THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2025
This is the illness we've chosen: Aside from a few basic points, we won't even try to describe what happened yesterday on The Five.
The full tape of the relevant segment is available at the program's web site. Somewhat comically, the dual headline says this:
We're in a season of 'real leftist violence,' says Paul Mauro
'The Five' co-hosts discuss a shooting at an I.C.E. facility in Dallas and the state of political rhetoric in America
We call that comical for an obvious reason. What actually happened during that segment had nothing to do with the things Paul Mauro said.
What actually happened involved a remarkable example of "the storm"—a remarkable example of the irrational fury which increasingly seems to come from the Fox News Channel's Greg Gutfeld. As we've been noting this week, this irrational fury has also been coming from other members of Red America's elites.
The basic background to yesterday's storm is this:
In every segment of this ludicrous show, one of the five co-hosts is assigned to serve as the moderator. The other four co-hosts then take their turns discussing the topic in question.
As we've often noted, the gruesome program achieves its considerable frisson on the days when Jessica Tarlov sits in the one (1) "liberal / Democratic Party" chair.
The four (4) pro-MAGA children all listen politely when their pro-MAGA colleagues take their turns to speak. The excitement starts when Gutfeld and Watters start interrupting and overtalking Tarlov, with the other pro-MAGA co-hosts sometimes joining in.
(That was especially likely to happen when Judge Jeanine was still a daily co-host.)
Yesterday, the first topic involved the fatal shooting at the ICE facility in Dallas. Jesse Watters, acting as moderator and seeming to be on his best behavior, threw to Tarlov in the manner shown:
WATTERS (5/24/25): Jessica, you've never called ICE agents "fascists" or "Gestapo," "Nazis." You've never done that. But there are people in your party that have done that. Do you think that's responsible?
TARLOV: Listen, I think that "fascism" and fascists" is a very special category of people, and you should use it when it's really applicable and sparingly, because then people will believe you when you say it. And it has become too common to hear words like that...
So far, so acceptable! At that point, Tarlov began recalling her recitation, on last Friday's show, of the many times when President Trump has dropped that same f-bomb on Democratic heads.
Yesterday, she said it was a "both sides problem." That's when the roof fell in.
"That's garbage! That's absolute garbage!" the visibly furious Gutfeld now shouted, breaking in. After ordering Tarlov to "Continue," he instantly began railing at her again.
By our count, Tarlov had been permitted to speak for 37 seconds before the roof fell in.
Gutfeld's furious interruptions went on and on, then on and on some more. At one point, he seemed to have decided to stifle himself. But he soon returned to the practice of shouting at Tarlov, generally as soon as she had uttered three or four words.
It wasn't the familiar rudeness of the behavior, and it wasn't the sheer stupidity of some of the ways he tried to refute Tarlov's assertions. For us, it was the raw fury this extremely unusual person exhibited in his rant at Tarlov this day.
At Sunday's memorial service for Charlie Kirk, Stephen Miller described a growing reality. We offered a longer transcript this morning, but this was Miller's key statement:
MILLER (9/21/25) When I see Erika [Kirk] and her strength and her courage, I'm reminded of a famous expression:
The storm whispers to the warrior that you cannot withstand my strength. And the warrior whispers back, "I am the storm."
Erika is the storm. We are the storm. And our enemies cannot comprehend our strength, our determination, our resolve, our passion. Our lineage and our legacy hails back to Athens, to Rome, to Philadelphia, to Monticello. Our ancestors built the cities. They produced the art and architecture. They built the industry.
[...]
We will prevail over the forces of wickedness and evil. They cannot imagine what they have awakened.
We assume that Miller's reference to "the storm" is a nod to the QAnon crowd. But the fury to which Miller gave voice erupted yesterday, on The Five, in Gutfeld's weirdly unhinged performance.
We strongly suggest that you watch the tape; to do so, just click here. Tarlov starts attempting to speak at the seven-minute mark. Strangely, the tape of the program is missing from the Internet Archive's compilation of yesterday's Fox News Channel programs.
We strongly suggest that you watch that tape to see where the nation is going. Or you could just consider this:
In this morning's New York Times, we read this overview of President Trump's current stance on climate change:
At a Times Event, Opposing Views on Climate Change Collide
[...]
