SATURDAY, APRIL 26, 2025
Red America has: Last night, she opened the garbage can. When she did, Greg Gutfeld came crawling out.
By "she," we refer to the Fox News Channel's CEO. She opens that can each weekday night, with a rerun on Saturday nights.
Sean Hannity proves the lead-in at 9:59 p.m. Eastern each weekday night. Each night, he cheerfully tells Fox News Channel viewers that the garbage in question "will put a smile on your face."
Last night, the garbage guy's string of opening jokes went a bit long. They worked from the usual premises:
Hillary Clinton murders people. Kamala Harris is constantly drunk.
Rep. Tlaib has a mustache. Joe Biden keeps wetting his bed.
Jerry Nadler is way too fat, and so is Stacey Abrams.
With Mary Trump's book back in the discourse this past week, he even aimed a braindead, poisonous shot at her, at the start of his "issues monologue."
With respect to his opening "jokes," he'd saved the best for last! At 10:06 p.m., he ended his "jokes" with a favorite premise—at the age of 85, Nancy Pelosi isn't sufficiently attractive:
GUTFELD (4/25/25): And finally, after complaints of public masturbation in a Seattle park, officials are looking to build a, quote, public masturbation deterrent infrastructure.
Which is a complicated way of saying a giant billboard of this:
PHOTO OF NANCY PELOSI
AUDIENCE: (LAUGHTER, APPLAUSE)
GUTFELD: Shuts it down right away, kids.
This garbage-strewn show is an anthropology lesson. But it also serves as an assault on basic human decency.
The 60-year-old person who chairs the show has an anger he can't seem to quell. Meanwhile, people like these agree to go on the show in support of his grisly behavior:
Gutfeld! panel, April 25, 2025
Erin Maguire: Formerly Erin Perrine; Republican communicator
Joe Machi: D-list comedian
Guy Benson: Fox News Channel contributor
Dagen McDowell: co-host of two shows, Fox Business Network
Benson is too smart to take part in this garbage dispersal except as a cynical venture. In fairness, the overall pay is good.
This trash is spread around each night. The program serves as an assault on the human experiment, but also as an anthropology lesson.
Blue America's major news orgs give this conduct a pass. Each person can decide what this agreement to maintain silence says about Blue America's major orgs.
Red America is exposed to this garbage every night; Blue America knows nothing about it. For today, we thought we'd link you to something else Blue America won't be told about.
We refer to a recent, updated news report from the New York Post:
Deported alleged MS-13 gangbanger Kilmar Abrego Garcia was driving convicted smuggler’s car during Tennessee traffic stop
That's the headline on the news report—but should the updated report be believed? Here's the way it starts:
Deported alleged MS-13 gangbanger Kilmar Abrego Garcia was driving convicted smuggler’s car...
Deported alleged MS-13 gangbanger Kilmar Abrego Garcia was driving a convicted human smuggler’s car when he was stopped by cops while transporting a group of men on a Tennessee highway in 2022, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed Wednesday.
Abrego Garcia, 29, was pulled over by a Tennessee state trooper in 2022 for speeding, but when the cop stumbled upon the Salvadoran illegal migrant with eight others and no luggage amid their days-long trip from Texas to Maryland, he suspected something was amiss, according to an internal memo obtained by The Post last week.
At the time, the alleged gangbanger—who was deported by the Trump administration last month—claimed that the packed SUV was owned by “his boss” at his construction job, who turned out to be Jose Ramon Hernandez Reyes, an illegal migrant previously convicted of smuggling others into the US, Just The News first reported.
That's the way this news report starts. We've discussed this unusual traffic stop before, but this latest report adds the claim that Abrego Garcia was driving the car of a confessed "human smuggler" when the alleged events occurred.
Red Americans will hear about this latest report. Blue America won't. Here's the way this matter was reported on the Fox News website:
Deported ‘Maryland man’ championed by Dems was pulled over driving car belonging to human smuggler
The so-called deported "Maryland man" Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whom Democrats have been demanding the Trump administration return to the U.S., was previously pulled over by a highway patrol officer while driving a car belonging to a confessed human smuggler, multiple sources in DHS confirmed to Fox News Digital.
