MONDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2025
Fear comes to CBS: Are journalists at some news orgs beginning to tailor their work in a way that's designed to keep them out of the president's sites?
Could that be especially true at certain targeted news orgs? At sites which recently made a leadership change, perhaps of a certain type?
We ask those questions after watching the tape of Margaret Brennan's interview with Hakeem Jeffries on yesterday's Face the Nation. Lengthy headline included, the report at Mediaite starts out exactly like this:
CBS’s Margaret Brennan Grills Hakeem Jeffries About His Claim Trump is Trying to ‘Rig’ the 2026 Election: ‘How Do You Justify’ That Language?!
CBS’s Margaret Brennan accused House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) of hypocrisy over his rhetoric on election integrity.
In a tense exchange on Sunday’s Face the Nation, Brennan called out Jeffries for comments he’s made in recent days accusing President Donald Trump of trying to “rig” the 2026 election by encouraging state legislatures to gerrymander the Congressional map in Republicans’ favor.
“Donald Trump is trying to rig the midterm elections,” Jeffries said in a speech last Sunday (via Punchbowl News). “He wants to alter the congressional maps all across the country, starting in Texas, to try to rob all of you and the American people the ability to actually make the decision in a free and fair election as to who should be representing your interest in Congress.”
Surely, everyone knows what Jeffries means when says that President Trump is trying to rig next year's mid-term elections by means of congressional redistricting. It started in Texas, at the president's direction, then moved on to other states.
Whatever you may think of what Texas has agreed to do, everyone surely knows what Jeffries is talking about when he uses that language. Everyone except Brennan, who challenged him two separate times for his use of that troubling term.
Rather late in the interview, this was the first challenge she posed. For the full transcript, click here:
BRENNAN (10/26/25): I want to ask you about something you said. You said Democrats–"There are no election deniers on our side of the aisle." You said that back in January.
But recently you've been using the term "rigged elections" in reference the upcoming midterms.
Democrats were appalled when President Trump used language like that. How do you justify using that now? Doesn't that undermine faith for voters you need to show up?
Why have Democrats been appalled when the president has said that the 2020 election was "rigged?" Fellow citizens, please!
Democrats have been appalled because there has been no evidence, at any point in the past five years, to justify the president's claim.
Meanwhile, why would Jeffries use that same language with respect to the midterm redistricting? Whatever you may think of the unusual redistricting, it's obvious what people like Jeffries have meant by the current claim. Surely, no one is puzzled, at this point, by the nature of the objection.
Despite that fact, Brennan persisted, floating several implied accusations about Jeffries' use of the term. Why would he reject the use of that language in the previous case while employing it in this instance?
CBS News has been in the sites of the sitting president during this second Trump term. The network's corporate owner recently gifted the network with a new editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss, who is expected to take CBS in a more centrist or conservative or even Trump-friendly direction.
Weiss may end up doing great work. For ourselves, we'll wait to see what happens.
Brennan's questions struck us as strange. Down here on Earth among us humans, that may be how power works.
"Are journalists at some news orgs beginning to tailor their work in a way that's designed to keep them out of the president's sites?"
ReplyDelete"CBS News has been in the sites of the sitting president during this second Trump term."
"Sights," not "sites."
C'mon, Q -- Somerby does hours of research and then writes two blog posts, of maybe 1,000 words each, almost every day, without employing a copy editor. And we get to read it for free. Perhaps we can cut him a little slack about typos?
DeleteI mean, he already has to face a daily barrage of insane carping about his secret motives and inclinations. Shouldn't that be enough?
DeleteBob is a bacterium.
DeleteSomerby does not do "hours of research".
DeleteSomerby has stated that he does not read his comments.
DeleteSomerby started the discussion of secret motives etc. with his quoting of Bandy Lee and the DSM. He's the one who said Tucker Carlson was a lost boy because his father and mother got divorced. He's the one who introduced psychological analysis into an essay excusing Kyle Rittenhouse.
