FRIDAY, JULY 18, 2025
Seeking the soul of the Watters: In the past, we've explained the way the nation's top program works.
We refer to the Fox News Channel program, The Five, the most-watched program in cable news. It gains its occasional but of frisson from the way the Hunger Games spin off is booked—with four stone-cold pro-Trump co-hosts arrayed against one lone Democrat.
For the record, there's nothing automatically "wrong" with being a pro-Trump player. It's the program's four-on-one booking strategy which gives it its frisson—especially when Jessica Tarlov sits in the chair as the show's one liberal panelist.
We've mentioned the gang assault which often occurs if Tarlov starts to make an unacceptably decent point. The interruptions can come think and fast, and they come in the group variety—a bit like the way other sub-humans sometimes function on programs like Wild Kingdom.
The grubby children named Watters and Gutfeld will typically lead the charge. That's especially true now that the perpetually aggrieved Judge Jeanine has been recruited away from the program.
That said, when Tarlov starts to make a point, the incels will often attack. Yesterday, this led the program's fabled "lone pilgrim" to offer a striking assessment.
At issue was the suitability, or lack of same, of Florida's new ICE facility, the so-called Alligator Alcatraz. We join the conversation in progress. When it came time for Tarlov to speak, she started off like this:
TARLOV (7/17/25): I didn't deny that there was a crisis [at the southern border]. Also, I wouldn't deny that things got better in the last year of the Biden administration, and there were rules on the books that he implemented, that Trump has continued with, that have led to these zero border crossings, which is a net positive for the country.
When Tarlov says things like that, the children politely behave. But when she began to say that the conditions at this facility are not acceptable—when she began to contradict certain claims which had already been made—Master Gutfeld was first to jump in:
TARLOV: That does not mean that it is acceptable to be running a facility that dozens of lawmakers, by the way, have reported that is not 24 hours a day air-conditioned, that it has 34 people per cage, that it has a mosquito problem—
At that point, the youngster jumped in with his wonderful snark. This is the soul of this channel:
TARLOV: That does not mean that it is acceptable to be running a facility that dozens of lawmakers, by the way, have said that it is not 13 hours air-conditioned, that it has 34 people per cage, that it has a mosquito problem—
WATTERS: [Audible laughter off-camera]
GUTFELD: Oh, not mosquitos! That's just like my lake house!
Watters was already chuckling. Gutfeld probably does have a lake house. It's paid for by the way he agrees to behave on the air.
That was the first interruption. When Tarlov tried to continue, Watters continued to add in his derisive laughter to the background noise. When he did, Tarlov finally allowed herself the pleasure of making an accurate statement about the human-appearing flies which buzz around her face during these pseudo-discussions:
TARLOV (continuing from above): And the most important thing, and the reason why this issue has swung against Donald Trump, is the fact that the people who are in this facility haven't been convicted of anything—
WATTERS: [Off-camera, laughter]
TARLOV: The Miami Herald—
WATTERS: [Off-camera, laughter]
TARLOV (briefly angry): The more you laugh, the crueler you seem. Or the more people know that you're cruel.
We're fairly sure it was Watters she meant. We don't think it was Gutfeld.
Also, oof! We'll guess that she's not supposed to say things like that on the air. As the pseudo-conversation continued from there, the interruptions were general as Tarlov tried to report what the Miami Herald had found.
As a general matter, we've made a bit of a point in the past, even though we aren't medical specialists. The provisional point of logic we've asserted is this:
Based on the bulk of what we've read, it isn't the sociopath's fault!
Sociopathy can be inherited. It can also be the result of the way a person was raised.
We've suggested that we should regret the unfortunate loss of human potential. Also, that we should try to get such unfortunate wretches removed from this nation's air.
Don't be cruel, Elvis said. Tarlov has said this to Watters.
The cruelty is the point. Why do you think he raped so many defenseless little girls?
ReplyDeleteTrump is suing Murdoch.
ReplyDeleteThe plaintiff bears the burden of proof.
Also, Murdoch and the WSJ have the advantage of the Sullivan decision. It's very hard to win a suit against a public figure. Trump would have to prove that the statement was made with "actual malice", meaning the defendant either knew the statement was false or recklessly disregarded whether it might be false. IMO Trump cannot win this suit.
DeleteThe Supremes might rule for Trump.
Delete"It's very hard to win a suit against a public figure."
DeleteCharacteristically, you have this exactly backwards. It's very hard for a public figure to sue for libel and win. It's very hard for a news outlet to lose a case involving a public figure.
The Felon can't follow through on this lawsuit, NewsCorp would kill him in discovery.
DeleteWhy is Trump suing when he has virtually no chance to win? Theories
Delete1. He's implicitly threatening anyone else who criticizes him.
2. He hopes there is some embarrassing material that could be divulged during discovery. In that case, the WSJ might settle so that the embarrassing material doesn't become public.
3. He's trying to convince the public that he didn't write that birthday card. He can always drop the suit later.
4. He's punishing Murdoch and the WSJ for not obeying his demand that they not report on this matter.
Why did Trump sue Bill Maher for claiming Trump is descended from an orangutan? Not because of the merits of the case.
