Althouse: In the Wednesday Night Café...

December 10, 2025

In the Wednesday Night Café...

... you can talk about whatever you want... except the seizing of the oil tanker. There's a new post, just up, for that. All other topics are fine.

128 comments:

Clyde said...: Clyde's Top 15 Favorite "New" Songs of 2025 - Part 1 of 16 - Preview

One of the joys of streaming music at work is discovering new music that I like. It allows me to find music that is either new or just new-to-me. A lot of the cool stuff I come across has been out for years, but it didn't cross my radar because I was listening to a different type of music at the time.

As in previous years, I'm going to close out the year by sharing my Top 15 songs that I discovered in 2025, starting tomorrow. Over the first five days, I'm going to throw in five honorable mentions that didn't crack my Top 15, and I may throw in some bonus songs on other days as well. The Top 15 itself will start on December 16th.

I owe a debt of gratitude to Amazon Music user Susan (@susan73263709) who publicly shared her User Playlist "ELOish" and allowed me to discover several of the songs that I'll be sharing with you over the coming days. If you are on Amazon Music and like music from the Electric Light Orchestra, I highly recommend you search for that playlist.

The rules: To make the Top 15, the song had to have been new to me in 2025, but that doesn't mean that it had to come out this year. Only one song per artist in the Top 15. And the cutoff date was that I had to discover the song before December 10th.

Honorable mentions may get a little more latitude, as I may have heard them earlier in passing, but only really got into them this year. By the time we're done on New Year's Eve, you'll have gotten a chance to hear the new music that was my soundtrack for 2025. I hope that you listen to them and that you find something new that you enjoy as well.; 12/10/25, 5:51 PM
Dan from Madison said...: Thanks Clyde your stuff was great last year looking forward to this years list.; 12/10/25, 5:57 PM
Big Mike said...: The city of Charlotte, NC, is located in Mecklenburg County. County Sheriff Garry McFadden complained that Iryna’s Law will make his job tougher by overcrowding the jails. He said this days after yet another train stabbing on the same light rail system where Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska was stabbed to death by a hardened criminal just because she was white. So it would seem he has no issue with criminals sticking knives into innocent victims, so long as they are released back into society to kill again, just do they don’t fill up his jail.; 12/10/25, 6:21 PM
Political Junkie said...: Poor Michigan. They need a new football coach.; 12/10/25, 6:31 PM
Jaq said...: https://www.zerohedge.com/political/us-ask-visitors-5-years-social-media-history-under-new-plan; 12/10/25, 6:31 PM
john mosby said...: So last nite there was a discussion about the war in Ukraine, with some side comments about the postponed election.

This made me think of an American Civil War counterfactual. Longtime readers may remember that I keep looking for ways we could have prevented the war.

Well this counterfactual might have made it a bit shorter: what if we’d made the 1864 election a peace negotiation?

Invite the Southerners to hold a regular US presidential and congressional election. Have their Reps and Sens go to DC. Have the resulting Congress debate a way to end the war, maybe by codifying secession, maybe by creating Jim Crow, maybe something else. The new president, whether Mac or Lincoln II or heck Bobby Lee, would sign off on it and put it into operation.

Anyone know if this was seriously discussed? Maybe the timing was wrong - Apomattox was just a month after the inauguration.

Or maybe something similar could have been done with the 1862 election? Was that discussed?

Lincoln’s paradigm that the rebel states are part of the US when it suits him, and enemy belligerents when that suits him, could have been stretched for the purpose.

And in 1862, no one on any side would have cared about blacks not being able to vote.

It just always irks me that we had to kill a half million boys just to get to Jim Crow. CC, JSM; 12/10/25, 6:34 PM
Humperdink said...: Jennifer Welch: “l just think it’s really important to remind everybody all the time that Elon Musk is a fxxking immigrant that doesn’t pay taxes who is a parasite off the American
taxpayer”

Matt Walsh responds: “The leftist mind in a nutshell. A white immigrant billionaire who makes rocket ships and electric cars is a “parasite” but an unemployed black Somali immigrant who scams the welfare system is an integral contributor to American culture who we must welcome and praise at all times.”; 12/10/25, 6:38 PM
narciso said...: A civil war (the phrase should be retired) is a different thing to an incursion between states specially those that are of unequal status history tells us there is little room for second place in these contests

But are we involved as nato or eu should we be; 12/10/25, 6:42 PM
narciso said...: That botox is seeping into that small particle of brain; 12/10/25, 6:43 PM
bagoh20 said...: Yesterday I came home to a pile of hair in my driveway. Upon closer inspection it began to move, and turned out to be a small stray dog which looked like it had been on the streets for a year. Very long matted hair and filthy with all manner of sticks and thorns stuck in the fur and flapping about. She ran, but I caught her. I spent all night cutting off chunks of hair and eventually got her bathed and decent at about half the size she started out. Very sweet little malte-poo type thing. Got up today and took her to a rescue I work with and turs out she had a chip. Called the family. They thought she was stolen. They came to get her. Happy ending. But what I really wanted to say was seizing of the oil tanker.; 12/10/25, 6:50 PM
FullMoon said...: Redstate says:
The GOP took up a challenge from Democrat Rep. Jasmine Crockett (TX-30) for people to find proof that Democrats were "invoking violence," and it couldn't have backfired on her more spectacularly. .; 12/10/25, 6:52 PM
Jim at said...: Got up today and took her to a rescue I work with and turs out she had a chip. Called the family. They thought she was stolen. They came to get her. Happy ending.

