A Special Festivus Airing of Grievances from the Reason Roundtable Podcast
We've got a lot of problems with you people.

Though it sometimes feels here at Reason like every day is Festivus—at least the Airing of Grievances part, if not quite the Feats of Strength—it is also true that the Seinfeld-concocted holiday comes every December 23. That means two things: 1) the annual tweet-storm from Sen. Rand Paul (R–Ky.) and, if it falls on a Monday, 2) a Festivus-themed episode of the Reason Roundtable podcast.
Nick Gillespie, Peter Suderman, Katherine Mangu-Ward, and Matt Welch huck darts at, among many other targets, last week's "bucket of garbage" budget deal, our brand new Space Force, Democratic presidential candidates, cigarette prohibitionists, presidential cultists, trade warriors, governor sons of governors, nu-trad-con manifesto writers, would-be campaign-finance regulators, politicians who can't stop yammering about baseball, and whichever alien force lives inside Nick Gillespie's mouth robotically dispensing Zardoz references. There's even a shocking twist or two near the end, so be here now until the final second, if time even exists.
Audio production by Ian Keyser and Regan Taylor.
Music: "Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairies" by Tchaikovsky
Relevant links from the show:
"A Special Reason Festivus Airing of the Grievances: Podcast," by Matt Welch
"'Until You Pin Me, George, Festivus Is Not Over!'" by Jesse Walker
"Peace, Love, and Misunderstanding," by Jacob Sullum
"Bipartisan 'Bucket of Garbage' Budget Bill Contains $50 Billion in Special Interest Tax Breaks," by Eric Boehm
"Republicans, Democrats Agree to Dump $738 Billion More Into the Forever War and Space Force," by Elizabeth Nolan Brown
"Even in Impeachment-Crazed D.C., It's Always a Good Time To Borrow and Spend!" by Nick Gillespie
"America's Forgotten Debt," by John Stossel
"Here's the One Book All the Democratic Candidates (and President Trump) Should Read," by Nick Gillespie
"Democrats Still Fundraising Off Citizens United, Still Wrong About What It Means," by Elizabeth Nolan Brown
"Warren and Buttigieg Spar Over Who Has the Purest Donors," by Scott Shackford
"The Cult of the Presidency," by Gene Healy
"House-Passed Budget Deal Raises Age To Buy Cigarettes to 21," by Christian Britschgi
"It Wasn't Just a Chokehold That Killed Eric Garner," by Jacob Sullum
"This Week Is a Crucial Final Exam Capping the Second Year of Trump's Trade Wars," by Eric Boehm
"The New Trustbusters Are Coming for Big Tech," by Thomas W. Hazlett
"The Moral Scolds of the New Illiberal Right Are Coming For Your Internet," by Peter Suderman
"New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to State Economy: 'Drop Dead,'" by Nick Gillespie
"The Five Faces of Jerry Brown," by Jesse Walker
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My grievance with Reason magazine is that it's a reflexively progressive rag run by leftists who have no integrity of inherent value, and which attempts to gaslight readers using the guise of "liberty" to obscure advocacy for global socialism
Actually, Reason is run by left-libertarians, not progressives. Although the two groups agree on most issues, they differ in a couple key areas — the minimum wage and billionaire tax rates.
#BillionairesKnowBest
Not sure if this comment is genuine, but my experience has been that this is essentially true
It's a pretty good, succinct summary
Why do you spend time here?
Just to piss you off
Mike finds everything here, all the rants for impeachment, the Amash worship, the non analysis of economics, all to be neutral... just like him. He hasnt had an original thought since he first picked up the New York times.
True.
So, you are spending your precious life’s minutes at a website you don’t like and now you’ve added to that wasting your time trying to piss me off. Pathetic.
Hey Mike, why did you post links that you claim prove people are Trump supporters, but when I click on them, I get stuff like this
You're a liar. That doesn't prove he is anything except observing reality.
Why do you do that? Post links that you totally lie about, thinking no one will click them?
You lied about Weigel's Cock Ring in the exact same way.
What the fuck is wrong with you that you lie and think no one will notice?
You know who else posts links but never reads them? He has a penchant got chems
It's just a surface resemblance Jesse. Total coincidence.
He’s a psycho liar.
Right. Done in one.
I like how you are basically advocating to remain in an intellectual bubble and only spend time with people that only agree with you.
You're fucking hilarious neutral mike.
Why do you bleat like an idiot?
This one got published under the Reason Interview feed. Come on team, get it together.
On the 12th Day of Reason Christmas...
12 Impeachment Articles
11 Trolls-a-Trolling
10th Reason Webathon
9 Occupational Licenses
8 Cops-a-Shooting
7 Remy Videos
6 Bakers Baking
5 Warrantless Searches
4 Speech Infringements (government? private? Hell, I don't even know anymore)
3 Price Controlled Shortages
2 Open Borders
And a Jacket for Gillespieeeeeeeeeee.
+12 Father Christmas, give us some money.
