MONDAY: We return to results on last year's Naep!

MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2026

On the Long-Term Trend version, that is: Friend, did you know there are two different versions of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (the NAEP)?  

The Naep is a widely praised federal testing program in such subjects as reading and math. But did you know that the venerable program comes in two different flavors?

The so-called "Main Naep" is administered to students in Grades 4, 8 and 12, without respect to the age of the various students. This version of the Naep has been given more frequently in recent decades. Results from this version have routinely been reported in the mainstream press over that stretch of time.

That said, please hold on:

There's another version of the Naep called The Long-Term Trend Naep. That version of the Naep is administered to students who are 9, 13 and 17 years old, no matter what grade the students may be in. 

That version of the Naep was administered just last year. It was that version of the Naep to which the New York Times referred in the news report which started this way, headline included:

Younger Students’ Test Scores Bounce Back After the Pandemic   

After years of dire test scores coming out of the pandemic, new national test results released on Wednesday offered a glimmer of hope—at least for younger students.

The nation’s 9-year-olds, who were in preschool when the pandemic hit, have made a significant recovery in reading since 2022, and are now caught up to where 9-year-olds were immediately before the pandemic, according to a key federal exam. They are getting closer to being caught up in math.  

But for American 13-year-olds, whose elementary school years were disrupted by the pandemic, there has been no recovery.

 And so on from there. 

That report appeared on June 10. We told you it would generate zero discussion. If you took that prediction to the betting markets, you're a wealthy person today. 

Attention to such topics has been surrendered to the tsunami of distractions which has constituted the second-term Trump years. But kids continue to go to school, and national samples of such kids continue to participate in this federal testing program.

No, the test items aren't the same on these different versions of the Naep. In effect, the Main Naep and the Long-Term Trend Naep  serve as rough estimates of overall accuracy, the one version paired off against the other.   

There's more to know about the two Naeps. The leading authority on the widely praised program goes on at some length right here.

That said:

How well did 9- and 13-year-old students perform in reading and math last year? Along the way in the next few weeks, we'll provide the basic results the best way we can, thereby filling a void in this Era of Cosmic Distraction.

Having said that, we leave you today with a key observation:   

Assessments of how well the students performed may turn on a basic point. It all depends on how far back you choose to go in making your year-to-year comparisons.   

We'll return to this topic before too long. We'll start our comparisons all the way back around 1980. With that as our starting point, you may be quite impressed with the amount of progress you see...

REVERSIONS: In this dumbest of all possible worlds...

MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2026

...an old war cry was employed: On balance, we're inclined to agree with what Jessica Tarlov said last Tuesday, on the day when the city and the state of New York conducted primary elections.

Mayor Mamdani had endorsed congressional candidates from three different congressional districts. Two were members of the DSA—the Democratic Socialists of America. The third was a former member of that organization.

That very day, each candidate won the Democratic Party's nomination to serve in the House. As a general matter, we're inclined to agree with what Tarlov said that day.

We now jump ahead to Wednesday—to the day after The Mamdani 3 won those nominations:

On Wednesday's episode of The Five, a segment began with videotape of the sitting president calling these candidates Communists. A full reversion was underway within the American discourse. 

The three nominees were Communists, the exercised president said. As the segment began on The Five, the chyron at the bottom of the screen said this:

COMMIE CRUSADERS
MAMDANI ENDORSES SOCIALIST CANDIDATES IN NYC PRIMARIES

Sad! According to producers of The Five, Mayor Mamdani had endorsed a trio of "Commie Crusaders." 

On balance, we agree with what Tarlov had said, the previous day, about the trio of Commies. First, though, you ought to see what Jesse Watters now said.  

On Wednesday's edition of The Five, Watters was plainly upset. Occasionally turning to address Tarlov, he started by saying this:  

WATTERS (6/24/26): This is dangerous. You don't think these people can springboard to become governor, senator, AG? This is how it happens. You guys run your little power centers in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York. All of a sudden, you guys just populated all the higher offices in those states. And you guys are just going to sit back and do nothing with that power? 