The split-screen view underscored the extent to which the United States under President Trump has become isolated from the rest of the world on climate change, perhaps more than on any other issue. Mr. Trump has said the United States will withdraw from the Paris accord, joining Iran, Libya and Yemen as the only four countries to not recognize it. In recent months, Mr. Trump has also issued numerous policies that could thwart renewable energy projects, and his administration has ordered a halt to the construction of offshore wind farms.
[...]
By contrast, Mr. Trump told the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday that climate change is the “greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world” and called renewable energy “a joke.”
On climate change, it's Iran and Libya and Yemen—and it's also us! Meanwhile, on your TV screen, you have the endless apparent misogyny of Gutfeld, tied to the remarkable, barely controllable anger he put on display yesterday.
We're sincere in saying that the furious Gutfeld seems to need some help. We do want to comment on one of the many ridiculous things he said as he kept overtalking Tarlov:
GUTFELD: The left calls Trump a hatemonger. They've called me a hatemonger because ridicule the left, I ridicule protesters, I ridicule academia—Hollywood, the news media. I make fun of The View every day...
Actually, no. The gentleman doesn't "make fun of" The View. Night after night, he compares the women of The View to horses, cattle, cows and pigs, to whales and also to "livestock."
(After that, it may be time to start saying that "Tampon" is secretly gay.)
They open the garbage can every night. This is what comes slithering out. Blue America's orgs avert their gaze. To appearances, no one wants to report what happens on Fox.
Somerby is as capable of using a dictionary as anyone else. Frisson refers to a brief moment of excitement, a thrill. It is incompatible with the words "the gruesome program achieves its considerable frisson" not to mention the word "fury". These semantic problems contribute to the idea that Somerby is losing it, cognitively. He sounds like Cecelia when she tries to use words she doesn't know the meanings of. There is no "frisson" involved when buffoons like Gutfeld shout over Tarlov. Just noise.
ReplyDelete"We'd like to see the guy get some help. But more and more, in various ways, this is the illness we've chosen."
ReplyDeleteNo, we on the left have not chosen Gutfeld or his illness. We don't watch Fox because shows like that are a waste of time. So is trying to refute them, when they are not saying anything coherent. For example, why should anyone debate whether Behar is a whale or not?
Somerby describes Fox in negative terms but then blames the left for what Gutfeld and the others on Fox are doing. That makes no sense at all. We have decided not to join Somerby in his blame game. The right is solely responsible for Gutfeld and the others on their various shows.
This blog is a waste of your time.
DeleteIt's a bigger waste of Somerby's time.
Delete
ReplyDelete"We assume that Miller's reference to "the storm" is a nod to the QAnon crowd."
From you, Bob, paying so much attention to it, one might conclude that it was a nod (troll?) to the BlueAnon crowd.
But then, as Sigmund Freud once said, sometimes "the storm" is just a storm.
"TARLOV: Listen, I think that "fascism" and "fascists" is a very special category of people"
It's not a "category of people". It's a political ideology common in western and central Europe during the interwar period.
And these days, I believe "fascism" and "fascists" are just swearwords, like "asshole". And nothing more. Of course idiot-Democrats think that these words mean something important. But then they are idiots; what do you expect from them?
Fascism has certain behavioral tendencies being reenacted in the US today:
DeleteFascists tend to cultivate a sense of overwhelming crisis requiring extraordinary solutions.
For Trump, examples are the problem of the federal deficit, which is used to justify the most minuscule cuts to an agency like USAID, or the problem of drugs, justifying the murder of Venezuelans without arrest or trial or any public evidence being provided.
The fascist leader's 'instincts' are touted as superior to mere science and abstract reasoning. Examples: Tylenol, vaccines, tariffs.
The fascist leader is claimed to be unique in his ability to rescue the country and return it to its destiny ("I alone can save you.')
The fascist belongs to a group that has been victimized. Hitler made much of the 'stab in the back' that caused Germany's WWI defeat; Trump had the 2020 election 'stolen' from him.
