WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2024
Aging Fox star proves the point: It's been a while since we looked in on the moral progress of the aging star who sits at the helm of the Fox News Channel's primetime Gutfeld! program.
That star grew up in a sunny land. Last week, he turned 60.
Having reached the age of majority, would he begin to show moral growth? Inquiring minds wanted to know!
Last night, he was accompanied by a standard type of panel—one former professional wrestler, a pair of flyweight D-List comedians, plus consultant Erin Perrine, who ought to know much better.
The first two panel discussions achieved unparalleled levels of intellectual cluelessness—but we thought you might want to check in on the cable star's sexual politics.
Simply put, this pilgrim is showing no progress. As he typically does, he opened his "cable news" program with a few minutes of jokes.
He started with an evergreen sally about President Biden's state of near-death, but by 10:01 he had moved on to this world-class throwback groaner:
GUTFELD (9/17/24): An investigation into the immigrant crisis in Springfield, Ohio reveals that auto accidents have increased fourfold.
I didn't know the Haitians were all women.
ANNOUNCER: A sexist would saaaaaayyy.
For now, try to ignore the factual claim, which we'll fact-check below. Just try to believe that a cable star is still so braindead that he goes on TV offering jokes which turn on the theme that women simply can't drive their cars as well as we strong muscled men.
He turned to that joke at 10:01. That announcer's hook—A sexist would saaaaaayyy!—is part of the pitiful infrastructure of this braindead "cable news" program.
The Incel emitted that joke at 10:01. His next joke went like this:
GUTFELD: RFK Junior is being investigated for allegedly cutting off the head of a whale carcass twenty years ago.
But it appears Joy Behar is doing fine.
[LAUGHTER, APPLAUSE]
(Scoldingly) You people!
Comparisons of Behar to cows or elephants or whales are a constant theme with the undergrown child. At 10:02, he moved ahead to this:
GUTFELD: Hillary Clinton's fourth memoir is coming out today. There are as many accounts of her life as there are of Christ's.
The similarities end there. Jesus brought a dead man back to life, and Hillary brought a live man to a prison and had him hung.
[PHOTOS OF CLINTON, JEFFREY EPSTEIN]
[APPLAUSE]
(That was part of the ongoing campaign in which the aging star advances the notion that Jeffrey Epstein was actually murdered by Hillary Clinton.)
Right after that, at 10:02, the cable star offered his final joke. His final joke went like this:
GUTFELD: And on MSNBC, Hillary Clinton called Donald Trump a danger to our country.
Meanwhile, men are calling Hillary a danger to their boners.
Believe it or not, the sheer stupidity of the ensuing discussions exceeded the stupidity—and the astonishing tastelessness—of this little guy's humor selection. Even so, he had again displayed the "Incel chic" for which his program has become famous.
So you'll know, he quickly threw in an additional comment establishing the eternal claim that all the women of The View are just way too fat. That crowd-pleasing theme goes on and on, night after night after night.
At 10:21, he kicked off a pseudo-discussion of Hillary Clinton's recent comments about Candidate Trump. As he did, he referred to Clinton as "that broad with the kankles."
(That was a reference to a long-standing Limbaugh claim according to which the former senator's ankles were way too fat.)
That pseudo-discussion turned on a bogus impression produced by some bogus editing. Thanks to the bogus edit, the aging star conveyed the impression that Clinton has proposed imprisoning people (implicitly, political opponents) for acts of misinformation.
Having established that phony premise, the aging star threw this in:
GUTFELD: Being jailed for misinformation! Well, I guess that means that Bill Clinton will never call you pretty!
As you can see, it routinely goes well beyond pitiful with this 60-year-old man. For the record, four flyweights—two of whom identify as women—sat around watching this pathetic yet standard display.
Concerning the claims about auto accidents in Springfield, it's based on a news report in the New York Post. That news report actually says that injuries in auto accidents for the entire county have increased by fourteen percent.