The sources confirmed documents reported by Just the News that revealed Abrego Garcia was pulled over driving an SUV belonging to Jose Ramon Hernandez Reyes, another illegal alien who in 2020 confessed to human smuggling across the U.S.-Mexico border.
As previously reported by Fox News Digital, Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old illegal alien whom the Trump administration recently deported back to El Salvador, was pulled over on Dec. 1, 2022, by a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper who stopped him after he was "observed speeding" and unable to stay in his lane.
The trooper noticed eight individuals in the car with Abrego Garcia, who said he began driving three days prior from Houston, Texas, to Temple Hills, Maryland, via St. Louis, Missouri, to "perform construction work." The report on the stop states that the trooper suspected it was a human trafficking incident, as there was no luggage in the vehicle. Additionally, the individuals in the car reportedly gave the same address as Abrego Garcia's home address.
[...]
New documents further reveal that Abrego Garcia was driving a black 2001 Chevrolet Suburban that he said belonged to his "boss." The Suburban was identified by DHS as belonging to Hernandez Reyes, who pleaded guilty to human smuggling after being caught in Mississippi in a car with passengers from Mexico, El Salvador and Honduras.
And so on from there.
Red America is hearing about this new report; Blue America isn't. That said, should the claims in this new report be believed—in this new report, which seems to link Abrego Garcia to a confessed "human trafficker?"
Should these new claims be believed? Does it even matter if the new claims are true?
At this point, we can't really say. That said, half the country will hear about this updated report. Half the country won't.
The garbage can is opened each night. Blue America's timorous orgs have agreed that they will never report or discuss what happens on that channel.
Blue American orgs have also agreed to ignore news reports like the one we're citing. Can a very large modern nation expect to survive under arrangements like these?
Do you believe what those news reports say? Do you think it's a good idea when the most exalted American journalists agree to ignore such reports?
We now offer one final point regarding the garbage can:
The garbage guy was scaling it back last night when he pictured President Biden wetting his bed. All through 2024, he dined out, night after night, on images of Biden "pooping" or "[BLEEPING]" his pants, but also soiling everything in the Oval Office, from the Resolute desk on down.
This program is an anthropology lesson. It's also a grisly assault on the human experiment.
In fairness, the pay is good. So is the pay for the Blue American media moguls who agree that their orgs won't report or discuss the ugly idiocy which emerges from that low-IQ hellhole night after night after night.
Who and what do you believe? Whose judgment can you trust?
Fox is a “low-IQ hellhole.” That must be one of Somerby’s right-wing memes, I guess.
ReplyDeleteBob seemed to be making two points
Delete1. FoxNews is a low IQ hellhole
2. On some issues you know even less than low IQ FoxNews viewers do.
DiC, “Bob” is saying that Fox News viewers (or readers of their website) know about claimsthat were made, but asks “Should these new claims be believed?”
DeleteI would not believe Fox about anything. Garcia was stopped but not arrested or charged with anything, not ticketed. That is exculpatory evidence.
DeleteI might disbelieve the NY Post about this traffic stop if someone provided evidence that the story is false. Or if someone just denied the story. However, in too many cases, liberal news sources simply ignore a story and conservative sources are automatically disbelieved.
DeleteThat reminds me of the famous quote, misattributed to Tallyrand: "They have learned nothing, and forgotten nothing", about Louis XVIII and the Bourbons. History shows that this group did not come out well.
This reminds me of who gives a fuck about the "stories" DiC the fascist. In America we used to have due process until jerks like DiC the fascist reelected the turd. And now we are all lessor for it.
DeleteHighway patrol officer stops a car for speeding and swerving. The driver has an expired license. The car is registered to another person. The officer believes multiple passengers may be involved in human trafficking. He also believes that the driver is being dishonest with him about his understanding of the English language. For all that is wrong about this encounter he gives the driver a warning. Makes perfect sense.
DeleteWhat is the actual story here. He was stopped and let go. Driving while Hispanic gets lots of men stopped, but the cops didn't do anything beyond that. So there is no story here at all. I get so tired of right wingers making up stuff that others must then prove never happened. Where is their evidence?
