Bill Maher to Receive Mark Twain Prize

Saturday, March 28, 2026

TV host Bill Maher will receive the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, the Kennedy Center announced on Thursday ...

Posted by REDIAL at 10:32 PM | 52 COMMENTS | permalink

Politico this morning: Bill Maher WILL accept the former Mark Twain Prize now appropriated by Trump Explanation: Maher is a desperate Quisling whore

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-- Keith Olbermann (@olbermann.bsky.social) Mar 26, 2026 at 6:25 AM

Comments

Now he's getting the award, again, after it became "fake news," then ... .Just the usual Old Yeller regime behavior, mirroring the senescent-in-chief's: www.npr.org

#1 | Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 2026-03-27 05:14 AM

DOC

How about Trump's participation trophy from Mike Johnson? Laughable!

#2 | Posted by AMERICANUNITY at 2026-03-27 05:22 AM

AU ...
I'm telling you, Kurt Vonnegut was a prophet!

Read some of your comments on McCartney, the music business. Thanks for posting. I've know a few folks in that line of work and it's a toughie. I cannot sing at all, abandoned guitar ages ago, yet over the years I've come to think of music as the most magical of the art forms. Bardic and beyond.

#3 | Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 2026-03-27 05:38 AM

Hi Doc Sarvis and AU:

Most unworthy recipient.

What has he written?

Bill Maher is like "TV Soma" for the Jane Vassars and Billy Birkenstocks of America.

This arrogant TV tumor has amassed a mega-fortune for himself while pretending to be "one of us;" he's done a wonderful job of deflecting and distracting from real issues affecting the American people -- like his nefarious counterpart Joe Rogaine.

Source: Oligarchic Wealth

#4 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2026-03-27 06:21 AM

Morning and well put.

#5 | Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 2026-03-27 06:27 AM

Morning Doc Sarvis:

Thank you.

Finished re-reading Of Mice and Men last night.

John Steinbeck must have been a great story teller in person.

Now I'm deciding between Something Wicked This Way Comes (Ray Bradbury, 1962) or Gods, Heroes, and Men of Ancient Greece (W.H.D. Rouse, 1957).

After some more coffee and a smoke, I'll finally decide.

#6 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2026-03-27 06:36 AM

Enjoy the day.

#7 | Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 2026-03-27 09:58 AM

I wonder which "friends" of his will sign up to open for him and what viewership will look like.
I suspect Conan was right about last year's being the last one.

#8 | Posted by morris at 2026-03-27 01:23 PM

John Steinbeck...in person.
#6 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS

I think "Travels With Charlie" gives a good idea of what a charmer he was.

#9 | Posted by TFDNihilist at 2026-03-27 10:05 PM

Thanks, I'll check my library for it. I have a few John Steinbeck compendiums which might have it.

#10 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2026-03-27 10:16 PM

Re 6

Go with "Something Wicked This Way Comes".

You won't regret it.

Ray Bradbury was one of the best. He could describe the smell and feel of small town USA like nobody's business.

#11 | Posted by donnerboy at 2026-03-27 10:44 PM

Thanks, Marine.

Too many books, not enough time.

#12 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2026-03-28 02:12 AM

AU ...
I'm telling you, Kurt Vonnegut was a prophet!

So it goes.

#13 | Posted by mattm at 2026-03-28 07:44 AM

Too many books, not enough time.

#12 | POSTED BY C0RI0LANUS

True dat.

Ooh that reminds me..

If you haven't done so you need to make time for "Time Enough for Love", by Robert Heinlein.

Everyone should make some Time for that.

No worries about Bill Maher.

He has agreed to give his award to Trumpy.

#14 | Posted by donnerboy at 2026-03-28 11:48 AM

The only reason Bill Maher isn't in the Epstein Files is he's so loathsome he never got an invite.

His aura is "I only have sex in exchange for money."

#15 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-03-28 11:55 AM

Past winners will now call it the Maher Taint prize.

Sad!

#16 | Posted by horstngraben at 2026-03-28 01:02 PM

Fat ------ To Receive Made-Up Award Presented By Cowardly -----------.

#17 | Posted by LegallyYourDead at 2026-03-28 05:35 PM

Thanks again, Marine, I don't have that book.

I have Stranger in a Strange Land awaiting me, where Robert Heinlein introduced us to the concept of "grok."

Off to dinner, wine, and cards during these awful times that trouble men's souls.

Sigh.

And the unworthy guttersnipe Bill Maher should be thrown down a well along with his fellow oligarch Joe Rogaine.

A deep well.

#18 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2026-03-28 05:49 PM

Ray Bradbury...could describe the smell and feel of small town USA...
#11 | Posted by donnerboy

Steinbeck was pretty good at it too. "Cannery Row" is like Garrison Keeler on acid.

