We haven't had HBO since we moved into our place on Capitol Hill in January, but I caught the September 11 episode of Real Time with Bill Maher while I was visiting my parents in Idaho (more on that later), and it was so good it makes me think we should spring for it again. (I realize that I'm probably preaching to a very large choir with this endorsement, but it had been a long time since I'd seen this show and either it's gotten better or I'd just forgotten how good it always was — so bear with me on this one.)

Not only did I get to witness the truly hilarious/disturbing spectacle of a budding romance between Richard Clarke and Kathy Griffin (which you can view on The Huffington Post, here), but it was just nice to see a political show of any stripe (outside of Washington Week, and the Brooks & Shields segment on the Friday edition of The News Hour, that is) that had a greater proportion of intelligent, informed political discussion than spin. Not that it isn't completely predictable where Bill Maher stands on everything, but his guests are no joke.

Here's Bill Maher's final 'New Rule' from that night's episode: Democrats, Get in Touch with Your Inner A--hole. I couldn't agree more: