TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2024
Prime time "cable news:" Does there (still) exist a "national discourse?"
Such myths may still be believed by some. To consider the actual state of the disintegration, consider what we saw on two of our nation's "cable news" channels last night.
We'll start with the Fox News Channel's Greg Gutfeld. Last night, in his program's opening segment, the troubled termagant was toying with teenagers and tampons once again.
In doing so, the "cable news" star was returning to the sad non-topic topic he and his panel of flyweight friends explored at the end of last week. Last night, he gave the pitiful segment a name:
He called it "Tampon Terror."
We won't even try to explain the background to last night's opening segment. Nor will we attempt to describe what last night's panel of Fox News "analysts" said.
Instead, we'll simply suggest that you take The Gutfeld Challenge. To see what was being "discussed" during the first eighteen minutes of this prime time "cable news" program, you can start by clicking here.
The sheer stupidity of Gutfeld's program continued through the course of the 10 p.m. hour. But if you want to ponder what has happened to your fading nation's very limited discourse, we advise you to click that link and watch the full segment unfold.
There are two parts to the story of that prime time pseudo-discussion. On the one hand, Red America's "cable news" channel is willing to stage such braindead presentations on a nightly basis.
Fox News is eager to broadcast that crap! But also, Blue America's upper-end orgs are willing to ignore the fact that such ugly inanity is now being broadcast on a regular basis, packaged as prime time "news."
Go ahead—click that link and see where you'll be taken! Can a modern nation expect to function when such inanity, and such remarkably poor taste, are being packaged to millions of people as an example of prime time "news?" When 59-year-old termagants hate young people so?
We urge you to take The Gutfeld Challenge. These disordered follies take place each night on the Fox News Channel.
Go ahead—click that link. Attention should be paid!
Also last night, George Conway tried to break through a certain wall concerning the discussion of Donald J. Trump. To watch his attempt, click here.
Stephanie Ruhle—she says each night that she's making us smarter—declined to react to what Conway said. The Goldwater Rule is still in effect over here in Blue America. Perhaps for better or maybe for worse, such discussions just aren't allowed.
Does there (still) exist a "national discourse?" On balance, we'll go with a very strong no.
Where we once had a (very weak) discourse, we now see dueling strands of propaganda. Meanwhile, can a nation survive the likes of a Gutfeld?
As our own blue tribe averts its gaze, we'll once again tilt toward a no.
(We lost a lot of time today—medical plus automotive! We're doing the best we can.)
"Fox News is eager to broadcast that crap! But also, Blue America's upper-end orgs are willing to ignore the fact that such ugly inanity is now being broadcast on a regular basis, packaged as prime time "news."
ReplyDeleteWe on the left are not responsible for whatever braindead show right wingers choose to watch on cable. They are adults exercizing their freedom of choice. It is not our job to police or critique whatever appears on Fox News.
We are averting our gaze because we do not want to watch such shows. I don't want to hear about them here are Somerby's blog either. I have no idea why he thinks he must repeat their programming here. Yes, it is awful and rots the mind. That doesn't mean we should join the right in their viewing choices. There is nothing to be gained by our complaining about it either.
Somerby says he lost time today, so then he wants to come here and waste our time too. No thank you.
“Somerby says he lost time today, so then he wants to come here and waste our time too. No thank you.”
DeleteClassic!!
By Dan Hicks:
Delete"How Can I Miss You If You Won't Go Away?"
"I've talked to your mother and I've talked to your dad
They say they've tried but it's all in vain
I've begged and I've pleaded, I even got mad
Now we must face it, you give me a pain
How can I miss you when you won't go away?
Keep telling you day after day
But you won't listen, you always stay and stay
How can I miss you when you won't go away?"
Hicks' lyrics remind me the biggest problem with "cancel culture" is the lack of canceling.
DeleteWhat is wrong with Stephanie Ruhle's show about expanding the gag order against Trump to try to stop his attacks on innocent bystanders to his trial?
ReplyDelete"We lost a lot of time today."
ReplyDeleteSomerby fashions himself as some kind of grand arbiter of time. How magnanimous of him to declare the day 'lost,' as if he alone possess the cosmic insight to determine the true value of time itself. Pardon the rest of us mere mortals for not realizing that every second must be approved by his high standards to count as 'gained.' What's next? Will Somerby graciously inform the sun when it's allowed to set? The audacity to present himself as a martyr to time, when in reality, this lament is but a veil over his own inefficiency and lack of talent.
this is parody, right?