Delete5:29 - I think you forgot to mention this detail: It wasn't Somerby who excused Rittenhouse, it was the jury that found him to be innocent.
Delete5:25 - "Somerby has stated that he does not read his comments."
DeleteIs that really true? I remember him saying that QiB is his favorite commenter, which implies that he does read his comments, at least on occasion..
Now I'm wondering: Is "Anonymous" anybody's favorite commenter?
DeleteDG, Somerby called Rittenhouse another "lost boy" (a term Somerby has been using). Both the judge and Somerby excused Rittenhouse. Given that he was witnessed shooting those people, the verdict is not that he didn't shoot them but that he may have been afraid and legitimately claiming self-defense. That is very controversial given his behavior toward those he shot (i.e., chasing them around and taunting them). Somerby also defended Zimmerman, so he has a track record of supporting shooters. That is another consistent example of Somerby advancing right wing talking points.
DeleteI do not recall Somerby ever mentioning QIB. Can you perhaps find that quote using Search?
You cannot be so fatuous as to think anyone is commenting here to gain popularity. Those writing substantive comments are expressing their ideas. There are also trolls -- who knows why they do what they do.
Many of "Slabby's" comments are echoed by comments like "hear, hear", "bravo" or "agree" and "well stated." I only see that kind of thing following substantive comments, not the complaints about nyms that you mostly write, DG. A troll professes love and misses Cecelia when she is absent, but I don't consider being stalked a form of popularity. YMMV
7:42 - You again forgot to mention an important detail: The jury found Zimmerman to be innocent.
DeleteI’m serious: You should think about what that means. You’re just wrong to say that Somerby was “excusing” these two. Instead, he was pointing out how Blues like you were not being exposed to the whole story, so you were shocked when juries, who were exposed to the whole story, acquitted.
DeleteI’m serious: You should think about what that means. You’re just wrong to say that Somerby was “excusing” these two. Instead, he was pointing out how Blues like you were not being exposed to the whole story, so you were shocked when juries, who were exposed to the whole story, acquitted.
DeleteMartin attacked Zimmerman from behind.
DeleteSorry about the double post.
DeleteSimilarly, Blues were shocked when immigration and Biden’s declining cognition became huge issues in the election. We were warned by Somerby, but some here mistook that as “promoting right-wing memes.”
DeleteSomerby "has a track record of supporting shooters" who were found Not Guilty after a trial."
DeleteA lot of falsehoods circulated about Zimmerman and Rittenhouse. But, in both cases the exculpatory evidence was pretty overwhelming.
DiC is an example of someone exposed to a diet of Red media, so he gets a lot of things wrong because of the “porridge” (Somerby’s term) fed to that tribe. What Somerby has been trying to tell us Blues is we get fed a different flavor of porridge, so we get things wrong, too.
DeleteDavid, that’s a lie.
DeleteDG, If Somerby wanted to say that, he would have done so. Proving the blue tribe is fed “porridge” requires evidence that Somerby never provides. He attacks Fox using evidence then says “the blues are just as bad” with no proof at all. It isn’t the same dish, but Somerby makes no effort to show blue info (not the mainstream media) is unreliable.
DeleteFor some reason, Somerby never called 2nd Amendment Martyr, Micah X. Johnson, a "lost boy".
DeleteI guess it’s hard for media to formulate sensible questions about policy. It easier to just ask about semantics, even though they don’t matter.
ReplyDeleteDavid and Cecelia don’t defend President Trump’s poop video.
ReplyDeleteThey should, because he deserves their support.
DeleteAnonymouse 4:42pm, I thought for a moment that Bob would use the poop video as an emblem for Trump's entire psyche—- Trump is pooping on the East Wing and is and always will be pooping upon everything and everybody because he’s a sociopath, etc… If it makes you feel any better, I probably would have pushed back on that a bit.
DeleteSpending day after day discussing a brief video about someone who poop-ed
DeleteIs stupid.
