THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2026
Mofo just can't stop: It was repeatedly said by the ancients:
Once you've lost Brian Kilmeade, you've lost the Fox News Channel!
Kilmeade is "co-host for life" of the weekday Fox & Friends program. In fairness, he has a good sense of humor. He has held that position since the program debuted in February 1998.
As of yesterday morning, Kilmeade had already walked the plank regarding the president's resolution of the Iran debacle. "It makes absolutely no sense," he said at one point—and over the following 24 hours, similar views were expressed by a wide array of Fox News Channel personnel.
That said, the channel's top messengers held firm in their belief that the president has fashioned a fabulous deal (Jesse Watters, on Jesse Watters Primetime), or that there's much, much more which hasn't yet been disclosed about the actual deal (Sean Hannity, on Hannity).
So those messengers said. But because we can't stop being amazed by what is churned by this "cable news" channel, we thought you should see what millions of Americans saw and heard at the start of last night's Gutfeld! program.
In fairness, let's be fair! The Gutfeld! program is taped in the late afternoon. For that reason, we'll excuse the fact that this "cable news" program featured zero discussion last night of the memorandum of understanding regarding the war with Iran.
Last night, the topic just never came up! That said, this program repeatedly avoids discussion of major issues, turning instead to inane agitprop.
It will be interesting to see what's said on this astounding program tonight about the dismount from Iran. For today, we merely want to show you what was said at the very start of last evening's show.
In our view, an anthropology lesson is currently being made available to all who are willing to see—a lesson about the actual nature of us the (imperfect) humans. This lesson is being taught as the "democratization of media" has, for better or worse, afforded large platforms to types of people who would never have held such positions of influence at any time in the past.
Greg Gutfeld is one such person. For better or worse, he is the second most-watched person in cable news, behind only the aforementioned Watters, with whom he co-hosts The Five.
As usual, Gutfeld started last night's Gutfeld! program with roughly two minutes of jokes. These jokes are typically designed to drive his channel's corporate agitprop.
Last night, his first joke concerned a college student who has apparently committed a criminal act. Remarkably, that first joke went like this:
GUTFELD (6/17/26): In Chicago, an Asian college student has admitted to burning a cross to protest Donald Trump...
The student was arrested after investigators were suspicious when he initially blamed the Kru Krux Kran.
The "Kru Krux Kran"—hilarious! In a remarkable time warp, we were returned to the days when people of Asian ancestry were routinely mocked by nitwits like Gutfeld for their imagined "Charlie Chan" accents.
It was a classic time passage! In such ways, for unknown reasons, Gutfeld (and his panelists) frequently seem to be striving to Make America Profoundly Dimwitted Again.
At any rate, that was the fellow's first joke. He then turned directly to this:
GUTFELD: JD Vance has been on a media tour promoting his book about his conversion to Catholicism. and last year he said he hopes his Hindu wife, Usha, converts to Christianity.
And now there is hope. Once she saw her husband on The View, she no longer believes cows are sacred.
PHOTO; Vance with the women of The View
AUDIENCE: [Laughter, sustained applause]
There the cable star went again! He just can't seem to quit the desire to fulfill his own strange needs by engaging in this practice.
For the record, it was the second straight night! Here he was, on Tuesday night, walking that same sad beat:
GUTFELD (6/16/26): Farmers are implementing A.I. to shoot lasers at weeds while leaving vital produce alone.
They are also using A.I.-powered robotic systems to milk cows, which is already striking fear in the hosts at The View.
PHOTO: The women of The View
AUDIENCE: [Laughter, applause]
Once again, they're just a collection of cows! He can't seem to quit this practice, which his audience plainly loves.
We think this is pitiful, sad. Meanwhile, no major news org in Blue America is willing to report the presence of this highly unusual behavior on a major "cable news" program—on a cable news show whose nightly audience is more than twice as large as MS NOW's nightly primetime programs.
Something drives this strange little man to engage in this ritual denigration of women. He does it on a regular basis as Kat Timpf sits and watches.
