TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2025
Also, secrets leak out on The Five: We know! This morning, in a burst of temporary madness, we promised to share the history of the naming of Denali—that is to say, of the former and possibly future Mount McKinley.
According to the leading authority, the story starts like this:
Denali
[...]
The Koyukon people who inhabit the area around the mountain have referred to the peak as "Denali" for centuries. In 1896, a gold prospector named it "Mount McKinley" in support of then-presidential candidate William McKinley, who later became the 25th president; McKinley's name was the official name recognized by the federal government of the United States from 1917 until 2015. In August 2015, 40 years after Alaska had done so, the United States Department of the Interior announced the change of the official name of the mountain to Denali.
As you can see by clicking that link, the story continues from there. Here's a bit more detail about this long-running dispute:
The Alaska Board of Geographic Names changed the name of the mountain to Denali in 1975, which was how it is called locally. However, a request in 1975 from the Alaska state legislature to the United States Board on Geographic Names to do the same at the federal level was blocked by Ohio congressman Ralph Regula, whose district included McKinley's hometown of Canton.
Alaska had officially named it Denali. But thanks to some congressmen from President McKinley's thereby insulted state of Ohio, the federal government kept deciding to just say no.
Unless some misnaming is involved, it turned into a long-standing showdown between the Alaska Board of Geographic Names and the United States Board on Geographic Names. Thanks to a certain president's landslide win, this whole thing may now get straightened out.
Thanks to that leading authority, an even fuller account of the matter is available here. That said, who decrees the name by which a body of water, or a mountain, is supposed to be known?
Apparently, an agency called the United States Board on Geographic Names is sometimes involved—but you can take it from there. At this point, we're going to pass on our earlier promise in favor of news of The Five.
Last evening, the gang were broadcasting live and direct from frigid and snowy D.C. At the very end of the Fox News Channel show, Judge Jeanine copped to this:
DANA PERINO (1/20/25): So we are going to see a lot of changes tomorrow morning. I'll be back in New York City with Bill Hemmer as we have the first of what will be many exciting days.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary—just behind us in that building there, she'll have her first press briefing. No doubt we are in for a great experience here the next few years.
Judge, last words here?
JUDGE JEANINE: The beginning of the golden era. A happy day for Americans. All of us worked very hard for this day to come. And God bless America.
By Judge Jeanine's direct admission, all of them had worked very hard for this day to come!
In fairness, full disclosure! There's no law which says that a corporation can't establish a "cable news" channel whose employees are all "working very hard" to produce a given political outcome.
As a strictly legal matter, that's allowed under the law! It's all a question of what the employees will be willing to do to produce that favored result.
Will the employees misstate basic facts? Will they disappear basic information? Will they mislead or misinform their millions of trusting viewers?
On The Five, the employees routinely do a great many things. Here was the very strange Greg Gutfeld, speaking at the five-minute mark of last afternoon's program:
GUTFELD: During the [inaugural] speech, all I was doing was looking at Joe—watching him as four years, the last four years, was handed to him like a sizzling Trump steak.
This wasn't "In your face, Harold!" This was "In your face and up your ass, Joe!" It was humiliating.
To see him say that, click here.
For the record, this is the same boychild who wants to know if Hinter Biden has started "banging" or "BLEEPing" Jill Biden yet. This is where it has gone on this corporate "news channel" as angry flyweights seize control and Blue elites look away.
In your face, Harold? That's what this 60-year-old child routinely says to former congressman Harold Ford when Ford serves as the panel's resident alleged Democrat.
That's routinely said to Ford. According to Gutfeld, President Trump's inaugural speech was aimed at President Biden.
"In your face and up your ass, Joe!" According to Gutfeld, that's how Trump's messaging went. But so it goes on this "cable news" channel, where all the employees worked very hard for this day to come.
Yesterday afternoon, Judge Jeanine told a company secret. Gutfeld went up Biden's ass.
Can a nation survive the daily lifting of the lid from the garbage can? We think the answer is plainly no.
That said, how do we get off these dangerous slopes? And what should this mountain be called?
Who is "us"? Judge Jeanine said, "The beginning of the golden era. A happy day for Americans. All of us worked very hard for this day to come."
ReplyDeleteAccording to ordinary rules of grammar, the pronoun refers back to the nearest noun, which is "Americans". Of course, that interpretation makes no sense, since half of Americans opposed Trump. So, it's unclear what "us" she was referring to. Bob assumes it was all FoxNews employees, but there are so many other possible interpretations of "us", including:
-- Members of "The Five."