You're coming for us. You're coming for our money, you're coming for our people. You're coming for our way of life. 

It's not socialism, guys. This is Communism.

You can't reason with these guys. You have to crush them. And we will, because we're not going to let our greatest city get destroyed. We're not going to let our civilization get destroyed. These people are going to steal from us. These people want to hurt us. 

This isn't like your regular Democrat...One of the ladies said she wants to destroy western civilization. I don't know about you, I take that as a threat. Another woman says she wants to empty prisons. That sounds like a violent threat. 

Abolish ICE. That means you can break into the country, rape, and stay. 

I don't like that. I'm not going to go for it. And no one's going to go for it. And the way we're going to react is going to be a lot tougher than the way Trump is reacting. The way we're going to react is going to make Trump look like a kitten.   

To our ear, it was Watters' assessment—and his pledge—which sounded a bit like a threat! That said, the gentleman wasn't finished. He continued along, eventually saying this:  

WATTERS: These people don't believe in borders, capitalism, our founding fathers. They're here to steal, punish us, and then throw around welfare. This is a Third World takeover. This is what happens when you import the Third World. 

Did you know that New York City is 70% nonwhite? 40% foreign-born? 50% of the apartments, they don't even speak English! Not even their first language! 

These three women [sic] who Mamdani endorsed, weren't even born in New York City, weren't even raised in New York City. They're carpetbaggers. Carpetbaggers, Jessica! 

...Communism is going to take over the Democratic Party, and then we're going to have to beat it, because you can't—

 You can't do anything else besides beat it to a pulp.   

Watters was ready for a fight—for what sounded almost like a street fight. He said his cadre was going to make President Trump look like a kitten. 

He said his cadre was going to beat the Democratic Party to a pulp.

Meanwhile, Watters was, as usual, utterly clueless. He was so clueless that he seemed to think that Mamdani had endorsed three women for the House—and yes, that's what this cable star said. 

For the record, Watters is the most-watched person in American "cable news," thanks to his dual role as co-host of The Five and host of Jesse Watters Primetime. 

They're the two most watched shows in the entire realm of American "cable news." Watters is the driving force on each of these ludicrous programs.

Just to establish the record, we'll cite a few basic facts:  

One of the three nominees, Brad Lander, is, in fact, a man. As is perfectly typical, Watters didn't seem to be aware of this remarkably well-known fact.

Lander was elected to citywide office in New York—to the office of New York City Comptroller—back in 2021, long before Mamdani was part of the story.  Lander was raised in St. Louis. Of the two women Mamdani did endorse, one was raised in Lubbock, Texas. The other was raised in Florida.

We now move on to this:

As of last week, Watters seemed to be shocked to have recently learned that New York City isn't majority white.  For the record, these were the basic numbers in 2024, according to Census Reporter (Census QuickFacts is down):   

New York City race / ethnicity:   
White:  31%
Hispanic: 29%  
Black: 20% 
Asian: 15%

There's nothing especially new about that. Watters recited his disturbing data on several occasions last week.  

Meanwhile, Communist Communist Communist Communist Communist Communist Commies:

A familiar cry was bruited last week as the reversion was on. 

On Friday, President Trump droned about the problem at a Faith and Freedom Coalition event. For Mediaite's report, just click here. But here's part of what the president said about the godless trio in question:  

PRESIDENT TRUMP (6/26/26): As you saw with the Communists elected in New York City recently—they're Communists, they're not Social Democrats—they want to completely destroy the traditional American way of life...

It’s happening right now in New York and California. But you’ll start living in squalor. You’ll live in squalor. There will be no food. There will be no housing. There will be no military. There will be no law and order. There will be no nothing. There will be no nothing. You will be a third-world inhabitant in every way, and everyone will suffer or die. 

You’ll suffer or die. That’s what happens.

[...]

These are not Social Democrats. These are hardcore godless Communists. They’re godless Communists. 

All Communists are godless. They don’t believe in God. This is the most serious threat to our country since its existence, in my opinion, 250 years ago. This is a major threat to our country.  