The fascist leader Trump most resembles is Mussolini, menacing yet also buffoonish, as he dispenses expert medical advice on TV, or complains to the UN about a building contract he'd been denied 20 years before, or is caught on a hot mic voicing the schoolgirlish belief that Putin wants to end the Ukraine War as a favor to Trump ("for me").
DeleteIdiot-Democrat's typical long-winded word-salad, exemplified by the above comment, means even less than "fascism"-"fascist".
Trump should have started his fascist campaign a lot sooner and moved more aggressively once elected in 2015. He is dying on his feet and doesn't have the mental ability to serve as leader any more. His increasing dementia will result in a scrum among his wannabe successors in which all will fail because they are all too greedy and narcissistic to work together. Back-stabbing has already begun on the right, which is dissolving into ineffectual factions. Too late. With any luck, Trump will be blamed and Republicans will help push him out the door along with his dwarves.
DeleteSomerby is not blue. He is not liberal. I doubt that he votes for Democrats. He is bought and paid for by the right, or he is a true believer who does this for free.
DeleteHateful, mentally deranged Democrat fascists don't know what fascist means.
DeleteThe man on the street interviews asking them to define it are the funniest thing you'll ever see.
DeleteThere's a million definitions of "fascism". One, rather famous, written by Georgi Dimitrov, defines it as "the open, terrorist dictatorship of the most reactionary, most chauvinistic, and most imperialist elements of finance capital".
These days, Democrats represent global finance capital (George Soros being the poster boy), and they are the most imperialist elements in American politics (with a minor exception of one Lindsey Graham), so they, perhaps, could be called "proto-fascists" or something. With some credence.
Nice
Deleteanon 4:40, you certainly have your views. No one has a monopoly on the truth, certainly not you. But how can one argue that there isn't a degree of substance to the argument that Trump and the current power he has grasped resembles fascism?
Delete
Delete"But how can one argue that there isn't a degree of substance to the argument that Trump and the current power he has grasped resembles fascism?"
This is simply idiotic. There is always an angle from which something resembles something, anything, else.
You, for example, resemble a Soros-bot, in my view. Can you argue that there isn't a degree of substance to the argument that you resemble a low-life Soros-bot?
Okay, never mind that. Don't your party faithful resemble the Spanish Inquisition? Y'know, vis-a-vis Covid, and any other dogmatic shit: "race", "trans", guns, abortions? Dozens of dogmas.
Delete"And these days, I believe "fascism" and "fascists" are just swearwords, like "asshole". And nothing more."
This is a lie. You know more believe what you wrote, then you believe there is an actual Republican voter who isn't a bigot.
You know it. I know it. Somerby knows it.
Just admit it. You'll feel better not living a lie.
"It is incompatible with the words 'the gruesome program achieves its considerable frisson'"
ReplyDeleteI don't see the problem. "The gruesome program achieves its considerable moment of excitement..." That's exactly what Gutfeld and company are shooting for. Give viewers an exciting moment of outrage, of anger against "them" the ones who hate you, who hate your way of life.
Complaint rejected.
I think you are right about what Gutfeld is shooting for, but using a word that refers to an instant instead of a longer time is a poor word choice. The show is not a "moment" much less a brief moment, but the shouting goes on for the entire length of the program. Fury is not frisson. Usually frisson refers to excitement, a thrill, not fury or rage or whatever Gutfeld is doing these days.
DeleteYou can reject my complaint, but you don't get to rewrite the dictionary, especially since communicating via language is a shared activity between people, not something you or Somerby get to define for yourselves. To the extent Somerby distorts meaning, he undermines the ability of people to communicate clearly. If that's fine with you, then feel free to reject all the complaints you want, but it doesn't change what the words actually mean to the collective society in which you apparently live.
Steve M. at No More Mister Nice Blog says:
ReplyDelete"The Reuters poll is terrible for Trump personally -- he's at 41% approval, 58% disapproval. Also:
Only 35% of poll respondents approved of Trump's stewardship over the economy, and 28% gave him a thumbs up on his handling of their cost of living, with both readings slightly lower than in previous polls.
