THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2026
Tarlov among the chimps: How fraudulent is much of the "cable news" discourse afflicting this failing nation?
Thanks to Willa Pope Robbins of Mediaite, we can steer you to the latest pitiful, sad example.
Yesterday, we watched the program known as The Five—but Robbins got busy transcribing. Here's the start of her news report. Videotape is included:
Jessica Tarlov Speechless as Fox Colleagues Scream at Her On All Sides
Fox News host Jessica Tarlov was left speechless on Wednesday as her colleagues screamed at her on all sides, in a brutal shouting match over the morality of both political parties.
The conflict on The Five began with a comment from host Greg Gutfeld about liberals’ feelings toward supporters of President Donald Trump. When host Jesse Watters asked Tarlov if she had an explanation for the phenomenon, her response triggered sharp pushback from the hosts.
As Watters, Gutfeld, and host Paul Mauro berated her across the table, Tarlov repeatedly looked into the camera, her mouth open in shock while her colleagues shouted.
Watters and Gutfeld and Mauro oh my! So began the Robbins report.
We'll offer a quick observation:
Robbins felt that she was watching a "brutal shouting match." That assessment may be accurate.
That said, to our own despondent eye, there almost seemed to be a certain "staged" quality to the inanity we were watching.
We've often mentioned the way the program's four pro-MAGA co-hosts interrupt and overtalk Tarlov when her rebuttals are perhaps a bit too persuasive. We've also said, within the past few weeks, that we thought we'd spotted some new stage managing, with Tarlov perhaps having been instructed to start fighting back against her rude tormentors.
For us, yesterday's shouting match almost extended that vibe. That said, the sheer stupidity of this, our most-watched "cable news" program, was put on especially vivid display right as the nonsense started.
Robbins offers a transcript which is almost complete. In our view, the sheer stupidity brought on the set each day by Greg Gutfeld each day is rather hard as Robbins' transcript starts:
WATTERS (5/6/26): Do you have a theory about why liberals care so much that other people like Trump?
TARLOV: Because he’s like a completely morally bankrupt person that’s imposing all of these–
GUTFELD: But why should you care that I like him? Why should you care?
Watters had asked a somewhat puzzling question; Tarlov answered it anyway.
President Trump is a "morally bankrupt person," she said. This caused Gutfeld to wonder why Tarlov should care if he likes him!
For the record, there was no sign at that point that Tarlov actually does "care" about the fact that Gutfeld "likes" President Trump—or is at least prepared to pretend that he does when appearing on cable TV.
Patiently, Tarlov answered his weird question too. Just like that, it was Tarlov among the chimps!
Robbins transcribed the nonsense which followed from there. As you can see on the videotape, there was a lot of mugging for the cameras. It seemed to us that this exercise in sheer inanity exuded a certain "stage-managed" feel.
Question:
Have producers of our most-watched "cable news" show seen something on the gruesome CNN Newsnight with Abby Phillip from which they've decided to borrow?
We don't know! But at any rate this:
Trump is morally bankrupt, she said. Mugging for his $9 million, Gutfeld didn't quite seem to get why a citizen would care about that!
Blacks are cottoning towards Trump and Maga. The thrill seems to be gone with Democrats. Maybe Democrats pay Blacks big lip service but don't deliver on what they promise.
ReplyDeleteWhy are Republicans so intent on erasing black majority districts in their states, then?
DeleteNope 2:40, still a dope.
DeleteI'll bet you think of yourself as clever...🙄
Delete2:40,
DeleteYou should let everyone in the Heartland of America know the Republican Party loves black people.
I know I'll be telling them. (Don't worry, I have a gun).
Somerby doesn't describe what happened on CNN that might have been borrowed by Fox. That prevents his readers from evaluating his suggestion. I seriously doubt that Fox borrows anything from other cable shows. Why would they do that when they are leading the ratings?
ReplyDeleteI do object to Somerby's idea that Tarlov is being stage-managed to behave a specific way:
"We've also said, within the past few weeks, that we thought we'd spotted some new stage managing, with Tarlov perhaps having been instructed to start fighting back against her rude tormentors. "
First, it doesn't sound like Tarlov did any fighting back. Second, Somerby's idea deprives Tarlov of agency on the show, implying that she is told how to behave if not what to say.