People don’t look at that— "Three people were elected!" No, no. It's many more than three people. And the other people are being swayed because they don’t have the sense to see what’s happening.   

The nomination of the three candidates in New York City? It constitutes "the most serious threat" in this country's existence, the sitting president actually said.   

For the record, are these three nominees actually Communists? We'll discuss that matter as the week proceeds. For now, we'll offer an obvious no.   

That said, the old battle cry was widely bruited last week. For example, it was bruited by the most-watched person in "cable news" on Friday evening's edition of Jesse Watters Primetime. 

The most-watched person played tape of the president's dire warning at the Faith and Family event. He then launched a lengthy jihad of his own about the greatest threat in history, the threat posed by the three "godless Communists."   

We won't quote the various things our most-watched cable newsperson said. As a substitute, we'll start by offering a word count from that evening's opening segment:

Word count: Jesse Watters Primetime, 6/26/26
"Communist:" 24
"Communism:" 7
"Commie:" 5 

Sad! To borrow from Joyce, the C-words were general over the pseudo-discussion. 

And not only that! As this very strange fellow proceeded, some of the chyrons blared thusly:

Chyrons: Jesse Watters Primetime, 6/26/26
TRUMP DECLARES WAR ON COMMUNISM
COMMUNISTS INFILTRATE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
COMMIE PIRATE: HAKEEM IS WEAK
"HARDCORE, GODLESS COMMUNISTS"
DEM: "WE AGREE WITH COMMUNISTS"
COMMIE WAVE CRASHES INTO AMERICA   

You can add those six additional usages onto the prior word count! But a "Commie wave" had crashed into America! Sadly, that's what the chyrons said. 

Now for the rest of the story:   

Fellow citizens, is it true? Godless or otherwise, had Mamdani endorsed three "Communists" to serve in the House of Representatives?   

We'll examine that question as the week proceeds. Be prepared to encounter a "no."

Finally, what did Jessica Tarlov say, on Tuesday's edition of The Five, about the three "monsters" in question? (We're quoting Emily Compagno's choice of words on that same day's program. Inevitably, this star of stage and cable news scream also went with "psychopaths.")

What did Tarlov say about the three "psychopaths" in question? We'll show you that first thing tomorrow--but as a general matter, we'd be inclined to agree with what she said, especially about Darializa Avila Chevalier, one of the three nominees.

Communism Communists but also Commie Crusaders! In this, the dumbest of all possible worlds, an old battle cry was out.

That said, who was actually worse last week as the reversion began? The stars who clowned for Red America, or the stars over here in Blue America who averted their gaze once again?

Tomorrow: We wouldn't have chosen that word

SATURDAY: Trump never fails to say "Hussein!"

SATURDAY, JUNE 27, 2026

A tool pretends to explain: The meltdown came from various directions in the course of this past week. 

In one venue, the meltdown started with a set of video clips. The clips were aired at the start of a segment on Thursday's edition of The Five.  

As you know, The Five is the most-watched program in American "cable news." As you can see by clicking this link, the segment to which we refer started with these video clips:  

PRESIDENT TRUMP (6/22/26): Barack Hussein Obama. Have you ever heard of him?   

PRESIDENT TRUMP (6/4/26): Barack Hussein Obama. Have you heard of him?

PRESIDENT TRUMP (7/22/25): Barack Hussein Obama. Have you heard of him?

PRESIDENT TRUMP (1/27/26): Barack Hussein Obama. Have you—have you heard of him?   

The dates were included as the four clips played. The point of this otherwise pointless presentation was obvious.  

President Trump can't seem to stop talking about Barack Obama. During the segment in question, Jesse Watters was the first messaging agent to state his view about this situation. 

He quickly offered an explanation for President Trump's behavior:

WATTERS (6/25/26): Trump talks a lot. He says a lot of things. So yeah, he’s gonna mention Barack Hussein Obama. 

Part of that is just, he likes to say "Hussein."  

President Trump just likes to say "Hussein," this simpering man boy said!

