Bill Maher has long attracted oodles of controversy. From both sides. Through it all, the left has remained loyal to him. Now Billiam's liberal base is fuming with rage after he jokingly used the N-word during an interview on his show...

On his HBO program Real Time Friday night, which tapes live, the comedian dropped the N-word during a sit-down interview with Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska), who has received praise for his #NeverTrump stance.

“I’ve gotta get to Nebraska more,” offered Maher.

“You’re welcome. We’d love to have you work in the fields with us,” joked Sen. Sasse.

Then it happened: “Work in the fields? Senator, I’m a house nigga.”

Maher’s terrible, off-color—and frankly, more than a little racist—joke received a mixture of groans and laughter from the audience. Sen. Sasse was pretty firmly in the laugh camp, red-faced and grinning (albeit nervously) from ear-to-ear. Why the senator chose to play along instead of correcting Maher or saying anything is anyone’s guess.

Why is Ben Sasse getting dragged into this? Ah, I see. When in doubt, direct the lynch mob toward the nearest conservative...

Because you see, Sasse smiled awkwardly at the host. Rather than beat him with the nearest blunt object for using the "n-word." Racist.

We've seen many different shades of outrage from the left. Now we have guilt by proximity. Ben Sasse said nothing to cause offense. But because he wasn't frazzled enough over Bill's "joke," he might as well be wearing a Klan hood and holding a noose. The outrage litmus test needs refining.

Was Maher's joke in poor taste? Yes. But we don't board the Outrage Train over jokes. Especially at Sasse, who just smiled awkwardly. Here's how Sasse responded:

There are people on the right who are throwing Sasse under the bus. Because Sasse is #NeverTrump. So if he didn't kiss the ring of Trump, he's worthy of being hanged by the liberal lynch mob? How about no. That's not really how America works, guys.

What we have now are a bunch of Monday Morning Quarterbacks, screaming at what SASSE should've done differently. Reminder: it was a BILL MAHER joke. Even if the joke of Maher's was a bad one, it is on BILL MAHER to accept the responsibility for it.

NOT SUBSCRIBED TO THE PODCAST? FIX THAT! IT’S COMPLETELY FREE ON BOTH ITUNES HERE AND SOUNDCLOUD HERE.