Feel-good story of the day.; 12/10/25, 7:13 PM
narciso said...: That was a nice gesture to do; 12/10/25, 7:17 PM
Achilles said...: A gay black man watching a white-hispanic argue with a Brit about white supremacy in the united states; 12/10/25, 7:21 PM
Michael Fitzgerald said...: Just finished reading Darkness At Noon by Arthur Koestler. A novel about a (Communist) Party leader arrested and jailed in an unnamed (Communist) country. It never explicitly says Communist but it describes a Totalitarian system with a leader called Number 1, and a police state fed on the terror that we know from history is the hallmark of Stalin's Soviet Union and Iron Curtain countries. It was okay, but I am not sorry to have reached the end of it. I thought that it read more like a philosophical treatise than a novel. Maybe a novel written by a philosopher. Probably readers who are smarter than me and enjoy shit like Derrida and Plato would enjoy it more, but Candide was the only book written by a philosopher that I ever liked. There would be long paragraphs of dull postulations and my mind would glaze over. Same kind of general subject as One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovitch, a political prisoner in a Communist gulag, but without the bright tight prose, vivid characters and imagery, and masterful storytelling as the Solzhenitzsyn novel.
Also just finished two biographies of Jack Benny, The Jack Benny Show and Sunday Nights At Seven. The first written by one of his writers Milt Josefsberg, the other written by his daughter Joan with additional excerpts from an unpublished autobiography Jack had started but never finished. If you like Jack Benny, I recommend both, but I would say that Sunday Nights At Seven was more intimate, compelling and revealing of the man behind the scenes, his marriage, his family and his friends. No dirt or scandals in either though. All who knew him loved him, and admired him, were grateful to him, and were heartbroken when he passed away. The one description of Jack Benny that was unanimous to all his friends and co-workers was " He was a great man".; 12/10/25, 7:42 PM
Kakistocracy said...: Oracle forecasts miss Wall Street targets while spending rises, shares slide 10% ~ Reuters
'Larry Ellison’s company raises its capital expenditure forecast as it doubles down on AI infrastructure bet'

Oracle is an interesting case. It's database and cloud computing garners premium pricing due to its reliability, scalability, and security. Its thousands of customers now want to add Oracle's AI capabilities, which takes a lot of data centers and hundreds of billions of investment dollars. But Oracle doesn't have as deep pockets as Microsoft, Amazon, and Google.

So, in the short term Oracle is going to take on a lot more debt, which is less risky than taking longer to offer its customers its AI suite, as they might look elsewhere if the wait is too long, despite high switching costs that are often prohibitive and switching takes many years and risks the company's data.

Oracle does have a premium AI product, however, and its profits nearly doubled over a year ago, from $3 to $6 billion in the just ended quarter. It has a long backlog of AI customers, and its AI cloud business has a 70% CAGR through 2030.

But it also trades around 30x forward p/e rising rapidly rising debt--and even that may not be enough to build out new AI data centers as rapidly as the want/need.; 12/10/25, 8:11 PM
Beasts of England said...: Nobody got sick from the smoked oyster spread, so it was a good evening. :); 12/10/25, 8:58 PM
Beasts of England said...: I am not taking about the seized oil tanker, that’s for sure.; 12/10/25, 9:01 PM
Beasts of England said...: I am willing to talk about one of my guitar buddy’s party date, because she was very friendly. Like, really friendly. Did I mention that she was friendly? She was friendly…; 12/10/25, 9:05 PM
The Vault Dweller said...: I bet all the people who mentioned the Oil Tanker also watched that Google Year in Review video too.; 12/10/25, 9:16 PM
Mary Beth said...: I was reading the story in the NYT this afternoon about the Louvre theft being caught on video. When I read the story there was only one comment:

"It's one thing to maliciously ignore safety and security issues like the Trump administration and another like what appears to be unrecognized gaps or short comings that can be cooperatively improved as a learning experience instead of playing the blame game on Ms. des Cars wasting time and resources. But we humanoids often and sadly want to blame rather than resolve."

I'l like to think that's a record for bring up Trump in an unrelated story, but I think it's pretty typical. At least it's (unintentionally) funny.

Story (gift link) https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/world/europe/louvre-heist-camera-delay.html?unlocked_article_code=1.708.e-7o.RFAnj_RBA4tC&smid=url-share; 12/10/25, 9:26 PM
Beasts of England said...: ’It's one thing to maliciously ignore safety and security issues like the Trump administration…’

Was Fonzie on water skis when that was written?; 12/10/25, 9:50 PM
Mason G said...: "instead of playing the blame game on Ms. des Cars wasting time and resources."

Exactly. Can't lose sight of what's important here- Ms. des Cars becoming the historic first female president of the museum.; 12/10/25, 9:58 PM
Jupiter said...: I'm remembering a time, must have been in the 90's, I was the manager of my band, and we were playing a wedding. God, I loved weddings. Everyone drunk, all the gals beautiful, play 'til three in the morning and a proud Dad is paying for the whole train wreck. This one was no exception, BTW, but that's a story for another night.
So, I am helping the bride plan the wedding, and we are scoping out the dance floor, which is going to be outdoors, but she doesn't want some Grateful Dead, hippies dancing in the moonlight deal, she wants a hard floor, where you can stomp your feet. Good for her!
But as I am scoping all this out, I happen to look up the street, and I see a woman coming towards me, about a block away. Being male, I check her out. Tall. Slender. Brunette. Good-looking woman, really, and the thought crosses my mind, "If I weren't married ....". But I am married, so ...
And then she gets closer, and I realize, that tall slender brunette is my wife, who has been helping with certain aspects of arranging this wedding.

So. Was I, at that exact moment, the most fortunate man in the Universe? Having realized, that the thing I wanted, was something that was already mine?; 12/10/25, 10:19 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: The tanker sizing does manage to shut Trump critics up about the boat sinking and killing of survivors. Because the idea of Trump going down (walls closing in) is only tamed by comparing it to the only titanic comparison available, the blazed downing of the Hindenburg. And of course, Trump is only all too willing to take the heat. As Althouse reminded us.; 12/10/25, 10:23 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: The tanker is a bone to the haters.; 12/10/25, 10:24 PM
Jim at said...: Having realized, that the thing I wanted, was something that was already mine?

Did you start humming The Pina Colada Song?; 12/10/25, 10:25 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: It also gives Putin and Zelensky something to think about?; 12/10/25, 10:26 PM
Jupiter said...: We set up a disco-dance floor, and we played 'til two. The wedding couple were both recent recruits to the Air Force, and they were supposed to go to some base in Idaho in a couple days. The bride was wearing a gown that barely covered her tits, and when she came up to me, and said "Can't you play just a little longer", she bent toward me so they weren't covered at all. Some female version of the droit de siegneur -- just for this night, I can hang these out in the face of any man I fancy -- I'm the bride!
We played whatever anyone asked us to play -- I remember some drunk uncle singing Louie, Louie -- and when the cops finally shut us down, the bride and one of her bridesmaids were rolling around kissing on that hard, bouncy disco dance floor.; 12/10/25, 10:32 PM
Jupiter said...: "Did you start humming The Pina Colada Song?"
I'm not much of a hummer.
Isn't humming something you do, instead of what you are actually inclined to do?; 12/10/25, 10:36 PM
Big Mike said...: Things we are belatedly leaning about the British rape gangs. This is from X by way of Instapundit:

Andy Hughes
@AndyHughesCrime
·
EXCLUSIVE: A Met officer was accused of running a VIP paedophile ring, which included an MP and a judge, that sexually abused young girls in care.
A Met whistleblower claims it was “covered up” by the force.