DeleteIt is about Somerby's sense of entitlement.
Deletesorry, let me try again. this is self-parody, right?
DeleteDoesn't that depend on who wrote it?
DeleteAnonymouse 6:25pm, just whose blog do you think this is?…. Bob’s?!
DeleteIf Bob wants to understand why the tampon incident is hilarious, he needs only to read these anonymices.
How will it help Republicans come to their senses if those on the left are more aggressive about calling Trump nuts?
ReplyDeleteSomerby feels sorry for himself that he is getting old and must deal with medical issues. I don't know anyone our age for whom that is not true.
ReplyDeletenowhere did he indicate that he feels sorry for himself. but even if he had, so what?
DeleteHere is where he indicated that he feels sorry for himself:
Delete"(We lost a lot of time today. We're doing the best we can.)"
He has been making negative statements about medicine and about "losing time" or having it "stolen" from him, since he was hospitalized a while back. As Bette Davis said, "old age is not for sissies."
Many of us who are Somerby's age are grateful that medicine can help us feel more comfortable, that it has a way to cope with our aging bodies and our ailments. Somerby seems to regard it as an interference in his life. I know many elderly people who are cheerful and philosophical about their doctor visits, medications, oxygen bottles, walkers. These are helpful efforts to keep us functioning longer, part of the world, out of bed and participating. Somerby's put-upon attitude seems to blame medicine for efforts to help him. He adopts a peevish tone. But I don't know why I would expect anything else when he is unable to appreciate anything positive on cable either. I am so glad I do not spend much time around anyone like him.
But, yes, I will point out how his attitude influences his expectations for journalists on the left, who he can never cut any slack, even when they routinely tell a lot more truth than Fox News. I hope Somerby's doctors and nurses are nice to him, but why would they be? He seems to think their efforts are an inconvenience and not a way to keep him mobile. He'll find out soon enough and perhaps regret the way he seems to be wasting his last years.
you seriously have mental issues
DeleteEvery fool a shrink!
DeleteNot a Rodent, may you never endure a wound that is slow to heal.
DeleteTruly. May you or anyone else never ever.
As if you have any idea what Somerby’s health issues might be.
DeleteAnonymouse 7:27pm, he told us.
DeleteNo, he didn’t.
DeleteYes, he did.
DeleteNo, he didn’t. You don’t know anything more than anyone else here.
DeleteWIfe and were pretty chipper about protecting our old people health getting our 8th covid shot. Until the next day and we couldn't move our arms.
DeleteBob is getting a brain transplant.
DeleteAnonymouse 8:48pm, I don’t know anything other than what Somerby publicly wrote on his blog.
DeleteEvidently, that’s more than you know,
The tampon story is an "own the libs" news story. It is misogynistic, but that isn't why Somerby deplores it. He thinks talking about tampons is indelicate, women should keep that stuff out of sight, while Gutfeld likes it that a protester is being threatened. That's a big joke to him, at a girl's expense because she tried to protest and got caught standing up because of her period. Ha ha ha big joke.
ReplyDeleteSomerby is disgusted, but not because of Gutfeld's attack on a young woman trying to exercise free speech, but because she didn't keep her womanly business out of men's world. Somerby thinks women are yucky and blames Gutfeld for being crass, not for being mean-spirited and hostile. Tampons are to be kept secret from men, at all costs. Gutfeld broke the bro code to focus on her discomfort because lefties should be punished.
"Somerby is disgusted, but not because of Gutfeld's attack on a young woman trying to exercise free speech, but because she didn't keep her womanly business out of men's world." No one takes you seriously when you write this crap.
DeleteYou've seen the way Somerby refers to Gutfeld's content. He considers him crude.
Delete@6:07 Women loan each other tampons as needed and aren't put off by a tampon machine in their restroom, or a tampon ad on TV. Calling 911 in order to be allowed to stand up without arrest wouldn't be considered funny to any woman has needed to change a tampon at some point in her life. The joke is at this woman's expense.
Somerby doesn't object to Gutfeld finding this funny, he objects to him using this situation as a source of humor. That is a prudish call to keep those tampons hidden, ladies. Men's sensibilities might be offended.