In this puzzling profile of Timpf, the New York Times somehow managed to fashion her as some sort of misunderstood feminist. Last night, she was joined in her silence by Emily Compagno as the program's host engaged in this ritual denigration.
For whatever reason, Gutfeld seems to want to take us back to an earlier time and place. Presumably, his endless denigrations of women are part of the burgeoning "masculinism" which Helen Lewis described at length in this recent essay for the Atlantic.
Title: "The Men Who Want Women to Be Quiet." Gutfeld relentlessly works this beat, helped by the blowhard Tyrus.
Taking our lead from Mister T, we've suggested that you should pity the fellows who can't break out of this embarrassing box. We assume that some sort of unfortunate chemical imbalance may make it harder for them to move beyond the world of male supremacy.
That said, the anthropology lessons are everywhere as our flailing, divided nation slides toward the sea. We raise again an important question as the frightening midterm elections draw near:
What might those of us in Blue America possibly be doing, at this dangerous time, to hasten our tribal and national demise?
Gutfeld wandered into a distant past last night with his pitiful Charley Chan joke, but also with his longing to disparage women in the dumbest ways possible. As a point of fairness, we'll agree to ask this:
Are we Blues also stuck in the past? Are we Blues stuck in the past in a way which may make it harder for Democrats to win elections?
Tomorrow, as we make our way back to the districting wars, we'll suggest that an error may have been made, this very week, concerning the insult that extremely loud UFC fighter directed at Michelle Obama. This claim will take us to things which were said by decent people on Tuesday's Deadline: White House.
President Trump loves to talk about his ballroom. We love discussing the conceptual confusion which can arise "when language goes on holiday."
In our view, murky new language came into being in 1982. In our view, that helps explain why states were told that they had to create majority Black congressional district, but now have been told that they mustn't.
Along the way, the GOP consolidated its political hold on the South. This is a long and winding conceptual tale. In the present day, has it left us doing things which help MAGA prevail?
Next week, we'll return to the Voting Rights Act—to the new language which came into being in the summer of 82. Tomorrow, though, we'll question an instant reaction to last weekend's pathetic insult.
Are we Blues defeating ourselves? The question lurks in all of this, and the answer may sometimes be yes!
Tomorrow: Maya Wylie's assessment
"democratization of media" has, for better or worse, afforded large platforms to types of people who would never have held such positions of influence at any time in the past."
ReplyDeleteOur host should get his mind out of the gutter and parse this instead:
https://www.ssrc.org/programs/media-democracy/
Today is the Grand Opening of the Obama Presidential Garbage Can in Chicago.
ReplyDelete$830 million was thrown into the trash to build this monstrosity.
And his DEI subcontractors say they're STILL owed millions for work they already finished.
So not only does the building look like a giant concrete garbage can, but they also didn't pay the people who built it.
Last year, I went there and asked Chicago residents their thoughts on it.
It encapsulates the Obama legacy in one project:
- Massively over budget
- Wildly unpopular
- Hideous
- DEI
- Swindling workers on the way out
What has caused the sudden influx of numerous anti-Democratic trolls over the past few days?
DeleteThe building looks cool.
DeleteTiedrich has a chart comparing Obama's Iran deal with Trump's MOU. Obama's deal was way cooler than Trump's. Also, in her interview, Hillary pointed out that she and her State Department staff put in a great deal of time negotiating and writing the deal that Obama signed with Iran, way more effort than anything Trump, Vance or Rubio have done. The gutting of the State Department may be part of the explanation for the shittiness of Trump's deal with Iran.
Deletepart of the explanation for the shittiness of Trump's deal with Iran is spelled Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff
DeleteYou don't have to lie, 1:57
DeleteThe Obummer critique sounds exactly like how New York contractors talk about Don Von Shitzhizpantz. Coincidence? Given the stupidity of trolls, I think not!
DeleteChicago is known for its architectural innovation. One of the most fun and interesting things to do in Chicago is to take the Architectural Boat Tour on the Chicago river. People who are traditionalists may react badly to new design styles. Conservatives are more likely to be traditional in other ways than politics, so it is not surprising that right wingers might not understand or appreciate the design. I respect Democrats who are willing to stick their necks out for change, try new things, stay open to innovation. No one expects that from Republicans.