Sort of explains why the rape gangs were allowed to go on for so long, and why the police at times appeared to be not merely turning a blind eye but actually cooperating with the gangs. They anppeared to be cooperating because they actually were cooperating.; 12/10/25, 11:05 PM
Vance said...: Just got back from my local public high school Christmas concert, in which I had one daughter singing in one of the choirs.

I'm sure Kak would have stormed out threatening lawsuits.

Boy, I"m glad I live in a place where we can have even the public schools sing the religious Christmas songs. In fact, I think they only sang 3 "secular" songs. The rest were religious, and they closed with The First Noel and the Hallelujah chorus from Handel's Messiah.

I.... thought the left would have destroyed all of that in a public school by now. But oddly enough, high school choirs seem to be a last stand for religious influence.; 12/10/25, 11:16 PM
Jupiter said...: "They appeared to be cooperating because they actually were cooperating."
I am more than a little puzzled by how eager grown men seem to be, to rape children. I mean, I can understand the urge to steal money. Having lots of money makes things possible, that are not otherwise possible.
But the desire to have sex, with everything that crosses your screen, is the opposite of possibility. It is being helpless to resist any vagrant impulse. Like the way bulls are supposed to respond to red flags. I doubt that bulls are actually quite that susceptible to red flags. But if they were, who could imagine that they were pursuing their interest, by attacking anything red?; 12/10/25, 11:21 PM
Gospace said...: Why do I take medical advice (sometimes) from people who obviously aren't doctors? Because- they're usually testifying about something that works- for them. Really well. And if I have the same problem, well, why not give it a shot?

That's how I started nasal irrigation- back before 2013 according to my Amazon orders. A young lady who I worked worked with told me about it. I looked it up using the magig of the internet, and there seemed to be a lot of science behind it. Started doing it. And since then, haven't used any antihistamine, prescription or OTC. Haven't needed it. Since March 2017 I've been adding xylitol to the salt mixture- my first Amazon order. I'm firmly convinced that if this became as common as brushing teeth daily, URI's would go way down. Have any of you ever had a doctor tell you about it? I haven't. In fact, I told my doctor about it. That doctor is now in jail, but that's a whole other story.

Do you have any aches and pains that won't go away? Well, my son told me about DMSO working for him. Seems to have an almost cultlike following. Claimed to be good for almost everything that ails you. A Midwestern Doctor is a huge fan. Now I had heard about it from blogs and X posts, but my son telling me it worked for his muscle pains, almost immediately, made me give it a serious look. So a purchased a roll on tube. About 16 bucks, not that much in the scheme of things. Had bad knee pain. Diagnosed with arthritis years ago. Applied it, still had pain. Told him. Then a day or two later, applied it, and did so on subsequent days. After 3 days, no pain. Still no pain. I have recurrent lower back spasms and pains. And the day before the first snowstorm was due, my lower back started spasming. Uh-oh! Wife said, "You know that stuff you bought? Maybe you ought use it on your back." I did. and do so daily. 4th or 5th day of snow shoveling today, no back pain or muscle spasms. My wife had some unknown source of middle back pain 2 weeks ago. Immediate relief, one time application. Transient pain of some sort. I'm not truly convinced that DMSO would work for everybody. But, it's cheap, and effective, apparently by user claims, for all kinds of pain. So- why haven't any of my doctors over the years recommended trying it? The VA is more then willing to supply me with as much Cyclobenzaprine as I want, and a small amount of oxycodone. I get a 10 day supply once a year, which I usually manage to use over the course of a year. 7 months from my last visit I still have a 9 day supply left. Why doesn't the VA, or any other medical organization, recommend DMSO? It might work- and if it doesn't, well, no harm done. Try other options.

Then- there's Vitamin D, where it's widely acknowledged by all public health organization that 40% or more of the population is deficient in, the only way you can tell if you have enough is to be tested, and all the public health agencies recommend AGAINST routine testing... My last test was 56 ng/ml, in the sweet spot. 2000 IU a day over and above what's in my multi-vitamin and the pint of milk I drink every day. A2 whole milk. The NIH is now recommending 600-800 IU a day- not enough for most. And for submariners, insufficient to maintain vitamin D levels at an adequate level. This article was written in 1995: https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1995/june/keeping-submariners-healthy and this one in 2023- https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/984578
ADAIK the Navy is looking out for submariner health the same way they were when I was making deterrent patrols or WESPACS- by not supplementing their diet with Vitamin D.; 12/10/25, 11:23 PM
Lazarus said...: Even in the Spring of 1865, weeks before the surrender, Davis and Lee were still talking of the Confederacy as their nation. They'd made their break and they weren't going to participate in the US elections (except perhaps surreptitiously and subversively).; 12/11/25, 12:12 AM
Saint Croix said...: Jupiter, beautiful story at 10:19.; 12/11/25, 1:15 AM
Saint Croix said...: Many of us talk about Roe v. Wade and what the Supreme Court did to unborn children in the 1970's. We almost never talk about what the Supreme Court did to the jury in the same time period. I can't remember the name of the cases to save my life. But they cut the jury to shreds. The jury, which is a bulwark against politicized, ugly prosecutions by the state. The Supreme Court threw the jury out the window, like it was an unborn child.

The Supreme Court did this by pretending they had no idea what a jury is. Could be any damn thing, apparently.

I looked up the cases. In Williams v. Florida, 1970, the Supreme Court held that a jury did not have to be 12 people. Six was fine. That shit was 9 to 0! So embarrassing.

One state responded by dropping the jury to 5 people. And the Supreme Court, with scrambled egg all over their faces, had to say that the Constitution required at least six people. Even these Ivy League morons could see the jury getting reduced to four, three, two, and one.

We've literally had centuries of the jury being 12 people. And the fuckers go "six is fine, wait, five is bad." Just making shit up by the seat of your pants. Absolute disgrace.