So why don't these negative feelings extend to the GOP? Because Democrats never attack the Republican Party as a party, even though they're in lockstep with Trump on everything. In fact, Democrats endlessly sing the praises of bipartisanship -- and while that might be what swing voters want, it also conveys the impression that Democrats agree with Republicans that Republicans are good people who can be trusted with government power. Combine this with Democrats' many attacks on fellow party members (as too "woke," too focused on pronouns, and so on), and of course Republicans emerge unscathed.
The only hope for saving democracy in America is a forceful campaign to insist upon fair elections in 2026 and a concerted effort to hold the entire GOP accountable for its own actions since January 20. But the consultants will undoubtedly tell D.C. Democrats not to try either of those things, and our efforts to save democracy could die of consultancy."
https://nomoremister.blogspot.com/2025/09/the-regime-and-its-allies-want-to.html
James Comey has been indicted.
ReplyDeleteFormer FBI Director James Comey was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday on charges of making false statements and obstruction of justice.
Delete“No one is above the law,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement on X. “Today’s indictment reflects this Department of Justice’s commitment to holding those who abuse positions of power accountable for misleading the American people."
So let's see if we can sort through the facts here because this is a very complicated situation and I'm going to ask for everyone's patience because we're going to get pretty deep into the weeds, okay?
DeleteHere are the basic facts:
1) Trump, in writing, ordered his DOJ to indict James Comey;
2) Less than week later, the DOJ indicted James Comey.
So there's a lot to unpack there and I've been puzzling over this for a while now trying to see if maybe, possibly, and I know it sounds crazy, but could there be any relationship between 1) and 2) above?
Thoughts?
We are a fucking banana republic now, Dickhead, you fascist freak. Are you happy now?
DeleteLock him up.
DeleteI don’t know if Comey is guilty, and I don’t know if he’s innocent.
DeleteWhat is so strange about Trump ordering his justice department to indict Comey? Biden did it to Trump.
DeleteComey has a lot to answer for. That's for sure. They have them pretty much cold lying to Congress about the unanimity of the intelligence agency's belief about Russia's impact on the election. I don't think he should be prosecuted partially. But he did lie about it. He's a liar.
DeleteBut it's interest on the on the left, people don't even realize that Biden did the same thing to Trump.
DeleteWhat false statements did Comey make?
DeleteWhy do you ask?
Delete"What is so strange about Trump ordering his justice department to indict Comey? Biden did it to Trump."
DeleteThere's isn't a shred of evidence that this is so.
Oh there most certainly is. Am I going to have to provide it to you? Saddest thing is, I believe that you're telling the truth that you don't realize that he did.
DeletePresident Biden delivered it through the press.
DeleteBut if I were you I would say " no, that's not possible.". And the band will play on.
Delete"They have them pretty much cold lying to Congress about the unanimity of the intelligence agency's belief about Russia's impact on the election."
DeleteBut it was unanimous so I guess that makes you a liar, dickwad.
Let's let the courts decide that.
DeleteThey have him stone cold. That's what's so interesting about it. But I wouldn't worry about it if I were you.
Deletehttps://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/02/us/politics/merrick-garland-biden-trump.html
Delete"President Biden delivered it through the press."
DeleteGreat. Which press? What date?
April 2nd, 2022, New York Times. But you shouldn't worry about it. It's not something for Digby readers.
DeleteWould that he had. Apparently, it is legal now for the president to target political enemies, just like any old banana republic! Clarence, Roberts, Sammy and the rest of the corrupt SC6 said so. Biden's big mistake was waiting for Garland to move his ass.
DeleteWhen is the election, where the people get to decide if Comey's guilty, like we did Trump?
DeleteAP President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that he says will allow TikTok to continue operating in the United States in a way that meets national security concerns laid out by the law.
ReplyDeleteThis could be very good for Trump and Republicans. TikTok will be controlled by billionaires who are backers of Trump.
DeleteWhy don't you wait until China agrees to a deal before you get your undies all up in a bunch?
DeleteHow much did they bribe the grubby fingered orange bastard? Don't take aceta te min Minnie the moochers idfuckingits. Prezident bonkers and his idiot team. Lord have Mercy and paint my balls gold these fuckers are dumb. I ain't even gonna mention how fucking weird these weirdos are. The escalator almost KILLED ME. They are fucking killing me.
