Bill Maher Defends Biden’s Record, Slams People ‘Obsessed’ With Mental Health: ‘Cheer the F– Up!’
On Friday’s “Real Time,” Bill Maher had a blunt message for Americans feeling bad about things: ”’Cheer the f—k up!”
Maher’s latest “New Rules” segment wasn’t so short of course, being a much lengthier ramble about the general bleak mood that’s been reported over and over again. He started by wondering why Joe Biden’s approval ratings are so low.
“Things are generally pretty good,” Maher said. “Now, of course there are problems, America is a big place — but wages are rising, unemployment is negligible, the stock market is soaring. We somehow brushed off both the Trump presidency and the pandemic. Yes, inflation persists for a lot of things, but you know, an actual good nice-sized TV now cost 60 bucks. Who gets credit for that?”
“Stop acting like life in America in 2024 is unbearable. Biden’s ratings are in the toilet not because he’s doing such a bad job,” Maher continued, but “because a lot of Americans like to live with their head in the toilet.”
He then brought up the high rates of Americans reporting depression in recent years, but expressed skepticism that it’s really as widespread as it sounds. “Depression is of course a very real thing. It’s also true that earlier generations never suffered from the expectation that you’re supposed to feel good all the time. One in eight adults are on antidepressants, and that doesn’t include the ones who steal them from their kids.”
“Without a doubt antidepressants can be life-saving for those in need of them, but here’s the thing: About three quarters of Americans who are on them haven’t been diagnosed with depression at all. They just want a magic pill,” Maher argued.
Taking a second to joke about how the largest group of people reporting depression and mental health issues are white women, Maher continued, “Every bad feeling isn’t a disease and Americans really need to stop pathologizing everything. No one’s just sad anymore, they’re clinically depressed. They don’t really worry, they have chronic anxiety. Do you like things neat and organized? That’s OCD. You’re bummed when it’s cold — seasonal depression. I hate being alone, separation anxiety. Bored? That’s ADHD. Shy? Social anxiety disorder. Why? Because you don’t want to go to the office party.”
“Nobody does,” Maher said, digressing into a bit. “Best case scenario: you have too much fun that leads to getting fired.”
“Are you moody? No, you’re bipolar. And some people are bipolar. And some people are on the spectrum, but sometimes ‘on the spectrum’ is just a whole pass for being a jerk,” Maher went on. “Yes, you are on the spectrum and so is everyone else alive. That’s why they call it a spectrum.”
Maher then argued that while there are people with real problems, “sometimes a bad day is just a bad day,” and the constant messaging about mental health “becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Maybe the solution is much simpler, and you just went a week without sleep or sunlight. Maybe you have problems that could be solved with vegetables.”
Maher closed by talking about the recent funny incident where the official X (formerly Twitter) account for the Sesame Street Muppet Elmo asked how everyone is doing, leading to a ton of quite bleak responses.
“I’m gonna be real, I’m at my f–king limit. In the grand scheme of the universe, our existence is merely a blink devoid of inherent meaning or purpose,” Maher said, quoting some of those responses. “And Elmo wrote back, ‘you think you have it bad? Try living your life with a guy’s forearm shoved up your ass.'”
Watch the clip here.
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