Close to a defense, but no cigar.
DeleteNot as stupid as sending out the video in the first place.
DeleteAnonymouse 5:15pm, gotta give the nod to that…
DeleteNot all sociopaths behave like Trump does. Most of them try and succeed at living normal lives despite their genetic endowment. That's why Somerby premise that genetics explains everything about Trump is so insulting to most sociopaths, who are not criminals or rapists but more likely surgeons and CEOs and IRS agents. Now, they are the bulk of ICE agents too.
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Anonymouse 5:33pm, you should quit before you sink.
DeleteWhat are you talking about? @5:33 is trying to explain to you that Somerby's lack of knowledge about personality disorders is causing him to say stupid things and you are talking about "sinking"? That makes no sense at all.
Delete"a brief video about someone who poop-ed"
DeleteNope. The video isn't about someone who shitted. It's about someone who shit on millions of Americans peacefully assembled in political protest.
Will you ever be honest for once? Just to see what it feels like?
Anonymouse 6:13pm, no, she is not. She’s trying to yell “white!” every time Somerby says “black”. In the most asinine and specious way possible.
DeleteSpending day after day discussing a brief video about someone who poop-ed
DeleteIs stupid.
How does it compare, stupidity-wise, from creating a such a video?
Cecelia, @6:13 was your comment about sinking. You have not explained what you meant by it. @5:33 is saying that calling someone a sociopath doesn't automatically mean they commit crimes the way Trump does.
DeleteAnonymouse 7:31pm, no my comment is about the sinking feeling you should experience when trying to trivialize Bob’s point as to Trump and sociopathy via arguing that Bob is not a walking DSM.
DeleteHector, quibblers can be quibbled. The video was not about someone who shitted on anyone. It was made by some unknown person who imagined the demonstrators being shat on.
DeleteNo Hector, it is not about someone shitting on peaceful protesters. It is about the President of the United States shitting on citizens of this country. MAGAs like to minimize the juvenile mindset inherent in this and other displays by this clown. Normal, decent people recognize the pathology here.
DeleteI argued that Somerby’s assumption that Trump’s pathology consists of ASPD is wrong. He is a criminal, a sex abuser, a liar and cheat, who has dementia, no conscience, no empathy, no integrity, loves violence and bullying, is the world’s most ignorant man, has no culture or taste, and is disliked by everyone, even his supporters. There is no code for that in the DSM because it is evil, not just fucked up. And this is who you gravitate toward.
DeleteHe also has a small penis.
Delete11:08, You neglect to mention that he is a fucking coward. A punk coward.
DeleteTrump hates that people are distracted from the Epstein Files by that brief video as much as Somerby is.
Delete"Spending day after day discussing a brief video about someone who poop-ed
DeleteIs stupid."
From the people still upset by the Emancipation
Proclamation from 1865.
Bob makes an excellent point today about Brennan's faux journalistic grilling of Jefferies, as if his descriptive use of 'rigging' to describe gerrymandering is the same as Trump's use of it to describe the processes of an honest election.
ReplyDeleteSeveral podcasts have made that same point. I doubt they got it from Somerby.
DeleteIs it possible Bob and the podcasts made these observations independently?
DeleteI don't mind anyone thinking that. But if the observation is that obvious, then there is no reason to applaud Somerby for making the same point as everyone else, as @5:18 does. Others have called Brennan's questioning dishonest.
DeleteAnonymouse 7:28pm, a good observation is recognized for its merit because of its insight or sound reasoning (that those things are obvious is the point) not simply because the observation is new or novel.
DeleteWhen someone uses another person’s ideas (their intellectual work) it is customary to give credit. Somerby doesn’t do that with song lyrics, poems and phrases, so I wouldn’t assume he does it with ideas either.
DeleteI use David’s and Cecelia’s ideas all the time, and they’ve never demanded credit.
Delete11;26,
DeleteYou need to agree with right-wingers, if you really want to piss them off.