-- All Trump supporters
-- She may have used the word loosely without intending to refer to any specific "us". That is, she may have meant "A lot of people worked very hard for Trump."
Actually, more than half of Americans opposed Trump.
DeleteWhen Somerby refers to "us blues" he is not including any Democrats and certainly no liberals, progressives or lefties. Maybe a misguided centrist or confused independent, but that is a very limited group these days given the polarization in politics.
Wow, David. Maybe she was referring to "us" people named Jeanine. Or maybe "us" former judges.
DeleteBut no matter how you torture the words, "us" includes the speaker and some set of others who worked toward electing Trump.
The channel has traveled far since the days of the old "fair and balanced" conceit. The lie that Fox is not a partisan outfit can't be sustained any longer.
True, Quaker. Fox opinion was always partisan. It may well be more partisan than ever now. Fox News reports are supposed fair and balanced. I don't watch Fox, so I don't know.
DeleteStraight news represents only a small portion of what Fox broadcasts. So, I agree with you that the openly partisan nature of the opinions makes it accurate to characterize Fox as partisan.
Of course, most other stations are also partisan, but in the other direction. The PBS Newshour's definition of "balance" is to have two opposing experts each Friday. One is an anti-Trump liberal. The other is a conservative, but he is also anti-Trump.
We know this is not due to be particular individuals chosen, because when the regular anti-Trump conservative isn't available, he's replaced with another conservative who is also anti-Trump.
6:22,
DeleteYou triggered yet, bro?
Will the employees misstate basic facts, disappear basic information, or misinform their millions of viewers so the company has to shell out $787.5 million for their efforts DiC? Jesus the stupid.
Delete"Of course, most other stations are also partisan, but in the other direction."
DeleteYeah? Which ones went on the air to announce how hard they'd worked on behalf of any candidate not named Trump?
David, “us” is a personal pronoun. No rule of grammar associates it with any prevously spoken noun. It just means “a group including me”. Sometimes context gives a clue who that group might be, sometimes it doesn’t.
Delete"Thanks to a certain president's landslide win, this whole thing may now get straightened out."
ReplyDeleteTaking one side over the other is not "straightening out" anything. When the balance of power shifts again, hopefully the name will go back to Denali.
Oddly, Somerby does not mention the interests of the native people in Alaska, who inhabited that area and named that mountain before the gold prospectors arrived. This isn't only a dispute between Alaska and Ohio (presumably also right vs left, although Alaska is not a blue state).
Many states outside of Baltimore are now acknowledging in official ways the contribution of indigenous people to the history and prosperity of their states. In CA, the native tribes maintain fire departments that rush to help whenever a wildfire breaks out. Thus they were mentioned among the people bravely fighting the recent huge fires in CA. Indigenous people don't only run casinos but contribute as good neighbors to intiatives and improvement efforts in the areas adjacent to their reservations. This happens in other states as well, from CO to South Dakota to Alaska, wherever there are indigenous people.
In CO, it is routine to read a statement about our gratitude for the historical and ongoing contributions of indegenous people, including the ownership of the land where a performing arts center or museum now exists. There are plaques reminding us of what we owe and expressing gratitude. A few weeks ago, I was reminded of our partnership with indigenous people when I charged my Tesla at a new row of charging stations on a trading post outside Cedar City in UT. Every such stop makes an EV journey more pleasant, giving us options. Canada has made a major effort to recognize and continue to incorporate indigenous people into Canadian life, including restitution and apologies for historical abuses. Evidence of that is everywhere in Canada, as it is in the Western and rural US. Republicans, of course, resist any effort to make people's lives better, including the ones that result in unity and increase partnerships with diverse people in our nation.
Somerby's assumption that any indigenous claim to naming Denali must reside long in the past and that it went away when immigrants to the area discovered gold, shows the bigoted and ignorant attitude of those who think might makes right and that not only was America free for the taking, but so is Greenland and Panama, and we can name those areas whatever we want while we plunder what was taken from others by force.
Trump thinks about everyone, all of the US citizenry, the way oblivious idiots like Somerby think about native Americans and other indigenous people everywhere. This is not being "straightened out" by Trump. He is asserting territorial rights onto people in areas where those rights are long settled, as part of his land grab and "if I want it, I will just take it" philosophy of diplomacy. Hitler wouldn't have been prouder of Trump if he had grabbed the Sudetanland with both hands, in the name of white people everywhere.