#19 | Posted by TFDNihilist at 2026-03-29 08:53 AM

Many people hold in esteem The Great Gatsby as the "great American novel;" others contend that acclaim should go to The Grapes of Wrath.

I go with John Steinbeck.

#20 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2026-03-29 09:24 AM

I go with John Steinbeck.

#20 | POSTED BY C0RI0LANUS
Tough choice. I also like Steinbeck. Gritty. Tough. And Real.

But I loved how Bradbury infused SCi-Fi and prophecy into his stories of small town America. His books should come with a scratch and sniff with the smell of fresh cut grass.

#21 | Posted by donnerboy at 2026-03-29 12:57 PM

Heinlein is great reading for when you're 14 years old.
After that, PKD in your late teens and KV in your 20s.
Mark Twain is for pre-sci fi and re-read again when beyond sci-fi.
Voltaire is probably too much for you guys, but I'd say in your 30s, if you've exhausted RH, PKD, and KV.
Heinlein at an advanced age is sort of silly. Something a marine might think is literary.
(Not disparaging marines, marines are an important part of the Navy!)

#22 | Posted by john_savage2 at 2026-03-29 02:27 PM

om mani padme hum

#23 | Posted by john_savage2 at 2026-03-29 02:27 PM

Voltaire is probably too much for you guys

#22 | Posted by john_savage2

You think, therefore you are an idiot.

#24 | Posted by Zed at 2026-03-29 02:31 PM

The hoi polli on DR could not even tolerate the name Mark Twain for a long time...

#25 | Posted by john_savage2 at 2026-03-29 02:35 PM

Daddysfist swoons for Rob Schneider.

#26 | Posted by reinheitsgebot at 2026-03-29 02:39 PM

#24 | Posted by Zed

I are idiot, in this best of all possible worlds.
Yet still I know the difference between Arouet and Descartes.

#27 | Posted by john_savage2 at 2026-03-29 02:39 PM

I go with John Steinbeck.

#20 | POSTED BY C0RI0LANUS

LOL
You would

#28 | Posted by john_savage2 at 2026-03-29 02:40 PM

Yet still I know the difference between Arouet and Descartes.

#27 | Posted by john_savage2

You just look things up.

You're merely a more dislikeable version of AI.

#29 | Posted by Zed at 2026-03-29 02:58 PM

"I go with John Steinbeck."

Years back, a theatre producer-friend of mine had his Stage Manager fall ill, and asked if I'd take the SM's place for a production of Of Mice and Men.

In a situation like that, you hear the writing again and again and again (and again...), so strengths and weaknesses become obvious.

What struck me about Steinbeck was how his writing was an ever-tightening coil, often wrapping around itself. Poetry, really.

#30 | Posted by Danforth at 2026-03-29 03:17 PM

What struck me about Steinbeck was how his writing was an ever-tightening coil, often wrapping around itself.
#30 | Posted by Danfort

>often wrapping around itself.
exactly
like whacking off
A liberal ----ot ----ing off. That's Steinbeck.

#31 | Posted by john_savage2 at 2026-03-29 03:28 PM

You just look things up.
#29 | Posted by Zed

And you, ...don't.
Just your native lib-bot embedded training, yes?

#32 | Posted by john_savage2 at 2026-03-29 03:30 PM

If you get a chance to listen to the book on tape of Fahrenheit 451 read by the author Ray Bradbury, well, I missed a lot of the poetry when I read it myself as a kid.

#33 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-03-29 03:32 PM

#30 | Posted by Danforth

JFC, this entire post is so GAY that I feel like I need a HIV test after reading it!

>a theatre producer-friend of mine had his Stage Manager fall ill...
-...with AIDS?

#34 | Posted by john_savage2 at 2026-03-29 03:33 PM

#33 | Posted by snoofy

Ah yes, Ray Bradbury is based reading when you're young. Inculcates intelligence. He and Arthur C Clark and Michael Crichton.
Cool brainiacs.

#35 | Posted by john_savage2 at 2026-03-29 03:37 PM

I find Steinbeck's writing poetic...

"That makes me think of gay sex!"
~JS2

#36 | Posted by Danforth at 2026-03-29 03:38 PM

"I need a HIV test"

Projection? Or Confession?

#37 | Posted by Danforth at 2026-03-29 03:39 PM

^ *whew* [wipes brow]

#38 | Posted by john_savage2 at 2026-03-29 03:53 PM

SUNday is FUNday!
Thanks everybody!

#39 | Posted by john_savage2 at 2026-03-29 04:02 PM

Bill Maher is a dumbass

#40 | Posted by lfthndthrds at 2026-03-29 06:54 PM

@30

Lucky you, Danforth, to have participated in a stage production of Of Mice and Men.

