FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2026
But first, the sitting misogynist: We're sorry to say that we agree with Sam Stein—with what he said in the first hour of today's Morning Joe.
He said he isn't completely sure that the astonishing campaign ad in Ohio isn't going to work. Given the money being thrown in behind it, he said it's possible that Vivek Ramaswamy's gruesome ad could actually help him win.
We're sorry to say that we agree with that provisional assessment. If we were betting, we'd bet that Candidate Acton will be elected governor of Ohio on November 3. But we also think that the force field of the moral squalor of this age may turn out to be quite hard to escape—harder than many pundits are currently imagining.
Last night, we saw a brilliant cable news segment—the 21-minute opening segment of The Briefing with Jen Psaki on MS NOW. Psaki spoke with Jennifer Siebel Newsom about the source of so much of that furious moral squalor—the throwback feelings about gender and sexuality which are currently driving so much of the MAGA right.
We'll link you to that segment below. First, here's Michelle Goldberg's summary of the basic facts concerning the gruesome campaign ad which is now being pimped by the sitting American president:
The Meaning of the Republican War Over Ramaswamy’s Vile Ad
[...]
As you might know by now, the story behind Ramaswamy’s ad involves child sexual abuse. His Democratic opponent, Amy Acton, was 12 when her stepfather, Cledith Arthur, known as Bud, was arrested and indicted on charges of raping her, though he skipped town before he could be tried. Acton’s mother, Donna Arthur, stood by him and lost custody of her children; she never saw her daughter again. (Bud Arthur died in 2004.)
In 2020, when Acton was serving as Ohio’s health director, Donna Arthur, fashioning herself as a concerned Christian, gave an interview to the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue attacking her estranged daughter. It was deeply if unintentionally self-incriminating. Arthur speculated that Acton got the idea to say Bud Arthur raped her from his daughter from a previous marriage, who’d made a similar claim. By Donna Arthur’s own account, then, she brought a man accused of sexually abusing his child into her children’s home.
Now Ramaswamy’s campaign has dug up this elderly woman to make a video calling her daughter a liar who can’t be trusted to lead the state...
Goldberg continues from there, as does the horror show of Ramaswamy's behavior. Yesterday, along came the sitting president to offer an endless Truth Social post. In it, he presents what has become the official MAGA Storyline:
Official (Braindead) Storyline:
Acton's mother has called her a liar. Ramaswamy had the courage to state that important fact.
Yes, that's what the president actually said. With apologies, here's the latest fruit of his ongoing madness, offered to you in full:
Truth Details
Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
Vivek Ramaswamy put up a very powerful Ad about a mother saying that her daughter, Amy Acton, who is running for Governor of Ohio, is a liar, and much worse. The Press, in a concerted and well coordinated attack, is trying to get Vivek Ramaswamy to “take down the Ad.” Frankly, anybody whose mother spoke about a daughter in that way would normally lead to the daughter being precluded from serving in Office, let alone the Office of Governor. If my mother, the legendary Mary MacLeod Trump, said anything bad about me, the Fake News would play it up. The Dumocrats would be totally supportive, and it would go down as the Ad of the Decade—Maybe the Century! It would win Awards for Excellence in Advertising. But, because Vivek, who will be a GREAT Governor, put it out, the “Artificial” News has teamed up against him in order to damage, demean, and embarrass a Republican who is leading in the Polls. Our RINO Governor of Ohio, Mike DeWine, who I unfortunately helped get elected years ago, when he was losing by 16 points prior to my doing a Rally for him was, as usual, disloyal to the Republican Party. He strongly suggested that Vivek should, “take down the Ad.” He probably wants a Dumocrat to win, and certainly doesn’t want someone who will do a much better job than he is capable of doing. I suggested, on the other hand, that Vivek should keep it up, and let everyone listen to the mother of a defective, dishonest, and incapable Candidate, explain how the daughter is a DISASTER who, uncontrollably, lies, cheats, and steals! I only wish the mothers of my opponents would be so brave as to come forward and explain that their son or daughter is a liar, and much worse. That took a lot of courage to do but, essentially, what she was really doing was saving Ohio from making a truly horrible choice! The Press is trying to convince everyone that this Ad is bad, because it’s so good! Who wouldn’t use such an Ad? I would, it’s called, “hitting pay dirt.” The fact is, Lyin’ Amy Acton, who I’ve never even heard of before, has been lying about Vivek for the entire Campaign. I know the real Vivek, he is a brilliant and outstanding person who will cut Taxes, stop Crime and, MAKE OHIO GREAT AGAIN. He will be a fantastic Governor! President DONALD J. TRUMP
Oct 22, 2026, 2:38 PM
That lunacy is the fruit of the sitting president's "untreated psychiatric disorders, which are only going to worsen." We're quoting his niece, Mary L. Trump, Ph.D., with the key word being "untreated."
That key word points to a personal tragedy, but one which is very dangerous.
(As we've endlessly noted, Blue America's leading journalists and top academics, to a man and to a woman, have refused to discuss this dangerous state of affairs. Stating the obvious, the people we Blues have been taught to trust have all taken a dive on what is sitting right there before us. For ourselves, we began to notice this overriding lack of quality during our freshman year at Harvard.)
Trump and Vance, and others inside TrumpWorld, will be doubling down on that Madhouse Storyline. We don't think there will be any type of easy path back out of the crazy world this sitting president has brought us.
Much of that madness stems from matters of gender—emerges from the fury put on display by furious, disordered men who loathe the people they think of as women. Last night, Psaki interviewed Siebel Newsom, a film-maker who doubles as first lady of California (officially now as "first partner").
In our view, it was one of the most instructive conversations we've ever seen on cable TV. We expect to discuss it more next week, but the basic background runs like this, or so says The Hollywood Reporter:
Jennifer Siebel Newsom Thinks It’s Time Tech Leaders Faced Accountability...
A lot has changed since 2011. The urgency of talking about the way women are represented in media, unfortunately, has not, according to Jennifer Siebel Newsom.
The documentary filmmaker and the current First Partner of California initially tackled the subject of media’s impact on the underrepresentation of women in positions of power in her 2011 documentary Miss Representation. Around 15 years later, she’s returning with a follow-up, Miss Representation: Rise Up, which chronicles how social-media platforms and AI tools are undercutting women and girls, enabling harassment and supercharging misogyny.
Like its predecessor, the film, which premieres in New York theaters on Thursday, with more screenings to come, enlists a series of high-powered female interviewees to make its point. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Amy Klobuchar, Jameela Jamil and Gretchen Carlson all make appearances. They show up in between footage showing young students speaking about the way social media has impacted them (“It makes me feel like, what is wrong with me?” asks one) and showing female candidates describing online abuse and harassment in political races...
And on and on and on and on, tracking back to the Rage of Achilles at the dawn of western literature.
In our view, Psaki and Siebel Newsom created a brilliant discussion last night about the harm done to girls and your women, but also to boys and young men, by that supercharging of misogyny.
The monster Gutfeld was looking on, along with Watters and an assortment of tools.
We'll report on Psaki's segment next week. If you want to watch it today, you can start by clicking here.
Psaki does an opening chunk. Siebel Newsom's film comes on here.
Tomorrow: Briefly and quickly, The Five, including Jessica Tarlov