Delete2:10 If the NY Post runs a story that a rural cop gave you a warning about fornicating with goats, go ahead and provide the evidence that it is false.
Delete"Do you think it's a good idea when the most exalted American journalists agree to ignore such reports?"
ReplyDeleteYes, as a Democrat I do not want the truth reported about wife beating human traffickers because it will interfere with their ability to stay in my country to harm my family. Signaling my twisted idea of virtue is more important than protecting my family.
Supporting due process is not performative.
DeleteAs a Democrat I want everybody who anyone alleges committed any crime to be summarily executed. That’s the best way to protect us decent citizens.
DeleteFirst they came for the violent attackers of women and I said nothing. Because I'm not a misogynist harboring hatred of women under the guise of legal p's and q's.
DeleteWhy would Somerby criticize Gutield, when Gutfield is the smartest and most honest Right-winger to come down the pike, since Mao?
DeletePolice have the highest percentage of wife beaters, and they endorse Trump the most.
DeleteUnder Trump, abusers now may counter claim their victims and silence them.
Under Trump, petty funding disputes are leaving large holes in programs meant to help people who suffer.
What is worrisome is not the individual cases but what the whole agenda adds up to: clever blindspots that give existing abusers a way to launder their violence into "white knight" theatre.
Mao is dead, long live Mao.
DeleteAll of this nonsense is irrelevant. To discuss it is to play into the hands of the lawless Trump administration. To examine Garcia under a microscope is to suggest that may be he deserved to be kidnapped to a gulag without due process. Van Hollen summed it up correctly: he's not vouching for the man; he's vouching for due process.
ReplyDeleteGarcia is an El Salvadoran immigrant. He's bound to know other El Salvadoran immigrants, some of whom may be on the shady side. Garcia, however, has never been charged with any crime during his time in the US.
Ilya's approach seems to be: "A statement should be judged on whether it helps or hurts Trump. That's more important than whether the statement is true or false. This attitude seems to have become common.
Delete"Seems to be" is doing a lot of work there you unserious fool.
Delete'Seems to be' is DiC's way of avoiding what Ilya plainly said, which is that Garcia's personal foibles are of secondary importance to whether the law was followed.
DeleteDiC's Trump Lickspittle Syndrome (tip of the hat to AC/MA) is in its advanced stages.
How, on this god's green earth, did you glean that, David? To simplify even further: it's illegal to kidnap people on US soil and send them to a foreign prison. Nothing more, nothing less.
Deletedude says it’s irrelevant to discuss it and then discusses it.
DeleteIlya - I was interpreting, "To discuss it is to play into the hands of the lawless Trump administration." I apologize if I misunderstood you.
Delete"Are of secondary importance" -- That doesn't mean it's not a valid concern. Garcia's removal without due process is important, even though it's of secondary importance compared to nuclear war. Similarly whether or not Garcia is a MS-13 member is important in its own right.
ReplyDeleteBut your MAGA-ite friends act as if Garcia's gang affiliation the primary factor in the case. A fundamental mistake in rational thinking, wouldn't you say?
Delete@4:24 — Interesting point. If a poll were taken, I think many voters would say kicking out a foreign gangster is more important than some procedural matter.
DeleteDue process is a procedural matter? Habeas corpus is a procedural matter? A traffic ticket is a procedural matter. Life imprisonment in a death camp is -- shall we say -- different from a traffic citation.
DeleteGarcia's gang affiliation is third in importance behind his violently attacking women and his human trafficking.
DeleteDiC,
DeleteWhat you call, with your usual white-washing instincts a 'procedural matter', other people call the law.
Ilya - I agree that the law should be followed. That would mean bringing him back. I agree with that.
DeleteHowever, it appears to be the case that Garcia is legally required to be deported. So, following the law means sending him back to El Salvador or some other country.
Is it more important to bring him back to the US briefly or more important that he not be free in this country? Don't you think most people would say the latter?
Those are way less important than him not being white.
DeleteNot white? What race is he? Is he black? Native American? Asian? Australoid?
DeleteHe has a court order preventing his deportation. That is legal.
Delete@8:05 I believe he had a court order preventing his deportation to El Salvador. But I would think he could be deported to some other country.