Delete"Why is Trump suing when he has virtually no chance to win?" To take David's mind off the fact that the Felon likes raping little girls.
Delete"Our Jane Doe was enticed by money and a modeling career and attended parties, at least four of which, Donald Trump attended. She says, "Defendant Trump tied Plaintiff to a bed, exposed himself to Plaintiff, and then proceeded to forcibly rape Plaintiff. During the course of this savage sexual attack, Plaintiff loudly pleaded with Defendant Trump to stop but with no effect. Defendant Trump responded to Plaintiff's pleas by violently striking her in the face with his open hand and screaming he would do anything he wanted."" Weirdo.
DeleteI am finding Somerby's use of language to disparage Watters and Gutfeld unnecessary and off-putting. He calls them "grubby children" and "incels". The latter word has a specific meaning (involuntarily celibate) that likely does not apply to either man. It conjures the image of an adolescent or 20-something in his parents basement wondering why girls won't date him. That isn't Watters or Gutfeld in any respect, so why does Somerby use that term (diluting its actual meaning, normalizing it)? It does not refer to just any conservative man, but to someone immersed in bro culture. There is a difference between being a misogynist like Gutfeld and being an Andrew Tate follower like the misguided young men who moon over Jordan Peterson.
ReplyDeleteWho makes you read and comment here? Are you doing penance?
DeleteWhy don't you go away instead?
DeleteI called you a whaaaammmbulance.
DeleteSomerby is throwing the word sociopathy around pretty freely. He should perhaps have actually read Hannah Arendt's book on Eichmann. One of the themes of discussion after WWII was about whether ordinary people who are not actual sociopaths could have committed such cruel acts against other human beings, and under what circumstances.
ReplyDeleteSomerby speculates that sociopathy is inborn and that is what experts say about actual sociopaths, but labeling anyone who is callous toward others a sociopath and excusing him because of that inborn trait is wrong.
First, being a sociopath has never gotten anyone off at trial, any more than being born an incipient alcoholic excuses drunk driving. People are still responsible for their acts. And no one pities sociopaths, especially if they are so cruel to others. It is hard to see them as any kind of victim.
Somerby seems to think that any identified as a sociopath (a personality category) will treat others badly. That is not true. There are many sociopaths among surgeons, businessmen, in politics and in fields where their personality traits are not a liability and may even be an asset. For example, too much empathy might hinder a surgeon who must cut into a person or cause pain in order to help them. The combination of sociopathy plus an unfavorable upbringing may produce a monster, someone like Ted Bundy, but most sociopaths are not criminals and live normal, law abiding lives.
Trump is definitely abnormal. He was brought up to be the criminal he is. Being a sociopath does not excuse him for his wrongdoing. At some point he would have encountered people who taught him right from wrong and he chose the wrong path. For Trump, I would guess military school might have been a turning point that he rejected in order to follow his father's lifestyle.
Trump always claims victim status. Somerby is more than willing to grant that to him, without considering that others in Trump's own family did not become greedy SOBs like Trump did. If families were as deterministic as Somerby wishes to portray them, you would expect Trump's relatives to be criminals too, not professors and judges.
Trump certainly had choices and he made the wrong ones, just as he continues to do as President. We cannot let a man like Trump destroy our nation's assets by ruining the government and creating a police state. Republicans need to step up and stop Trump now before it is too late.
Why stop him if he is fucking up the lives of brown neighbors?
DeleteDo you think Trump and Epstein have brown neighbors in Palm Beach?
DeleteEpstein doesn’t have neighbors any more, but Trump might have brown neighbors. Rich brown neighbors.
DeleteAI says the city of Palm Beach is overwhelmingly white.
DeleteUp until fairly recently Palm Beach discouraged Jews. All the golf clubs banned Jews until Trump built a club that finally accepted Jews.
DeleteEat a can of dicks David. You lie almost as much as antisemitic Nazi Musk on X.
Delete8:44 Did you think Trump would own a club that excluded his best buddy, Roy Cohn?
DeleteOr Jeffrey Epstein, for that matter.
Delete"We've suggested that we should regret the unfortunate loss of human potential. "
ReplyDeleteGutfeld is 60 years old. It is hard to talk about his potential when his career is in its twilight. You use that term to talk about recent college grads, not old guys who are what they have become already.
Personally, I talk that way about grown men who enjoy raping little girls.
DeleteYou think such men have failed to realize their potential?
DeleteYes. Potentially, they could be raping grown women.
DeleteIndications are they were doing that too.
DeleteTwilight of his career? Billo is 75. The fucker can keep spreading hate and lies for decades.
Delete"You use that term to talk about recent college grads, not old guys who are what they have become already."
DeleteWhat makes you think Somerby wasn't using the past tense? That's the most reasonable interpretation and nothing in the sentence has to change grammatically to accommodate it.
The past tense? Of “potential”? What grammar are you talking about?
DeleteThe optics of multiple men interrupting and verbally beating up a female host may be appealing to a male audience who think women should be put in their place. The actual content of the discussion may be less important than those dynamics.