It seems more likely that Tarlov said something that Fox didn't want to allow to stand, which caused the others to shout her down more aggressively than usual. Calling Trump morally bankrupt is a serious claim that people can see for themselves is true. It raises echoes of Epstein, the topic the entire right is trying to avoid talking about. It focuses attention on Trump's personal behavior, such as the things he said to those kids, his failure to wish Melania a Happy Birthday, his inability to give a speech any more.
Only by describing Tarlov as a shill, can Somerby say that blue America refuses to notice what? That Fox hosts scream at each other? That's obvious to anyone watching. Tarlov is being consigned to the right when Somerby says she is going along with stage directions. I think she said something true that the others didn't want to hear. That is a service being performed by someone from the left.
How else is Blue America supposed to deal with anything that happens on Fox? Not by wasting our own limited screen time, which is better devoted to combatting Fox lies. Somerby himself could focus on the truth of her statement, that Trump is morally bankrupt, but Somerby is not part of Blue America himself, so he never talks about that. He instead tries to pretend that Tarlov is the bankrupt one, shilling to these Trump apologists.
Or maybe Somerby hasn't beat up on enough women this week, so it is Tarlov's turn to be diminished. Do the odds on that show seem fair to him? Should Tarlov herself have shouted louder? Somerby doesn't say. He blames the rest of us for some unstated crime. What is it? I have no idea.
You sound like a woman. Just so you know.
DeleteDoes it take a woman to notice that Trump is morally bankrupt? Hope not.
DeleteThumbs up to the feminist at 4:11.
DeleteIt really is uncanny how women are so attuned with the world we live in.
It's no wonder so many insecure men hate them.
Here's a new term: "Blue Corporate." Who are they? I think all corporate is by definition red until proven otherwise. Another strawman from Somerby.
ReplyDeleteI want to see a copy of the corporate treaty signed between Red and Blue Corporate, where blues agreed to ignore the inanity on Red media. Failing that evidence, I do not believe we ever agreed to ignore anything. But I do believe that we blues paid notice to the inanity and as a group have agreed not to watch Fox and not to knowingly promote or advance any inanity. Somerby has violated that agreement daily, so I do not consider him part of blue America.
ReplyDeleteSomerby doesn't give Tarlov's side of the argument, but when Gutfeld asked this:
ReplyDelete"This caused Gutfeld to wonder why Tarlov should care if he likes him!"
Tarlov explained that it is because those who like Trump elected him as president. Duh!
If Somerby had any interest in defending Tarlov, he might have presented her side of the argument, not just what the red assholes screamed at her.
You must have missed the link - with videotape! - that Somerby provided. Did you try it? Will you try it? Will you please STFU?
DeletePeople like Slabby® constantly harp on some perceived misogyny on this site.
Wait, I do remember when he beat up on Ann Frank. Very disturbing. Maybe I should parse this blog a little more carefully.
Leroy
Dang, spelled Anne as Ann.
DeleteMaybe I'M a misogynist. Dang it.
Leroy
Me going to a link doesn’t tell me what Somerby found gruesome.
DeleteIf you find child Holocaust victims “beautiful” there is something wrong with you too.
I saw the whole thing and didn’t feel like it was staged or Tarlov was coached. Somerby omits her dialog to support his own interpretation. That’s dishonest and unfair to Tarlov.
DeleteMaybe knocking this show is the purpose of Somerby's essay:
ReplyDelete"gruesome CNN Newsnight with Abby Phillip"
We aren't told what was gruesome about it, but Somerby has clearly knocked Abby Phillip without supplying any details, much less evidence, of what she did wrong on that show. Slime slime slime Somerby! This is how he knocks women without feeling the need to show what they did or why it is gruesome. Just name calling.
She’s black and a woman. Somerby gets a twofer
DeleteSomerby managed to include another ad pushing Mediaite. Wonder how much he gets paid for that.
ReplyDelete"THURSDAY: This is no country for serious people!"
ReplyDeleteNo Country for Old Men is the name of a film that has nothing whatsoever to do with the content of this essay. This is just another random reference, modifying someone else's idea, that is perhaps intended to make Somerby sound trendy or culturally literate or obscurely poetic, when it means nothing and says nothing while stealing other people's work. Why does Somerby think it is OK to do this?