Imagine, if you will, a state that passed a law that all the judicial robes had to be cut in half. All the judges had to wear a judicial robe mini-skirt, above the knee. We all know the judges would blather on and on about the dignity of their office, and how this was forbidden, and so on. They would protect the length of their robes. 9 to 0! But the size of the jury? Cut it in half, that's fine.

And then, in Apodaca v. Oregon, (1972), the Supremes held that a jury trial did not have to be unanimous. Majority rule was fine, too.

These two fucking cases, you could have people sentenced to life in prison on the basis of a 4 to 2 jury verdict. Unbelievable.

Flash forward 50 years. While the Supreme Court is cleaning up its Roe mess (finally), it also reverses Apodaca, more or less, in Ramos v. Louisiana in 2020.

Gorsuch is single-handedly trying to bring back the jury. Bravo.

How many innocent people went to prison based on these judicial fuck-ups? No way of counting. It's like trying to know how many babies died in the same time period.

It's like the Supreme Court was opposed to "strict constructionism," so they threw civil liberties out the window. They don't know what a person is. They don't know what a jury is. And innocent babies are stabbed in the neck. And innocent adults get locked up for crimes they didn't do.; 12/11/25, 2:08 AM
Saint Croix said...: The Ivy League hating on white males for 50 years has now produced a pathological group of white males who are listening to Nick Fuentes. This is what happens when you demonize people, you dumb fucks.

The Intersectionality of Nick Fuentes.; 12/11/25, 2:28 AM
Breezy said...: “But the desire to have sex, with everything that crosses your screen, is the opposite of possibility. It is being helpless to resist any vagrant impulse.”

This is why certain cultures require women to cover up partially or completely. It’s a thoroughly backward response to the problem. Why any western state leader would import these prehistoric cultural norms into their communities is sickening.; 12/11/25, 2:59 AM
Wilbur said...: @ Michael Fitzgerald. I second your appraisal of Jack Benny.

For those who only knew him from his TV show, which was me until recent years, the radio version was different and infinitely better. He was the greatest editor of comedic material ever.; 12/11/25, 3:28 AM
Clyde said...: Beasts of England said...
I am willing to talk about one of my guitar buddy’s party date, because she was very friendly. Like, really friendly. Did I mention that she was friendly? She was friendly…

How high was the proof of the friendliness she had been consuming?; 12/11/25, 3:44 AM
Clyde said...: The Vault Dweller said...
I bet all the people who mentioned the Oil Tanker also watched that Google Year in Review video too.

Let's not be beastly to the Venezuelans.; 12/11/25, 3:46 AM
john mosby said...: Breezy: "This is why certain cultures require women to cover up partially or completely. It’s a thoroughly backward response to the problem."

I agree. The Ferengi approach is much better. CC, JSM; 12/11/25, 4:25 AM
Breezy said...: LOL john mosby. I should’ve qualified “partial”!; 12/11/25, 4:35 AM
john mosby said...: Hey, if you see it all the time, you stop obsessing over it. CC, JSM; 12/11/25, 4:38 AM
Michael Fitzgerald said...: You said it, Wilbur! And those who worked with him agree. He knew how to bring out the best in a script, a performance, and a performer. I first encountered Benny's brilliance through his radio show back in 1999 listening to When Radio Was on a vanpool radio. His television shows had some hilarious skits, but the radio programs are the best. When I got my first computer some years later I began to listen to all his radio shows from 1932 to 1955, something like 900 programs. Still laughing out loud to those great gags, and crazy characters.; 12/11/25, 4:58 AM
rhhardin said...: "But the desire to have sex, with everything that crosses your screen, is the opposite of possibility. It is being helpless to resist any vagrant impulse. Like the way bulls are supposed to respond to red flags"

Nurse Duckett reveled in such attention and ducked her short chestnut bangs with joy when Yossarian and the others focused upon her. It gave her a peculiar feeling of warm and expectant well-being to know that so many naked boys and men were idling close by on the other side of the sand dunes. She had only to stretch her neck or rise on some pretext to see twenty or forty undressed males lounging or playing ball in the sunlight. Her own body was such a familiar and unremarkable thing to her that she was puzzled by the convulsive ecstasy men could take from it, by the intense and amusing need they had merely to touch it, to reach out urgently and press it, squeeze it, pinch it, rub it. She did not understand Yossarianb's lust; but she was willing to take his word for it.

Catch 22; 12/11/25, 5:02 AM
Humperdink said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/11/25, 5:09 AM
Wilbur said...: If someone wants to dive and listen to the Benny radio program, I suggest starting with the 1947 season and thereafter. They are easy to find on Youtube or elsewhere.

If you're like me you'll jump 2 minutes ahead whenever Dennis Day sings his weekly song. I'm not a fan, but his comedic talents on the show were extraordinary.; 12/11/25, 5:13 AM
Mr. Forward said...: “Having realized, that the thing I wanted, was something that was already mine?”
I get that every time I clean the garage.; 12/11/25, 5:21 AM
Humperdink said...: “fighting age men from Afghanistan”; 12/11/25, 5:23 AM
Humperdink said...: ^ ignore above edit.

Recall the neo-con battle cry: We are fighting them over there so we don’t have to fight them here in America.

Then Biden brings 90,000 fighting age men from Afghanistan to our shores, not to mention Somalistan in Minnesota.; 12/11/25, 5:26 AM
Humperdink said...: Political aspirations for Maryland Governor Wes Moore may be evaporating. From Power Line:

“Moore claimed on his 2006 White House fellowship application, for example, to have been inducted into the Maryland College Football Hall of Fame, an organization that doesn’t exist; that he received a Bronze Star for his service in Afghanistan, which he had not; and that he was born in Baltimore, which he was not.”

This is hilarious.

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2025/12/less-for-moore.php; 12/11/25, 5:38 AM
rehajm said...: Mercifully they’re self-deporting…How to Leave the USA. Of course this is just salve. Leaving is hard and the people who love these The New Yorker stories are lazy…; 12/11/25, 6:15 AM
Rocco said...: Jupiter said...
“And then she gets closer, and I realize, that tall slender brunette is my wife, who has been helping with certain aspects of arranging this wedding.”

Makes sense. Juno is the Roman goddess of marriage after all (among her other duties).; 12/11/25, 6:17 AM
Dave Begley said...: Badgers and Bluejays both beaten by Huskers in basketball.