The "fourfold" figure involves a jump in deaths in auto accidents (countywide) from two in 2022 to a total of eight last year. You can, of course, refer to that a fourfold increase, but it's built on an N which is basically meaningless.
(The Post report specifically notes that it isn't known if Haitian drivers were involved in these accidents. Translation: The aging star is even slipperier than reports in the New York Post!)
How did this famously motherless child ever get this way? As we often note, he grew up in a bright, sunny land.
This can is opened, in primetime, on the Fox News Channel each night. It's an endless cancer on the society, and nobody says a word.
Somerby is raging!
ReplyDeleteHe laughably thinks that if he details all the lurid rhetoric of Gutfeld, that'll, you know, show 'em, that'll get Dems' goat.
Sure, sure, Somerby.
Rage on!
Wouldn't it be more likely to get the GOP's goat than the Dems?
DeleteBeen real quiet around here since the DOJ investigation/indictments into Russian/Putin meddling in our elections this year.
ReplyDeleteThe Volga from our dacha was especially beautiful this year.
DeleteDon't worry. Republican voters will get behind Gutfield as soon as one of Trump's proteges finally takes him out.
ReplyDeleteDiC - The Fed's 50 basis point cut today tells us that inflation is no longer the Fed's primary worry.
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely right, DG. The question remaining is whether the Fed turns out to be right. We'll see what inflation does over the next year.
DeleteWhat is clear is that the GOP will do anything, including shutting down the government, to sabotage the economy on Trump's behalf.
DeleteNot to be missed:
Delete‘Sheer insanity’: Chris Hayes slams Trump for not understanding his own economic plan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-rNxvt0TcQ
I’m never sure how the Gutfeld! comics are D-List when they have started to beat Colbert in the ratings. Do they make less money than the comics on Comedy Central shows?
ReplyDeleteI get that there are mediocre actors who have made more money than award winning ones, but “D-List” is not a good description of those actors or the Gutfeld crew. “Not Talented In the Eyes of All the DemocraticPeople” would be a more accurate description.
'D List' works for me.
DeleteAnd the rest of the alphabet.
Delete"Standard issue Right-wing douchebags" also works.
DeleteBob refers to "a bogus impression that Clinton has proposed imprisoning people (implicitly, political opponents) for acts of misinformation." Is it really bogus?
ReplyDeleteYou can listen to Hillary making this very claim in first 30 seconds at the link below. Do you believe Bob or you lying ears?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2yL8IC1zic&ab_channel=ReasonTV
Whenever I see video edited that closely and presented on an obscure webcast in an inflammatory way, my skepticism is aroused.
DeleteHere is the full video of Ms. Clinton speaking on the Maddow show.
The webcasters from Reason strip the video clip of important context and frame it in a misleading way. The host leads into the video by asking if Hillary Clinton "wants to put YOU" behind bars. This is an accurate framing--IF he is addressing Americans who are participating in wide-ranging, paid cooperation with Russian propagandists seeking to disrupt American elections.
Thanks for the complete video, Quaker. It sounds like she's contemplating jail only for Americans who are secretly working with Russia or other foreign countries. But her language was imprecise enough that one might interpret her to be contemplating jail for Americans who make comments similar to what the Russians are saying. Of course, that would be a violation of Freedom of Speech.
DeleteAnyhow, again I thank you again for the more complete video.
Your Emily Litella impression got old a long time ago, DIC. You refuse to learn. Only one thing: the pertinent statement by Clinton in the unaltered video linked by QIB begins at 6 minutes in and there is absolutely nothing in her commentary that a normal person would misconstrue as proposing the violation of freedom of speech. There is nothing whatsoever imprecise in her language, which specifically suggests criminally charging internet influencers peddling Russian propaganda for money (in order to influence elections). This is the third consecutive federal election cycle in which the Russians have had their hands in our election in attempts go get Trump elected. By frequenting right wing websites that alter video imaging DIC presents himself as an easy target.
DeleteWhy would we threaten to jail American on the payroll of Russia? Are we at war with Russia?
