DIAGNOSIS: Peter Baker's coloring book!

TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 2026

Watters whips it out: It may be time to seek a diagnosis for our failing society as a whole. We'll start with something from yesterday—something we didn't see in real time. 

In a rare act of self-indulgence, we skipped yesterday's edition of The Five, this nation's most-watched "cable news" program. 

Yesterday, as the program began, occasional co-host Harold Ford sat in the Jessica Tarlov chair. Also, comedian Tom Shillue sat in the chair of regular co-host Greg Gutfeld. 

There would be little point in watching, we incorrectly mused. At any rate, the line-up this day went exactly like this: 

The Five: Monday, April 13, 2026 
Emily Compagno: co-host, Outnumbered
Harold Ford Jr.: former congressman 
Jesse Watters: anchor, Jesse Watters Primetime
Dana Perino: co-host, America's Newsroom
Tom Shillue: comedian; occasional guest, Gutfeld!  

There would be nothing to see there, we surmised. But that assessment was wrong.  

In the program's second segment, the panel discussed Rep. Swalwell's announcement that he would be dropping his gubernatorial bid. 

There was no reason why they shouldn't have been discussing, or at least pretending to discuss, this significant topic. But when moderator Dana Perino threw to Watters, the most-watched star in the Fox News Channel firmament offered these typical comments:

WATTERS (4/13/26): It's a "He said, she said," Dana. And then I read a lot more, and it's like a "He said, she said, she said, she said, she said, she said." Because there are a lo-o-ot of women coming forward here, and it's not all pretty.  

One of the allegations was that he sucked on a girl's toes, OK? I just want to say, I mean, guys—do not do that? Ever? OK? 

And also, don't just whip it out!  

Allegedly, he was just whipping it out—in a car, In broad daylight. In front of the intern. 

[Covers his eyes in horror]

Like, that's not the moment you do it! It has to be done in the moment of maybe some passion. 

PERINO: Never with an intern! 

WATTERS (laughing): Never with an intern! 

PERINO: [Rolls her eyes, smirks at the camera]  

WATTERS: And also, sending cock-a doodle pics...  

As you can see by clicking the link, the superstar halfwit continued from there, at significant length. He did so on the American nation's most-watched "cable news" program, as four co-hosts gazed on.

 We aren't going to try explain the problems with Watters' extended advice to the fellas. We'll only say this:

Each evening. on the10 p.m. Gutfeld! show, the presentations tend to get dumber and substantially uglier.  

Question One:

Is something wrong with a Red American nation which has made idiocy of this familiar kind the heart and soul of primetime "cable news" coverage?

We'd have to say that there is! But then, we turn to this:

Question Two:

Is something wrong with a Blue America whose journalistic elites refuse to report or discuss the ugliness and the sheer inanity of the Fox News Channel's broadcasts?

Again, we're forced to say that there is! Something is badly wrong with the moral and intellectual profile of our own Blue elites.

With respect to those elites, we call your attention to the lengthy piece by Peter Baker which appears in today's New York Times. 

In print editions, it appears above the fold on the paper's front page. Online, Baker's piece appears under this intriguing dual headline:

Trump’s Erratic Behavior and Extreme Comments Revive Mental Health Debate
As the president threatens to wipe out Iran and attacks the pope, even some former allies and advisers are questioning whether he has grown increasingly unbalanced, describing him as “lunatic” and “clearly insane.”

On its face, that may seem like the very sort of analysis piece we've been repeatedly requesting. But in its actual execution, the essay strikes us as the latest bit of coloring inside the lines from Baker's front page coloring book.

We're embarrassed for Baker today. Also, we're embarrassed for the bulk of what the furious Lawrence O'Donnell said about this piece on last Evening's The Last Word.

At this site, we've been asking a very important question for perhaps a hundred years:

Is something wrong with President Trump? More specifically is something wrong with his mental health in a way which is actively dangerous and which is likely to get even worse?

If the president is so afflicted, that is of course a human tragedy. It's also a very dangerous state of affairs—a state of affairs which should be explored through interviews with (carefully selected) medical specialists.

That's what Baker (and his editors) are still refusing to do! Regarding the unhelpfully furious O'Donnell, the less said today the better.

We'll examine Baker's essay tomorrow. For today, our diagnosis stands uncharged:

We human beings simply aren't built for this line of work! Our elites are never going to attempt to tackle this crucial task.

They won't report and they won't discuss what happens on the Fox News Channel. Also, they won't speak to medical specialists about the deeply strange behavior of the world's most powerful man.

Our cautious elites will never do that! Dearest darlings, use your heads! Such things simply aren't done!

Tomorrow: The term "mentally ill" has been uttered for the first time!

DIAGNOSIS: There the president goes again!

MONDAY, APRIL 13, 2026

Nothing to look at, Smerconish says: "And so it did happen like it could have been foreseen..."  

With apologies, we're quoting from the early Bob Dylan. That said:

What we awoke to this morning was this report from Mediaite. We apologize for that site's devotion to eye-catching language in the apparent search for clicks:  

Trump Goes On a Jaw-Dropping Tirade Against Pope Leo: ‘I Don’t Want a Pope Who Criticizes the President of the United States!’

President Donald Trump went absolutely scorched earth on Pope Leo XIV in a Sunday night social media post, slamming the pontiff for his recent criticism of the Iran war and on a number of topics spanning from crime to COVID-19.

Trump—in a lengthy post on Truth Social—told the pope he’s had enough of his denunciations.

The president said Pope Leo had “terrible” thoughts on foreign policy and was “WEAK” on both crime and nuclear weapons. He also took credit for the Chicago-born pope becoming the first American pontiff last year.  