Something is seriously wrong with the world!; 12/11/25, 6:27 AM
tcrosse said...: Late to the Jack Benny appreciation party, but I think his best shows were during the War, entertaining the troops. The shows were more spontaneous, and very warmly received. In 1943 he did a tour of Canadian troops, and in Montreal Rochester entered in French. The crowd went nuts. On YouTube you can find collections of the shows with commercials and music deleted.; 12/11/25, 6:53 AM
Ronald J. Ward said...: From The Hill;

“By the time somebody is at the level that they’re serving as president of the United States, it’s not like they’re going out and doing their own shopping, Trump is not sitting down on a Thursday night and paying his own bills and seeing what’s going on with health care and how much his credit card shows for gas receipts. It’s is important that his team be really honest with him about what people are talking about around the dinner table,”
——Republican Sen Lisa Murkowski

“I think Republicans need to have a message about caring for people who are struggling because of the high cost of things. I see it at home. … The cost of things is a problem,”
——-A senior Republican Senator who wished to remain anonymous

Assuming one doesn’t default to the instructed “fake news” escape hatch from reality, there’s a few things interesting here;

A) There doesn’t seem to be anyone with the testicular fortitude to inform Trump of reality.

B) There really is a cost issue and consumers are in fact hurting.

C) Oh, we have no intent or interest in easing their pain at the check out. We just need to do what we’ve done for years, “change our messaging” to something the Basket of Gullibles likes to hear.

D) A senior Republican Senator too afraid to be identified.

That tells a lot.; 12/11/25, 7:00 AM
Humperdink said...: ^^^ Chuck quotes the Murk and an anonymous senator. Telling, as you say.

So tell me Chuck, have you checked the cost of living charts for the last five (5) years? Food, housing, gasoline etc.; 12/11/25, 7:07 AM
Beasts of England said...: Maybe we need another Inflation Reduction Act to lower prices? lol; 12/11/25, 7:10 AM
narciso said...: Veruca salt who voted for the ifa among many horrors; 12/11/25, 7:16 AM
narciso said...: My nic for murkowski (earned for good reason) i might name her elphaba; 12/11/25, 7:25 AM
narciso said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/11/25, 7:25 AM
Ronald J. Ward said...: That’s some pretty weak tea Hump. Sure, we can revisit how Biden walked into a global supply chain crises and rebuilt the economy here at home but only the most gullible of the goobers would take comfort in historical charts while Trump’s policies are bankrupting them.

Trump and bankruptcy? Who would have ever thought?; 12/11/25, 7:27 AM
buwaya said...: You cannot choose to just reduce consumer prices by fiat.
Some commodity prices will fall through indirect means, petroleum and thus gasoline, diesel etc. But this is uncertain in effect. It is working now through a combination of non-silliness and good luck.
Some specific prices can be affected by specific policies, egg prices for instance that were affected by regulatory response to bird flu, or pork to swine flu (a problem in some countries, ongoing bad case right now in Spain, that lives on pork.).
A general fall in prices is always the effect of an economic depression. That is generally worse than inflation. There is no agreed upon way to force-start an economic depression btw.
Inflation can be controlled to some degree by fiscal discipline, interest rates and monetary controls. But that is ongoing price levels not established prices.
The period of high inflation was caused by fiscal silliness in 2021-23, but the effects of that cannot be erased by any sane policy at this point.; 12/11/25, 7:28 AM
Jaq said...: Yeah, prices were flat during the Biden years and suddenly, in January, they began a relentless climb. Or at least that's what gullible people believe.; 12/11/25, 7:29 AM
Beasts of England said...: ’How high was the proof of the friendliness she had been consuming?’

I’m not sure. In addition to being potluck, it was bring your own Bourbon and someone brought a cask strength Angel’s Envy. I brought Scotch (Balvenie Doublewood) because I was trying to introduce a class to the Brown’s Creek Pickers… ;); 12/11/25, 7:31 AM
Beasts of England said...: ’Sure, we can revisit how Biden walked into a global supply chain crises and rebuilt the economy…’

Never change, Chuck. That’s delicious.; 12/11/25, 7:34 AM
narciso said...: Yes ruinous deflation brought on by the creditsansltant crash was what led to hitlers rise; 12/11/25, 7:35 AM
narciso said...: How much has he been drinking; 12/11/25, 7:36 AM
Jaq said...: It's kind of funny that the Russia propaganda is more subtle than the Ukrainian stuff, I guess because the side that is winning on the ground doesn't have much need to hide the truth, but now they are putting out that they hope that Europe seizes their assets, which are not any kind of make or break deal for Russia, but which seems to be a source of desperation that Europe should get their hands on the money as soon as possible, the Russians claim.

The Russians claim that by seizing sovereign assets, Europe will have branded itself as an unsafe place to put your money, because, who knows when the West is going to get mad at your country? So China, Saudi Arabia, basically anybody who the West might have a beef with in the future, even India, well, they will draw down their investments in Europe over time. It sounds like a reasonable argument, but it could also be a way of making lemonade out of lemons.

But you have to admit, it's kind of clever. They sent each country in Europe a note saying that they will owe some number of billions if the money is ever returned to Russia, and then changed the law using emergency powers to require a unanimous vote to return the money. So basically it's "Lithuania, here is a crushing bill that will come due as soon as you vote to return the assets to the country that you hate like poison."; 12/11/25, 7:39 AM
Ronald J. Ward said...: ^ , we can do the but-Biden thing and you can take comfort in those fabrications but it doesn’t change these realities that have republicans panicking- Biden is no longer president, Trump promised lower prices and lied, prices are higher and will continue to soar, and the skyrocketing is not a product of normal market change but rather directly from Trump’s tariffs and immigration policies.

And Republican leadership seems to be too afraid to even tell him.; 12/11/25, 7:40 AM
narciso said...: I wouldnt drive if i were him; 12/11/25, 7:43 AM
Kakistocracy said...: Trump has countered the criticism he has faced in recent weeks for saying that the affordability crunch was a “hoax” perpetuated by Democrats... how very Munchausen.

This is Russian-level projection: anything is everyone else's fault, especially all the problems that I've caused myself.

US labor costs are 8–20× higher than in Vietnam or Mexico. That alone can turn a $12 T-shirt into a $120 one. Consumers aren’t paying for “better quality”—they’re mostly paying for much higher wages and red tape.

