SENDS IN THE CLOWNS: Pope Leo all wet on climate change!

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2025

CEO sends in the clowns: Rather famously, Pope Leo XIV hails from right there in Dolton, Illinois, a suburb bordering the far South Side of our own failing nation's Chicago.

He grew up with the White Sox, not with the Cubs. Last Wednesday, October 1, he called for unity on a major issue, or so said the New York Times:

Pope Leo Calls for Unity on Climate at a Divided Moment

In his first significant address on climate change, Pope Leo called on Catholics and citizens of the world on Wednesday to carry on the environmental advocacy of his predecessor, Francis, and not to treat it as a “divisive” issue.

Leo spoke at the opening ceremony of a climate conference to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Laudato Si, a groundbreaking papal document on the urgent need to protect the health of the planet. “The challenges identified in Laudato Si are in fact even more relevant today than they were 10 years ago,” he said.

Speaking for just over 10 minutes in an auditorium where he shared a stage with the actor and former governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Brazil’s climate minister, on the grounds of the papal summer residence of Castel Gandolfo, about 17 miles southeast of the Vatican, Leo focused on the action that individuals and local communities can take to alleviate increasing climate pressure.

“Everyone in society, through nongovernmental organizations and advocacy groups, must put pressure on governments to develop and implement more rigorous regulations, procedures and controls,” he said. “Citizens need to take an active role in political decision making at national, regional and local levels. Only then will it be possible to mitigate the damage done to the environment.”

Rightly or wrongly, wisely or otherwise, that's what the pontiff said. But uh-oh! According to the report in the New Yok Times, back here in the USSR, there seemed to be one dissenter:

Leo, who was elected in May as the first pope from the United States, has remained measured on many potentially controversial issues, and his most forceful comments on Wednesday were references to the words of Francis. “What must be done now to ensure that caring for our common home and listening to the cry of the earth and the poor do not appear as mere passing trends or, worse still, that they be seen and felt as divisive issues?” he said, echoing some of Francis’ most famous phrases.

Speaking a little over a week after President Trump told the United Nations General Assembly that climate change was the “greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world,” the pope refrained from critiquing any national leader or policy.

One week earlier, President Trump had told the UN, in a rambling address, that this so-called climate change was the "greatest con job ever."

Pope Leo spoke on October 1. One day later, the woman known as "Sends in The Clowns" sent a typical contingent in for one of her "cable news" channel's most watched primetime programs.

The program is known as Gutfeld! The program airs at 10 p.m. in East, 7 p.m. on the coast. It's the third most watched TV show in American "cable news."

Also, the program to which we refer constitutes a fraud on the American public. On this occasion, Suzanne Scott, age 60, the CEO of the Fox News Channel, had sat on the deck of her corporate yacht and had sent in these pretenders:

Gutfeld! show: Thursday, October 2, 2025 
Rich Vos: comedian
Heather Zumarraga: former CNBC contributor
Greg Gutfeld: host
Kat Timpf: comedian
Tyrus: comedian, former professional "wrestler"

Full disclosure! We knew Rich Vos, long ago, as part of the Boston comedy scene. If memory serves, we occasionally found ourselves driving to "one nighters" together.  

Rich Vos, let it be said, is the nicest guy on earth. At any rate, those were the clowns the CEO had sent in this night. She had sent in three comedians, plus one former (business news) contributor.

That was the contingent the CEO had sent. Did we mention the fact that they'd been sent to fill the seats on a primetime TV show on the nation's most-watched "cable news" channel? On the most-watched news channel by far?

Some years before, this same CEO had decided to go with Greg Gutfeld and Jesse Watters as the new faces of the scandal-ridden Fox News Channel. On this occasion, true to form, the CEO had sent five individuals onto its set, none of whom were going to show the slightest sign of having the slightest idea what they were talking about.

The program had opened the usual way, with its host offering several minutes of remarkably coarse jokes aimed at opponents of MAGA. The insulting jokes he led with this night went down the same old ugly road:

Due to the government shutdown, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), "had to cut back on his diaper service," this program's viewers were told. With respect to Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), "paychecks are no longer being sent to [her] team of electrologists," he said.

As we've noted in the past, he plays that card all the time.  In the past, we've suggested that he needs and deserves some help, but this very strange person's woman hatred seems undisguised and endless.