The Border Patrol and ICE are continuing to violate the court order in Chicago where they are forbidden to use tear gas against protesters who are not threatening officer safety:
ReplyDelete"Kolp told Fox 32 that he “didn’t see anybody with a weapon” that would have justified the agents’ use of force.
“So you had folks who were literally out on the street taking their kids to this Halloween parade when this happened,” he said. “I didn’t see anybody make physical contact with these agents. I didn’t see anybody do anything that justified, for instance, taking my 70-year-old neighbor to the ground.”
The agents left the neighborhood after about 30 minutes, and the Halloween parade proceeded—but with many families opting to stay home.
Kolp told CBS News he retrieved a tear gas canister from his yard.
“I knew that piece of evidence would be critical for the judge to understand what the facts are,” he said.
Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino is due in court on Tuesday, Fox 32 reported, to answer questions about agents’ continued use of tear gas against residentsin violation of Ellis’ order.
“I was pretty upset to be honest with you,” Kolp told the outlet. “I am an attorney. I used to work with and in law enforcement, and watching this happen in my front yard was just not something that I ever thought was gonna come to my front door. But you know, here we are.”
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"in four days, due to the government shutdown, 42 million needy Americans are going to lose their SNAP benefits. mind you, the government has the money to continue paying out these benefits — they’re just choosing not to. because fuck you, that’s why. they are literally starving people because they think they can blame Democrats for it and score political points.
ReplyDeleteseriously, if you go to the USDA Food and Nutrition Service website right now, you’ll get a message basically saying ‘Democrats took your money and gave it to transgender immigrants.’
I shit you not."
Senate Democrats have now voted 12 times to not fund the food stamp program, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Bottom line, the well has run dry. At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 01. We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats. They can continue to hold out for healthcare for illegal aliens and gender mutilation procedures or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive critical nutrition assistance.
how fucked up is that?
is it cruel to deny benefits to needy families, for naked political reasons? well, cruelty is the point, pal.
actual American lives are at stake here — and Republicans just don’t give a shit."
Tiedrich
https://www.jefftiedrich.com/p/fuck-these-out-of-touch-plutocrat
Easily the most anti American regime in modern history.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteBob, how would you have handled this sort of media crowing if Trump had won in 2020?
https://x.com/mollyesque/status/1357316957406650368?s=46&t=oYvKLjVc8YzJIvwKoQTYBQ
Bob doesn't read his comments.
DeleteI dont know how often Bob reads the comments, but he does read them (and occasionally deletes them). It’s silly to think that someone takes the time to blog every day, but never reads a response.
DeleteYou don’t know.
DeleteWhy doesn’t he delete my comments? I do nothing but troll.
DeleteRig -- To manipulate dishonestly for personal gain.
ReplyDelete"rig a prizefight; rig stock prices."
Yes, most of us know what Jeffries meant, but his word was inappropriate. It's like if Jeffries said Trump was trying to "steal" the election by Gerrymandering.
A MAGAt criticizing a politician''s word choices. And using the example "rig stock prices". That is priceless.
Delete
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"If you're president, you have to get everybody in a room, you have to be a leader, and the president has to lead. I actually think the president would be blamed. If there is a shutdown I think it would be a tremendously negative mark on the President of the United States. He's the one that has to get people together" Donald Trump, 2011
ReplyDeleteRepublicans are incapable of governing: Day 28
Democrats should ask for Universal Healthcare, a 25% increase in corporate tax rates, and free university level education for all, in exchange for people to be allowed to use the n-word in public without repercussions.
DeleteRepublicans will run to D.C. to open the government, and get it passed in a heartbeat.
Democrats should demand statehood for DC in exchange for their votes on the budget. That will stop King Chickenshit from ordering in the NG at his whim.
DeleteOur country would be in much better shape, if Republican voters were half as upset about the Republican Party's global pedophile ring as they are about the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
ReplyDelete