Forcing every American to pay 30–100 % more for clothes, appliances, and toys is a savage regressive tax that hits working-class families hardest.

Past tariffs prove it: for every $1 consumers overpaid (steel, washers, Trump-era tariffs), workers pocketed only ~15¢. The rest went to profits and inefficiency.

Retaliation hurts. Trump’s tariffs cost US farmers >$40 bn in lost exports and crushed manufacturers who rely on imported parts.

Every dollar you force people to spend on overpriced domestic goods is a dollar they can’t spend on healthcare, education, or the next great American startup.

Protectionism feels patriotic, but it’s just expensive nostalgia that creates almost zero net jobs while making life harder for regular families.

Buy American when it actually wins on quality or price. Don’t tax everyone else to prop it up.; 12/11/25, 7:44 AM
narciso said...: https://x.com/nypost/status/1998962673552134413; 12/11/25, 7:45 AM
Caroline said...: I find a little cognitive dissonance among the prophets of affordability. I don’t know about you, but where I live— Dallas— every strip mall on every corner has at least 4 services aimed at young women— hair salon, blow dry bar, nail salon, Brazil wax, lash studio, brow studio, Pilates, yoga. The kind of maintenance young women are shelling out for is truly mind boggling. Let me just say I did not pay for a mani/ pedi until someone gave me a gift card for my fortieth birthday. But no one mentions the lavish lifestyles of young women. I dunno, seems to me it’s the consumption, stupid.; 12/11/25, 7:46 AM
buwaya said...: If you require rainbow-colored unicorns you will not get them.
No power on earth will give you the impossible, no matter how hard you shout.
I am an engineer, I am rather used to silliness like this.
This is, btw, how California got the highest electricity prices in the US. And its proof of the stupidity of the population of California.; 12/11/25, 7:49 AM
rhhardin said...: Around the early 80s there was a coffee freeze in Brazil. Restaurants stopped offering free second cups. The coffee shelves in the supermarket got shorter and higher priced. You could get all the coffee you wanted but you wanted less.

Suppose you hand out $20 to poor people coming into the supermarket so they can buy a pound of coffee. Do they buy coffee? No. They have a better use for $20 than a pound of coffee. This is called "not being able to afford coffee." It's not that you don't have the money, but that you have a better use for it.

The affordability meme is about having a better use for money than the stuff you no longer buy. Not that you lack the money.; 12/11/25, 7:50 AM
Beasts of England said...: ’The rest went to profits and inefficiency.’

Hence the new accounting term: earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, and inefficiency.; 12/11/25, 7:56 AM
narciso said...: You might as well be invoking magic to them; 12/11/25, 7:57 AM
Kakistocracy said...: Inflation is a radical left, escalator manufacturers, Antifa hoax perpetrated by those who want to talk down the greatest President in the history of Presidents. The cost of everything is down 1000's of percent -- up is down, black is white, and America is great again. /s

This is the problem at the core of American politics. Trump only seems to think it’s a problem when the other side is doing it. And -- even worse -- he identifies that trait in the other side but again, only thinks it’s a problem when they do it!

It makes for good watching as an observer but it shouldn’t be treating politics like a sports game.

Wait till tariffs finally filter through the economy. If the midterms are going to be determined by the single issue of affordability, he’s going to lose ‘tremendously’; 12/11/25, 7:58 AM
Ronald J. Ward said...: Rhharden, I highly doubt that the “just eat less” is going to fly.

One thing I recall of the Brazil coffee freeze was that most every diner and cafe eventually raised the price of a cup of coffee from a dime to 50 cents. Eventually, coffee returned to the original price per pound. But the dime a cup was never seen again.; 12/11/25, 8:03 AM
buwaya said...: Russian propaganda of course. If you want to park a few hundred billion for your sovereign wealth fund or your pet oligarchs, there are no options other than Europe and the US. Trustworthy countries like Japan and Australia are tied in with their blocs, and cant really absorb that sort of investment. As is the case with most countries in general. And nobody trusts China or India, flat out.
There are no alternatives, simple as that.
So you put it in the US or Europe and behave yourself. Which most everyone with any significant money has managed to do.; 12/11/25, 8:07 AM
buwaya said...: "But the dime a cup was never seen again."
Quod erat demonstrandum; 12/11/25, 8:08 AM
buwaya said...: Russia could, of course, have reinvested their stash in Russia in the first place, you know, public works and factories and such. But of course the reason it (well, so damn much of it) is abroad is the Russians, naturally enough, dont trust each other.; 12/11/25, 8:12 AM
narciso said...: They havent been doing that for 30 years; 12/11/25, 8:13 AM
Kakistocracy said...: Trump fails to realize that the vast majority of his supporters have zero exposure to the stock market (i.e., no 401K, no pensions, and hold no stock or bonds). Grocery prices are, in fact, how most of these folks interact with the real economy whereas the rise in the S&P 500 over the past year does not.

Nobody believes that tariffs cause a catastrophic immediate impact. They will have a long-term negative impact on investment and growth, via their negative direct and indirect effects. India had very high tariffs and other barriers to trade for decades. They roughly halved the economy’s potential growth rate. But it still grew, just far more slowly than it could have done.; 12/11/25, 8:15 AM
Achilles said...: Kakistocracy said...

Inflation is a radical left, escalator manufacturers, Antifa hoax perpetrated by those who want to talk down the greatest President in the history of Presidents. The cost of everything is down 1000's of percent -- up is down, black is white, and America is great again. /s

You shouldn't try to make jokes about inflation when you don't even know what inflation is.

You just look really stupid.; 12/11/25, 8:18 AM
Aggie said...: "...Trump fails to realize that the vast majority of his supporters have zero exposure to the stock market..."

Why not give us the numbers? What is 'majority' in percent, and where does your data come from? Or is all this 'said falsely, without evidence'?; 12/11/25, 8:23 AM
buwaya said...: Indias real problems weren't tariffs, but investment controls and choking regulation. It was called the "Permit Raj" or "License Raj". Still around though not as bad.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Licence_Raj
We got chapter and verse on that at the Asian Development Bank when I was a lad with a slide rule (economist/banker: whats that?).; 12/11/25, 8:24 AM
Humperdink said...: So Chuck, aka RJW, refuses to look at factual cost of living charts, labeling them weak. I guess I would too if I didn’t have a rebuttal.