Dennis Miller used to pile his comedy routines with these sorts of mentions spoken rapid-fire while young men would feel flattered if they could recognize a few of them as they went by. It wasn't funny or clever or meaningful either because the references made no sense in the context of whatever topic Miller was discussing. This is worse when Somerby does it because there isn't any challenge when phrases are scattered among stream-of-consciousness rambling in words that remain on the screen as long as you want to look at them. Just more pathetic idea-theft.
I learned most of "Everybody Knows", a cover of a Leonard Cohen song, on guitar. Name of the cover band is The Duhks.
ReplyDeleteYup, I stole it in broad daylight. Putz.
It's a bitchin' version, you should check it out on Youtube.
Here, I'll help:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybuCmgyQE6o&list=RDybuCmgyQE6o&start_radio=1
Leroy
Meant for 4:17. Dang it.
DeleteLeroy
Look how you gave credit to all involved.
DeletePaid influencers pretending to post as individuals are part of right wing media:
ReplyDelete“ Critics, including fellow influencer Rogan O'Handley, have dismissed her as a disgruntled attention-seeker, but Renée DiResta, a Georgetown University researcher who studies political influencers, said St. Clair is "saying out loud what people who track the space have observed on the outside to be highly likely," confirming suspicions about the lucrative nature of right-wing influencer networks.
St. Clair said she is speaking out despite risks to her career because she fears the "viral-outrage infrastructure" will outlive Trump's presidency, fostering continued secretive cooperation between political operatives and influencers that could damage American politics.”
No one would do what Somerby does without being paid. There is no actual content here beyond the talking points Somerby pushes. Why would Somerby be assigned a troll to defend him?
I’ve come here to report a murder: the. City of Memphis, TN has been carved up with premeditation. Grand Wizard John Roberts was accessory to the murder.
ReplyDeleteBecause fuck us, what are we going to do about it
Really dumb comment.
DeleteSorry.
DeleteFrom the Rude Pundit:
DeleteSo Louisiana, a state that is one-third Black and has six seats in the House of Representatives (see how math works?), will now redraw the map for November's election to completely eliminate the two majority Black districts. The only way to do that is to carve up New Orleans, a city that is 55% Black, and the only reason you wouldn't have a New Orleans district is to prevent a Black person (who will likely be a Democrat) from being elected. The same goes for Baton Rouge, another majority Black city. Rational division of the state would give its two most populous cities a district each. But Republicans aren't looking to draw maps fairly. They are going to carve up those cities and Shreveport (third largest, also majority Black) and combine them with white suburbs and rural parishes and deliberately dilute the color out of them. And the Supreme Court will not call that "racist."
Because fuck you, what are you going to do about it
DeleteLouisiana is not gerrymandering to eliminate Black representatives. They have already done that. There are a total of 4 Black Republicans serving in the House of Representatives currently (none from Louisiana). They are from Utah, Florida, Michigan and Texas. All four will be vacating their seats this year and will not run for re-election. The Republican Party will once again look like the race-restrictive Whites -only country club that it is. Trump’s anti DEI policy has engaged in firing meritorious highly qualified leaders that do not fit their race (and sex)-based criteria, under the leadership of unqualified buffoons. There is no other explanation for the marked underrepresentation of African Americans in the Republican Party in Washington other than racism.
DeleteIf the Republicans , by some miracle or deceit , were to retain all of their current Congressional seats in Washington after the 4 Congressmen mentioned above vacate their seats and are replaced by Whites, they will have only one black member in Congress (a senator) out of 271. It is a racist party, pure and simple, and makes no apologies for that fact, gerrymandering in such a manner as to insure that its already race-restrictive membership remains closed to non- Whites.
DeleteGrand Wizard John Roberts will go down in history as worse than Roger Taney. That is quite an achievement.
Delete“ This is no country for serious people!”
ReplyDeleteRepublicans are dead serious.
So am I.
DeleteFuck fascism.
Seriously 7:05 if Republicans are so fucking serious why the fucking clown show?
DeleteFOX is completely staged. Why watch it at all? Leave it to the shallow, the haters, and the sadists, all of whom have existed before the internet and even TV. Business people like Henry Ford who had no issues with helping Hitler.