The Sudetenland was already inhabited by white people.
DeleteBut you’re right, Greenland and Panama should be renamed. How about Trumpland and Panamaga?
"Can a nation survive the daily lifting of the lid from the garbage can? We think the answer is plainly no."
ReplyDeleteIf Somerby really thinks this, he should stop doing his own garbage can lid-lifting. He can set a far better example here than he has been doing.
Jeff Teidrich blames the press for sanewashing Trump during his campaign. He says, now they are doing the same with Elon Musk's Nazi salute, pretending it was something entirely different than it clearly was. He explains how we know that Musk gave the Nazi salute (as opposed to merely an "awkward gesture" as the press is reporting. He also calls out the ADL, which is supposed to identify hate speech, not smooth the ruffled feathers of Trump supporters when they get caught supporting white supremacists.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.jefftiedrich.com/p/what-the-fuck-is-this
And he says that Robert Ellingsworth has won the entire internet with his quip about Melania's inauguration day hate:
"Where are Moose and Squirrel?"
correction: Inauguration-day hat"
Delete"Robble, robble," she didn't remark.
DeleteSomerby is so fixated on Fox that he doesn't know what is happening on the left, even though there are quite a few descriptions in Substack and among actual liberals. Here is one about the lawsuits filed in response to Trump's Monday attack on birthright citizenship:
ReplyDelete"Chief among them was an audacious and legally dubious attempt to eliminate birthright citizenship. Though immigration and civil rights groups largely blanched at Trump’s expected but unprecedented executive order, they did respond swiftly. As first reported by The Bulwark, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued the administration on Monday night. The ACLU was joined by Make the Road, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the Legal Defense Fund, and the Asian Law Caucus in defending the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of birthright citizenship against Trump’s order.
“This move is an example of the new administration’s lack of regard for the constitution,” Kica Matos, the head of the National Immigration Law Center, told The Bulwark. “Attempting to repeal birthright citizenship via executive order is both absurd and unconstitutional.”
Several of Trumps executive orders are ridiculous, unconstitutional, unnecessary, and a waste of everyone's time and taxpayers' money. Grandstanding and harrassment of people who the right has scapegoated throughout Trump's campaign.
Adrian Carrasquillo at The Bulwark (quoted above) also says:
"“This move is an example of the new administration’s lack of regard for the constitution,” Kica Matos, the head of the National Immigration Law Center, told The Bulwark. “Attempting to repeal birthright citizenship via executive order is both absurd and unconstitutional.”
The executive order argues that the Fourteenth Amendment was never meant to extend citizenship universally to everyone born in the United States. It specifies that the “privilege” of U.S. citizenship does not automatically extend to people born in the country when their mother was “unlawfully present” or their mother was lawfully present but in a temporary way (in other words, through a student, work, or tourist visa) while the father was not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident in either case.
That last provision, in particular, struck lawyers and immigration experts as both extreme and extra-judicial. Some dubbed it the “Kamala Harris clause” because it would, if implemented, have denied the citizenship of the now-former vice president, whose mother was here legally, but temporarily.
In addition to the ACLU suit, Democrats moved to condemn the effort with a swiftness that they did not employ for every executive order Trump issued.
“If you’re a textualist or an originalist, it’s clear the Constitution guarantees birthright citizenship, so this is blatantly illegal,” Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) told The Bulwark, warning that it was “highly doubtful” this “full frontal assault” on birthright citizenship would survive judicial scrutiny.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom offered just a three word statement on the order: “This is unconstitutional.”
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/welcome-to-trumps-dystopian-border
The issue of birthright citizenship isn't settled, because no court has ruled on exactly what it means. Its purpose was to make sure the freed slaves were citizens. It is unique to the United States. However, the words as written would seem to give citizenship to any child born here, regardless of their parents' status. Trump will argue that the people passing the 14th Amendment didn't understand the words to mean giving blanket birthright citizen to all babies born here. This issue will go to the Courts.
DeleteAnd the amusing thing is, it won’t matter what the original intent was, or the clear meaning of the text. The lawless conservatives on the Supreme Court will simply rule whatever their politics tell them. It’s that simple, and that broken.