Let's state what's blindingly obvious. There's a reason why the sitting president always includes the former president's middle name.  Also, everyone knows what that reason is. 

In reality, everyone knows why Trump always says "Hussein."  As Watters tried to move to his next point, Jessica Tarlov interrupted and asked an obvious question:

WATTERS (continuing directly): But the other part of it—

TARLOV:  Why does he like to say "Hussein?"

Why does he like to say "Hussein?" With that, the die had been cast.  

In the past, we've described the programming of the Fox News Channel as an assault on the very possibility of continuing the American project, such as that project has been.  The idiocy of Watters and his towel-snapping partner, Greg Gutfeld, is a major part of the frontal assault waged by this corporate entity.

What shape will that practiced idiocy take at a moment like this? Below, you see the way Watters responded to Tarlov's question:

WATTERS (continuing directly): Cause it’s funny that the president’s middle name was Hussein. You don’t think that’s hysterical?

TARLOV: No, I don’t. 

WATTERS: OK, OK! It was the name of the dictator—

TARLOV: I think it’s interesting in the context of saying that he’s a Muslim. Which is why he says it, so that people still think that he’s a Muslim.  

GUTFELD: It's so problematic.   

Stating the obvious, everyone knows that's why Trump keeps saying Obama's middle name. Everyone except the corporate tool Watters, who's paid fantastic sums, by the Murdoch empire, to recite the corporation's agitprop and to play the fool in this way.   

Jesse Watters stepped forward this day to play the fool again! In his view, why does President Trump keep saying "Hussein" whenever he mentions President Obama?   

According to the corporate messaging agent, President Trump likes to say "Hussein" just because it's funny! It's just funny that President Obama shares a name with Saddam Hussein, this simpering idiot said. 

Needless to say, that isn't what Watters actually thinks. Surprised by the rare interruption from Tarlov, he struggled to keep his practiced idiocy on the winning side of the street.   

We're sorry, but Barack Obama isn't a Muslim! (As everyone knows, millions of good, decent American citizens actually are.)  

Still, the sitting president wants to float that possibly scary suggestion. Everyone, including Watters, knows that's why the sitting president does what he constantly does.

Stating the obvious, Watters knows why President Trump does what he constantly does. He also knows that that is why the "news channel" which employs and scripts him opened that grisly segment with four ululations of "Hussein" by the sitting president.   

As Thursday's segment proceeded, Watters attempted to recover, in a way we won't describe. It ended with the little mutt Gutfeld extending his twice-daily practice of undermining the possibility of the American project, such as it has been:   

WATTERS: I don’t know what he is. I don’t care what he is. He’s probably an atheist.

TARLOV: You know what he is!

WATTERS: He is, I know. He’s retired.  

GUTFELD: No god-fearing person would eat a dog.  

That's what the second mutt said!   

Watters and Gutfeld are the two leading players at today's Fox News Channel. They co-host (and dominate) The Five, the nation's most-watched cable news program.  

Jesse Watters Primetime (8 p.m.) is the nation's second most-watched "cable news" show. Gutfeld!, which airs at 10 p.m. (that's 7 p.m. out on the coast), is #4 on the national list.  

Regarding Watters himself, let us briefly say this. It's amazing to see how far the clown-adjacent propagandist has fallen, distinguished ancestry-wise:

Jesse Watters   

Jesse Bailey Watters (born July 9, 1978) is an American conservative political commentator and television program host on the Fox News cable television network. He frequently appeared earlier in his media career on The O'Reilly Factor, the political talk show hosted by commentator/moderator Bill O'Reilly... 

[...] 

Watters was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is the son of Stephen Hapgood Watters, a teacher, and child psychologist Anne Purvis, daughter of Morton Bailey Jr., publisher of Better Homes and Gardens magazine. His maternal great-grandfather was another Morton Bailey, publisher of the prominent longtime magazine The Saturday Evening Post; his maternal great-great-grandfather was Morton Shelley Bailey (1855–1922), a lawyer, politician, state senator, and district judge in Colorado, later serving as an Associate Justice on the Colorado Supreme Court.