ReplyDeleteResults
ReplyDelete"the Trump administration just hit an all-time low in white-collar prosecutions this past fiscal year"
Yeah. Firing tax enforcement agents ,whose pay is offset several fold by income derived from rooting out fraud , makes sense only if you and your peers are the fraudulent actors.
DeleteHector -“Aii time” sounds exaggerated. Fewer than in 1792?
DeleteNope, still a dope.
DeleteThere are as many Republican voters who aren''t bigots today, as there were prosecutions of white collar criminals by the USA in 1720.
DeleteThe eyesore known as the ballroom addition to the White House has turned into a twofer for Trump. First there is the transactional, influence-peddling 400 million dollar part. Second there is the stick it to the taxpayer for 1 billion dollars part, that gives him joy at having pulled one over and lied to the public about their role in the expense. Make that a threefer if the private donors to this fiasco get a tax write off for it that only serves to increase the national debt and further stick it to the public. Classic Trump move.
ReplyDeleteA couple random questions:
ReplyDeleteWhy does FBI Director Kash Patel always look like a deer caught in the headlights when facing the American public?
Who is paying for the personalized labels Kash Patel has for his Bourbon bottles?
Patel paid for them himself.
Deletehow the fuck do you know, dickhead, you fascist freak?
DeleteHe paid for them himself, just like every other FBI head before him who had their names and FBI insignia etched on to liquor bottles that traveled in caseloads with them.
DeleteDavid TLDR: no matter how fucked up the person is, if he works for the demented fool I will always defend him.
DeleteGrifters gonna grift David. It is the whole lousy summy operation.
Delete"… President Trump’s FBI director has a great deal of affection for swag. Merchandise for sale on a website he co-founded—still operating, nearly 15 months into his term—includes beanies ($35), T-shirts ($35), orange camo hoodies ($65), trucker caps ($25), “government gangsters” playing cards (on sale for $10), and a Fight With Kash Punisher scarf ($25).
One thing not for sale is liquor, because liquor is something Patel gives away for free.
Absolutely shameless assholes, the entire fucking crew of Trumps' stupids.
From Digby: The U.S. economy added 115,000 jobs in April, significantly beating expectations of about 55,000 and suggesting the labor market remains more resilient than many economists anticipated. Thanks to Trump, average monthly payroll growth for the first four months of 2026 is about 76,000 jobs, compared with roughly 42,000 during the same period in 2025. The report eased concerns that the economy was sliding toward a major downturn.
ReplyDeleteTrusting any numbers that come out of this administration is fraught with risk, given that a bad report can result in one more American becoming an unemployment statistic.
DeleteThe unemployment rate is being helped by removing the undocumented and old people leaving the workplace. Less jobs being worked overall, but there are plenty of low paying job offerings in shithole jobs. Soon to be done by AI.
DeleteThe Virginia Supreme Court has struck down the new maps in rammed through by Democrats in the state.
ReplyDeleteA massive win for Republicans.
Democrats should just do what Republican legislatures do: redistrict without allowing the people to vote. Apparently, forcing it on your citizens is AOK.
DeleteKilling off all black (dirty negras) representation is a major win for Republicans. FIFY
Delete11:21 You are forgetting that the USSC only allows ramming thru stuff in red states.
DeletePeople are wondering now that Democrat's most important demo are affluent whites, if this makes it harder for them to claim they support the working class. The foundational idea that Democrats are the party of working people (and its corollary that Republicans are the party of business and the wealthy) has grown much more tenuous than it once was. The Democratic Party is clearly not a working class party anymore.
Delete2:13 Nice false narrative. Grasping. Just give it up to historic losses in November.
DeleteWorking class? That's so 2012. Democrats are the party of abortion and anal sex.
DeleteAbortions & anal sex; it sure sounds like Alabama country bumpkins to me.
DeleteTrump handing out billions in corrupt contracts to cronies is certainly what the working class party does. Going to war and instantly losing with no planning and not knowing that gas prices would soar is certainly what the party of the working people would do. Gutting ACA subsidies for working families is another good thing for the working class party to do. Killing affordable renewable energy projects is what the working class party does. Cutting SNAP benefits is another benefit for the working class. I could go on. Any specific examples of how Republicans work for the working class asshat?
DeleteImagine being such a racist piece of shit, that you’d obey anything the Virginia Supreme Court says.
DeleteSMDH.