The report continues from there. As could have been foreseen, the president now made his apparent state of disorder extremely hard to miss:  

Trump Posts Jesus-Like Picture of Himself Performing Miracle on Sick Man, Minutes After Ramping Up Feud With Pope Leo

President Donald Trump posted an AI-generated image of himself seemingly in the role of Jesus Christ on Sunday night, complete with the robe-donning president reinvigorating a sick man with his healing hand while a nurse looked on and an American Eagle soared above.

The bizarre—and some would probably argue sacrilegious—post was made about 40 minutes after the president went off on Pope Leo XIV in a blistering social media rant. More on that below.

Trump’s picture had a lot going on in it. Beyond the aforementioned details, a praying woman and a man wearing what looks to be some sort of ICE uniform look on pensively as Trump works his miracle.   

The president’s hand is lit up in a holy manner, and behind him is the American flag and the Statue of Liberty; fighter jets and what appears to be soldiers who have become angels are also seen above Trump; an American soldier is also seen watching Trump as he cures the man in a hospital bed.

And so on, bizarrely, from there. 

We Americans have been exposed to this type of apparent madness again and again and again. That said, we've also been exposed to the madness displayed, in the most recent instance, by CNN's Michael Smerconish. 

Mediaite reports: 

CNN’s Smerconish Hits at Remove Trump Crowd in Lengthy Defense: ‘Madness IS the Method’

CNN host Michael Smerconish defended President Donald Trump against those calling for his removal from office via the 25th Amendment, arguing Trump’s critics don’t understand he plays the “madman card in public” to keep foreign enemies on their toes, when in reality he is making rational decisions behind closed doors. 

Smerconish made his case on the latest episode of his namesake show on Saturday. 

You'll have to read the full report yourself. That said:

The president isn't really "a madman," Smerconish insisted. According to Smerconish, the president has merely been playing "a madman" on Truth Social, and on TV.

For the record, Smerconish is perfectly intelligent. He has tended to cast himself in the role of "sensible centrist" throughout a lengthy career.  

Routinely, his work has been perfectly sensible. But in this latest attempt to deny the possibility of what seems to be sitting right there before him, Smerconish has taken the mainstream press by the scruff of the neck and has dragged it with him over the edge of the world.  

Last week, as we struggled with our own recent malady out of the blue (These pharmaceuticals today!), we highlighted some obvious questions concerning President Trump's recent very strange Truth Social posts. 

As you will recall, The New Yorker's David Remnick asked this question about the president's spate of posts concerning Iran: 

Who talks like that? 

It was an obvious question, with a blindingly obvious possible answer. At the same time, Megyn Kelly had asked such questions as these:

Can’t he just behave like a normal human? What does that say about him?  

Once again, those were excellent questions. One possible answer is obvious—but people like Remnick, Kelly and Smerconish have sworn a blood oath, within the guild, that they will never consider it. 

In this way, the madness of the sitting president meets the madness of the upper-end press corps (and the broader commentariat). But, cast in the role of a modern Cassandra, the president's niece, a doctorate-holding clinical therapist, had recently offered a pair of possible answers to those obvious questions:

ERIN BURNETT (2/26/26): You've known him your whole life. Do you actually see a [cognitive] decline?

MARY L. TRUMP: I do, but I think it's important to remember that Donald has never been fit in any capacity. Obviously, what we're dealing with now are age-related cognitive declines. We're dealing with physical issues that the White House tries to cover over.

But this is somebody who for decades now has had serious, undiagnosed and untreated psychiatric disorders, which are only going to worsen, especially given the pressure he's under and given the cognitive and physical declines.  

Who talks like that, Remnick had asked. Mary Trump offered two possible answers: 

1) A person afflicted by an obvious cognitive decline.  
2) A person afflicted by an obvious cognitive decline layered atop decades of "serious, undiagnosed and untreated psychiatric disorders." 

Her uncle is "mentally ill," the president's niece had plainly said. If we believe in modern medical science that's an obvious possible answer to the questions which were later asked. 

That said, madmen like Remnick, Kelly and Smerconish have sworn an oath to the gods. They've sworn that question of "mental illness"—even of something as common as "age-related cognitive decline"—must never be raised with respect to someone like President Trump, who is now attacking the pope and portraying himself as a version of Jesus Christ.  

This is madness encountering madness. We'll explore this moral and intellectual disaster all this week.

At this site, we're struggling to return to full functioning in the wake of last week's walk on the wild side. 

That said, Mary Trump has offered a clearcut medical diagnosis with respect to her famous uncle. In part, she has diagnosed some form of "mental illness"—but what kind of diagnosis is that?

SATURDAY: We hope to hit the ground running...

 SATURDAY, APRIL 11, 2026

...after the world lost a week: We hit the ground running, admittedly at a rather slow speed, after yesterday's medical summit.

Results from the summit were several: 

One pharmaceutical was kicked to the curb. Another was replaced by a substitute. We returned to our sprawling campus, fell into a deep sleep.

These pharmaceuticals today! At any rate, "Doc" assured us we'd be back on track—and our current reports will (we hope) resume on Monday morning.

Where we left off:

"Who talks like that," David Remnick had said, speaking to Jen Psaki. For the sake of clarity, we'll highlight that excellent question:

Who talks like that?

Also, Megyn Kelly has asked several similar questions, including these:

Can’t he just behave like a normal human? What does that say about him?

One possible answer to all those questions is stunningly obvious. The fact that no one knows how to provide it—or the fact that no one is willing to do so—is anthropology all the way down concerning our bodies, ourselves.

One possible answer is blindingly obvious. With a bit of luck, we'll return to this topic at the start of the week. 

Almost surely, the president isn't "a normal human." But what's the excuse, or the explanation, for the conduct of everyone else?