THE REMAINS: They pretended to discuss the tape...

TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2026

...which they pretended they'd seen: "Some say the world will end in fire. Some say [it will end] in ice."

The name of the poet in question was Frost. Did a minor prejudgment lurk there? 

Somewhat similarly, some say our societal disintegration started in 1990 with Newt Gingrich's list of words—with his list of the "contrasting words" the GOP should always use when describing Democrats.  

("Destructive, shallow, sick, shame, cynicism, lie, disgrace, taxes, devour, anti-child, anti-flag and traitor"—and on and on from there.)  

Others say the demise started earlier—for example, in the attack on Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork conducted by Senator Ted Kennedy in 1987. 

Whether you teach it flat or round, the remains of those days can now be viewed, every night, on various "cable news" programs. In our view, the Fox News Channel is especially committed to the practice of prying the lid off the garbage can, then deciding to let the mutts out. 

Our own language may seem strong, you might imaginably say. If so, we'll suggest the possibility that you haven't been watching the instruments of the ongoing demise—that you've taken the cue from such Blue American "news orgs" as these:

The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, MS NOW 

Those news orgs, and all their journalists, have agreed to avert their gaze from the conduct of the Fox News Channel and its expansive kennel of "mutts." Those orgs will neither report nor analyze or discuss the behavior of those aggregations—for example, of the collection of savants let out last night at exactly 10 o'clock Eastern: 

Gutfeld! panelists: Monday, 3/9/26 
Tyrus: former professional "wrestler" 
Kat Timpf: comedian 
Greg Gutfeld: host
Michael Malice: podcast conspiracy theorist 
Nick Shirley: independent journalist

As an example of the culture which obtains at these "cable news" programs, Gutfeld introduced Malice this way: 

"He causes more troubles online than emails from Nigeria."

He introduced Tyrus in much the way he always does:

"He's like a shower chair. Old ladies sit on him in the shower."

According to his nightly intro, Tyrus is constantly having sex with "old ladies" (over 80), implicitly for pay. At any rate, with a congregation of analysts like those, what could possibly have gone wrong on some such enchanted night?

As the American news industry has continued its headlong collapse, we the people are now receiving primetime "cable news" instruction from gong-show panels like that one. 

As any sentient being could see, the panels on programs like Gutfeld! and The Five are assembled to spread preferred corporate messaging all through the warrens of Red America. As their inane behavior proceeds, the finer people in Blue America have agreed to avert their gaze. 

And so it was last Tuesday night when The Five went on the air at 5, followed by Gutfeld! at 10. The corporation had decided to let the mutts out. On this profoundly unfortunate evening, the analysts in question were these:

The Five panelists: Tuesday, 3/3/26
Emily Compagno: co-host, Outnumbered
Jessica Tarlov: twice-weekly punching bag
Jesse Watters: host, Jesse Watters Primetime
Dana Perino: co-anchor, America's Newsroom
Tyrus: former professional "wrestler

Gutfeld! panelists: Tuesday, 3/3/26
Tyrus: former professional "wrestler"
Kat Timpf: comedian
Greg Gutfeld: host
Dave Landau: comedian
Mike Benz: Foundation For Freedom Online

Those were the aggregations in question. Now for the rest of the story:

As we noted yesterday, the videotape of Bill Clinton's recent deposition had been released by the House Oversight Committee the day before. Now, those collections of corporate messaging agents would pretend to discuss what they would pretend to have seen in the four and a half hours of tape. 

Full disclosure: 

In all candor, "clown show" isn't a strong enough term for what those panels produced. As they pretended to discuss what they pretended to have seen, each panel focused on one small piece of videotape—a piece of tape whose context we laid out in yesterday morning's report.

We know of no reason to believe that any of those panelists had actually reviewed the actual videotape on which they and their fellow panelists would pretend to comment. We know of no reason to believe that any of these corporate "mutts" knew what was being discussed in the inconsequential line of questioning which preceded that brief bit of tape.

We'll now attempt to execute a change in tone, moving from the inexcusable clowning performed by last Tuesday's messenger children to the very serious questions under review during Bill Clinton's deposition:

The former president was being asked about his past association with Jeffrey Epstein, a major purveyor of sex crimes. The former president said his association with Epstein ended in 2003, a point which went unchallenged all through the 4.5 hours of tape.

Last Tuesday night, the children cavorted and clowned. In that way, they completed their corporate mission. During his lengthy deposition, the former president responded to reasonable questions from Jack Emmer, chief counsel to the House Oversight Committee.

What had been the nature of the former's president's association with Epstein? You can see what the former president said by reading the transcript of his deposition, or even by watching the videotape—something none of the children showed any sign of having done.

In what way had Clinton interacted with Epstein? As we noted yesterday, the first Q-and-A went like this:

EMMER (2/27/26): Mr. President, thank you for agreeing to testify today and for your years of service to our country. I want to start from the beginning. When did you first meet Jeffrey Epstein?

CLINTON: ...There's a picture where it shows him shaking hands in the White House Historical Association reception. That was in 1993, but I'm not aware of that. I first remember meeting him when I got on his airplane to take the first trip with my foundation in, I think, 2002, whenever it was.

None of that was ever seriously challenged. As the early questioning continued, the president described the way the association began:

CLINTON: Sometime after I left the White House, either in late 2001 or early-ish 2002, I received a call from Larry Summers, who had been on my economic team and was later secretary of treasury...He said that he was calling because a man named Jeffrey Epstein who had made a substantial commitment of several million dollars—I think it was 10, but whatever it was—to brain research, and that he was a information hungry person and he wanted to spend some time talking to me about economics and politics. 

And he said he's got this massive airplane and he said he would take you, your staff, your Secret Service detail, and anybody else you wanted to bring on the trips that he knew I was planning to set up a global network to provide lifesaving AIDS medicine to as many people as possible, as quickly as possible.

This basic account went unchallenged during the long deposition. According to President Clinton's testimony, a series of "four or five trips to Asia and Africa and one to north of Europe" ensued.

The last of these AIDS-related trips took place in 2003. After that, the president said, he had no further contact with Epstein.

None of this chronology was challenged during the long deposition. As we noted yesterday, there was an inconsequential line of questioning at one point, in which Emmer seemed to be testing President Clinton's claim that he and Epstein had never been personal friends.

Yesterday, we showed you the transcript of that line of questioning. We'd say the line of questioning was transparently inconsequential. 

Last Tuesday night, two panels of pretenders cavorted and joked and pretended and undermined the possibility of maintaining an American nation as they pretended to discuss that one small piece of that videotape.

None of them showed any sign of having any idea what they were clowning about. They were engaged   in the nightly project of creating convincing "imitations of life."

We're dealing here with the sacred, but also with the grotesquely profane. There's no excuse for what those "cable news" panelists did that night, but we'll remind you that they're only human, and they were being well paid.

Also, their behavior is enabled by the elites we Blues are told we can trust—by our own Blue American elites, over here in our own failing half of our plainly failing so-called United States of America.

Some say fire, some say ice. Some say that last Tuesday's appalling behavior shows us what is left—what little remains—of our rapidly failing culture. 

Tomorrow, we'll look at what was left—what little decency remained—after they had let the mutts out, which they of course do every night.

Tomorrow: "[Little] beside remains"