DeleteI don't get it.
DeleteHitler gave Jews the same due process the Trump Administration is giving to immigrants, and no one complained then.
Hitler Derangement Syndrome is a thing.
DeleteHowever, it appears to be the case that Garcia is legally required to be deported.
DeleteI would say that this outcome is unlikely. A judge found credible evidence that Garcia's life would be in danger if he were deported. Besides, I am guessing that 93% or 94% of judges (coincidentally, same number as egg prices reduction) want to stick it to this administration. Garcia is a safe choice. He's a married father of 3 and hasn't had any criminal complaints against him in about 14 years that he's lived in this country. His union is demanding his return. So, it's highly unlikely that he gets deported.
Nobody disputes that Garcia is an illegal immigrant. So, the law says he should be deported. Period.
DeleteStop calling what was done to Garcia as being deported. The USA made a contract with that dictator in El Salvador to imprison Garcia. That is not deportation.
DeleteThere's an explicit judicial order for Garcia not to be deported. Judge specifically ruled on that.
DeleteMaybe the judge was inspired by German civil disobedience as summarized by the president:
Delete"Did they wink? Did they give you a piece of bread extra? Did they give you a meal on the sidLike, you know, what happened in Germany?"
3:35 - It's just more sick stuff that isn't the Orange fart clouds fault, the dementia made him do it. He is very ill, be patient with him. Poor little demented orange shitstain.
DeleteHave you helped a violent attacker of women stay in the country today?
ReplyDeleteIt's not enough to just vote for a candidate, Kamala Harris, whose husband, Doug Emhoff, beats the shit out of women. You have to fight for the ones who are here illegally. It's not fair that they won't have the same opportunities to beat women in America.
Sounds like you're taking a rather DEI view of things, fella. Better hope DOGE isn't monitoring the comments.
DeleteHey, 5:18, speaking of human trafficking, Matt Gaetz, who almost became AG. Also, who arranged for Andrew Tate to come to the US? And, where are those darned Epstein files? We know trump and Epstein were best buds for years.
DeleteYou were saying…
It's a Democrat rule that you have to beat Republican women voters who aren't bigots.
DeleteIt's a dirty job, but nobody has to do it.
As a Trump Democrat, I don't regret my vote. Bilateral talks are leading to rebalancing pressure, forcing budget reallocations with no new spending, which is the stabilizing fiscal discipline we need.
DeleteI like that he's helpless when it comes to inflation.
DeleteThe "stabilizing fiscal discipline we need" will result in a bigger deficit. Have you thought about that, Milton Friedman?
DeleteSomerby says blue america has never heard this claim, but why do we have to hear it if it isn't true? It is better if blue america doesn't have to waste time thinking about all of the misinformation made up for red viewer consumption over on Fox.
ReplyDeleteI have been attending a regional bridge tournament. At its conclusion it had only 70% of the attendance last year. That is attributed to fewer Canadians attending but also to fewer people being willing to spend money on flights and hotels and restaurants than previously. This is a direct measure of the impact Trump is having on "the travel industry" and our bridge community.
ReplyDeleteTrump's small slams are finessing the liberals. If he had a heart, he would leave the Mar a Lago Club and not do this. It would suit me if we had a world with no Trump.
DeleteTrump's small slams are going down and embarrassing his team. If he had a spade, he could dig up his ex wife Ivana at Bedminster but no one imagines he can actually play bridge. He overbid his hand with those tariffs and has no chance of making any contract. Imagine a narcissist trying to play a partnership game! But Warren Buffet has always been an excellent player.
DeleteWhat is you basis for drawing conclusions about the entire travel industry from one regional tournament’s reduced attendance and that its decline in attendance is specifically attributed to Trump? Your warped emotional investment in demonizing Trump doesn't count as an answer.
DeleteUse google, 10:30:
Delete“As international tourists pull back on U.S. travel and purchases, $90 billion in lost revenue looms”
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna201640
I did read that. It says Trump "might have a significant economic impact" on the tourism industry, that it "could "collapse" by as much as $90 billion" ($90 billion is 4 percent of the amount US tourism generates - not a collapse). The article says it relies on "lots of anecdotes" that are "pointing at a slowdown" and shows no data-driven conclusions at all. It says these speculations, according to one source, are "likely to have economic repercussions" and "US GDP growth will likely underperform" and "negative feelings... are unlikely to reverse quickly" all of which is speculative. The article gives no data at all, shows no control for variables, and doesn't test any alternative explanations.
