We're living in a bizarro world where formerly smart pundits and politicians have gone, well, a bit mad.
We know the names all too well. Candace Owens. Tucker Carlson. Rep. Thomas Massie. James Carville, Rep. Ro Khanna. And, more recently, Megyn Kelly. The latter's descent into the "Blame Israel" chorus is breathtaking and sad.
Megyn flips reality on its head and claims Israel is running the biggest online influence operation of anyone. She forgets that we have eyes and ears and can see how popular, profitable, and influential anti-Israel content has been. She thinks we aren't smart enough to understand…
— Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) July 19, 2026
And, likely, there will be more names to add to this list.
It's what makes Bridget Phetasy so refreshing. The comedienne/podcaster is leaning into the Normals Movement, one that isn't as lucrative but lets people retain their souls and sanity.
Phetasy's "Dumpster Fire" podcast is a hoot, a giddy blend of news commentary, pop culture snippets and good ol' common sense. She isn't bitter or despondent. Rather, she tries to find the humor in modern life and rejects clickbait craziness.
This week, Phetasy shared a depressing report on her recent return to Los Angeles, her ex-home. It hasn't been decades, mind you, since she moved away. Still, what the podcaster saw with her own eyes proved shocking.
She echoed a phrase that is becoming all too common in blue cities, but the L.A. situation makes one want to scream it from the rooftops.
Decline is a choice.
Phetasy shares how a simple trip to the store to buy eyeliner became a battle to retrieve an item, any item from behind a locked cabinet. That's the way L.A. shoppers buy their goods, and it's a practice that's likely growing in other blue regions. This Denver resident started seeing it at my local supermarket in recent years, just as the city went from light to cobalt blue.
"Deodorants are locked up. Everything is locked up," she said about her trip to an L.A. Walgreens store. "And everybody's just OK with this? You guys know it's not like this in other places in America, right?"
"People are choosing to live like this," she added.
She did marvel at L.A.'s weather, the one thing that historically bad political decisions can't ruin.
Phetasy also shared how she saw the Beach Boys' Mike Love in concert at the Hollywood Bowl. Said Bowl proved more empty than she remembered, but the show featured footage of L.A.'s glory days. They're long gone now.
Decline, once again, is a choice.
Yet the bigger narrative to consider is the frog in the pot of boiling water. As the analogy goes, if you add a frog to a pot of lukewarm water, it'll swim around with no real problems. Increase the heat, degree by degree, and the frog won't be startled even as the temperature climbs to dramatic levels.
Yes, in this metaphor, L.A. denizens are frogs. And, either they just voted against a sane alternative to local leadership, or the people who helped wreck their beloved city played dirty with the recent mayoral election.
Either way, Phetasy's wake-up call made for a compelling podcast, but it likely won't make those frogs change their ways anytime soon.
