WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2026The spectacular dumbness, it burns: It' s hard to get dumber than what we saw on the Fox News Channel last night. We think especially of the first two segments on the primetime Gutfeld! show. Below, we'll let you look for yourself, if you dare. That said, … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2026Act like a human for once: People who watched last evening's Gutfeld! show got their jollies right from the jump. At 10 o'clock sharp--hat's 7 o'clock out on the coast)--Suzanne Scott pried the lid off the garbage can and one of the mutts crawled out. He … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2026We have those programs at Fox: Joseph Conrad had the realm he chose to explore in Heart of Darkness. The leading authority on the novella thumbnails it as shown: Heart of Darkness Heart of Darkness is an 1899 novella by Polish-British novelist Joseph Conrad … | Continue reading
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 199 … | Continue reading
MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2026We won't mention this again: As soon as Kristi Noem got sacked, the piling-on got started.In Sunday's New York Times, Maureen Dowd took her turn at the helm of this ship. Along the way, she joined a cast of thousands in retyping the highlighted script:‘Wuther … | Continue reading
MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2026This horseplay is all that remains: For starters, let it be said that Chairman Comer seemed to be suitably staffed. Two Fridays back, the chairman was on the ground in Chappaqua, prepared to depose Bill Clinton. At the start of the lengthy session, his 34-yea … | Continue reading
SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 2026Let's call the whole thing off: According to the leading authority on the practice, the practice started like this:State of the Union The State of the Union address is an annual message delivered by the president of the United States to a joint session of t … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2026The lunacy, just for the record: How crazy can tribal warfare get? Just for the record, the answer can look like what you see below. It came from the DHS last October, when Marimar Martinez was shot. As a matter of fact, she was shot five times, by a Border P … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2026She said it not once, but twice: It's been said that Plato wrote it, if only in translation:"When I saw all this, and other things as bad, I was disgusted and withdrew from the wickedness of the times." As we've frequently noted, Plato is said to have written … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2026But why is he still on the air? It's been hard to chronicle all the surroundings—all the phenomena in the air last week in the run-up to our struggling nation's latest war.The most difficult such undertaking involves the moral and intellectual squalor which … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2026Watters and Gutfeld go off: Three nights before the war began, the State of the Union event was held. On this occasion, we wouldn't necessarily describe it as an "address." Over at the Wall Street Journal, Peggy Noonan didn't seem to care for the foolishnes … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2026The stigma of "mental illness:" Is this country currently dealing with an unfortunate but dangerous situation involving some form of "mental illness?" Last Thursday night, on CNN, Mary L. Trump said yes. Back in 2020, she had offered similar thoughts about … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2026A few hours later, it started: As the midnight hour approached last night, there he went again. As of last Friday, he had made the final decision—the war in Iran would proceed. Last evening, as midnight drew near, he was now "truthing" this: Donald J. Trum … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2026...brought a question to mind: Just this once, we're going to let you ask us about "mental illness."Rather, about what used to be called "mental illness." According to the leading authority on the topic, the use of that term is falling into something which s … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3, 2026The segregation we've chosen: Yesterday morning, at 8 o'clock Eastern, Secretary Hegseth briefed the nation along with General Caine. As usual, he was annoyed by the sheer stupidity of the Lilliputians by whom he was surrounded. Six minutes into the Q-and- … | Continue reading
MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2026Young music lover revealed: There was once a person who read a three-volume biographer of a famous composer and ended up writing this:Everyone in the Annex except Mr. van Daan and Peter has read the Hungarian Rhapsody trilogy, a biography of the composer, pia … | Continue reading
MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2026But what were the surroundings? Last Friday night, we happened to sit up, awake, at roughly 1:30 a.m. On all three major "cable news" channels, the attack was already underway.In Blue America, the decision to attack Iran has largely been challenged. In Red Am … | Continue reading
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2026The history of the era: History is moving quickly today, as you already know. We wish this was a more appropriate time for this morning's task, but if we might borrow from Donald Rumsfeld:You report the intellectual history of your era within the time f … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2026How far will they go, we've asked: On this somewhat disturbing day, we'll be away from our sprawling campus until mid-afternoon. That said:How far will this administration be willing to go with respect to November's elections? We asked that question at th … | Continue reading
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 a … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2026Fox News [HEART] the State of the Union: Yesterday, shortly after 5 p.m., Jesse Watters was explaining why he loves the annual State of the Union address.He's been described as "the silliest child" in the history of American TV news. Now, he began to la … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2026Marimar Martinez as well: We plan to return to the State of the Union address—mainly, to the state of the union itself—starting tomorrow morning. Within the next few days, we even plan to take you to the so-called "Greatest Track Meet of All Time"—the … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2026What's going to happen this fall? After last night's public event, our own assessment would have to be this:The state of the union is tribal.More precisely, the state of the union is deeply tribal. Indeed, "if we've learned anything from history"—there … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2026On our most-watched "cable news" program: Sometimes, the stupidity seen on the Fox News Channel reaches a special level. Last night, the studied dumbness was truly world-class. Consider our failing nation's most-watched "cable news" program, the padded r … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2026...Khanna oddly misspoke: Not long ago, the so-called Big Weekend Show was a virtual afterthought in the Fox News Channel's cavalcade of corporate messaging programs.As the leading authority on the program recalls, the show had debuted, in a one-hour for … | Continue reading
