I'd also heard Maher referred to as a vaudeville pundit, so just now I went Googling, and found the apparent reference. It is from a pre-9/11 Mother Jones interview with him, which starts out with:

"The host of "Politically Incorrect" serves up warmed-over, celebrity-enhanced pop politics to an uninformed audience. Just the way America likes it."

:)

Then, they refer to the show itself as:

"The popular 30-minute talk show, which follows "Nightline" weeknights on ABC, features a guest roster that sounds like the start of a bad joke ("So Chris Rock, Dr. Ruth, and Sammy Hagar walk into a bar..."). Maher is the anti-John McLaughlin, moderating as, say, Donna Shalala and Ted Nugent debate dreadfully familiar topics...kind of like celebrity intellectual Jell-O wrestling."

He revealed the following about himself in the interview:

"I can't even get the Wall Street Journal. I look at all that print, and it just looks too intimidating to me. I'm much more comfortable with USA Today."

And then, 9/11. Is it any wonder he made the bone-headed statement about the hijackers, that led to Ari's now infamous reminder that:

"...all Americans need to watch what they say, watch what they do."