Fox News Couldn't Help Itself

In a fitting crescendo for the Symbiosis of Stupid, Fox & Friends says Trump is a hard worker because ‘he watches every show.’ If you have trouble reading this message, [view it in a browser](. [On Trump's Last Full Day as President, Fox News Felt Compelled to Make the Case He's Done the Job at All]( It is fitting that on this, the final full day of Donald J. Trump's tenure as President of the United States, his favorite TV network has felt it necessary to make the case that he's actually done the job day-to-day. It has been scarcely remarked upon, next to all the crimes against the American republic and the deranged lying and the rank corruption, that this guy really has not done much of the actual work of presidenting over the last four years. He is, in addition to everything else, a slacker. For the last 16 days now, the public schedules issued by his White House have read as follows: "President Trump will work from early in the morning until late in the evening. He will make many calls and have many meetings." For a week before that, it read: "During the Holiday season, President Trump will continue to work tirelessly for the American People. His schedule includes many meetings and calls." It's an insult to the concept he is a public servant with some duty to his constituents—a fitting sendoff for the troll president who has devoted far more of his energy to creating conflict than to governing the country. Yes, it is fitting that The Fox News Channel would devote a moment this day to the ridiculous notion that Donald Trump is a hardworking American just like you. And the evidence offered up by Fox & Friend Ainsley Earhardt was even better.[Read More]( [Trump's 'Definitive Chronicle of the American Founding' Is a Staggering Blizzard of Cockamamie Talking Points]( The last really big fish in a really small barrel presented for our amusement and mockery by the folks down at Camp Runamuck came on Monday when the so-called 1776 Commission released its "definitive chronicle of the American founding." The definitive chronicle consists of 20 pages of text and another 26 pages of Appendixes. It contains no footnotes, end notes, or recognizable English grammar. It contains a staggering blizzard of cockamamie conservative talking points and right-wing conjuring words. (You will be enlightened to learn that the execrably racist John C. Calhoun "was the leading forerunner of identity politics.") Identity politics! Critical Race Theory! Common Core! Abracadabra! There's no evidence that the members of the commission have any idea what any of these things are really all about. There's an appendix about American education that reads like the Wikipedia entry for the John Birch Society, and it may well be just that. (There's already one analysis demonstrating that the report borrowed heavily from Wiki and other sources.) Outside of Kris Kobach's farcical "election security" task force, it's hard to come up with as big a waste of taxpayer money in an attempt to tickle wingnut fancies. Here’s Charles P. Pierce on what actual historians have torn to shreds.[Read More]( [The Denim Shirt Is an American Icon That's Actually Worthy of the Superlative]( There are few items more synonymous with a certain everyman aesthetic and the politicians trying to appeal to it on TV. (Hell, one of the most enduring images of a certain President-elect involves Amtrak Joe flashing his signature pearly whites wearing a particularly excellent denim shirt—from Levi's, naturally—on the cover of InStyle way back in 2017.) But there are also few items more synonymous with adventurous American style of the sort favored by everyone from old hands like Ralph Lauren to upstart streetwear savants. The denim shirt does it all. A reputation for versatility like that has to be earned, and rest assured: the denim shirt didn't cut any corners. Can you wear one during the week? Of course. Can you wear one on the weekends? You bet. Can you wear one on those days when you oversleep, check your phone in a panic, and then wonder why no one's online yet before remembering it's, like, President's Day or something? Hell yes! That's exactly when you should wear one. And here are 16 we love a lot right now.[Read More]( [It’s Never Too Early—Here are 30 Valentine’s Day Gifts Under $30]( You just bought him a holiday gift, his birthday is coming up, and now, suddenly, it’s Valentine’s Day. Does it ever end? How silly of you to go back to work for a few weeks after the holidays and let yourself forget that shopping for gifts is your full-time job. You were busy, you forgot—whatever it is, you need a last-minute gift idea. Nothing crazy, just a little thoughtful something to show him you care. And preferably a two-day shippable one. Order one of these 30 last-minute, under-$40 Valentine's Day gifts for men in a few clicks, and then get back to your real job.[Read More]( [The 8 Best Items from All-Clad's Factory Seconds Sale]( All-Clad’s covetable cookware has been the option for high-end stainless steel since the brand literally invented bonded cookware in 1971. The only knock against them? That price tag. Today, however, is a mammoth exception — the All-Clad factory seconds sale is live. The lot includes a limited stock of classic stainless steel cookware (including the stick-resistant D5 line), the highly-coveted copper core collection and some of the lowest prices ever of All-Clad's outdoor cookware. The only thing you need to access the sale is your email. At up to 70 percent off, these are the lowest prices you’ll find on unused All-Clad outside of visiting the company’s in-person seconds sale at the factory. The sale runs until the end of the day January 22, but that doesn't guarantee everything you want will stay in stock.[Read More]( [Make 2021 the Year You Join Our Club—We’ll Send You Something (It’s a Magazine)]( But that’s not all you’ll get by joining Esquire Select, our new membership program. In addition to an annual print subscription, you’ll also get unlimited access to all of Esquire.com—including Politics with Charles P. Pierce and every Esquire story ever published via Esquire Classic. Plus, we’ll send you a weekly, subscribers-only email, and give you exclusive access to deals and discounts from our favorite brands. It’s just one way your year is sure to be better than the last—we guarantee it.[Read More]( [Read More on Esquire.com]( [Join Esquire The Select for $40/Year. Learn More!]( Follow Us [Unsubscribe]( [Privacy Notice]( esquire.com ©2021 Hearst Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Hearst Email Privacy, 300 W 57th St., Fl. 19 (sta 1-1), New York, NY 10019