Delete"dismount from Iran"
ReplyDeleteThis is not a proper use of the word dismount. It has vaguely sexual connotations but is incorrect because Trump is the one being screwed with this deal, not Iran.
Somerby usually dainty about crass language, so why is he using this phrase (for the second time)? Has he heard it from others, perhaps Gutfeld? And no, it is not a military term.
There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER
ReplyDeleteTrump had pronounced thusly! Of course, he didn't specify whose unconditional surrender. Apparently, it was ours.
"It accomplishes none of Israel’s war aims, analysts and officials said, and arguably leaves the country in worse shape on each of them.
DeleteRegime change? The government in Tehran is emerging from the war even more hard-line and emboldened, despite being decapitated at the outset of the conflict in late February. The deal’s requirement that American forces retreat from the “proximity” of Iran within 30 days means that Iran can boast that it has chased the U.S. military out of the region.
Ballistic missiles and proxy militias? The agreement does nothing to address Iran’s missile arsenal or its support of Israel’s enemies, like Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.
Worse still for Israel, by constraining its military in Lebanon — indeed, by requiring that Israel withdraw its forces from that country — the agreement seeks to handcuff Israel in a way that it was not before the war.
The hundreds of billions of dollars that Iran may receive in sanctions relief, unfrozen assets, or reconstruction aid could wind up funding more missiles in Iran and aiding Tehran’s militia allies around the Middle East.
And Iran’s nuclear program? The existential threat to Israel that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has tried to eliminate throughout his career, and which was Mr. Trump’s primary reason for joining the wars on Iran, was left for a later stage of U.S.-Iran negotiations..." Classic fail.
‘US President Donald Trump on Wednesday claimed Iran should be allowed to keep some of its ballistic missiles, as he defended the signed memorandum of understanding between his administration and Tehran shortly before the deal entered into force.
Delete“If other countries have them, it’s a little bit unfair for them not to have some,”’
https://www.timesofisrael.com/as-deal-takes-force-trump-says-its-okay-for-iran-to-have-some-ballistic-missiles/amp/
"Last night, the topic just never came up! That said, this program repeatedly avoids discussion of major issues, turning instead to inane agitprop. "
ReplyDeleteThis is what Gutfeld is about. Why would anyone expect it to be any different? Only Somerby keeps asserting that Gutfeld is a news show. Roger Ebert used to say that a critic takes a program on its own terms, not judging a Disney cartoon using the same criteria as a serious drama. It is wrong for Somerby to claim that Gutfeld is a serious news show and then judge it on those terms when it has never been such a show.
This is like the farmer who keeps complaining that his horse will not give milk. It isn't as if Somerby doesn't understand this about Gutfeld's show, so why does he keep doing this?
"Something drives this strange little man to engage in this ritual denigration of women. He does it on a regular basis as Kat Timpf sits and watches. "
Somerby drives this strange little man [Somerby] to engage in this ritual denigration of women [and Gutfeld]. He does it on a regular basis [daily] and for some reason Somerby believes Kat Timpf is supposed to stop him, object, walk off, what? Give up her salary in order to solve misogyny single-handedly, when she may even agree with Gutfeld for all Somerby knows.
And this is how Somerby gets to blame women for their own denigration by men. Meanwhile, Somerby's own blog has gone a very long time without saying anything coherent. Isn't there some analyst on his sprawling campus with the guts to stand up and say "Somerby is wearing no clothes!"?
"Taking our lead from Mister T, we've suggested that you should pity the fellows who can't break out of this embarrassing box. We assume that some sort of unfortunate chemical imbalance may make it harder for them to move beyond the world of male supremacy."
ReplyDeleteThis ridiculous suggestion is how we also know that Somerby doesn't urge sincere pity for Trump when he urges us to consider his mental illness. Somerby plainly understands that Trump is evil, not disturbed, just as the men who mistreat women are pathetic, feel threatened, cannot maintain their self-esteem without denigrating others, and have learned cultural attitudes that have nothing to do with their testosterone levels or manliness. Misogyny correlates with a lot of negative traits, not with any positive view of manhood.