I read Once There Was a War (1956) where John Steinbeck revealed his insight, courage, and patriotism as a war correspondent.

Another patriotic hero/writer: Dashiell Hammett.

He served his country in both world wars, unlike any member of the chicken Trumpf Crime Family (TCF) in any conflagration any time, anywhere.

And Dashiell Hammett, the man who gave us The Maltese Falcon, was a communist.

#41 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2026-03-29 07:06 PM

Bill Maher is a dumbass

#40 | Posted by lfthndthrds

Bill Maher is a dumbass jew

#42 | Posted by john_savage2 at 2026-03-29 08:22 PM

The --------------- of everything continues under this Felon Administration.

Bill Maher? Samuel Clemens is spinning in his grave.

#43 | Posted by randomcanyon at 2026-03-30 10:40 AM

The guy who now believes aliens are here?

Maher: "If you don't believe aliens are here and observing us, maybe you're the conspiracy theorist."

#44 | Posted by Derek_Wildstar at 2026-03-30 12:47 PM

Bill Maher? Samuel Clemens is spinning in his grave.

#43 | POSTED BY RANDOMCANYON

Children ground you. Humble you even.

Maher has never had kids and he doesn't even like kids.

No way Maher could produce anything of the same caliber as Twains work.

Mark Twain is a national treasure.

Not sure how I would describe Maher but it would not include the word treasure.

Stephen Colbert would have been a much better pick. But we all know why that can't happen for the next three years.

#45 | Posted by donnerboy at 2026-03-30 01:00 PM

Maher: "If you don't believe aliens are here and observing us, maybe you're the conspiracy theorist."

#44 | POSTED BY DEREK_WILDSTAR

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proofs.

Otherwise it is just a "conspiracy theory".

Or more accurately a stupid theory proposed by various stupid people. Much like Ancient Astronaut theorists.

The distances are too vast. (By design?).

The videos are fascinating but they do not prove extraterrestrials are here visiting and observing us. I loved the one where someone shot at a UAP and the missile "bounced" off it and the object just kept going. Awkward! Now what do we say? Oops? Sorry Aliens! please don't eat us?

A better theory would be they are "cryptoterrestrial" beings. A 2024 Harvard paper speculated that intelligent beings could be living in hiding"underground, in deep oceans, or disguised as humans"conducting covert research.

If advancements in science ever do allow for traversing such distances that exist between stars it would also mean they can travel thru time as well. (Space and time being part of the same thing).

That could also mean they are probably just us. From the future.

Occums Razor.

#46 | Posted by donnerboy at 2026-03-30 01:15 PM

Maher: "If you don't believe aliens are here and observing us, maybe you're the conspiracy theorist."

#44 | POSTED BY DEREK_WILDSTAR

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proofs.

Otherwise it is just a "conspiracy theory".

Or more accurately a stupid theory proposed by various stupid people. Much like Ancient Astronaut theorists.

The distances are too vast. (By design?).

If advancements in science ever do allow for traversing such distances that exist between stars it would also mean they can travel thru time as well. (Space and time being part of the same thing).

That could also mean they are probably just us. From the future.

Occums Razor.

#47 | Posted by donnerboy at 2026-03-30 01:15 PM

Oops.

#48 | Posted by donnerboy at 2026-03-30 01:15 PM

Bill Maher: The best defense for the status quo elites: Deflect, distract, spew nonsense about UFOs or sharia law, and huckle-yuckle-chuckle.

Look how much money this TV tumor, like his counterpart Joe Rogaine, made for himself: https://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-celebrities/richest-comedians/bill-maher-net-worth/

Bill Maher has a net worth half of oligarch US Senator Rick Scott (R-FL).

And what exactly has Bill Maher done to deserve the Mark Twain Award?

This legendary bonwit never won the Mark Twain Award.

#49 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2026-03-30 03:05 PM

This legendary bonwit never won the Mark Twain Award.

To be fair, Carson was long retired before the first award was presented.

#50 | Posted by REDIAL at 2026-03-30 03:17 PM

I'm a pretty big fan of Maher - love his HBO show.

However, this recurring theme that he is willing to "talk" to Trump is just a bridge too far.

With a normal person - sure. But Trump is ultimate BSer and Maher is either too enthralled with meeting him (doubtful) or just playing it to be different (likely).

The WH dinner with Trump was a complete failure because Maher actually asked Trump "do you worry you are scaring people?". Maher couldn't present us with the answer because - I believe he said - he couldn't remember.

WTF, Bill?

#51 | Posted by brass30 at 2026-03-30 04:54 PM

Mind you, this is the high point of Bill's film career.
www.imdb.com

Def lifetime award worthy.

#52 | Posted by morris at 2026-03-30 06:43 PM

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