"It's bad," the gentleman said. "Earlier today, [Rep.] Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) had to put her new face on layaway. And until this thing is settled all of Hillary's murders will be out of pocket." 

He now turned to his nightly attack on the women of The View. He said that forty percent of climate emissions come from them alone.

Regular viewers all knew what that meant. Presumably, the problem stemmed from their incessant overeating and their subsequent emissions of gas.

That was a kinder, gentler attack on those women than this strange man normally offers. He proceeded to emit one more example of his incessant gender-based humor:

"Speaking of [The View], Sunny Hostin says she doesn't understand why Pete Hegseth fired the first female officer to lead the Navy. In his defense, she kept wanting to attack countries for things they did ten years ago."

So it went as one of the figureheads of the Fox News Channel opened the evening's show. Two years earlier, he had been chosen by the CEO as the way to escape an era of deeply embarrassing, inexcusable scandals, or so the New York Times had said. 

His jokes this night were milder than usual, but his targets are always the same. Liberal women are too fat and too old. They're so fat that they're like horses or cattle or "livestock."

Also, their faces are wrong.

This is the business the Fox News Channel's CEO has chosen. Meanwhile, there is no known way to get major journalists from Blue America's top orgs to report or discuss the fraudulent conduct which takes place on this "cable news" channel's programs.

Back in June 2023, the New York Times' Flegenheimer and Peters had suggested that the turn to figureheads like Gutfeld and Watters was part of a wider turn, within the national discourse, to a type of "insult conservatism" driven by "right-leaning comedy." Below, you see the passage where the pair of reporters had mind-read the CEO's thinking and motives as she had moved Gutfeld's program closer to a primetime slot back in 2021:

"Installing Mr. Gutfeld where an hour of hard news used to be, Ms. Scott reasoned that pandemic-weary audiences needed some levity."

Readers, please! In that passage, you see one fraud being met by another. Before we're done with these snapshots from this corporate propaganda channel, we'll list a few of the many names who refuse to report what actually happens on this "cable news" channel. 

For now, let's return to last Thursday night, and to the plea from Pope Leo XIV.

Full disclosure! Pope Leo isn't a climate scientist—but neither are any of the manifest flyweights the CEO had sent out onto the Gutfeld! set this night. In the program's second half hour, the host decided that it was time to discuss the ridiculous things the clueless Pope had said. 

The pope's Laudato Si ceremony had involved a ceremonial block of melting ice an emblem of the ongoing loss of natural resources worldwide.

Inevitably, the man who loves to mock the faces—and the lack of sexual attractiveness—of 83-year-old American women was going to start with that melting ice. Here's where this segment started:

"If he's going to bless something frozen, he should start with Kathy Hochul's face." 

Kathy Hochul (D-NY) is the governor of that well-known state. On this garbage can program, Governor Hochul's face is laughable too—and at that point, it was on to this very strange person's assessment of climate change:

GUTFELD: Heather, I'm going to you first so you don't have the Rich Vos curse. 

ZUMARRAGA: Thank you.

GUTFELD: Why—  We all love the pope. Why is he weighing in on climate change when all of the data is so corrupted? No one believes in this crap any more—except him!

ZUMARRAGA: Well, you said that.

GUTFELD: You didn't say that? 

ZUMARRAGA: Well, no. 

Full disclosure. We'll guess that Zumarraga is occasionally on this show because she's youngish enough and because she's conventionally telegenic. 

She's also a pleasant, smiling presence, and she's quite agreeable. That said, there is exactly zero reason to believe that she has anything resembling specialized knowledge about the current state of climate change or climate science. 

To her credit, she showed no sign of wanting to speak about this challenging technical issue. But she'd been sent in on the Gutfeld! show, and she almost surely understood what he was being paid to do.

Continuing directly, she adopted a form of agreement, and she then took a guess:

ZUMARRAGA (continuing directly): But it could be seen as political. Right! I— Popes—this is personal opinion—if possible should refrain from having a political stance. 

He didn't mention President Trump by name, but the timing is interesting and suspect because a few days before, at the U.N., President Trump had criticized global warming. So from the Catholic standpoint...

I don't think Catholics really care at the end of the day. This was a nice gesture, something that's not usually done, but maybe his message would be better spent spreading the word of the gospel.

That was her reaction. She hadn't agreed with Gutfeld's claim that the climate science is a big, discredited pile of crap which no one believes any more. But she had managed to get in line with the general drift of the segment.