"That said, the anthropology lessons are everywhere as our flailing, divided nation slides toward the sea."
ReplyDelete1. There is nothing in anthropology that supports Somerby's view of what is going on in our nation.
2. Somerby is not an anthropologist and does not quote or cite any legitimate sources in anthropology here.
3. Brabender is not an anthropologist, he was a baseball player mentioned in the book Ball Four, which is about baseball.
4. Our nation is not flailing.
5. Our nation is increasingly less divided as more people express negative views of Trump, his administration and MAGA. Support for that cage match was 16% among Republicans, which means most people opposed it.
6. We are not sliding into the sea, whatever Somerby means by that phrase. That isn't how tectonic plates work.
When will Somerby write an original sentence again?
Soon, DiC will reemerge to praise the Iran deal as a sign of Trump’s greatness.
ReplyDeleteOil cratering, stock market surging, Iran in shambles to be rebuilt funded by Arab states under US thumb and Asian investment, gleaming new new Air Force One, Repubicans surging in midterm polling.
DeleteThey have been trying to put together talking points but cannot find anything to spin this deal.
DeleteOf course, he can always lie, as @1:13 suggests.
DeleteTrump is a historical war leader, surrendering to two Muslim nations, one run by the Taliban and the other by the Mullah's. He has greatly empowered Iran by demonstrating that there is no defense against missile and drone swarms in the Straight. Truly the world's greatest loser.
Delete100 billion dollars for a completely unnecessary war driving up inflation and accomplishing nothing.
DeleteThe MOU is so great it is being kept a secret. Signing on Friday to avoid full news coverage.
Delete" Meanwhile, no major news org in Blue America is willing to report the presence of this highly unusual behavior on a major "cable news" program—on a cable news show whose nightly audience is more than twice as large as MS NOW's nightly primetime programs. "
ReplyDeleteThere used to be a similarly pitiful, often ugly show called HeeHaw. The audience loved it but most intelligent, educated people disdained it. It was part of the in-your-face assertion of Southern culture as a fuck-you to the rest of the nation, preceding MAGA but just as obnoxious. It was the Gutfeld of its time. No one bothered reporting on it or reviewing it or even watching it, other than its neanderthal core, beer-drinking men in recliners, largely in rural and Southern states. It was taken to be what it was, and no one bothered to criticize it because it had low aspirations. That is how Gutfeld should be treated today.
Somerby thinks the mainstream media should dignify Gutfeld by taking him seriously. I disagree. But then, Somerby's purpose here is to further Gutfeld's reach, to introduce him to men on the left who might similarly think women are cows and want to tune-in more often.
Good luck with that Bob.
“We assume that some sort of unfortunate chemical imbalance may make it harder for them to move beyond the world of male supremacy”
ReplyDeleteGutfeld is highly paid by a corporation to do what he does, which involves preplanning, writing, production. These aren’t poor unfortunate people helplessly trapped by a chemical imbalance.
Not only are Republican men trying to subjugate women, but they are maintaining a hierarchy within their own sex that ranks some men as "real men" and subordinates other men as beta or cucks (or whatever) and reviles them for being insufficiently manly. That destructive hierarchical thinking is bad for men in general and especially for our society as a whole because it results in unnecessary wars, a fetishizing of inter-personal violence (see Trump's cage match which he suggests epitomizes America), increases in violent crime, and an inability to value the traits necessary for men to be good fathers, effective leaders, and cooperative friends and coworkers.
DeleteThis has nothing to do with chemical or hormone imbalance but is a reflection of dysfunctional gender roles, socially constructed by a fringe culture that seeks to implement an authoritarian state. Defining winning and losing as the only value in such a society and defining winning as accumulation of wealth and power and everything else as losing, is more destructive than if Trump had nuked his own country and handed the keys to the White House to Putin.
Men like Kash Patel, JD Vance, and Trump himself reflect the damage done when men contort themselves to fit this value system. We blues need to stop treating this as a joke, or something feminists cooked up to blame men, and instead take seriously that we no longer associate manhood with sound values that will benefit our country.