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2026The latest Truth Social posts: As we speak, the state of the union seems to lack the basic spirit of union. A tiny portion of that lack of unity may even seem to trace back to the commander in chief.The president was busy on Truth Social again last night … | Continue reading
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2026Grant sits down with Lee: The far-flung state of the disunion had held through the rest of the weekend. How widespread is the current (dis)union? For one example, consider the dueling approaches adopted by different arms of This Murdoch Empire Today. The … | Continue reading
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2026The gentleman gets it right: It reminded us of one of our favorite passages from literature—although, in fairness, there are surely many excellent passages we have never read.(It reminded us of Willa Cather's treasured words in My Antonia. "I always kne … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2026...and evoked Kafka's hoof: For us, it has never quite reached the level you might call Kafkaesque.That said, the phenomenon one might call The Amazement began in 2011. It had never occurred to us that some such act of misdirection could persuade so many. … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2026Things go downhill from there: The New York Times has finally reported what Ashleigh Banfield said. We refer to what Banfield said, two weeks ago, about Nancy Guthrie's disappearance.Should the New York Times have done that? We can't say that the answer … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2026A hint of the Kafkaesque: For one person with whom the New York Times spoke, her experience of the past year may have become Kafkaesque. It's as we noted in yesterday's report. The Times spoke with thirteen Democratic or Dem-leaning voters for an "Ameri … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2026The Five cavort and clown: Before we discuss The Five let's start with a simple question of analytical competence. It involves a pair of official statements by the Pima County Sheriff's Department.On Monday, the PCSD issued the statement seen below. We … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2026Discouraged Dem voters declaim: Have we the people somehow been thrown into a previously unimagined land? Do we find ourselves living in what might be called the United States of the Kafkaesque? Some such case could almost be made at this point in time … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2026...in one small Virginia town: Purcellville could still be called a small American town.More precisely, it's a fairly small Virginia town. The leading authority on the town offers this statistic:Purcellville, VirginiaPurcellville is a town in Loudoun Cou … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2026The "clown show" to which he referred: AOC went to Munich last week. While she was there, at least one "stumble" occurred.At this point, full disclosure:On balance, it wouldn't really have occurred to us that Rep. Ocasio-Cortez would be viewed as a serio … | Continue reading
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2026Things we may find plausible: Presidents' Day is here again. Speaking with sports pundit Stephen A. Smith, Robert Costa popped this question:“Do you worry about racism if you ran for president?”Journalist Costa, please! For ourselves, we've watched Smith … | Continue reading
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2026...we were driven to thoughts about Kafka: Early this morning, the haplessness known as Stumblebum Chic had us flashing on Kafka. On cable TV and in major newspapers, we the people were trying to report the progress of the Guthrie search. The sheer incomp … | Continue reading
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2026Eighth-graders bypass Lourdes: We'd call it one of his weak spots. As we noted in Monday's report, Nicholas Kristof has endorsed the claim of that "Mississippi miracle" in a recent column for the New York Times.(To his credit, he didn't use the term "mi … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2026On Fox, the friends made it nine: Yesterday afternoon, then again this morning, the Fox News Channel continued to focus heavily on the search for Nancy Guthrie.In all honesty, there hasn't a huge amount of news to convey about this deeply unfortunate matt … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2026The other said something different: We can't exactly say he's wrong. We also can't swear that he's right.For those of us in Blue America, we may be inclined to love the claim he makes. The accuracy of the claim is frequently, for better or worse, devoutly … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2026How one nation turns into two: In this morning's report, we referred to a "thought piece" in the New York Times which starts exactly like this:Why Nancy Guthrie’s Disappearance Is Breaking Through the NoiseIt is the crime drama that Americans cannot loo … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2026We pretend to listen: This very morning, the evocative translation of the dramatic statement was banging around in our heads. It was banging around in there again. We find this highly evocative:"When I saw all this, and other things as bad, I was disgus … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2026...Tucson swept it away: The flooding of the zone is so furious and so fast that it's very hard to keep up. Believe it or not, it was last Saturday morning when print editions of the New York Times featured this dual headline at the very top of the pap … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2026We humans just wanna have fun: Experts are widely saying that someone took our advice!Yesterday morning, we suggested that Joe Scarborough should be gently led away and allowed to enjoy a good solid rest. This morning, sure enough:This morning, he was … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2026Black kids, fourth grade, reading: Is the "Mississippi miracle" real? We aren't able to tell you. As we noted yesterday, Nicholas Kristof doesn't use that flamboyant term in his new column, but he tends to be a believer. For today, we thought we'd show … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2026Tapper to Arizona: We managed to make it through the full first hour of today's Morning Joe. For that reason, we got to see the videotape of the deeply sane Chloe Kim.Kim, who was born in Torrance, California, is a two-time Olympic gold medalist. For tha … | Continue reading
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2026We seek "proof of life:" In this morning's New York Times, Nicholas Kristof offers a lengthy column affirming the Mississippi miracle.A certain class of educational expert has been reporting this alleged miracle for quite some time. For the record, Kristof … | Continue reading
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2026But who won the halftime performance? After a long string of good luck, the NFL got stuck with a stinker of a game at yesterday's Super BowlSeattle's Seahawks won the game. By our reckoning, President Donald J. Trump probably won the halftime performance.B … | Continue reading