Earlier this week, ABC News canned senior national correspondent Terry Moran for posting on social media that White House domestic policy adviser Stephen Miller is “richly endowed with the capacity for hatred,” a “world-class hater,” and “You can see this just by looking at him because you can see that his hatreds are his spiritual nourishment. He eats his hate.” This did not sit well with Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart, who claimed on Wednesday’s The Weekly Show podcast that ABC is “a fucking joke” for firing Moran. Towards the end of the show, Stewart turned to audience-submitted questions as producer Brittany Mehmedovic asked him, “Do you think ABC should’ve fired Terry Moran over his Stephen Miller tweet?” An angry Stewart replied, “Of course not, so stupid. No, for God’s sakes. Should they have fired him? Shouldn’t have paid the $50 million, they shouldn’t have fired him. They’re literally—every day on Fox News, they’re taking stuff out of context, or their people are saying utterly vicious things about Democratic politicians and all kinds of other things. The entire thing is because ABC clings to this façade that they somehow exist in a bubble outside of all of this. It’s a joke. They’re a fucking joke, and—”     Moran was somebody that ABC insisted (despite all evidence to the contrary) was a straight newsman, so comparing him to certain nameless opinion people at Fox is not a good analogy. Jimmy Kimmel and The View say vicious things about conservatives and Republicans every day, and ABC does nothing about it because those shows have long since stopped pretending to be neutral messengers of the news. As for The Weekly Show, the F-bombs were just starting to fly. Associate Producer Gillian Spear chimed in to add, “And Stephen Miller, by the way, would wear that like a badge of honor. He’s a sick fuck. He’s got it printed out, probably, and hung in his office.” Stewart agreed and, with a reference to Monday’s episode of The Daily Show, declared, “Sick fuck is exactly right, and I think, like exactly like you say, as I say, when he cums, he shouts ‘Deport,’ and I stand by that.” Lead producer Lauren Walker then wondered, “You know, I was thinking, who is left at ABC that is acceptable to Trump to interview him because Stephanopoulos had to say sorry, now Terry Moran’s out, Muir and Davis held him accountable at a debate. Like, who will be left?” Stewart concluded the Moran portion of the show by adding, “There’s no—and the problem with it all is there’s no level of fealty that is enough. You’ve seen him attack Fox News. That is literally, like, a 24-hour Trump ball polishing machine, and so the idea that somehow there is a level of fealty that these journalists. What does he always say whenever he gets asked questions? ‘That’s a terrible question, why don’t you ever just thank me.’ Oh, in other words, like, just another one of your fucking cabinet members."  Putting Trump and Miller aside, what do you call someone who says a one-term senator is the first person since George Washington to step down into the presidency? Stewart may not like how Fox covers Trump, but that has nothing to do with Moran or ABC. Here is a transcript for the June 12 show: Comedy Central The Weekly Show 6/12/2025 1 Hour, 9 Minutes, 5 Seconds BRITTANY MEHMEDOVIC: Jon— JON STEWART: Yes. MEHMEDOVIC: —Do you think ABC should’ve fired Terry Moran over his Stephen Miller tweet? STEWART: Of course not, so stupid. No, for God’s sakes. Should they have fired him? Shouldn’t have paid the $50 million, they shouldn’t have fired him. They’re literally—every day on Fox News, they’re taking stuff out of context, or their people are saying utterly vicious things about Democratic politicians and all kinds of other things. The entire thing is because ABC clings to this façade that they somehow exist in a bubble outside of all of this. It’s a joke. They’re a fucking joke, and— GILLIAN SPEAR: And Stephen Miller, by the way, would wear that like a badge of honor. He’s a sick fuck. He’s got it printed out, probably, and hung in his office STEWART: Sick fuck is exactly right, and I think, like exactly like you say, as I say, he cums, he shouts “Deport,” and I stand by that. LAUREN WALKER: You know, I was thinking, who is left at ABC that is acceptable to Trump to interview him because Stephanopoulos had to say sorry, now Terry Moran’s out, Muir and Davis held him accountable at a debate. Like, who will be left? STEWART: There’s no—and the problem with it all is there’s no level of fealty that is enough. You’ve seen him attack Fox News. That is literally, like, a 24-hour Trump ball polishing machine, and so the idea that somehow there is a level of fealty that these journalists. What does he always say whenever he gets asked questions? “That’s a terrible question, why don’t you ever just thank me.” Oh, in other words, like, just another one of your fucking cabinet members.

RAMAH — A large crowd of disgruntled people from multiple tribes marched publicly through the streets today, as mobs of angry Israelites protested the prophet Samuel with a "Yes Kings" rally.

Click here to go see the bonus panel!

Hovertext:
Would you rather sit with friends watching shadows on the bigscreen or spending your time arguing with Plato about whether poetry should be legal?

