FLYWEIGHTS: "Greasy" uses too much product!

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2025

The inspiring Hegseth doesn't: Full disclosure! We're so old that we can remember the murders in New Orleans.

The rampage in question took place in the early morning hours of January 1 of this very year. Fourteen days later, the murderous rampage has disappeared from our failing nation's failing discourse.  

To all intents and purposes, the murderous rampage in New Orleans has basically ceased to exist. It was a very big deal at the time. It gave way to the Los Angele fires, then to the Hegseth hearings.

That said, also this: Before the murderous rampage occurred, we had the drone attacks on New Jersey. 

Those drone attacks were extremely big on the flyweight-infested Fox News Channel for a period of roughly a week. Now, The Attacks on Exit 11 are gone, absent any attempt at explanation.

So it goes, on a day-to-day basis, within our failing discourse. So it goes in the wake of the "democratization of media," in a world where corporations sell us their imitations of "news"—where they sell us heir "news product"— on a seven day per week, 24-hour basis. 

Topics come and topics go; many are mere pseudo=topics. But on one major "cable news" channel, the flyweights hold sway. So things stood late yesterday afternoon. Indeed, let's say a few of their names:

Panelists, The Five, 1/14/25
Judge Jeanine: Resident finger-tugging loudmouth 
Jessica Tarlov: Designated punching bag
Jesse Watters: Silliest boy in "cable news"
Dana Perino: Ought to be ashamed of herself
Greg Gutfeld: Has asked three times if Hunter Biden is "banging" or "[BLEEP]ing" Jill Biden

Yesterday, at 5 p.m. Eastern, so went the flight of the flyweights, along with that one disordered.

Yesterday, it finally happened! After an array of holiday absences, the four Red American co-hosts were finally reunited, along with their Blue American punching bag. This is the standard alignment of panelists on this, the most watched program in American "cable news."

After an array of holiday vacations, the flyweights had all returned to the nest.  That said, the clown cars are general on this "cable news" channel. 

Just consider what Laura allowed.

For ourselves, we've never forgotten our evening of love right there at the D.C. Improv! By now, though, something like a quarter century has passed, and last Friday evening, there she was, welcoming Mel Gibson onto her Fox News Channel show, The Ingraham Angle.

We're so old that we can remember when Gibson seemed to be way out on the edge. Today, he's barely a part of the passing crowd. 

First, though, as a matter of fairness, let's mention this:

Judged by the basic norms of the culture, Gibson has been a major actor and a highly talented filmmaker. The leading authority on his career produces a bit of the background:

Mel Gibson

Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. The recipient of multiple accolades, he is known for directing historical films as well for his action hero roles, particularly his breakout role as Max Rockatansky in the first three films of the post-apocalyptic series Mad Max (1979–1985) and as Martin Riggs in the buddy cop series Lethal Weapon (1987–1998).

Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia, when he was 12 years old...Director Peter Weir cast him as one of the leads in the World War I drama Gallipoli (1981), which earned Gibson a Best Actor Award from the Australian Film Institute.

In 1995, Gibson produced, directed, and starred in the war film Braveheart for which he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Director, the Academy Award for Best Director, and the Academy Award for Best Picture. He later directed and produced The Passion of the Christ (2004), a biblical drama that was both financially successful and highly controversial. 

As of 2004, he was still "highly controversial!" Needless to say, he was born as one of us—as an East Coast Irish Catholic!

At one time, he was controversial. By now, he's been surpassed by an endless array of major players. Still and all, there he was on The Ingraham Angle last Friday night, speaking about the possible origin of the Los Angeles fires. 

What he said is a major anthropology lesson. In his conversation with Ingraham that night, he said this, in part, about the possible origin of the fires:

GIBSON (1/10/25): Well, you know. I know they were messing with the water. Letting reserves go for one reason or another. They’ve been doing that a while. California has a lot of problems that sort of baffle the mind as far as [sighs] why they do things.