DeleteDiC,
DeleteTrump would care about all Republican voters, if they were billionaires. The ones with less then a billion dollars in wealth are nothing but "losers" per Mao's favorite President ever.
With the newly declassified records via FBI into media leaks and the role of third parties,
ReplyDeleteDirector Comey’s 2017 testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee about leaks appears problematic.
Grassley : Director Comey have you ever been an anonymous source in news reports about matters relating to the Trump investigation or the Clinton investigation?
Comey : Never
Grassley: Have you ever authorized someone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports about the Trump investigation or the Clinton investigation?
Comey: No
Grassley: Has any classified information relating to President Trump or his associates been declassified and shared with the media?
Comey: Not to my knowledge
Hes so fucked.
Can you prove that those statements are false?
DeleteComey is so fucked that the US Attorney for Eastern Virginia was fired because he refused to bring the case against Comey because it was so weak. That's how fucked Comey is.
DeleteComey is so fucked that the judge will throw this case out like they do with all Trump's feeble litigation.
And we'll just laugh and laugh at the clown show and MAGA will look stupider and stupider (if this is possible).
Umm...how do you know that those statements were knowingly false? Not to overstate the obvious, but 9 years later these statements are of little interest and impossible to prove that he knowingly tried to mislead. I am not even sure that they are material.
DeleteThis can only help grocery prices.
DeleteNo one is above the law.
DeleteThey did it to Trump. They dragged his ass through all this lawfare so you idiots could call him a felon and it didn't work. He won the election and now it's payback time. Adam Schiff is next and all of those guys are going to have to go through what Trump went through. Mugshots, long days in court, enormous amounts of their own personal money. They'll probably get off like Trump did but it's payback time. They f***** with him and lost and now they have to pay. That's all there is to it.
DeleteIt was a dumb idea for them to do it to Trump and a big gamble and they lost and now they have to pay.
Delete"That's all there is to it."
DeleteJudge throws it out. There's zero there. It's another legal embarassment for you guys with that dumb broad Pam Blondi, your legal eagle. Jesus, she's stupid and so are you for thinking this case will go anywhere.
Exactly! How could it go anywhere?
DeleteThe point is the mugshot, the time and the enormous expense. Just like Trump went through. Those cases didn't go anywhere.
DeleteThe thing with call me though is they have him cold. That's what is going to be interesting. Maybe he can get off on statue of limitations.
DeleteThe whole point is that he's going to have to sit there and eat a huge steaming bowl of shit. He's going to have to eat the whole bowl. That's what this is about. It's payback time. Schiff is next and then I'm not sure who else after that. They're all going to have to get their mugshot taken and eat a big huge steaming cat of shit. Then maybe they get off or maybe they don't. That doesn't matter. It's not the point.
The thing with Comet though is they have him cold. That's what is going to be interesting. Maybe he can get off on statute of limitations.
DeleteThe whole point is that he's going to have to sit there and eat a huge steaming bowl of shit. He's going to have to eat the whole bowl. That's what this is about. It's payback time. Schiff is next and then I'm not sure who else after that. They're all going to have to get their mugshot taken and eat a big huge steaming vat of shit. Then maybe they get off or maybe they don't. That doesn't matter. It's not the point.
Comey is just going to have to eat bite after bite after bite after bite of pure shit. Just like Trump did. He's going to have to just sit there and take it. Just like Trump did.
DeleteI don't think Comey will shit his pants like the Orange Turd did in court. Don Von Shitzhitzpantz has spoken.
DeleteYou people know how to read? Comey pissed off the felon when he refused to shut down Mueller. This was before Donny had that kid from the Christmas Story to bury it, so he's getting revenge on Comey for Russia,Russia,Russia. What a putz. Don't take Tylenol. Don't. But do say this country has been run over by fucking idjits. Oh sweet mercy these fuckers are idiots. (With nukes and $200B for a brown shirt ICE army, but idiots.)
DeleteI guess it will be Brennan after Comey and Schiff.
DeleteIt's being reported Comey wiill be assembling a legal team with whom he will vigorously fight the charges.
