at Harvard or the so-called “elite,” it will be by the rank and file…because as I’ve referenced above, when you’ve got nothing, you’ve got nothing to lose.

So this story has gone viral, as a matter of fact I believe it’s still building. It won’t reach the status of eating the pets in Springfield, but…this is the foundation of memes, something outside the norm that titillates us, that oftentimes evidences truth. This is what spreads.

Larry David knows this and record companies do not. They think you can game the system, but that went out the window with “Gangnam Style.” No, it’s the raw content.

And the “New York Times” is TikTok for old people. But even better, it shifts from the “Times” to the real TikTok and other platforms.

So the paradigm still works. Sure, distribution is king, if Larry David put this almost anywhere else other than the “Times” it would have nowhere near the reach and effect, but if you do get distributed, you’ve got to deliver content that is incisive, credible and true. And amazingly, that’s too heavy a lift for most. Not only because they’re afraid the truth will hurt them and their career, they didn’t learn how to articulate their message in the business and science classes they took in college.

Do I think we’ll have a conflagration of me-too posts soon?

No.

But I do think Larry David has drawn a line, he’s focused the issue. Change won’t come from buddying up to Trump, but by standing up to him, otherwise we’re going to be slaughtered like all those Jews in the forties…

Oh, that didn’t really happen, did it?