Other Libertarian Xmas Songs?
I really can't stay...
...Baby, there's cops outside....
Well done.
i enjoy the space, gracias.
Couldn't find John Tiersen's version from WMMR, but maybe you remember this one from your Philly days - Christmas In Jail
lol I remember. Mackenzie Brothers still make me laugh the most
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DTwLqR071M
Hey Hoser! Here's a quiz...
Great White North!
Bob: Okay. On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: a beer.
Doug: On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: two turtlenecks,
Bob: And a beer. (Okay…) On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: three French toast,
Doug: Two turtlenecks,
Bob: And a beer. (Okay…)
Doug: There should be more there, eh?
Bob: Where? On the… go.
Doug: Fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: four pounds of backbacon,
Bob: Three French toast,
Doug: Two turtlenecks,
Bob: And a beer.
Doug: In a tree. See, you need more.
Bob: Fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: five golden touques!
Doug: Four pounds of backbacon,
Bob: Three French toast,
Doug: Two turtlenecks,
Bob: And a beer, what was it?
Together: In a tree!
Bob: Okay, on the sixth… go.
Doug: Of Christmas, my true love gave to me: six packs of two-four,
Bob & BG Singers: Five golden touques!
Doug: Four pounds of backbacon,
Bob: Three French toast,
Doug: Two turtlenecks,
Bob: And a beer,
Together: In a tree!
Bob: Okay.
Doug: Okay.
Bob: On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: seven packs of smokes,
Doug: (Nice gift…) Oh, six packs of two-four! (BG Singers also sing “nice gift”.)
Bob & BG Singers: Five golden touques!
Doug: Four pounds of backbacon,
Bob: Three French toast,
Doug: Two turtlenecks,
Bob: And a beer, Together: In a tree!
Bob: Right, I keep forgetting.
Doug: Phew! This should just be the two days of Christmas, it’s too hard for us!
Bob: Um…
Doug: Go, hoser.
Bob: Oh.
Together: Eigth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me:
Doug: Eight comic books,
Together w/BG singers (but unsynchronized): Seven packs of smokes, six packs of two-four,
(Bob and Doug quit singing.)
BG Singers: Five golden touques! Four pounds of backbacon, three French toast, two turtlenecks,
All: And a beer,
Doug: On my tree!
Bob: Yeah. That beer’s empty. Okay. Day,
BG Singers: Twelve!
Bob: Uh, tweleve.
Doug: Good day, and welcome to day twelve.
BG Singers: Five golden touques!
All: Four pounds of backbacon, three French toast, two turtlenecks, and a beer, in a tree!
Bob: Beauty, eh?
Doug: Where’d you learn to do that?
Bob: Uh, albums.
Doug: Boy. So, like, that’s our song, Merry Christmas…
Bob: Merry Christmas!
Doug: And good day!
Bob: Good day, everybody. Happy New Year, too. Sheesh. Okay, you know what you left out?
Doug: What?
Bob: Donuts – I told you to get me donuts! Either on the ninth day or the tenth day, or the eleventh day, I wanted donuts!
Doug: Okay, the song’s over.
Bob: But I want…
Doug: Merry Christmas, everybody!
Bob: Or on the twelfth day, you coulda got me a dozen donuts.
Doug: So, go out to the stores, and get some presents.
Bob: You coulda gone down to, like, the good donut shop, where if you buy a dozen, you get another one
free, and then thirteen for the thirteen days of Christmas.
Doug: Well, next Christmas, I’ll get me a chainsaw…
Bob: Take off!
Doug: Boy, that song was a beauty. It moved me…
Bob: Yeah, I think it ranks up there with Stairway to Heaven…
Doug: Wha-? (and the music fades)
"presidential cultists"
Leftist narrative exists.. ergo we must discuss and push forward.
No, they’re all cultists. Deification for some, blood sacrifices for other, miniature American flags for everyone.
Oh wait, one of the cults doesn’t want miniature American flags anymore? That’s seems strange. And they accuse the other cult of conspiring with Russia, when one of their own grand poobahs spent his honeymoon there and claims they have the best kind of economy. Funny, that.
Merry Christmas and Happy Festivus to all. I'll just drop this link here and for fun you can see what the world will look like by 2100.
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/06/17/worlds-population-is-projected-to-nearly-stop-growing-by-the-end-of-the-century/
As Steyn would say, the future belongs to those who show up. Also who will be dictating trade in the future. Hint not us.
I am Santa Claus Parody
merry christmas, lc. maga.
Ditto!
Great Fun! Thanks.
A beautiful and reverent Christmas Spritual from Spinal Tap
Or perhaps you'd like to spend time with a loved one and this AC/DC Christmas Song.
Still no edit or preview?
We all know perfectly well that Reason’s biggest grievance is that the country understandably doesn’t like any of their shitty-ass democratic party candidates and that Trump is in pretty good position to be re-elected.
Grievances?
Everything is so terrible and unfair. Haha.