BTW, isn’t Chuck the liberal who called himself a “life long Republican”?; 12/11/25, 8:26 AM
bagoh20 said...: Everybody I know can afford a cell phone, even kids and people on welfare. It's that affordable, doncha know.; 12/11/25, 8:29 AM
buwaya said...: The function of the US Democratic party and Euro socialists btw, is to create as much of an Indian "Permit Raj" as they can.
Bureaucracy is their core belief.; 12/11/25, 8:30 AM
rehajm said...: Everyone has exposure to equity prices. Your governments have obligations to pay defined benefit pensions that are invested in equities, charities that aid the poor have capital market exposure, employers, healthcare providers, all have exposure…; 12/11/25, 8:40 AM
Ronald J. Ward said...: Humperdink said...
“So Chuck, aka RJW, refuses to look at factual cost of living charts, labeling them weak. I guess I would too if I didn’t have a rebuttal.

BTW, isn’t Chuck the liberal who called himself a “life long Republican”?“

I don’t know if you’re being intentionally ignorant or listening to too many voices in your head but “affordability” is a real problem for Republicans.

Trump is lying to his Basket that it’s a hoax. Their wallets beg to differ.

Prices are going to continue to rise as the midterms get closer. And that rise will be due to Trump’s policies on tariffs and immigration.

Either you agree or disagree but charts of the last 5 years doesn’t change it.

And to be clear, I’m a lifelong Democrat.; 12/11/25, 8:46 AM
Beasts of England said...: ’Trump fails to realize that the vast majority of his supporters have zero exposure to the stock market (i.e., no 401K, no pensions, and hold no stock or bonds).’

Vast majority is greater than 75%. Are you suggesting that less than twenty-five percent of Trump supporters have market exposure? lol; 12/11/25, 8:46 AM
Kakistocracy said...: Trump's tariffs are a backdoor consumption tax on the American consumer to pay for his tax cuts.; 12/11/25, 8:48 AM
Ronald J. Ward said...: Beasts of England said...
’Trump fails to realize that the vast majority of his supporters have zero exposure to the stock market (i.e., no 401K, no pensions, and hold no stock or bonds).’

“Vast majority is greater than 75%. Are you suggesting that less than twenty-five percent of Trump supporters have market exposure? lol“

My research hits closer to half but your argument still evades the major point. Voters being hit with what correctly defines as as a backdoor consumption tax are pissed regardless of their stock or 401k.

Maybe I’m missing something here but are you in denial of recent and future price increases due to Trumps policies?; 12/11/25, 9:10 AM
Narr said...: john mosby raises the possibility of peaceful settlement of the big issues of the ACWABAWS before 1865, and cites the 500,000 dead soldiers it took "to end up with Jim Crow."

I always like to turn such questions and speculations around. In this case I would ask how many dead soldiers would be acceptable to move from Slavery to Jim Crow?

250,000? 125,000? 62,500? You see where this goes.

What about to move from Slavery to Equality?

And of course the ones who sacrificed the most--the CS leaders who gave their sons in order to keep their slaves, and lost both--have more to answer for than anyone else.

My own opinion, FWIW, is that the Confederate leaders really did believe that they were preserving and creating a new, great civilization in the Southland. Delusion is a powerful force in history.; 12/11/25, 9:17 AM
Rocco said...: Bagoh20, that is good news that you were able to restore the dog to its family after a significant amount of time. About a decade ago, we had some foxes and other predators come thru our suburban neighborhood, and outdoor cats and small dogs quickly became something’s meal. Fortunately, we haven’t had that in some time, as evidenced by the colony of feral cats nearby that occasionally come to our neighborhood.; 12/11/25, 9:19 AM
buwaya said...: 59% of US adults have 401Ks or IRAs.
Given the party split by income from Pew, a likely disproportion of Republicans have these vs Democrats
https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/04/09/partisanship-by-family-income-home-ownership-union-membership-and-veteran-status/; 12/11/25, 9:19 AM
buwaya said...: US inflation at sub 3% for 2025 is moderate by historical experience. Given the deficit its probably what is to be expected. Its unlikely that anything can be done about the deficit without endless screaming.
2025 inflation is lower than 2024.
https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/inflation-cpi; 12/11/25, 9:28 AM
Inga said...: “BTW, isn’t Chuck the liberal who called himself a “life long Republican”?“

This “Chuck” obsession is tiresome and boring.; 12/11/25, 9:31 AM
Inga said...: The more Trump claims that affordability is a Democratic hoax, the more likely he loses a voter, that’s ok with me. The full brunt of the pain hasn’t hit yet, it will. Even Trump cultists will feel it, of course they won’t admit it.; 12/11/25, 9:35 AM
buwaya said...: Foreign experience -
In an effort to control out of control public spending, the last Spanish PP government under Rajoy (the PP are like the US Republicans) raised the retirement age to 67. Of course this bit of courage lost them the last two elections (though 2023 was very close).
Interestingly the PSOE (socialists) haven't attempted to mess with the retirement age.
This is one reason the Spanish fiscal position is substantially better than, say, France.
The US is coming to a reckoning re Social Security btw. You are going to have to do something like Spain.; 12/11/25, 9:44 AM
Ronald J. Ward said...: “Republicans pay just as much for eggs and beef as the nonvegetarian Democrats,” said Barrett Marson, a Republican strategist based in Arizona. “You can spin your way out of a lot of things, but you cannot lie to the American public about their own economic experience.”

Mr. Marson said that Mr. Trump was falling into the same trap that former Mr. Biden did in failing to recognize the depth of the public’s anxiety about the economy.

“The more he denies that there is an affordability problem, the more out of touch he seems,” Mr. Marson said. “And if Donald Trump isn’t careful, Republicans will pay the same price that Democrats paid in 2024.”; 12/11/25, 9:46 AM
buwaya said...: Ward inadvertently posted as Chuck the other day, probably clicked on the wrong google profile. Hence the mystery, such as it was, was solved.; 12/11/25, 9:47 AM
Marcus Bressler said...: The comments section has become a Paul Winchell event.; 12/11/25, 9:55 AM
buwaya said...: Its nothing Trump can do. There are no policy tools to give the voters rainbow unicorns or fly them to cloud cuckcoo land.
This bs is why CA is screwed btw. If the people are fatally stupid, then the only thing to do is walk away and let them die.; 12/11/25, 9:57 AM
Ronald J. Ward said...: Buwaya-bout-Biden, I’d wager I’ve been banned from more blogs than you’ve visited. I’ve had several of my own. I’ve dealt with the sock-puppets, the imposters, trolls, you name it.