DeleteIf Comey is being indicted for perjury - lying to Congress in 2017 - 8 years ago - what's the statute of limitation on that alleged offense?
Delete
DeleteApparently, less than five years ago he stated under oath that he stands by his 2017 lies. Thus, apparently, resetting the statute of limitation period.
DeleteHere:
"The charge in question would involve testimony Comey delivered to Congress on Sept. 30, 2020, in response to a question from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, about the authorization of an information leak. Comey was asked whether he stood by earlier testimony from 2017 denying that he'd authorized the leak, and he responded, "I stand by the testimony.""
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/justice-department-weighing-whether-charge-james-comey-lying-congress-rcna233535
Amca: the statute of limitations expires next week.
DeleteComey has a good chance of beating the case.
DeleteAC the statute of limitations was about to expire.
Delete11:32 is one of the very few pre-teens Trump didn't rape.
DeleteAll that David in Cal cares about is that Trump and the Republicans triple the deficit.
DeleteThe Comey case is not for people who read Digby. They have bigger fish to fry like bringing all of the evidence that Trump is a part of a child pedo ring to a supportable and fair conclusion. You can put Trump in jail for that.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteThat's all right. Great swamp-draining, Mr. President, great swamp-draining. Looong due.
Give them a fair trial, Mr. President, with just and impartial treatment. And then, should they be found guilty, lock em up, lock them all up, Sir.
Because no one is above the law. Because what goes around comes around. Because: sow wind, reap whirlwind! Because God watches everyone and knows everything, and God is just. Yes, Sir.
I have been working on some really inefficient coal burning ovens to sell the Admin on for eliminating their enemies.
DeleteClown Show, Part I
DeleteAs Sen. Kaine has pointed out, Pam Blondi's statement on the Comey indictment concludes by saying, "We will follow the facts in this case."
So in Blondi's mind, you indict someone, then you follow the facts. Pro tip: it's the other way around. You follow the facts to determine whether someone should be indicted.
That Pam Blondi is one dumb broad.
DeleteSqueal, squeal, the swamp.
DeleteBtw, wasn't it you, Soros-bot, bitching endlessly about the lack of indictments? So, now it's time to bitch about indictments?
Thanks for the laughs. And keep on doing the good Soros-bot work.
The criminal enterprise known as the republican party is behind the wheel now and if they're gonna make Comey's life miserable, so be it. The exercise will go nowhere and Comey will be mortgaging the house for his lawyer fees, but there is a little karma there for the guy who undermined Clinton at the 11th hour. Rudy can be the lead prosecutor, to round out the clown show.
DeleteLiar, corrupt criminal, and all around weird fuck James Comey has united the country.
DeleteYou got me there trumptard, I underestimated Trump's stupidity and petty sense of grievance and that says a lot.
DeleteBut I'm not bitching about this indictment, it promises to be one of the most entertaining Trump clown shows ever and that's also saying a lot.
I'll be documenting the highlights as they unravel. Stay tuned.
You're still bitching, Soros-bot.
DeleteIf you don't see this as a perfectly reasonable (quite modest, in fact) retaliation against the banana-republic-style scorched earth campaign carried out by the Democrat party for years since 2017, you're an idiot. But then, of course you are.
>fannyburp=2{fanny+burp}//`|66273|~54[smellbad|\\[audible]+{cheek_flap}= ahhhhhhhhhhhh
ReplyDeleteI gotta admit, these weird fucking idiots are good at one thing besides being cruel:
ReplyDeleteBillions in Taxpayer Dollars Have Become Virtually Untraceable
The Trump administration’s aggressive approach to overhauling the executive branch has obscured how federal dollars are actually being spent — even for the members of Congress.
Man these folks are good at stuffing their fucking pockets.
David in Cal voted to triple the deficit.
Delete>fannyburp=2{fanny+burp}//`|66273|~54[smellbad|\\[audible]+{cheek_flap}= ahhhhhhhhhhhh
ReplyDeleteEven if I agreed with their bigotry, the constant whining by the Republican Party and their mouthpieces is far too big of a turn-off to vote for these children.
ReplyDelete