Now, Kat Timpf blathered a while. She said nothing of substance. Throwing to Vos, the host went ahead and said it again:

GUTFELD: You know, Rich, the fact is that all of the data is found to be fraudulent. You can't accurately measure the earth's temperature—you'd need a huge thermometer for one. 

Do you think that the pope is just out of date?

Desperately, Vos spun his wheels. In fact, he had nothing to say about this important topic. There's no reason why he should have, but why was he there on that show?

That brought the convo back to the host—and there he went again:

GUTFELD: Here's my problem. The pope isn't expected to be up to date on this kind of stuff. And he should know that. He should know that, "Maybe I don't follow the climate science, so maybe I should stay out of it."

Trump knows more about this than the pope does. I hate to tell you, Pope!

Now the former "wrestler" hemmed and hawed, bringing the segment to a close. This segment was an imitation of life, with the host of the show telling millions of viewers, three separate times, that climate science is a big, discredited hoax.

People will die all over the world because of what the yacht owner does. As for the very strange person she chose to be the face of this channel, he mocks the creation of women's faces and women's bodies, after which pretends that he knows the science.

On her yacht, the CEO had sent in the clowns. This represents an ongoing fraud on the American public—on the very possibility of maintaining an American nation.

Despite those facts, you can't name a single person at the New York Times who's willing to report, or to discuss, what actually happens on this "cable news" channel. Nicholas Kristof isn't willing to go there. How about David French?

No one is willing to say their names, or to quote the actual things they have actually said.

Tomorrow: The garbage can comes to The Five


47 comments:

  1. You can't take Democrats seriously on climate change when they're burning down Tesla dealerships and cheering eliminating subsidies for Tesla.

    Like every fake display of concern over important issues, the outrage is in the service of hating white males and normalcy and is not related to moral impulses.

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    1. Here is some news for you. Tesla isn’t the only company making electric cars.

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    2. It's the only one making any worth a damn and is years ahead of others. It is a good citizen and shares its tech but nothing is anywhere near its par. Democrats hate it, burn it, attack its dealerships and tried to discourage its purchase because they don't care about climate change. They're frauds who care about their ideology of hate for whites and males.

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    3. I take it that you can provide evidence that the Tesla arsonists were not white males. Hilarious.

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    4. 11:18 I own 2 electric cars, neither is a Tesla, both bought before the Doge fiasco. I have driven Teslas. They are poorly finished cheap plastic outdated products, and hold no advantage over their European and Asian counterparts at this point, other than possibly price. They are not made like luxury cars.

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    5. We don't hate white males in general, only you in particular.

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    6. White male right wing extremists commit over 80% of politically motivated mass murders, but what’s not to like?

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    7. What kind of moron would trust Democrats on climate change? I look to the experts studying climate change. We are fucked, apparently. No matter how many Teslas I burn, Do enjoy the lib owners around here with their asinine gotchas.

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    8. Agree with 11:28, I drive two EVs, one is a Tesla (leased before the Nazi salute), and to be fair, the Tesla is way behind: it drives like a boat, the ergonomics are terrible, and the build quality is atrocious.

      My non Tesla EV is fantastic and has never needed any work or maintenance, whereas my Tesla has had to go to the shop multiple times, and is already turning into a bucket of bolts.

      Tesla had a lot of promise, coming from the founders, but then it was bought by Musk, who has since driven it into the ground, forgoing good management for snake oil salesman style of leadership.

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    9. We don't just work to destroy white males. We want all the white people destroyed, men and women. That is why we burn Teslas. White people are not designed for the heat and humidity, and they will die before us!

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    10. Quaker in a BasementOctober 9, 2025 at 1:04 PM

      Tesla won't even accept its own "Cybertruck" as a trade-in.

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    11. @2:11 What kind of non-Tesla EV did you buy? Just curious since you say it is fantastic.

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    12. The idea isn't to reach one unanimous conclusion regarding climate change, but for each individual, household and company to do the things that will help reverse problems affecting our planet, in the areas where they live. Companies need not become experts on climate but can examine the ways in which they can minimize their footprint and prevent their activities from worsening the environment. If everyone does this in all ways they can, then there will be a cumulative effect for the better.