DeleteNo objective reader could draw a firm conclusion based on this silly propaganda piece. It was only written for suckers who have an emotional attachment to opposing Trump. Because these people are out there looking for content to feed this emotional attachment, institutions are there and will always be there to feed it. It's classic fear mongering. Were you really not able to see that?
So, again, what is you basis for drawing conclusions about the entire travel industry from one regional tournament’s reduced attendance and that its decline in attendance is specifically attributed to Trump?
The only basis I have that Trump is ruining the tourist economy, is the fear-mongering over grocery prices that led up to the 2024 Presidential election.
DeleteAnd good luck if you can find any evidence offered up for this profound assertion: “ This is a direct measure (my bold) of the impact Trump is having on "the travel industry" and our bridge community.”
DeleteSince when are facts more important than feelings?
DeleteDid you sleep through the 2024 U.S. Presidential election?
Anonymouse 9:08am, is that the best you can do for Corby?
Delete"suckers who have an emotional attachment to opposing Trump."
Deleteas opposed to suckers who have an emotional attachment to supporting Trump.
Why would someone write anti-Trump propaganda for suckers that are emotionally attached to supporting Trump? Or did you think that because there’s a huge audience of people that are emotionally attached to disliking Trump and powerful outlets that serve their content needs that that means there are not people that who are emotionally attached to supporting Trump who have powerful outlets that do the same.to them?
Delete6:31 does this all a favor by showing us how we are manipulated with hedging language that is designed to play to our confirmation bias and emotional attachments tied to politics.. The commentor who is emotionally attached to disliking Trump who ran to Google in the middle of the night without performing any kind of reasoning or without thinking about it at all and tried to use it as some kind of indictment about Trump and international travel also did us a favor by showing how this propaganda impacts us, plays to our biases and just how effective it is if we don’t analyze it for elements of propaganda and hedging language before drawing erroneous and biased conclusions about it instead of identifying it as corporate capitalist manipulation.
DeleteThis is not “hedging” language:
Delete“Tourism from Canada has seen the biggest drop-off after Trump targeted the country directly through trade restrictions and indirectly by suggesting that the northern neighbor and close ally could become the “51st state.”
Traveler data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows visitors coming across the northern border down 12.5% in February year over year, and off 18% for March“
These are just facts.
Oh, did you think the point was there was only hedging language in there? The point is there is any at all.
DeleteYou didn’t think that Canadian travel to the United States primarily by crossing the border in a car did you? Canadian tourists fly to the United States. They’re not all visiting cities on the border nor crossing the border primarily for tourist reasons in the first place. For all we know that decline is due to more rigorously enforced immigration. The inclusion of that statistic was regrettably, another way they are trying to emotionally manipulate readers. Amirite?
This is a "direct measure" because you can compare last year's attendance to this year's, at exactly the same kind of tournament.
DeleteOne Canadian I spoke to was from Prince Edward's Island and he has been coming every year. He said this year they kept him for questioning for close to 15 min, asking him questions about what bridge was and why people would play a game that didn't involve winning any money. He was hostile and unpleasant, in comparison to previous years when he was used to being just courteously waved through (with his proper ID). Why would an agent go out of his way to be nasty to someone who is just going to a tourist destination to play a card game with other enthusiasts?
“…asking him questions about what bridge was and why people would play a game that didn't involve winning any money…” In other words, this cat was offended by a rough joke.
DeleteThe above is from me.
DeleteCecelia, you can mock people’s feelings, but people’s perceptions matter. Foreigners perceive that Trump is unfriendly, and they are worried about being detained. A German tourist with a visa was recently detained for 2 weeks. You might not find it funny when being questioned by an agent who “jokes” with you. Trump has claimed that Canada is ripping us off. Canadians have responded by erasing the conservative advantage in the upcoming election. Foreigners perceive the US as unfriendly. You can mock that, but it is driving down tourism.