ReplyDeleteOddly, when Tarlov stands up for herself, Somerby says:
"Also, oof! We'll guess that she's not supposed to say things like that on the air. "
Is that because Somerby thinks women aren't supposed to stick up for themselves in discussion? Why would he not applaud her for saying the obvious -- that Gutfeld and Watters make themselves look like jerks with their behavior?
Somerby seems to think she is supposed to just take it, but he attributes the rule to Fox, not to his own reaction to an assertive woman speaking up during a discussion. Why doesn't her response seem more natural to Somerby?
"Is that because Somerby thinks women aren't supposed to stick up for themselves in discussion?"
DeleteNo.
"Somerby seems to think she is supposed to just take it"
No, he doesn't seem to think that.
"he attributes the rule to Fox"
This is a reasonable attribution.
"not to his own reaction to an assertive woman speaking up during a discussion."
Nothing he wrote indicates he has such a reaction.
"Why doesn't her response seem more natural to Somerby?"
Nothing he wrote gives any indication of how 'natural' Somerby finds her reaction.
The key, that you seem to have missed, is Somerby saying she's not supposed to say that "on air". Meaning, while she's being paid by Fox. He's simply (and rather obviously) saying she's supposed to toe the party line.
9:51 — Amen.
DeleteWhen in doubt, fart it out.
ReplyDelete- Fanny Speaker
Anonymouse3:07am, perfect reply to the disingenuousness and asininity from anonymouse 7:52pm.
DeleteI like the silly denial that all Republican voters aren't bigots, better.
DeleteAnonymouse 9:02pm, a silly trope you preface on Republicans denials of the charge. Bro, we relish it. Go in peace.
DeleteIt's already up to zero, and counting.
DeleteI’m a disingenuous ass, but I love Cecelia.
DeleteI’m a sincere horse, and I love her, too.
DeleteShe comes off a little too manly for my taste. I mean, have you seen her hands?
DeleteI agree, she has big hands.
Delete“ Don't be cruel, ”
ReplyDeleteThe cruelty is the point, Bob. Watters, Gutfeld, et al, revel in it and are delighted to have Tarlov around to get upset.
And by “et al” I mean an expansive group.
Of the many, many pre-teens Donald Trump raped, which is your favorite, and why?
ReplyDeleteThe first is always the best.
DeleteTrump and Epstein were best buddies. Get over it, MAGA. It is just one more thing to overlook. You've got this! And if you can't, f-ck off, says the Donald, who henceforth will have nothing to do with you.
ReplyDeleteThere was always something fishy about a story where the Republican Party seemed offended by child rape. That never sat quite right with me.
DeleteWere their accusations really confessions?
DeleteTrump has said he loves the poorly educated. i.e. - his deranged cult base. Weirdos too!
DeleteYou don't love MAGA if you use common sense and figure out he is a serial child rapist. And I am deranged, ha!
Delete"But something is cracking, and the cult is splintering." Haha. Weirdos.
ReplyDeleteIn Somerby's vernacular, Andy Borowitz gets it right:
ReplyDelete"The Borowitz Report
Trump Will Lose His War on Laughter
Jul 18
When George W. Bush launched his War on Terror, I noted that it was the first time in history that someone had declared war on a human emotion. If Bush defeated terror, I wondered, what was next—shyness?
Now Donald Trump has declared a War on Laughter, and I suspect it will be every bit as successful as Bush’s crusade.
Trump’s fear of being laughed at is nothing short of pathological. For years he’s been a crybaby about his portrayal on “Saturday Night Live.” And it was Barack Obama’s mockery of him at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner that reportedly impelled him to run for president. (Thanks, Obama.)
Like everything else rattling around in the commodious cavern of Trump’s brain, his fear of ridicule is unoriginal: he shares it with pretty much every dictator in the world. You might have noticed, for example, that there isn’t a thriving comedy scene in Pyongyang.
The autocrats’ anxiety is entirely justified. Comedy is their kryptonite. They rule by intimidation, and when we laugh at them, their power to scare us evaporates. As Mark Twain wrote in The Mysterious Stranger (1916), “Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.”
Which brings me to Trump’s latest target in his War on Laughter: Stephen Colbert.
Earlier this week, Colbert roasted the quislings at CBS’s parent company, Paramount, for donating $16 million to Trump’s presidential library to settle a risible lawsuit he filed against them. Given that Shari Redstone, Paramount’s biggest shareholder since the death of her icky father, is desperate to keep the government from scuttling a merger that will make her even richer, Colbert was justified in calling the payment a “big fat bribe.”
Yesterday, Trump’s proxies at CBS dutifully canceled Colbert, issuing the following statement: "This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night. It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount."
No offense to Colbert, but the funniest comedian at CBS is whoever wrote that statement. They might be the most hilarious words ever typed, with the possible exception of the phrase “Trump’s presidential library.”
I seriously doubt this is the last we’ll hear from the indefatigably creative Colbert, who will likely move to a new platform where he’ll enjoy more freedom and financial success than he had at CBS.
And as for Trump, he might think he’s winning the War on Laughter—but much like George W. Bush, he’s going to discover that his mission is far from accomplished. He can cancel all the comedians he wants, but he will never make us stop laughing at him."