      Giving up by saying we are all screwed is an excuse for doing nothing. When there is a problem, there are always ways to mitigate bad effects and make things better, help us all cope with changes we cannot fix, and so on.

      Many of us in the US are already doing what we can, in large and small ways. There is no reason to stop that and every reason to continue. For one thing, it helps us feel more in control of our circumstances. For another, it is the right thing to do. Beyond that, having lived in a very hot area with summer temps reaching 115, I know that even 3-5 degrees less feels better. As organisms, we know that shade is less hot than full sun. So we do the small things that mitigate heat instinctively. If that means planting shade trees around our houses or keeping the blinds closed during daylight or creating cooling centers for people who cannot afford AC, then we do those things because they help individuals cope with heat.

      I admire the Pope for sticking up for what people need. I dislike the way Somerby first disparages the Pope's effort by introducing his own divisiveness to the topic, then ignoring it entirely to focus on Gutfeld, who is a waste of everyone's time. Somerby deliberately makes himself irrelevant to any good effort today. I cannot understand why anyone would go out of their way like that to interfere with people joining an effort to change the world for the better, if only in small but cumulative ways.

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    13. Things to do:

      1. Adopt solar, wind and other alternative energy sources in communities and households. Install home solar panels.
      2. Reduce energy consumption by turning out lights not in use, changing settings on AC/heat thermostats, turning off appliances not in use.
      3. Combine trips for visits and errands to consume less gas in cars. Switch to an EV. Walk more, drive less. Ride a bike.
      4. Buy and use less material goods. Use it up, wear it out. Give unused things to friends or thrift stores or charities. Recycle. Burn waste paper in your fireplace for heat. Repurpose items instead of throwing them out. Compost food waste for garden use.
      5. Donate to environmental causes and support candidates in favor of conservation and environmentalism, support EPA regulations.
      6. If you own or manage a business, make sure you are not polluting or destroying the environment. As a consumer, support businesses who are doing things to help not hurt the planet.

      The increase in prices because of Trump's tariffs will naturally force people into conserving because they will have less disposable income. Many of the things individuals can do toward conservation will also save them money in the long run.

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    14. 2009 called and wants its ignorant and outdated Tesla complaints back.

      Tesla is the only EV that is not garbage.

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  2. Before the Australian wildfires, Rupert Murdoch had a firm grasp of the country’s politics via his control of the media in that country. Scientists explained the role of climate change in the risk of wildfires, and in the subsequent election cycle Murdoch’s chosen candidates who were climate change deniers did poorly. Taking notice, Murdoch’s media empire in Australia did an about face about climate change with the advocacy for zero emissions by mid century. This sequence supports the idea that the propaganda promoted by Murdoch’s right wing outlets is malleable and responsive when overwhelming public sentiment hands them a loss. There are limits to the power of right wing propaganda outlets in a country that believes in science. That may be the rub in this country.

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    1. May be the rub?, I give you fucking RFK Jr. Take him please.

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  3. Imagine an honest, legitimate media mogul modifying his outlets’ stance on policy dependent on the country they broadcast to. Climate change in the US is a hoax and in Australia is an existential threat, according to Murdoch and his minions. This is the definition of a propaganda media empire, not a legitimate news entity.

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  4. How many years has Somerby been humping the dog named Gutfield? What would happen if the "blues" in the media attacked their stupidity. Nothing. Can't fix stupid. Time for a new rant.

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    1. Yes, David is the prime example of the adage that you can't fix stupid. No matter how many times you try to educate him, he comes back here with the same garbage. Can't fix trolls either.

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    2. When talking about stupid here, it applies specifically to David in Cal. Amen.

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  5. The Pope knows as little about climate science as a teenage girl. 😀

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    1. does anyone know why this asshole has to keep trolling these blog comments? Go fuck yourself, Dickhead.

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    2. Before his advanced degrees the Pope received his B.A. in Mathematics. Unlike the President, the Pope is advised by smart people, not drunk, brain wormed heroin and sex addicts. Unlike the President, the Pope did not promise Quid Pro Quo to the energy giants for donations to the party working to destroy the earth.

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    3. David, what the pope lacks in scientific knowledge, he makes up for in blessing an ice chunk.

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    4. Typical David. Old man near the end of a very good draft dodging war free life, mocking youth rightfully terrified for their future. Hurry up and die you useless old prick.

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    5. There’s that vaunted anonymouse empathy.