Watters' paternal grandfather, Franklin Benjamin Watters, was a cardiologist at the Veterans Administration Hospital at Newington, Connecticut, and a professor at the University of Connecticut Medical Dental School...

Watters has Irish ancestry on his father's side. Watters is named after his mother's great-grandfather, Jesse Andrew Burnett, an associate chief justice of the Kansas Supreme Court in their state capital of Topeka, Kansas. 

Reversion to (well below) the mean has taken place with remarkable speed within this particular family. The leading authority also includes a lengthy section concerning this peculiar fellow's peculiar views regarding the various ways boys and girls should correctly behave:   

Comments on masculinity

Watters criticized former President Joe Biden for licking ice cream in public as "a grown man." He has instructed men on how they should wave and belittled those who grocery shop with their wives. In September 2024, Jesse Watters was criticized for comments he made on The Five regarding Tim Walz, the Governor of Minnesota and a running mate of the US Presidential candidate Kamala Harris, who had shared a photo of himself drinking a milkshake with a paper straw. Watters mocked the image as an example of Walz's lack of masculinity because he used a straw, which he claimed made women not like Walz, because women like masculinity. He said that asking for a "vanilla shake" instead of a "vanilla ice cream shake" also makes men look weak...

In March 2025, Watters listed his "five rules for men" on The Five – don't be that serious, just be funny; don't eat soup in public; don't cross your legs; don't drink from a straw, and don't wave simultaneously with two hands because men wave with one hand, not both hands at the same time. He added that one of the reasons you don't drink from a straw is the way your lips purse, which is very effeminate... 

And on and on from there. Gender rules without end, amen. This idiocy never stops.

In fairness, full disclosure:

Sometimes, Watters seems to be lapsing into his "I'm just a silly dimwit" comedic persona when he makes these inane observations. On balance, though, we get the impression that he really believes this idiocy, which he routinely traffics.   

Returning to Thursday's segment:   

Everyone knows why President Trump never fails to say "Hussein." Also, everyone knows why the Fox News Channel opened Thursday's segment with those video clips.   

Like President Trump, the bosses believe their audience is dumb enough to be swayed by such messaging. We know of no sign that this belief is wrong. 

A downfall started in earnest this week. Starting on Monday, we'll be discussing that latest menacing assault on the American project.  

For today, one final point:   

Who is most at fault as this latest assault takes shape? Their names are legion, and their names are Blue. 

They're the overpaid stars who work for the New York Times, for MS NOW, and also for the Atlantic. They refuse to report or discuss the potent behavior which occurs on the Fox News Channel. 

Their own corporate checks are spending real good. To a man, to a woman, they have agreed to avert their gaze. They have agreed not to speak.

Also this: For a report on that segment by Mediaite, you can just click here.

RACE: The termagants say she's really a man!

FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2026

They slime the first lady—of France! Is the UFC's Josh Hokit a racist? 

Asking a slightly different question, was his pitiful statement on June 14 a racist act? 

We don't know much about Josh Holit. For that reason, we aren't sure how to answer your questions.  

Who the heck is this person, Josh Hokit? We direct you to these elements from the thumbnail account offered by the leading authority on the person in question:  

Josh Hokit   

Joshua Seth Hokit (born November 12, 1997) is an American professional mixed martial artist who currently competes in the Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He formerly competed in Bellator MMA. As of June 20, 2026, he is #5 in the Meta UFC heavyweight rankings.

Prior to competing in MMA, Hokit was an All-American wrestler, and played American football as a tight end and fullback in college football, at Fresno State. 

[...]  

Hokit has a history of controversial remarks during post-fight interviews, dating back to his tenure in Legacy Fighting Alliance (LFA). Following wins in LFA, Hokit made several controversial remarks, including labeling former first lady Michelle Obama "a man" and criticizing the participation of transgender women in sports, stating that they "belong" in the octagon with him "because you need to get your ass whooped."