DeleteWhat should happen in the case of these hired hands is that the American media collects enough evidence to conclusively prove that these talking heads are on the payroll of Russia, Israel, Iran, UKraine, etc and informs the public. Organizations (including the media) decide whether to give them a voice via their print and airwaves.
That would, obviously, depend on what they were doing for Russia. But obviously, you gave up on the U.S. long ago and long to live in Trumplandia.
Delete"But her language was imprecise enough that one might interpret her to be contemplating jail for Americans who make comments similar to what the Russians are saying."
DeleteIf you take away the context, yes. Context matters.
Acting as an unregistered agent for a foreign government violates laws currently on the books. Ms. Clinton was not proposing new laws nor was she suggesting anything in violation of current laws or the Constitution
DeleteThe hosts on the webcast snipped the video clip to make it appear as if she was suggesting a broad curtailing of freedom of speech. She wasn't. They used that edited video as a jumping off point to promote their own guesses about the motivations of Hillary and Democrats and liberals more generally. Of course, their guesses assumed the very worst.
"But her language was imprecise enough that one might interpret her to be contemplating jail for Americans who make comments similar to what the Russians are saying. Of course, that would be a violation of Freedom of Speech."
DeleteIf true, then Tenet Media has an ironclad case against the Department of Justice. I'll be watching to see if that's the defense they use.
Shortest: "Bob refers to 'a bogus impression that Clinton has proposed imprisoning people (implicitly, political opponents) for acts of misinformation.' Is it really bogus?"
DeleteYes, it is bogus.
2:15 Sorry dear, but being on the payroll of another country spewing propaganda to affect the outcome of an election, without publicly acknowledging that relationship- that of being an agent for that country- is a crime. Failing to register as a foreign agent and failure to report income from a foreign country are both criminal activities.
Delete“Organizations (including the media) decide whether to give them a voice via their print and airwaves”
DeleteThat is middle school level naive. You might want to get on the horn with Elon Musk about how that works in the real world.
We are in the midst of an intense information war. Many of us don't realize how much misinformation and disinformation we encounter daily. There's even disinformation about disinformation, creating an endless cycle.
DeleteNone of us can do anything about the power that controls us. As a result, we treat issues of power like a sport. We turn to media platforms to amplify our side, reinforcing distinctions by encouraging quick, reactionary takes that reward divisive, emotionally charged content. This drives people to adopt increasingly rigid stances aligned with their chosen "team." Rarely do we take the time to confront opposing ideas and recognize that everyone is both right and wrong to some extent, which could lead to a more nuanced understanding of the issues.
It's easier to embrace a belief system that fits neatly into a specific camp than to challenge ourselves to think dialectically. This requires holding multiple, sometimes contradictory, ideas in tension—a mental discipline that many avoid when it becomes too difficult or uncomfortable. It's far easier to consume reinforcing misinformation, as it satisfies our need for belonging and our emotional desire to "win" or provoke others. Ultimately, this stems from our lack of power to influence the issues being discussed.
The systems of power that control our world are aware of these emotional needs and constantly fuel the misinformation cycle, playing into our desires for validation, belonging, and emotional gratification. They want us to remain trapped in this reactive state, distracted from meaningful change, and dependent on the very systems that manipulate us. This has been their goal from the beginning. Divide and conquer with misinformation.
I do not agree that most people accept whole hog whatever is presented to them, if it is emotionally satisfying. We also have traditions and beliefs, ideals, a personal morality, a social context that includes family and community with values and shared knowledge, which guide how we react to the information we encounter. And we have the ability to compare and contrast, look for internal consistency, evaluate the source, and other cognitive processes we apply to understand information. So, this is not as straightforward a case of "manipulation" as you propose, for anyone human. Manipulation works best when people are not paying attention, not actively thinking. But we are not puppets.
DeleteSo Clinton wasn't threatening to imprison Republican voters, but rather Republican Congresspeople.