DeleteAnonymouse 7:25m, there’s a lot of factors that could cause a decrease in Canadians visiting the U.S., including Canadians getting their nose out of joint as to Trump’s remarks. However, the Canadian dollar has slipped too. That fact ought to loom larger than rude American border agents. That’s the kind of crap you foist on us even as you declare your contrarians to be dummies. You’re just whiney and silly.
DeleteI am telling you what a Canadian person told me about his border experience. No one was joking.
DeleteAnd you’ve extrapolating that bad experience all the way to Washington. I’ve had airport security officers act more rudely over requests for directions.
DeleteWhat American airport was this man held at in questioned about bridge for 20 minutes? That is simply not a believable story. that is a lie. Customs agents don’t have that kind of time.
DeleteFrom a manpower and budgetary perspective, holding people for questioning in such a way at scale is impossible. To any frequent international travel, that story is simply not believable.
DeleteIs the Canadian traveler who was detained for 15 minutes the same person who is the Republican voter who isn't a bigot?
DeleteBoth those stories seem unbelievable.
Canadian Government issued a travel warning for their citizens venturing to the now lawless USA, but the felon admin isn't responsible for any of this completely unnecessary bullshit. That's what drives me most crazy about the felon backers, why the fuck is this level of fucking stupid even an issue? 51'st fucking state, the idiotic ramblings of a demented old man sleeping in his poop filled diaper. Manly strength!
DeleteAccording to my analysis 32.45678% of Canadians are not traveling to the USA because of Cecelia.
DeleteSomerby is correct.
ReplyDeleteThe media should be reporting that every Republican voter is a bigot. Hiding the truth isn't helping anyone.
Somerby says Blue America has never heard this claim, but I heard it elsewhere (not on Fox) because I read widely and don't confine myself solely to Gutfeld or cable news. Somerby's generalizations are tiresome and sell blue America short, in my opinion. But what else is new?
ReplyDeleteSomerby is almost certainly right that the majority of us "blues" haven't heard the claim. I am much more politically engaged than the average person, and I hadn't heard the claim. On the other hand, the claim is a complete red herring. It has nothing to do with the crisis we're facing -- i.e., a government that is bypassing due process, ignoring court rulings, undermining the rule of law, and sending people to a foreign gulag from which they likely will never emerge. It would be wrong and evil for a government to do this to criminals; it's unimaginable that the American government is doing this to people who haven't even been convicted of crimes. And of course Trump has said he wants to do this to U.S. citizens as well, and has accused political opponents of "crimes," which he could use as a pretext for doing so. He has already started accusing Democrats of supporting terrorists because they're standing up for the rule of law.
Delete"Donald Trump Jr., megadonor Omeed Malik and several other investors are launching an invite-only club in Washington called The Executive Branch.
ReplyDeleteTheir goal, people familiar with the plans say, is to create the highest-end private club Washington has ever had, and cater to business and tech moguls looking to nurture relationships with the Trump administration."
Guess you need an ultra-expensive ritzy titzy dinner club if you really want to drain that swamp.
"...an invite-only club in Washington called The Executive Branch."
DeleteA bit too on-the-nose, innit?
The imaginary Republican voters, who hate elites running the economy, aren't going to like this at all.
DeletePress sure gives them a pass when the corruption and gritting is done in the open.
DeleteMaryland Man wife-strangler isn’t coming back, friends. Tough break man.
ReplyDeleteBreathe deep, and remember Trump will soon be dead----killed by one of the many economically anxious Republican voters who hate elites, and aren't just a shit pile of bigots (hat tip mainstream media).
DeleteI guess the rule of law ain't coming back either, then.
DeleteFor some people, any policy they oppose automatically violates the rule of law or is un-constitutional. A Dem judge in Wisconsin conspired to help an illegal immigrant escape from ICE. Of course the judge was arrested. Now, leading Dems are protesting the arrest of this judge
DeleteWisconsin judge’s arrest blasted by Democrats who previously claimed ‘no one is above the law’ in Trump cases
Sen Klobuchar somehow argues that it violates the rule of law to arrest this judge who pretty clearly committed a crime.
