Blog - Hugh Hewitt

Friday, July 31, 2026

Fauci’s diaries are a monument to self-absorbed arrogance.  His testimony this week, or lack thereof actually – particularly in his invoking the Fifth Amendment when questioned on the day of the week and color of his tie, was contemptuous beyond compare.  I have been harping all week that his display is a symptom, not the disease, but that does not change the fact that his display was breathtakingly awful.  It was also predictable – not because of who Fauci is, but because who Fauci is is an inevitable outcome of the direction our culture has been proceeding for some time now.. . .

Thursday, July 30, 2026

Fauci had a point in his opening statement yesterday – it is a witch hunt.  It is a justifiable one, but it is a witch hunt nonetheless.  Fauci is guilty of all sorts of lying, prevaricating, misleading and megalomaniacal behavior.  Hence the witch hunt is justifiable.  But he was not alone – he was far from alone.  Hundreds, if not thousands, of state and local agencies joined him in this behavior.  Thousands upon thousands of people joined the chorus and grossly anti-social behavior became the norm.  Sure the media spotlight focused on the good doctor and he grabbed it with all the gusto he could muster, but there is enough mess here to get everyone filthy.  To my mind, the hyper focus on Fauci misses the point.. . .

Wednesday, July 29, 2026

Astute California observers will recall the refrigerated meat storage facility that burned a few weeks ago in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles.  It became a national story as LA fire officials refused to enter the facility and extinguish the fire due to circumstances never completely described to the public.  It burned for days creating a noxious plume of smoke and eventually burned itself out.  Now, here we are, weeks later, and the noxiousness continues.. . .

Tuesday, July 28, 2026

I’ve been on the road since last Friday.  Yesterday was a day long travel day so I had no time to write, just as the Fauci diaries broke.  I have had no time to read them, but I spent this morning reading reaction pieces, with major pull quotes and commentary.  Frankly, from what I have seen, I see nothing revelatory, but there is a lot of confirmation there.  I think Victor Davis Hanson summed up Fauci best, “The Fauci files reveal not just a sociopathic narcissist, but also a pathological schizophrenic.”  Framing this in term of mental pathology is useful in leading to the ultimate question – How did such an individual get into such a position?. . .

Sunday, July 26, 2026

It was disturbing reading the headlines this morning.  Jews are hated in NYC.  Apparently, Gays are hated in Berlin.  Unsurprisingly, conservatives are hated in California.  We have passed so-called “hate crime laws” to try and get a handle on things, but I think we miss the point.  I am not sure the problem is hate directly.. . .

Saturday, July 25, 2026

Jim Geraghty chose yesterday to go on at some length about why superhero movies make a lot more money than opening weekend box office might indicate and to note that predictions of their demise just might be premature.  His primary point is that such movies produce a number of income streams not reflected in box office numbers, which is an excellent point.  I would hasten to add that these characters have survived for almost 100 years now in print indicating that they have far more life in them than one might expect.  Of course the cost of producing a comic book is such that you can absorb a failure and make adjustments – not so much with multi-million dollar movie budgets.  And yet, I think an analysis of what makes the characters so enduring might be worthwhile.. . .

Friday, July 24, 2026

…may just be our humanity.  The Boys is a comic book come Amazon Prime series in the superhero genre.  It is at once an exercise in licentiousness, seeing how much one can gross out an audience, and a deep and disturbing look at our natural tendencies.  Its essential question is, “What would happen if people gained superpowers without an Uncle Ben to teach them that ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ or  Pa Kent to imbue their adopted son with truth, justice and the American way.”  The answer is not at all pretty, and yet disturbingly realistic.. . .

Thursday, July 23, 2026

All signs point to an impending escalation of the military conflict with Iran.  Forces are being forward deployed, B1B bombers are getting involved (again) and discussions of “regime change” have resurfaced.  Certainly that is the…big…news of this morning.  But it is news from our university campuses that really moved me this morning as I read something I never thought I would see.  The good news is some, not much, but some, of the anti-semitism is being brought to rein.  However, it was one particular story this morning that made my heart sink to the bottom of my feet.. . .

Wednesday, July 22, 2026

The continued coverage of the problematic revitalization of the reflecting pool in D.C. is “The Dumbest Expression of T.D.S.”  I hesitate to call it “political theater” because the inception of the project was genuine, the problems have arisen in the execution and media coverage has made it controversial.  It is not a genuine scandal in any real sense, no politician made it happen for the sake of capturing headlines.  “Clickbait” is probably the best term for it, but it is politically motivated clickbait as media clearly intends to use it to embarrass the president.  But politicians are learning from the media.. . .

Tuesday, July 21, 2026

The older I get the more I realize that William Shatner’s TV version of James T. Kirk in Star Trek, The Original Series (ST:TOS) was awfully wise about how people actually work.  Only the old, like myself, or the nerdy, like myself, pay much attention to the  ST:TOS anymore.  The stories have been expanded and retold.  The multiverse has been introduced and it has been 60 years.  It was very much a product of the late 1960’s when it was released.  Many of the most memorable stories are stories of the old, staid, Captain and his crew encountering young, idealistic, aliens or scattered earthlings – either in pursuit of some utopian dream – only to have Captain Kirk point out that “Man stagnates if he has no ambition,” as their utopian ideals crash upon some rock or the other – or against Kirk and his starship.  It seems that despite history and the many speeches of Captain Kirk about our need for ambition and struggle, we still chase utopia.. . .