Look at Somerby's heading today "Tampon Terror!"
Delete"That is a prudish call to keep those tampons hidden, ladies. Men's sensibilities might be offended." Nope. Wrong as usual.
DeleteThen what is your take on the title?
DeleteThe title alludes to what Gutfeld called the segment: "Last night, he gave the pitiful segment a name: He called it 'Tampon Terror.'"
DeleteAnd what do you suppose that means?
DeleteWhatever it means, it was GUTFELD who called it that. Bob only used it because that's what Gutfeld called it, and Bob put it in quotes and pointed out that that's what Gutfeld called it. So if you have a problem with it, take it up with Gutfeld.
DeleteYou never know why Somerby makes these random choices. My problem is with Somerby. I expect nothing from Gutfeld. Somerby has now focused on tampons several times. Why?
DeleteAnonymouse 8:22pm, random choices, Einstein?
DeleteTampons have been a part of Gutfeld’s comedy routine for the past two weeks and Bob’s has been blogging on Gutfeld!
Yes, why is Somerby focusing on that?
DeleteBecause Fox News is airing it, and he can't believe it.
DeleteUnlikely
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis blog and these comments are a waste of my time. Therefore I’m coming back tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteLol. The food is terrible. And the portions are so small!
DeleteDefinitely wins "Best Comment of the Day!" award.
DeleteHow do you know what the "Right-wing Grievance of the Day" is, if you don't read TDH?
DeleteI think there are lots of bodily functions that do make for coarse conversation if treated like walking the dog. However this is legitimately funny. You won’t leave a student protest to go change your tampon, but you’ll call 911 in an attempt to force Vandy to unlock their bathrooms because you might die of toxic shock syndrome?
ReplyDeleteThis is ripe for comedy. Bob. You could start with a routine on the difference between Vietnam protesters and our current day spoiled toddlers.
An important story that Americans need to learn about during prime time on America's No. 1 cable News network.
DeleteAnonymouse 9:55 pm, or Gutfeld!
DeleteNot to mention James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner in Mississippi
ReplyDeleteDavid, yes.
DeleteDo either of you morons think they joined the civil rights movement expecting to be killed?
DeleteAnonymouse 7:36pm, they didn’t “expect” it, but they wrote their wills before marching.
DeleteChaney was black not white.
DeleteWhat is more hilarious than being murdered by assholes stoked up on racial hatred? Not as funny as the tampon lady, but funny stuff. Would like a citation on the writing will stuff...
DeleteAnonymouse 4:03pm, who claimed that there was anything funny about protestors being murdered?
DeleteWe were pointing out the ironic humor of protesters freaking out over the remote chance of toxic shock syndrome with a tampon being in all day. Those dramatics were compared to protesters who had faced imminent bodily harm.
Bob posted the article about the MLK March to Washington on this blog. AG. Robert Kennedy was beside himself over fear for their lives. Right before the march, he called the leader of the group and begged her to stop or postpone it. When she refused, Kennedy, growing desperate, asked her if she understood the peril that they faced. She replied that she and all the others had written their wills the night before.
I’ll try to find the article in archives.
Despite your claims that today’s protesters don’t go into the scene willing to face the worst, I believe that is not the case for many who are willing to face harm.
However, your doubting of what people of that era were willing to sacrifice speaks more about the mindset of the angry drama queen performative “protests” of your ilk, than that of ludicrous toxic shock girl.
I appreciate the time and effort to write this kind of article. Thanks
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ReplyDelete
ReplyDelete" Does there (still) exist a "national discourse?" On balance, we'll go with a very strong no. "
Alas. Maddow, Colbert, Kimmel and their ilk ruined it, long time ago.
Has the media asked Newt Gingrich if this is true?
DeleteI'd hate for the mainstream media to skip his answer, especially if this turns out to be the one time Newt makes a good faith argument. Could you mimagine?
Anonymouse 11:11am, I can’t imagine anonymouse flying monkeys writing a post in good faith.
Delete11;34,
DeleteEvery second you respond to a post on TDH is a second you're not out forcing 12-year olds to carry their rapist's babies to term.
Let's keep this thread going.
Rapist-conceived embryos don’t deserve the death penalty. Give the girl moral and material support, and when the baby is born, take it to Cecelia’s house.
DeleteEvery American deserves the death penalty. It's why we have the 2nd Amendment.
Delete