DeleteIt is not true that there have been no prior rulings on the 14th Amendment and birthright citizenship. There was a case where a Chinese citizen born in the US was refused reentry under the Chinese Exclusion Act but birthright citizenship was upheld under the 14th Amendment.
Deletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Wong_Kim_Ark
David doesn't follow the links people post here or he would have read about that case already.
DeleteThis issue will go to Leonard Leo.
Delete"Trump will argue that the people passing the 14th Amendment didn't understand the words to mean giving blanket birthright citizen to all babies born here."
DeleteThat'll be a tough sell, even with this Trump-friendly court. He'll have to argue that "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside" somehow doesn't mean what it plainly says.
It was so appropriate for Trump to end DEI on MLK Day, fulfilling King’s dream that people be judged on the condition of their character rather then the color of their skin.
ReplyDeleteDavid, Trump violated his own claim to remake America based on merit when he appointed so many wealthy insiders completely lacking in experience to various government positions. No one thinks Trump eliminated DEI to make American fair. It is to eliminate minorities from the positions they have earned the right to hold.
Delete5:58,
DeleteC'mon. Everyone knows David in Cal (like all Republican voters), feels bigotry---not equality---is appropriate in a great country.
Just like Pete and JFK Jr right DiC? Also for goodness sake read up on MLK Jr. Just quoting half a sentence of his over and over just makes you sound like a racist prick. How's the condition of Pete Hegseth's character David? You
DeleteThere is no way in the world Trump will overturn Affirmative Action for white people (AKA Stand Your Ground laws).
DeleteLet's not confuse David in Cal's hatred of equal opportunity with a love for merit.
DeleteThis shows that Nazi salutes have been creeping into various other MAGA events, made by a bunch of MAGA leaders:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.borowitzreport.com/p/maga-nazi-salutes-a-pictorial-history
This was from Borowitz report, which is usually humor, but the photos are chilling. Normally, a politician avoids any opportunity to be shown in photos doing this, but at best, these guys don't seem to care who they offend.
The naivety of some liberals faced with photos out of context is pathetic. How will these people deal with the world when AI produces lifelike videos of someone saying and doing whatever embarrassing thing AI is told to produce?
DeleteSo, you don't believe that the right wing is having a love affair with white supremacy? Get real.
DeleteWhere was this skepticism when the right was modifying videos of Biden to look like a doddering old codger at public functions?
DeleteNobody truly believes that people are covertly using Nazi salutes. Even white supremacists, wouldn't use Nazi salutes.
Delete"Even white supremacists, wouldn't use Nazi salutes."
DeleteYou gotta be kidding me.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_Tribe_(neo-Nazi_group)
Nobody sincerely believes that people are using covert Nazi salutes. Even a white nationalist wouldn't use a Nazi salute. It's too easy to catch a photo of someone in the process of raising his arm, where that instantaneous photo looks like a Nazi.
DeleteI generally like Borowitz's humor, but this is just embarrassing. TDS seems to have rotted his brain.
Yes, Quaker, neo-Nazis would use a Nazi salute. They're nut cases. But, ordinary racists would not use that salute, because it would turn people off. One can be a racist without believing that all Jews should be exterminated.
DeleteThere ate not good racists and bad racists. Racism is bad.
DeleteSo Dave, the guy who did not do two Roman Nazi salutes also is not currently stumping for the far right neo Nazi party in Germany? Do better.
DeleteAnother cartoonist takes on the Nazi salute
Deletehttps://instapundit.com/697671/
“ The character of Superman is the embodiment of hope. He was created in 1938, a year before WWII, a time when hope was needed. The public wanted a superhero who could defeat the enormous enemy that was the Third Reich, so it was the perfect time for a Superman to appear.”
DeleteNo one here wants whitewash what Musk did.
If we in this nation cannot agree that Hitler was bad, the partisan divide is too deep to mend.
Delete"creating impunity for the people who effectuate political violence on one’s behalf is the surest way to ensure that such people will, in fact, effectuate political violence on one’s behalf"
ReplyDelete'Gutfeld went up Biden's ass."
ReplyDeleteLet's hope he stays there.
Gutfield is a Right-winger, so no one can tell the difference between him and Biden's stool.
DeleteHere's something I just watched the President of the United States say, in justifying his pardons for cop-beating insurrectionists: "Murderers in this country do not go to jail."
ReplyDeleteA new era has begun.
We could change Denali to Denial.
ReplyDelete