Deletego fuck yourself, trollboy
DeleteBTW Hillary's comment was pure McCarthyism. She implied without evidence that a significant number of Republicans are working on Russia's behalf. She said some are paid by Russia and implied that others are Russian dupes. She said that some of these people are in Congress. But, like Joseph McCarthy, she didn't identify all these Republicans alleged to be working for Russia.
DeleteOTOH she didn't mention someone working for the Democratic Governor of York State recentl;y was formally charged with acting as an agent of the Chinese Government.+
Well, I didn't watch the segment myself, but I assume Dana Purina (h/t Bartcop) was in session.
ReplyDeleteMoney can make people behave in rather strange ways.
Leroy
What?
DeleteSomerby mentions that there are two persons who 'identify as female" on Gutfeld's panel. He implies that it is the duty of all women to protest sexism, even when invited on a panel show in which some other panelist says objectionable things, on-air. That's ridiculous because (1) it is not the job of women everywhere to protest sexism, it is the job of men to stop being sexist assholes; (2) they may or may not agree that protesting sexism is required, since even women have varying opinions and free speech rigths; (3) given the power differential involved, it would instantly end their careers, especially on Fox, if they were to use their appearance to criticize Gutfeld or his show's writers. Expecting women to jeopardize their tenuous job opportunities by speaking out as feminists is unfair when the situation is being created by what the MEN are saying.
ReplyDeleteSomerby's attitude toward identity, including gender, is revealed by his sarcastic use of the phrase "identify as women." But beyond that, it would not and should not matter how someone identifies when it comes to decrying sexist jokes. Men can and should object that women are not bad drivers, not just women because they are supposedly being demeaned.
Ultimately, these ongoing rants against Gutfeld amount to someone complaining because Don Rickles insults his targets, when he is obviously an insult comic. Gutfeld is a Fox-PC politically biased comedian who tells jokes attacking Democrats, a partisan comic. Complaining because that is what he does is ridiculous, unless Somerby wishes to complain too that Republicans exist and hold neanderthal opinions about women and hate the Clintons.
One of the reasons I stopped watching Bill Maher was his ongoing jokes about how bad Asian drivers are. He would similarly chide his audience for booing those jokes. It was ugly, just as Gutfeld is ugly, but I have never heard Somerby complain about Maher's bigotry.
Women don't like sexist jokes (yes, including Republican women, whether they speak out or not). That should be obvious to Somerby. Comedians performing in a line-up at a show do not criticize each other's jokes in public. Expecting them to do that is wrong. Somerby knows that. So, he is mainly bitching that women should be solving their own problems with sexism and leave men alone.
Joy Behar does not care about stupid Republican fat jokes. She is laughing all the way to the bank whenever Gutfeld mentions her name.
Talking about the logistics of deporting people, "Trump said that he would give local police “immunity” to do “the job they have to do,” and that “the officers understand who the migrants are.”
ReplyDeleteHow do you "understand" who a migrant is? Doesn't that depend on documentation to separate those here who are citizens and legal residents from those who are not? Trumps suggestion that officers know, implies he will be using things like skin color, ethnic identifiers (such as names, languages spoken, neighborhoods where people live) and such things to identify who is to be harrassed and rounded up and who will not be detained. Otherwise, how do officers know?
So we will become a society where men in uniforms ask for your papers and people live in fear of being questioned and officials making "a mistake" and putting citizens in camps, or even sending citizens out of the country in which they were born, or detaining them indefinitely until their status is acknowledged by the govt. That is a police state.
Joe Arpaio was accused of putting citizens in jail as "illegals" while he was Sheriff. What will protect future officers from doing things like that to whoever they want?
In a move reminiscent of January 6, 2021, Trump will provide the migrants flagpoles with American and Confederate flags adorning them, to beat the cops with.
DeleteHeather Cox Richardson:
Delete"Today, at a White House reception in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, President Joe Biden said: "We don't demonize immigrants. We don't single them out for attacks. We don't believe they're poisoning the blood of the country. We're a nation of immigrants, and that's why we're so damn strong."