 So when it comes to daily COVID-19 cases, we're thankfully in a much better place now than we were a couple of months ago, but we still aren't out of the woods yet. We don't know how bad it's going to get over the holidays. And as it gets more colder, people are going to congregate indoors. Yes, we do have more people vaccinated this year, but also we have the Delta variant, which wasn't a thing during the last holiday season. So it's not over yet. And we're still averaging more than 70,000 new cases per day. And I think that a lot of us acknowledge this probably isn't going to go away anytime soon. In fact, epidemiologists are predicting that COVID-19 isn't really just going to go away. It's not like we're going to declare the pandemic over and then all of a sudden we get back to normal. This is most likely going to become something that's endemic, which means we have like COVID seasons every year. But I mean, we can't really predict that. But what we do know with certainty is that it's not all good yet. Somebody who apparently knows more than all of us, Bill Maher, is going to share some good news with all of us. The pandemic is over, and it's over not necessarily because we're at a better place, but because Bill Maher, non-expert, is unilaterally declaring the pandemic is over. I don't know that the virus got the message, but nonetheless, Bill Maher is very confident that things should return to normal and that Republicans who haven't done anything to try to mitigate the spread of the virus, they're actually the ones who are handling this the best. So I don't have a clip, but I do have an article from Mediaite where they share his idiotic remarks. Caleb Howe writes, during Friday's real time, Bill Maher stated more than once that the pandemic is over, insisting that masks are no longer necessary and arguing that red states are better on COVID policy. At one point, Maher told Senator Chris Coons that it's the Democrats who are to blame for pandemic measures that lasted longer than necessary. Just Resume Living, Maher said, as they began the panel discussion, saying that he hopes Dr. Anthony Fauci told everyone to go ahead with Halloween. Maher and Coons were joined by Atlantic writer Caitlin Flanagan, who generally agreed with Maher's take on the pandemic measures. I mean, come on, 15 of 100,000? That's where we are. Cases in California, 15 cases per 100,000 people. I know some people seem to not want to give up on the wonderful pandemic, but you know what? It's over. Always going to be a variant. You shouldn't have to wear masks, said Maher. I haven't had a meeting with my staff since March of 2020. Why? But really, I mean, also, vaccine mask. Pick one. You gotta pick. You can't make me mask if I've had the vaccine, he said, to a big applause from the audience. He asked Coons whether he is down with that because it's the Democrats who are mostly keeping these rules in place. I mean, I travel in every state now back. I'm back on the road and the red states are a joy and the blue states are a pain in the ass for no reason, he said. Coons answered that everybody should get vaccines and that even though people are tired of strict controls on their lives, the world isn't safe until the world is vaccinated. Now, what Chris Coons said there, as much as I disagree with him on everything else, is correct. We have to make sure that these other countries have the vaccine. And until they get the vaccine, this isn't going to be over anytime soon. So that's priority number one. But in terms of what Bill Maher says, I'm going to be extra kind to him in one way and in another way, I'm going to make fun of him because you don't get to just declare that the pandemic is over because you're frustrated. We're all fucking frustrated with the pandemic. I get it. But facts don't care about your feelings. Even if we're feeling frustrated, you don't just get to say, I'm done with it. No more rules. I mean, OK, that would be lovely in theory, but it's still very much going on. A thousand people are dying every single day. In fact, on the day after Bill Maher made this comments or the day before Bill Maher made these comments, rather, 2000 Americans died. We're having almost the 9-11 every single day. So to just say it's over, let's get back to normal. That's pretty irresponsible and callous for the people who are still suffering. But I will say that to his point that, look, I've been vaccinated for people who have done everything that they've needed to do. Yeah, I do think that there should be more freedoms for them, right? If you've done everything, you've gotten the vaccine. I think that your life should be somewhat normal. I think that indoor spaces should cater to people who have done their part. So if, you know, you want to feel safe and go to a movie theater by being around vaccinated people and you can show proof of that, I think that's permissible. I