THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2026
...with Blue American silence thrown in: Thinking back to this morning's report, the most remarkable part of this mess is the fact that Blue America has so totally agreed to roll over and accept it.
Through whatever batch of internal wiring, there will always be someone like Greg Gutfeld—someone who's eager to give angry voice to his misogyny-agency complaints. (We've suggested that his owners ought to get him some help.)
Every so often, someone like Jesse Watters will come along—someone inclined to voice such silly clatter as this about the State of the Union event:
WATTERS (2/25/26): It's also a great format for the president because the Republicans are just better looking. All of the cutaways to these Democrats—it's sad. It is a sad look. Our cabinet is more attractive. The Trump family is more attractive. I'm sorry—it's just the truth.
Also, Trump loves awards. It's become an award show now. You get a Medal of Freedom, you get a Medal of Honor. This person got a tax refund, she got fertility drugs.
It's like him hosting an awards show now, which is great, and that is why it's so fun...
"The Republicans are just better looking." Yes, that's what he said.
Regarding the "fun" of the current State of the Union format, there's a great deal more to be said.
Performers like these have come along—and Fox News saw an opening. Through their mélange of apparent misogyny, "insult comedy" and utterly silly chatter, Watters and Gutfeld now drive three of the four most watched programs in American "cable news."
(The other most-watched show also belongs to Fox, as you can see in the list below.)
For the record, these aren't just the most-watched shows; they're most watched programs by far. Over at Mediaite, Sean James delivers the mail, starting with the basics:
Fox News Romps Over Cable Competition in February, Scores 35% More Viewers Than CNN and MS NOW Combined
,,,Fox News once again smoked its competition in February.
New Nielsen data obtained by Mediaite shows Fox News averaged 34% more primetime viewers and 35% more total day viewers than CNN and MS NOW combined this month.
Fox News averaged 2.61 million primetime viewers between Monday and Sunday—compared to 1.94 million for both CNN and MS NOW—and that figure jumped to 3.07 million viewers when just looking at primetime viewership during the week.
Those early numbers for February show Fox News programs with 35% more viewers than the other two cables combined! When it comes to viewership for the most-watched weeknight shows, the five top shows look like this:
Average viewers, nightly cable news programs:
The Five: 4.00 million
Jesse Watters Primetime: 3.44 million
Special Report with Bret Baier: 3.10 million
Gutfeld!: 3.04 million
The Ingraham Angle: 2.90 million
All five shows are from Fox News. Hannity is a smidgeon behind Laura Ingraham at #6.
At MS NOW, The Rachel Maddow Show checks in with 2.38 million viewers, but the program airs just once a week. At MS NOW, Lawrence O'Donnell has the most-watched full week program (1.47 million).
At CNN, Anderson Cooper tops the list (908,000).
With respect to programs like The Five, Watters Primetime and Gutfeld!, no serious person could seriously claim that they're actual "news" shows. We'd call them propaganda messaging programs, with plenty of clowning mixed in.
There's more to say about these matters, but for today we're tired. That said:
The state of the union is very poor in the cable news department. At Fox, the state of the union is fawning and clowning and plenty of insults, with the New York Times' silence thrown in.
ReplyDelete""The Republicans are just better looking." Yes, that's what he said."
Sorry that it made you upset, Bob. You are a good-looking man, Bob, you are...
...and who in their right mind would be listening to Anderson Cooper? Talk about clowning... And extremely boring, horribly cringey clowning at that...
The sad part is that it's important for a politician to be good-looking. Supposedly good looks helped JFK defeat Nixon. My Gov Newsom is good-looking. That help makes him a leading candidate for President.
ReplyDeleteGet the fuck out of here you dumbass trolls.
DeleteSays the dickhead who crawled naked through a Paris sewer 3 times to vote for a reality tv star
Delete"Adding to my befuddlement is the fact that he’s every single stereotype of a loathsome shitheel from the last one hundred years of popular culture, all at once—the ignorant blowhard at the end of the bar, the entitled silver spoon trust fund asshole, the clueless boss who does nothing but create crises for his employees to clean up, the lecherous old man, the vapid self-important celebrity, the penny pinching miser who stiffs the honest working man, the oily corrupt politician, the cowardly bully, the draft-dodging faux-patriot, the scumbag crook who gets off on a technicality. He’s almost literally every repugnant trope from generations of literature, movies, and TV shows."
DeleteApologize for the off topic. Trump's nominee for Surgeon General is appalling. She's a kook. Any random American would be a better choice. This is a side effect of Trump's appalling choice of Kennedy.
ReplyDeleteGo fuck yourself, dickhead. You voted for this shitshow
DeleteShe can't possibly be as appalling and corrupt as the medical associations like the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, Academy of Plastic Surgeons and the rest that endorsed chopping off children's genitals.
DeleteIt could be worse, dickface. She could be black or a lesbian, right fuckface
DeleteYou r an appalling troll dickwad, waddle the fuck out of here.
DeleteAt least she’s not DEI, dickface. That’s on your list, fuckface
DeleteThat would be a bridge too far, right dickhead!
DeleteShe is no different from the rest of the cabinet: degenerates, white supremacists, weirdos, general purpose ignoramuses.
DeleteI judge employees primarily on how well they can do the job, rather than bigotry, racism or personal morality. E.g., I think Bill Clinton was a pretty good President.
DeleteMeans will not only fail to give good medical advice; she will give bad medical advice. E.g., she is wishy washy on vaccines at a time when vaccines need greater support.