I notice the Chuck comparison from the beginning and I’ve seen that very identity deflection used, particularly when the opponent runs out of ammo.

That either Chuck posted or someone posted as Chuck is some proof, I find that to be akin to slap stick comedy.

Either you have an intelligent response to Trump trashing the economy or you don’t, regardless if you want me to be Trump or you don’t.; 12/11/25, 10:07 AM
Kakistocracy said...: Trump is still blaming Biden for current levels of inflation? Wait, could that mean that the big jump in inflation in 2021 and 2022 should be blamed on Biden‘s predecessor?; 12/11/25, 10:13 AM
Ronald J. Ward said...: buwaya said...
Its nothing Trump can do. There are no policy tools to give the voters rainbow unicorns or fly them to cloud cuckcoo land.“

For starters, it doesn’t matter. Blame or applause comes with the job.

He ran on his ability to bring prices down, on day one. He lied.

Okay, we all know he lies but he made things worse. DOGE, Big Ugly Bill, Masked goons, chaos. And around 12 million people are going to see healthcare soar next month.; 12/11/25, 10:17 AM
buwaya said...: I have been online since Usenet. I try (usually) to be substantial, contribute data, books/references, facts, and substantial analysis. As I have been accustomed to doing my whole life.
You however seem to have specialized in being annoying.
Very much like your late persona "Chuck".
It seems to please you for some reason.
de gustibus non est disputandum; 12/11/25, 10:22 AM
buwaya said...: Deficits are the principal driver of inflation. US deficits have been a constant since 2000. Covid (2020) forced a huge increase in the deficit (among other things). The US government chose to continue excessive spending into 2023, unnecessarily.
Trump inheritent a large deficit. There is no fix for this other than, effectively, legislative unanimity. The US is however so bitterly divided that is not going to work. This is also why regular budgeting is a dead letter and why the US depends on an endless series of continuing resolutions (and the constant threat of government shutdowns).
This is madness.
You hate each other so much that you can no longer even speak sensibly.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/FYFSD; 12/11/25, 10:41 AM
Kakistocracy said...: One solution mentioned above — balance the budget and inflation will come down. But Trump doesn’t want a recession so he continues to fuel an overheated economy. Inflation will just continue to grow. I will benefit from my investments in the market but average Americans will be poorer.

It’s not a good look for a billionaire who's obviously never even been grocery shopping or seen his electricity bill to tell voters their concerns about affordability are a hoax.

But someone needs to explain to Trump the difference between inflation and prices. While volatile fuel prices may go up and down, or specific products may (e.g. eggs after a shortage), prices in aggregate clearly aren't and won't go down, and if they did do so this would not be good but would be a depression. But by repeatedly asserting this, which voters know to be false, he is digging himself into an ever deeper hole.; 12/11/25, 10:52 AM
narciso said...: Theres a lot of profit in the fraud that was uncovered by doge; 12/11/25, 11:03 AM
boatbuilder said...: Either you agree or disagree but charts of the last 5 years doesn’t change it.

"Don't confuse me with the facts!"; 12/11/25, 12:23 PM
boatbuilder said...: I'm old enough to remember when Trump's tariff's were going to tank the stock market. Way back when. I bet you young'uns can't remember back that far, but the predictions in April were brutal. We somehow managed to live through those predictions, but I really don't see how we van survive the current predictions.; 12/11/25, 12:28 PM
Michael Fitzgerald said...: https://archive.org/details/TheJackBennyProgram

All the shows here with an easy peasy scroll to get to a selected program. I will suggest 3 to try:
10/01/1944- Phil Harris sings a great version of the Johnny Mercer tune "G.I. Jive"
03/16/1947- Jack is looking for a new quartet to replace The Sportsmen. He is surprised by the unannounced appearance of 3 Hit crooners to join Dennis Day- Andy Russell, Dick Haymes, and Bing Crosby. They sing a great and hilarious medley. This episode became notorious in OTR legend when Bing Crosby's voice cracks trying to hit a high note and he yells "Who the hell picked this key, Dennis Day?"
10-10-1948- Jack and the gang listen to the World Series game on his radio. Frank Nelson absolutely hysterical as the ballgame's announcer.; 12/11/25, 12:40 PM
Michael Fitzgerald said...: Fred Allen guest stars in the 10-01-1944 program, too.; 12/11/25, 1:04 PM
Ronald J. Ward said...: narciso said...
“Theres a lot of profit in the fraud that was uncovered by doge“

That’s a pretty broad claim. Who was the fraudster, what was the fraud, and what exactly did ‘doge’ uncover? If it’s solid, the details should be easy to provide.; 12/11/25, 1:08 PM
Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...: boatbuilder, don’t let them get you down. These are the same people who have predicted the last 12 of 0 Trump depressions.; 12/11/25, 2:41 PM
Ronald J. Ward said...: Well Bushman, I’m old enough to remember the economy Trump 45 left us with.; 12/11/25, 3:20 PM
Kirk Parker said...: buwaya,

I consider I am paying Chuck/RJW a big compliment by assuming he's being paid to spew his nonsense. That's because the alternatives are even more embarrassing:

* He's willing to act this stupid for free
* He really and truly actually is this stupid; 12/11/25, 3:36 PM
Ronald J. Ward said...: Kirk, the intended insults most always come when that’s all the opponent has left.

I say “intended insult” because the only way I could feel insulted is if I respected your opinion.

I do not.; 12/11/25, 3:44 PM
Marcus Bressler said...: LLRRJW; 12/11/25, 6:14 PM
Rusty said...: Ronald J. Ward said...
Beasts of England said...
’Trump fails to realize that the vast majority of his supporters have zero exposure to the stock market (i.e., no 401K, no pensions, and hold no stock or bonds).’

I bet it's over 60 %.
Conservatives tend to take wealth more seriously than leftists. One reason is because they know what the term "wealth" means.; 12/11/25, 6:34 PM
Josephbleau said...: “The comments section has become a Paul Winchell event.“

I see the ventriloquism critique. But I have always thought this comment section reminiscent of the old Hollywood Squares game show.; 12/11/25, 6:59 PM