On a recent edition of “Real Time with Bill Maher,” the host railed as only he can against the horrible plague of ageism, which he called “the last acceptable prejudice in America.” Case in point, he said, is that coming off a serious beatdown from Republicans on Nov. 4 Dems ought to be promoting California’s “paddle a little to the left, paddle a little to the right” Gov. Jerry Brown for president in 2016 instead of presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton.
Alas, Maher said, Dems won’t do so because at age 76 Brown is considered to be too old for the job, regardless of the fact he may be the most effective governor in the U.S. and has been deservedly praised far and wide for bringing the Golden State back from the fiscal junkyard. Not to mention that Brown is also a physical fitness freak whose daily routine includes doing yoga and running for three miles. Maher couldn’t help taking a shot at rotund New Jersey Gov. and drooling presidential aspirant Chris Christie, whose only exercise, according to Bill, is “pumping the nacho cheese dispenser.”
America’s obsession with youth, Maher says, is best characterized by young people’s alleged obsession with the human behind. So infatuated with human buns are Millennials that Maher dubbed them “Generation Ass.” His point being that we “don’t respect the elderly, we venerate the young and let them rule everything,” apparently including allowing them to foist their butt obsession on the rest of us.
Maher is of course a comedian, albeit one who likes to make a serious point with his commentary. He’s also prone to taking himself pretty seriously, but that’s another story. And we may or may not be fanatic about the human ass, but American society – all of it, not just the Millennials – is for sure obsessed with youth. In fact, so are most western cultures. There is after all a multi-billion dollar global youth-restoration industry (cosmetics, surgery, fitness, etc.) out there that I highly doubt is being propped up by Millennials. And let’s be really real here – is Bill actually intimating to us that he doesn’t like a fine behind on his lady friends? Really?
In any case, if Bill Maher wants to rail about young people, there are far better examples than their alleged fascination with a really tight ass. For instance, how about this collection of students at Texas Tech University who could not correctly answer some of the most basic questions about American history, but who of course knew all about Snookie, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Aniston? Maybe instead of calling Millennials Generation Ass, he should be calling them Generation Dumbass.