This pattern continued following his TKO victory at UFC 324—the first UFC event to be streamed live on Paramount+—where Hokit responded to the idea of "losing in a fist fight" by stating, "N-word, please." During the same interview, he called out Waldo Cortes-Acosta, labeling him a "deadbeat father not to one kid, but to nine," and concluded by stating, "And P.S., Brittney Griner is a man."

The UFC 324 remarks drew laughter and cheers from the live crowd; post-fight interviewer Joe Rogan responded while laughing, "Brittney Griner catching strays. She doesn't deserve that." However, the interview was widely criticized by media outlets, and Dana White, CEO of the UFC, later expressed disapproval...

In a post-fight interview with Joe Rogan following Hokit's win at UFC Freedom 250, [Hokit] commented, "Now listen, Alex Pereira, I'm going to chama on your mama, and lastly, Michelle Obama is a man! Am I right, America?" Dana White later condemned the remarks.

Somehow, Rogan always seems to be on hand when this conduct occurs. Rogan, an influential podcaster, can be numbered among the many strange fruits which have emerged from the ongoing "democratization of media."   

At any rate, the leading authority thereby offers a first draft of history regarding Hokit's attitudes and behaviors. As a source, the authority links to an opinion piece by Brian Bell at the OutSports site:

Even UFC’s Dana White didn’t like Josh Hokit’s transphobia at ‘UFC 324.’

The UFC’s debut on Paramount+ Saturday night gave the MMA promotion’s new broadcasting partner a speedrun of the peaks and valleys inherent to the UFC experience.

“UFC 324” saw a major fight pulled due to injury, a prelim fight pulled due to betting irregularities, another prelim fight cancelled after a fighter collapsed after weigh-ins, an action-packed main event that saved a fairly lackluster main card, UFC CEO Dana White seemingly throw his injured heavyweight champion under the bus during the post-show presser and the emergence of the UFC’s latest up-and-comer who substitutes try-hard transphobia and racism for having a personality.

[...] 

Hokit the fighter put forth an exciting fighting style infused with a level of brashness that is like catnip to fight fans, capping things by giving Freeman the middle finger and walking away as the referee stopped the fight. It was just what the stagnant UFC heavyweight division needed: a younger, undefeated fighter with an edge in how he fights.

Then, Hokit threw all of that in the dumpster when Joe Rogan interviewed him after the fight.    

Bell continues from there. He accuses Hokit of racism, but Hokit also stands accused of a second form of bigotry. Right there in the headline atop this piece, he stands accused of transphobia. 

Full disclosure:  

At this site, we discussed Hokit's pitiful conduct on the White House lawn the next day, on Monday, June 15. For whatever reason, Nicolle Wallace skipped the topic in her two-hour Deadline: White House program that day.   

On Tuesday, June 16, Wallace discussed the UFC event with Maya Wiley and two other guests on Deadline. By then, it was clear that a consensus interpretation was forming within elite Blue America—a consensus which held that Hokit's behavior that night was an example of racism.   

We're prepared to admit that we were surprised to see that consensus take shape. If memory serves, that interpretation hadn't occurred to us until we saw it emerge.

That interpretation hadn't occurred to us. In large part, that's because we try to monitor the primetime, "cable news" Gutfeld! program on a regular basis.  Also, because we have a passing acquaintance with the lunacy of the MAGA underworld, as chronicled in this news report from last December:

‘Brigitte Macron Does NOT Have a Penis!’ Piers Morgan Gets Heated With Candace Owens Over Claim French First Lady ‘Pees Standing Up’   

Piers Morgan became heated with Candace Owens during an interview on Wednesday after Owens insisted that French First Lady Brigitte Macron was secretly a man with a penis who “pees standing up.”

After Morgan accused his guest of “weaponizing deliberate lies for money,” Owens claimed, “Brigitte Macron has a penis. I really want you to know that, Piers.”

“No, Brigitte Macron does not have a penis!” shouted Morgan.  

“Brigitte Macron has a penis. I’m sorry,” replied Owens.

Sad.