She let the dude walk into her chambers that only exits into the hallway where the dude walks past the naICEzi Agents who ignore him walking to the elevators so when he gets outside and they stage there bullshit optics. There was not a scintilla of hiding the man, and where as the fucking warrant. Did you at least watch any of the old Nazi movies you fascist loving freak? Why are you such a dupe for blatant lies? Even a blind man knows when he is walking in the sun.
DeleteAlso too pardons for 1/6 terrorists - fuck off on the no man above the law BS.
Bill Maher is saying you can't compare Trump to Hitler, because Hitler didn't waddle his fat ass around in a soiled diaper.
ReplyDeletePoint for Maher.
Blockbuster story in today's NY Times examining the causes of the helicopter/airplane collision in D.C. According to the article, there were a number of contributing factors, including "the lady helicopter pilot ignored multiple warnings from her right seat about altitude (and his directly telling her to turn away) and flew straight into a passenger jet."
ReplyDeleteWe will never know why she did not turn away.
https://x.com/AlexBerenson/status/1916486176237617277?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1916493822684545519%7Ctwgr%5E4ad6510a8715634d3603febdf1a27b4544034b3b%7Ctwcon%5Es3_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Finstapundit.com%2F716683%2F
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/27/business/dc-plane-crash-reagan-airport.html
You are a complete asshole.
DeleteNothing but the best people are linked by David! "During the coronavirus pandemic, Berenson appeared frequently in American right-wing media, spreading false claims about COVID-19 and its vaccines." You should be so proud. Of nothing.
DeleteBerenson himself is not right wing. He was raised in a liberal household in northern NJ. Because he is smart and honest, he sometime reached conclusions that differed from liberal orthodoxy. E.g., the risk of marijuana to young people. Liberals censored things outside their orthodoxy. Only conservative media would print his conclusions, regardless of the amount of evidence for these conclusions.
DeleteWho says you have to be right wing to spread misinformation. Somerby calls himself liberal too and often repeats right wing talking points and misinformation here. Just yesterday, he was spreading that story about Garcia being a human trafficker.
Delete"An Ex-New York Times Reporter Has Become the Right’s Go-To Coronavirus Skeptic
DeleteAlex Berenson, a journalist and thriller writer, is being quoted on Breitbart and appearing on Fox News—even going too far for Sean Hannity." Once an idiot, always an idiot. Like JFK Jr - once a decent environmental lawyer. Good for him. Grifting money as a vaccine causes autism from the rubes, fuck him. Never trust that asshole ever again. Same standard for the Convicted Orange Felon, and the rest the money grubbing weirdo grifting creeps. Maybe I could get into them if they had better make-up. Hegseth was really on to something. Now that is a man we can trust, right David?
Women can't be trusted in positions like pilot. Stewardess, yes. Pilot, let's leave that to men for now.
DeleteOver $1 billion/year cost just to Texas, just for illegal immigrant health care! What's the total cost, including the federal government, all states, and all types of costs? It must be several billion dollars per year.
ReplyDeleteThe Texas HSHC is reporting that the costs to the state for health care for illegal migrants has topped $121.8 million in unpaid care in just the month of November alone. And that estimate is probably low.
In its report, the HHSC reported that non-citizens utilized hospitals in the Lone Star State more than 31,000 time during November of last year.
The data was taken from the state’s new reporting requirements mandated by an executive order that went into effect last August.
https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2025/04/25/illegal-migrants-cost-texas-121-8-million-in-unpaid-health-care-in-just-one-month/
It is all so bleak David, jump already.
DeleteActually I am optimistic. Trump and Homan's effective immigration policies will save several billion dollars a year.
DeleteLet's see, 2 billion divided by 6 trillion carry the one, yes these fucking monsters will save 0.067% of the budget by torturing many completely innocent folks and their children. By God they will save the nation yet!!! So what if the non-monetary cost is any respect this Country ever had in the world. David will rub out his half chubby in the thrall of other people suffering. What a good little Nazi.
DeleteTwo billion dollars is an insignificant amo9unt of money? Really?
DeleteThat's an interesting report, David, but it raises more questions than it answers.