Today's News:

It is, but of course, the popular, ever-present thing to do in the liberal media. And that would be?  Branding President Trump as an “authoritarian” and wannabe dictator. Here’s but a handful of headlines and news reports to the point:  Here’s this beauty from The Hill:  Trump’s military occupation of LA is just the beginning  The story reports:  President Trump’s sharp descent into authoritarianism in Los Angeles has bent our collective reality like a funhouse mirror. On Monday, the president authorized deploying another 2,000 National Guard troops to the chaos-stricken city, adding to the 2,000 National Guardsmen and 700 Marines he already activated. The scene now looks more like Kirkuk than the West Coast. From Newsweek:  Trump Meets Every Criteria for an Authoritarian Leader, Harvard Political Scientists Warn Politico:  Trump Is an Authoritarian. So Are Millions of Americans The New York Times:  Trump’s Dire Words Raise New Fears About His Authoritarian Bent  On and on-and on and on - goes this “Trump is an authoritarian and wannabe dictator” line from the liberal media. It’s ridiculous, of course. Trump has been duly elected in a thorough going democratic election - and twice at that. And as with every other President,  Trump’s actions as President are subject to checks and balances supplied by the Constitution, the Congress and the Courts. And of particular amusement along this line is that those liberal media types who say it seem to have no idea of American history and how what they are saying sounds when applied - or more accurately not applied - to old chapters of history liberals so love. Examples? Back there in 2013, an Alabama publication ran this headline after looking back in Alabama history fifty years to 1963. The headline:  Kennedy federalized National Guard to integrate Alabama public schools (Sept. 10, 1963) The story reported:  "SEPTEMBER 10, 1963 -- President John F. Kennedy federalized the 17,000 member Alabama National Guard to allow black students to attend nine previously all-white schools in Birmingham and across the state. "Governor Wallace has refused to respect either the law or the authority of local officials. For his own personal and political reasons -- so that he may later charge Federal interference -- he is desperately anxious to have the Federal Government intervene in a situation in which we have no desire to intervene," Kennedy stated.” The Franklin Roosevelt era was a very long time ago (1933-1945), but in the day the “authoritarian” label raised its head for sure. Over there at The Future of Freedom Foundation was this on FDR, written mere days after Trump was elected the first time in 2016. It reads:  As the left continues to decry the authoritarian tendencies of President-elect Trump, they conveniently forget those of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who they continue to extol as one of America’s greatest presidents. Even though FDR’s authoritarian actions took place more than 80 years ago, they have had a lasting impact on the American people and American society.” Just think about only one of the things that FDR did: He nationalized and confiscated the gold-coin holdings of the American people, replacing them with irredeemable and devalued paper bills and notes. It’s difficult to get more authoritarian than that, especially considering that gold coins had been the official money of the American people for more than a hundred years. Conveniently forgetting is decidedly an accurate description of the liberal view on presidential authoritarians. Back there in 2018, today liberal historian Michael Beschloss took to the pages of The Washington Post to take on the anniversary of the end of World War I as led by the progressive hero, Democrat President Woodrow Wilson. To his credit, Beschloss was candid, headlining:  On this World War I anniversary, let’s not celebrate Woodrow Wilson Admitted liberal historian Beschloss: Wilson is an excellent example of how presidents can exploit wars to increase authoritarian power and restrict freedom, some arguing that criticizing the commander in chief amounts to criticizing soldiers in the field. Bingo. None of this is to suggest that authoritarianism is a good thing. But it is important to note that liberals in general tend to love strong presidents - if they are on the right side of the philosophical divide.  Simplified with presidential personalities? That means, for liberals: FDR yes, Reagan no. The latter a big time no. Then there is the humorous side of all of this particular argument. Take a look around the Internet and there are all manner of folks labeled as authoritarian. One lighthearted site - by name “Famous Authoritarian Leaders,” listed  seven people, two of of them not Americans at all. They were (ready??!!);  First, Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss: Chancellor from 1932 to 1934. (The Chancellor actually was a real dictator of Austria.) Then the list goes for the humor, listing the remaining six on the list as President John F. Kennedy, Martha Stewart, Bill Gates, Martin Luther King, Jr., Vladimir Putin and - yes, you guessed it - President Donald Trump. All of which is to say, the business of labeling someone an “authoritarian” can be stretched - and stretched and stretched - to the point of ridiculousness. Ahhhh well.  Happy Flag Day to you - authoritarians and non-authoritarians one and all.

BLUEANON AT BLUESKY:

How much of Lorenz’s schtick is performative to generate clicks, and how much of it does she actually believe?

Related: Bluesky is backfiring. Mark Cuban says the ‘lack of diversity of thought’ is actually pushing users back to X.

Between November 2024 and this May, Bluesky grew from about 10 million users to 30 million, according to a Pew Research Center analysis. Many news influencers—people who regularly post about current events on the platform—lean left politically, according to the analysis.

One such figure was billionaire Mark Cuban, who supported former Vice President Kamala Harris during her presidential run in 2024, although he didn’t give her a penny for her campaign, he said in October. Cuban became a regular Bluesky user, having posted nearly 2,000 times since November 2024. When he first joined the platform, he famously posted: “Hello Less Hateful World.”

But Cuban has changed his tune. In a series of posts this week, Cuban argued Bluesky has become too much of an echo chamber, and is sending more users back to X.

“Engagement went from great convos on many topics, to agree with me or you are a nazi fascist,” Cuban wrote. “We are forcing posts to X.”

The former Shark Tank star and Dallas Mavericks owner also said he thinks Bluesky users have “grown ruder and more hateful.”

“Even if you agree with 95% of what a person is saying on a topic, if there is one point that you might call out as being more of a gray area, they will call you a fascist etc.,” said Cuban, whose current net worth is about $8.33 billion, according to Bloomberg.

As President Reagan has famously been quoted, “The person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is an 80 percent friend and not a 20 percent enemy.” That doesn’t seem to be an idea that’s been adopted by today’s “progressives,” despite their legendary — just ask them! — tolerance for ideological diversity.