And then, in the events like this, you sort of look—"Well, is it on purpose?" Which, it’s an insane thing to think. But one begins to ponder whether or not there is a purpose in mind. What could it be? You know?

Say what? One starts to ponder that? The Oscar winner continued:

GIBSON (continuing directly): What do they want? The state empty? I don’t know.

[...]

Reminds me of the old cattle barons clearing people off the land, you know.

But I don’t know. I have, you know, I can make all kinds of horrible theories up in my head, conspiracy theories and everything else. But it just seemed a little convenient that there was no water, and that the wind conditions were right and that there are people ready and willing and able to start fires.

And are they commissioned to do so, or they just acting on their own volition? I don’t know. 

But they seem pretty well equipped, some of these people that they’re catching. You know, I’ll sift through the—I’ll sift through the remains of my, of my place and see if I can find any clues for you.

Those are the things he said. 

Gibson's Malibu home had been lost in the fires. No one could blame him for being upset. But as of last Friday, the week's events had him thinking about the way the old cattle barons had succeeded in clearing people off the land. 

He knew he was voicing conspiracy theories. He said he knew that he was giving voice to "an insane thing to think."

Still, he went ahead and said what he said. As he did, he seemed to assume a welter of "facts not in evidence" concerning the week's destructive fires.

He gave voice to "an insane thing to think;" as he did, he seemed to refer to an array of "facts not in evidence." And he did so before an audience of millions, speaking in prime time on our flailing former nation's most-watched "cable news" channel!

As he did, Laura made a modest effort to steer him back to less "insane" types of expression. That said, her efforts were very minor. Basically, she let this conduct go.

You can watch the entire tape of this exchange thanks to Tommy Christopher's report for Mediaite. As you can see by clicking this, his report appears beneath this headline:

Mel Gibson Gets Conspiratorial On Fox News Over "Convenient" California Wildfire Devastation: "Were They Commissioned?"

Did "they" somehow "commission" the fires? Mel Gibson's inquiring mind apparently wanted to know.

At that site, you can watch the full exchange. You can also see a transcript of the exchange, with Ingraham's remarks included. 

We've always claimed that we could change her. In the face of imperfect health, we're no longer sure!

Gibson has always been a bit like this. Laura Ingraham isn't a flyweight, but it's her job to let such exchanges go with only the most minor attempts at pushback or clarification.

On Fox, the drones were attacking Exit 20. Now, some entity known only as "they" might have "commissioned" the fires! So it goes as millions of citizens have wild unfounded speculations shoveled into their heads. 

It's a lesson in anthropology! It's a lesson in anthropology that we humans are inclined to think and to speak that way. It's a lesson in corporate power and profit-seeking that people like Laura are willing to let such conduct go. 

Also, that people at major orgs like the New Yorek Times avert their gaze from such conduct—have been doing do for three or four decades by now.

That exchange rook place last Friday night. Late yesterday afternoon, the whole gang was together again on that same channel's gong-show spectacular, The Five.

The Five is infested by flyweights. We've decided it's time to start saying their names. We've done so above.

As you can see by clicking this, it's currently the most-watched program in "cable news." At one point during yesterday's program, the analysts screamed and ran into the yard when Judge Jeanine opened her trap and made an uber-flyweight remark.

No modern nation can expect to prosper or survive in the face of pseudo-journalism of this all-too-human type. 

Just like that, the judge in question made a soul-draining remark concerning the use of hair product. When she did, the analysts screamed and ran out into the yard.

How dumb do the flyweights know they can get, working under the cover of darkness on this imitation "news program?" Tomorrow morning, bright and early, we'll show you what this flyweight former judge said.

Flyweights to the side of us, nut cases over there! As our discourse dies beneath this assault, the finer people at the New York Times pretend this doesn't exist.

Final point:

We've said the names of a few of the flyweights. Elsewhere in our failing nation, people need to report what these flyweights do.

Tomorrow: Flyweight judge expounds