DeleteFirst of all, it purports to identify healthcare provided to patients "not legally present" in the U.S. No information is provided about how legal status was determined and what criteria were used to determine that a patient was not legally present.
The absence of this information makes it hard to understand two of the catgories of data provided: emergency services provided via Medicaid and CHIP and inpatient services via Medicaid and CHIP. These total `$25mm out of the $121 million reported, but people who aren't citizens or otherwise legally present generally aren't eligible for Medicaid or CHIP.
Further, the report doesn't include information about the final disposition of these expenses. Were they simply written off by the hospitals? Did the hospitals receive reimbursement from the state? The feds? It's difficult to say this care "cost" the state of Texas when it isn't disclosed how these costs were handled.
Finally, your statement that costs come to $1 billion is speculative. The article and the underlying report documented costs of ~$120 million for November, 2024. If you annualize that, you do get a result in the neighborhood of $1 billion. But this reporting scheme is new. There's no track record to show whether the November report was high, low, or typical.
Any thoughts?
Quaker - you make some valid points. Summarizing them, the $121 million figure makes the assumption that the methodology was done properly. But, we don't have a way to actually verify how it was done. If they used bad methodology, that figure could be wrong.
DeleteAs you say, we only have one month of data. But, I see no reason to think there's seasonality in medical needs. Also, my $1 billion annual estimate leaves some margin for error. The annualized figure is $1.44 billion.
Another thought is that while illegal immigrants incur a lot of costs, they pay lots of state and federal income tax, which offsets their costs. However, poor Texas doesn't have a state income tax to offset the additional costs.
DeleteStates without income taxes have sales tax. Immigrants buy things like everyone else, so they pay sales tax like everyone else.
DeleteHospital and outpatient charges are routinely discounted by Medicare, Medicaid and the private insurers, such that hospital charges are typically far in excess of what is paid to them. So while 2 billion dollars is a lot, the services that resulted in those charges would typically result in payments that are a fraction of dollars billed. Anyone who has received an EOB is well aware of this. So if the hospitals are recording charges not paid (and there might be tax benefits to do so) that number is far in excess to what they would have been paid though government or private insurers.
DeleteHow much is providing healthcare to the least among us who pick our vegetables, butcher our meat, manicure our yards, clean our buildings, hell build our buildings, worth? As Covid showed the lowest caste needs access to healthcare for the good of higher society. Either pay them a living wage with healthcare; or pay them a poverty wage with no healthcare and give it to them on the middle class taxpayer dime (like our Christian billionaire overlords who never go to jail or even pay fines for hiring undocumented immigrants want). You a nasty to the core bigot David.
DeleteThere is a difference between an illegal immigrant without insurance and a Walmart employee whose lack of benefits requires him/her to go on Medicaid, but in both cases the taxpayer is on the hook.
Delete"Said Greene: “It’s the church leadership I was referring to when I invoked the Devil. Just so we’re clear, bishops, when I said ‘controlled by Satan,’ I wasn’t talking about the Catholic Church. I was talking about you.”
ReplyDeleteBishops are the Catholic Church.
If church bishops are controlled by the debel then popes are controlled by the debel. MTG can’t finesse this (or anything else).
DeleteWe have the denunciation of Sky Daddy and his followers on this site. Evidently, MTG’s mama didn’t teach her anything about respect (let alone restraint) and some anonymices were neglected in the same manner.
I do say I would hate to ruffle anyone's feathers but that MTG gal is a bit of a rogue I am afraid. But I do have a thing for that manly body hers.
DeletePublicly revealing a newly dead pope is OK as long as it's done in good taste and comes from the heart.
DeleteLook how cecelia excuses mtg by saying we do it too — just like Somerby.
Delete“debel?”
DeleteAnonymouse 8:57am, no, Einstein, you do it too and I don’t excuse you or her.
DeletePublicly reviling
ReplyDeleteThe judge's gavel reminded Greg of a penis, as a joke, he wanted to build a gay bar on ground zero as a joke. At some point the campiness of it all gets sad. Just a closeted man who relishes passing for straight with comedy.
ReplyDeleteIt's all McCarthyism on steroids. They declare a new fantasy
ReplyDelete"enemy" day by day, then attack. They live down a million rabbit holes.