A political bloodbath

Last night, I had the enormous privilege of seeing Bill Maher and Ann Coulter claw each other's eyes out at the Chicago Theater. I shouldn't say that. They were relatively civil, considering.

The theater - huge, gorgeous, and legendary - was packed to the gills with Democrats and Republicans alike (mostly Democrats, given that this is newly victorious Chicagoland), all of them older than my roommate and me. We took pride in being the youngest folks there, because we were also possibly the most excited folks there. Alex and I are what you might call Bill Maher freaks. Real Time, Politically Incorrect, podcasts, opening night of Religilous. And, like probably all Democrats, we are likewise Ann Coulter haters. We were practically giddy sitting in that audience.

And what a fun audience it was. Screaming, clapping, booing, whistling. The speakers could hardly get a word in. Fortunately, Bill Maher and Ann Coulter are experts are getting words in. Throughout the evening, it was obvious that they respected each other. They even made a point of noting that they respect each other. But that didn't keep them from tearing each other a part. Which was a beautiful, beautiful thing.

I surprised myself by actually listening to Ann Coulter. Until she called the audience stupid. She said to Bill Maher, and I quote, "Look at you, you're just playing to a stupid audience." That was the moment she lost everyone. But she had lost me a few moments earlier when she went off on single mothers and how children of single mothers are by and large failures. As a child of a single mother, I just about ran up to the stage and tackled her.

Bill Maher, on the other hand, was brilliant and hilarious as always. Yes, I'm biased and yes, I'm okay with that. To my chagrin, he wasn't able to talk much about religion, just as Ann Coulter wasn't allowed to talk much about gay marriage. The topics centered mostly around the Obama Administration, which was admittedly mature if a little disappointing.

All in all, a fantastic night. I never thought I'd be in the presence of Ann Coulter in my lifetime, and especially not alongside Bill Maher, so this'll be a story for the grandchildren.

And now comes the weekend, which will consist of cleaning, sleeping, hair cuts, working on my screenplay for class, and Magnolia at the Goodman. Should be a good last weekend in Chi before spring break hits on the 20th.