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    6. Who doesn't remember growing up in Chicago and NYC chocking on wildfire smoke? Or the scenes of hundreds of cars floating down the street? Everything is fine, trust me. Anytime Trump manages to say anything, remember what Exxon CEO, SoS, Rex Tillerson says, "Trump is a fucking moron."

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    7. As a Vietnam vet I say fuck the draft dodgers like Trump and David.

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    8. And Somerby too.

      The pollution in Chicago back in the day was about the dumping of industrial waste in Lake Michigan. The Chicago river and the lake were too polluted for swimming. There was a massive clean up effort that reversed that problem for the lake and this summer was the first time Chicagoans were able to swim in the river. That is a major accomplishment that benefitted the entire region adjoining Lake Michigan.

      That decades-long effort will be reversed now that Trump is eliminating all environmental protections rules.

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    9. Teenage girls these days know more about climate than David in Cal.

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  6. “With respect to Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), "paychecks are no longer being sent to [her] team of electrologists," he said.”

    Oh, come on, Bob, this one IS a hoot!

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    1. Pretty rich, coming from the man pretending to be a woman!

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    2. You shouldn't talk gender with pre-teens.

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    3. I’m a pre-teen boy. You can “talk” anything with us and likely do.

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    4. 12:02 There’s that vaunted Cecilia empathy.

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    5. Anonymouse 12:49pm, I mete it out, you vaunt it.

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    6. It was nice while you were gone. The number of comments decreased by more than half without any loss of content.

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    7. Anonymouse 1:25pm, I continue to follow the blog. Contrary to your description, the multi-screed writing harpies are for the most part gone and it’s the anonymouse flying monkeys who are left.

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    8. I don't know what you mean by flying monkeys, but I am talking about you. You are a nuisance because you contribute nothing to this blog except negativity. It really was nice while you were absent. It is far better to have 30 comments expressing actual ideas than someone like you who just attacks others in mean ways.

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  7. Observing this toxic right wing vanity blog wither away, is not unamusing.

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  8. "In his first significant address on climate change, Pope Leo called on Catholics and citizens of the world on Wednesday to carry on the environmental advocacy of his predecessor, Francis, and not to treat it as a “divisive” issue."

    Then the first thing Somerby says is this: "Rightly or wrongly, wisely or otherwise, that's what the pontiff said."

    He can't seem to listen to the Pope but has to make it an either/or divisive issue before he even stops to think about what the Pope said and what it means. The Pope is issuing the Kumbaya moment and Somerby's first impulse is to divide up sides to fight over it.

    We are all in this world together. We need to preserve it and keep it fit for habitation. That isn't rocket science. Except for people like Somerby and David in Cal.

    Somerby talks about which Chicago baseball team the Pope rooted for, based on his neighborhood. Somerby grew up in the Irish Catholic neighborhood of Boston. Even if he has abandoned his religion, he should still feel a bit of the respect accorded to those who dedicate their lives to serving others. But no. Somerby would rather play a blame game with Scott and Gutfeld than encourage his readers here to join the other nations of our world in saving the planet. That's how sincere Somerby is about finding common ground with the Others.

    Does the Pope need to be a scientist to be right about climate change? The changes should be obvious to anyone paying attention these days. Doing things to help instead of worsen our environments seems like an obvious no-brainer, even for a Pope. What is wrong with Somerby that he dismisses the efforts of the new pontiff to do good?

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    1. Somerby is a typical right wing nihilist asshole. As one put it to me: I have no kids. I lived a life better than any King in history. What the fuck do I care if the planet dies after I die. Fucking self describes as a Christian of course.

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  9. Quaker in a BasementOctober 9, 2025 at 1:40 PM

    Trump: These massive vaccines that are twice the size of a jar like that. A glass of water like that into a baby's body.

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    1. When you feed a baby, you are "injecting" a lot more fluid into its body and yet it manages to absorb it.

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    2. Declining sundowner grandpa, why does he still have the keys to the car? They should have taken them after his autogolpe attempt. Vaccines nowadays are more like a lube gun then a syringe. Time to take the old fella out to pasture. Like, do his advisors know we all live in the real world, not in his imaginary one? What with these entire cities in ash heaps, and two quarts of big pharma to make my baby healthy, I will live in the ash heaps, and inject two quarts into my kids. You fucking old weirdos. Leave us the fuck alone.

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