Pathetically, the discussion continued from there. Owens, a high-profile player, is also numbered among the strange fruits of the democratization of media.

If you watch the (heavily watched) Gutfeld! show, you know that the termagant host of that transgressive program routinely traffics in insinuations to this effect:   

Michelle Obama is secretly a man, and Barack Obama is gay.   

That said, you've also seen him trash the AFT's Randi Weingarten as a man with a great deal of frequency. It's one of the many plays in his long list of standard insults

Beyond that, you may have been watching on the night when the Fox News kingpin and his guests devoted an entire segment to Candace Owens's insistence that Mme. Macron is a man. In short, you're aware of the fact that, within the MAGA universe, a great many people, Hokit apparently included, are deeply invested in cries and whispers about the existence of people who are transgender. 

(In fairness to that Gutfeld! panel, they explicitly decided that night that Owens is mentally ill.) 

Within this flailing universe, the French first lady is said to be a man. So is our own (very popular) former first lady.   

In the disordered halls of the Gutfeld! show, Weingarten is also a man. Two of these women are white. One of these women is Black.   

In our view, the disorder displayed on the Gutfeld! program is relentless and never-ending. It's astounding to see Blue America's journalistic elites refuse to report the highly unusual conduct which is the lifeblood of this influential "cable news" program.

We try to stay away from standard verbal bombs at this site, but any sane person could see that the very strange host of this disordered program seems to be misogyny-adjacent.  As with much of incel and manosphere culture, an undisguised contempt for women seems to animate his show.

That said, there's nothing which seems to disturb the show's host more than the idea that transgender people really exist. 

At this site, we rarely see the host behave in ways which suggest a racist orientation. His contempt for women is unmistakable—but more than anything else, he's enraged by current Blue American views concerning transgender issues.  

We're saddened by the strange behavior of this furious, 61-year-old man. But largely because we monitor his show, it had never occurred to us that his persistent jibes at Michelle and Barack Obama should be regarded as racist: 

To appearances, it's contemporary gender issues which trigger the ugly fury to which he gives voice each night. He suggests that a lot of people are gay, and that several women are men.

After Hokit's stupid performance, the power elite in Blue America turned to "racism" as its instant interpretation. Provisionally, we think of what Shakespeare once jotted:  

 There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

We also think of the somewhat younger Dylan, on one of the albums where major parts of his earlier attitude had plainly seemed to darken. We don't recommend the contempt which was voiced in this song, but we do recommend the larger suggestion:   

Ballad of a Thin Man

[...]   

You’ve been with the professors
And they’ve all liked your looks
With great lawyers you have
Discussed lepers and crooks
You’ve been through all of
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s books
You’re very well read, it’s well known

But something is happening here
And you don’t know what it is 
Do you, Mr. Jones? 

We don't recommend the fury. We do recommend the idea that lurks all through that song.

Is it possible? Is something happening in MAGA America that our Blue elites don't understand? Do they fail to understand what's happening here because they haven't been willing to pay attention to what's actually goin' on?

We'd say that's a real possibility, and we'd say it's politically dangerous.  

When Hokit staged his pathetic performance, Blue elites turned to racism as the explanation. Is it possible that we're enabling our own tribal demise when we insist on familiar themes which may no longer capture what's happening?   

In our view, we Blues were possibly failing to keep up with the times when we insisted on the "racism" explanation. We've had a similar reaction to the way official Blue America has reacted to those recent Supreme Court decisions about congressional districting procedures.

Next week, we'll return to those decisions. In closing today, we'll say this:  

In his final interviews, the late Barney Frank seemed to suggest that Blue America has moved in ways which haven't been politically wise concerning transgender issues—in ways which the larger society wasn't prepared to understand or accept.

Transgender panic—transgender loathing—lies at the heart of a great deal of MAGA fury. So does "masculinism," the latest form of pushback against modern feminism.

Is there something happening here which Blue elites may not understand? And when we fall back on familiar theories which may not be accurate, is it true that thousands of wavering MAGA adherents decide to hang onto their wings?