Pretty sure Trump has aged into a decrepit old fag. Falling in love with world leaders and jonesing for big strong sweaty men. With tears in their eyes. What a fag.
Delete“some sort of unfortunate chemical imbalance”
ReplyDeleteToo much testosterone? Estrogen and T blockers via hormone therapy can help with that, bigly.
Why do all these right wing fools never seek treatment for their chemical imbalances and personality disorders, or are we forced to simply pity them in perpetuity?
ReplyDeleteWe are also supposed to send them all our money, in exchange for defective gold-colored phones and autographed Bibles.
Delete"Are we Blues defeating ourselves?"
ReplyDeleteThis question contains the assumption that we blues are being defeated at all. Elections do not support that view. We blues have been over-performing in special elections and have flipped 30 state seats while Republicans have flipped none (0 seats). "Democrats are overperforming their 2024 presidential baseline in 2026 state legislative special elections by a median of 10.4 points."
Trump and MAGA are going down the tubes but we Blues are supposed to believe that we are losing, and we ourselves are to blame for our decline? And "up" is the new "down."
Data shows that progressive Democrats underperform moderate Democrats electorally, swing voters exist and are often decisive, and sporadic Democratic voters are more moderate than Democrats who vote consistently.
DeleteUltimately, persuasion and turnout go together. Voters across the political spectrum and across demographic lines want Democrats to focus on the cost of living. And the best messaging and most popular policies, which tend to focus on kitchen-table economic issues, appeal to voters of all kinds, including both swing voters and sporadic voters.
When you say that data shows something, please cite a source so that we can check your data. My understanding is that progressives are doing very well in primary elections and special elections and that people are rejecting moderation in favor of a more aggressive approach by Democrats. The idea that disaffected former Trump voters may become Democrats is not supported by data, to my knowledge. If you know otherwise, please cite.
DeleteDo you mind starting by by citing sources that say people are rejecting moderation in favor of a more progressive approach? Like the Texas Senate race? Rebecca Bennett?
DeleteAs has been documented here several times, there are Republican-funded PACs supporting Democratic candidates who the right believes will be less able to defeat their own Republican candidates. They are using money to choose who they prefer to run against.
DeleteAttacking both parties as the same is a means of vote suppression.
DeleteI don't believe it helps Democrats to be having a public debate about whether to abandon its historic progressivism in order to attract moderates. A moderate party achieves nothing and disappoints those who hoped Democrats would (1) keep Trump in check, (2) address corruption in govt, (3) protect immigrants, (4) stand up for civil rights progress, (5) protect endangered social programs in Congress, (6) keep our country out of wars, (7) make progress against global warming and promote alternative energy, (8) reinstate the FDA, EPA, CDC, OSHA and other agencies that protect the people, (9) put the country back on a sound financial footing, (10) restore our standing in the world.
"I don't believe it helps Democrats to be having a public debate about whether to abandon its historic progressivism in order to attract moderates."
DeleteWell, it's a little too late for that. Losing elections to people like Donald Trump make those kind of debates inevitable and that's why there is a very public, very high level debate about it right now.
This might be true if Democrats had actually lost the very close election, instead of having it stolen from us by various Republican dirty tricks: (1) Musk money, (2) media corruption, (3) Russia interference using bots on social media, (4) voter suppression, (5) Biden-is-too-old interference in the Democratic primary process, (6) splitting Democrats over Israel and Palestine, (7) lies and smears about Harris.
DeleteWhen will Republicans ever have a debate about corruption in Trump's administration, his dementia, or anything else relevant to the Republican party? And yet Somerby thinks we Democrats lost because of our unwillingness to engage in self-examination? Get real!
This one worked so well with the yutes, alienating both pro Israeli and pro Palestinian; and what did they get?, the horror of Dementia Don and Bomb bomb Bibi.
Delete"At any rate, that was the fellow's first joke."
ReplyDeleteSomerby goes to some lengths to tell us that Asian Charlie Chan accent jokes are out-of-style, after repeating the joke verbatim.