think that's acceptable. But the problem is that in America, you know, you you can't really do anything at least effectively without anti-vax babies, ruining it for everyone. So back in what was it, May, when the CDC kind of got rid of the mask mandates and they went off of the honor system. Well, if you're vaccinated, you don't have to wear a mask. Well, obviously, people who were not vaccinated, they also just stopped wearing masks too. And then the Delta variant hit and then our cases were skyrocketing. So you can't just do that. There has to be some protocols. And I think that you can make the lives of people who are vaccinated easier by allowing them to download some app on their phone and say, look, I've been vaccinated. I think I should be allowed to go indoors without wearing a mask. I think that that's fine, because there are studies that show that even if vaccinated people still do spread covid if they are infected, they spread it at a much lower rate than unvaccinated people. And that's if vaccinated people even get the virus. So I do agree with him that, sure, vaccinated people, people who have done what they need to do, who are responsible citizens, they should have more freedoms. But to just overall go back to normal. I mean, that would be catastrophic at this point in time. At least wait and see where we're at in February after the holidays. But look, I don't want to be too down on him because I do get the frustration. I'm extremely frustrated. It feels like this is never going to end. And sure, covid-19 might not go away. It might just become something different. It might be endemic, but at the same time, it doesn't have to be this bad. If we weren't such a terrible country and we actually did the bare minimum to try to mitigate the spread and if we pay people to stay home and if Americans weren't dumber than other citizens in other countries, then it wouldn't be this bad. But it is bad because in America, we're entitled little pricks. And if you tell us to mask up, we throw temper tantrums. If you tell us that we need to get vaccinated, we throw temper tantrums. There were conversations that our parents were probably having and grandparents were having when it comes to seatbelt laws. Oh, why I'm not going to wear a seatbelt. This is authoritarianism. I'm going to avoid all the states that require me to wear a seatbelt. Well, every state every state has seatbelt laws and it's no longer viewed as authoritarianism. Same thing with smoking. Oh, what? There's a smoking section. We're being segregated. This is like racism now, but for people who smoke, this is disgusting. What? I can't smoke on a plane. Yeah, now you can't smoke indoors. Everyone just widely accepts that that's a thing. And all of a sudden, it's not authoritarianism. And I think that the vaccine mandates will be viewed in that way in the future. But it's just every single thing that we could be doing. We're not. We're not doing it. I mean, when other countries go into lockdown, they really go into lockdown. They don't do it in a half-assed way. So in the United States, we've made this situation worse for ourselves because we're so stupid and also because we have a government that is just fundamentally broken and incapable of doing anything to be effective. But, you know, in terms of the pandemic being over, I wish that were the case, but it's not the case. And we don't just get to go back to normal. Unfortunately, if Bill Maher is tired of this, you have a gigantic mansion that probably has like 25 bedrooms. Go play in it. Go in your personal bowling alley or your indoor swimming pool and shut the fuck up. It's the real people who have to work with people during a pandemic. We have to work with the public. They're the ones who are suffering. So spare me your frustration. I get it. We're all frustrated, but it's not over yet. And I want it to be over, but that's not the way that it works. We don't get to just throw temper tantrums and get our way when we're adults. We should learn this by now. But that's where we're at. This is the American mentality and Bill Maher isn't an exception to the rule. He's just kind of saying what everyone else is saying. But I mean, yeah, we're all fucking frustrated, Bill, but it's still a thing. It's not over yet. Unfortunately, I want it to be over, but me wanting it doesn't make it a reality. I also would like to be six foot five inches tall. I also would like to fucking have, I don't know, Elden Ring now. I would also like to have a fucking flying car, but we don't get what we want simply by throwing a temper tantrum. That's not the way that the world works. So I'll leave that there. I mean, it's Bill Maher, so nobody should be that surprised with him again. Like I understand the frustration on a human level, but at the same time, shut the fuck up, Bill Maher. I mean, Jesus Christ, he's so insufferable and I can't take it.