This is as adolescent as when racists who were distressed over being told not to use the n-word, would give a long speech full of n-words over and over, telling people not to use the n-word. Only a 12 year old would find that clever and it is hard to miss the hostility in such a rant.
Today we get Somerby's repetition of a cow joke and an Asian accent joke portraying Asians as too stupid to commit a crime properly. Was that necessary in order to let us know that Gutfeld is a misogynist and bigot? The jokes are, of course, not very funny.
You do not get to use the n-word in order to give others an example of what word needs to be avoided. That is like a cop hitting a person to show someone else what constitutes impermissible assault and battery.
Somerby needs to stop insulting women daily, including Kat Timpf, just to pretend he is defending womanhood from sexism. Somerby is the main sexist asshole here, not Gutfeld. There is no excuse for bigotry while pretending to eradicate bigotry (which Somerby is not and never has attempted to do, on behalf of women or Charlie Chan).
From No More Mister Nice Blog:
ReplyDelete"Democrats have failed to capitalize on the trough in Trump's polling. This was the moment when they needed to look vigorous, confident, and full of ideas for getting the country out of its morass. I watched Bill Clinton do that in the spring of 1992. He might have been a different kind of Democrat -- pro-death penalty, moderate on other issues -- but he didn't go around apologizing for others in his party. He just talked confidently about his agenda.
Democrats today still seem to be trying to figure out what they stand for, with the general election less than five months away. A Democrat who isn't afraid to talk about his agenda, Graham Platner, just won more primary votes than any previous Democratic Senate primary candidate in his state, despite being -- like Clinton in 1992 -- partly weighed down by scandal. But Platner is an exception.
Over the last few months, Democrats should have carried themselves with confidence, knowing that the public is tired of the other party's approach to governing. They should have behaved as if it's obvious that they're the normal ones. I think they missed their shot. I still believe they'll win the House, and a takeover of the Senate isn't out of the question, but it'll be because swing voters who chose Trump in 2024 decide to stay home, not because Democrats have won a significant number of those voters over.
Democrats have time to become a more impressive party. But a party that won't even rally to defend Michelle Obama -- Michelle Obama! -- doesn't look like a party that has enough fight in it to stand up for ordinary voters, at least for now."
I doubt this is what Somerby is referring to when he suggests that we blues are throwing away the next election. His concern trolling is largely an attempt to portray Democrats negatively so that Republicans can win -- not a serious analysis of ways Democrats can improve our chances and defeat the right. Somerby is part of the right. But there are Democrats who are concerned about the most effective way to win more races. They are concerned that a turn toward more progressive candidates may alienate moderates, but it seems to me that many who are disenchanted with the Democrats believe they are not progressive enough. I am very disappointed by the attack on Biden just when he was achieving results on progressive issues such as addressing wealth inequality and promoting health care for all. Because our party attacked Biden, we got Trump. That isn't what Somerby means, since Somerby himself was one of the biggest attackers of Biden despite all of Biden's accomplishments.
I am inclined to view the attacks on progressives as coming from billionaires and those who do not want to pay for social programs. That is the wrong direction for our party. Somerby seems to think that the more lefty our party, the more we are stabbing ourselves in the foot. I disagree strongly with this. We do not need two right wing parties in America. We need a functional left.
Platner is swine.
DeleteI agree. Why can't we have candidates who are good people?
Delete“we”
DeleteBwahahaha!!! Fuck off, troll boy
Trump raped little girls.
DeleteThis idea that the Democrats' emphasis on equality and diversity is hurting the party seems to be derived from a generational split:
ReplyDeletehttps://navigatorresearch.org/defining-america-at-250/
Younger voters care more about diversity and equality whereas older voters (such as boomers) care less about those issues and more about freedom, liberty and family. Obviously, blacks and Hispanics care more about diversity and equality, but so do Gen Z and Millenials in general. Gender defines personal identity less for Gen Z than for any other group.
Abandoning diversity and equality as issues is a bad idea for Democrats if we are trying to attract younger voters.