Since the election, the New York Times ethics advice columnist “The Ethicist” has been featuring a series of hopelessly dunderheaded questions from Trump-Deranged New York Democrats. “Should I cut off my Trump-supporting mother?” was one that Ethics Alarms discussed recently. I have to assume Kwame Appiah is getting a lot of these questions and thinks they really need more of an answer than “Grow up” or “Here’s the number of an affordable therapist.”

They don’t.

There were two more of this ilk today: “Is It Fair to Assume a Best Friend Is Bad and Selfish if She Supported Trump?” and a woman who felt her husband divulged a damning confidence by telling his adult children that her grandson had voted for Trump, as if he had informed them that the kid was a member of the Klan. Nobody who voted for either candidate should feel ashamed of their vote or feel they have to defend it.

Since The Ethicist’s employer is significantly responsible for these people’s current disability, being one of main purveyors of the “Trump is a fascist” fearmongering, I hold that Prof. Appiah has an obligation to give tough-love to these fools. Tell them that bias has made them stupid, that it is no more “selfish” or “ignorant” to vote for one candidate over another, and that the toxic delusion that those who reach a different conclusion than you regarding society, the culture, national policy and leadership are evil as opposed to merely having a different opinion.

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I’ve received several inquiries about how to send gifts, or donations, or whatever they would be called, to Ethics Alarms. I was going to respond yesterday, but “Giving Tuesday” annoys me, so I put it off a day.

I’m enrolled in both Zelle and BILL, though I must say I’m unimpressed with both so far, and my bank loused up my attempts to set up Stripe. Obviously, I appreciate any expressions of appreciation: I don’t work on Ethics Alarms for money, but I have to do something for money. I know many of you have sent suggestions for monetizing the blog, but it is more important to me to have readers than to make this a profit center. I think, all things considered, EA had a good year even if I personally did not.

I also appreciate feedback, on the blog or off: my email is jamproethics@verizon.net, my phone in the office is 703-548-5229, and my address, should you be moved to engage in holiday charity (but I’m not a non-profit!) is

Jack Marshall, 2707 Westminster Place, Alexandria, VA, 22305.

What was Whoopie saying in this clip as she tried to explain why Biden pardoning Hunter is defensible? Start it at the 10 minute mark: do NOT watch the whole thing because it will lower your IQ by 20 points.

In honor of the great Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason), who when caught with the undeniable evidence of his own lies or misconduct, stammered uselessly (on “The Honeymooners”) “Huminahuminahumina….” Ethics Alarms, on this date, December 2, 2024, hereby creates “The Grand Huminahumina,” which will be henceforth awarded to the public figure who best emulates poor Ralph by babbling incoherently under pressure.

One note in defense of Whoopie: she’s technically correct that breaking a promise isn’t technically a lie, unless it can be proven that the promise-breaker intended to break the promise when he or she made it. Breaking a promise is a breach of integrity and trust, but not necessarily honesty.

It is just as unethical as lying, however, unless conditions have materially changed since the promise was made. In the case of the Bidens, they have not.

Brooks’ featured reaction is much, much more unethical than #1. After all, Gaffigan is only a stand-up comic (and a pretty decent actor), and carries no authority with his opinions. Brooks, however, does, although after he accepted and ran with his lucrative job as a Times fake conservative (the technical term is “sell-out”), he shouldn’t.

The latest evidence of Brooks’ pompous advocacy of nonsense was on the PBS News Hour, where he for some reason shares a show with knee-jerk, race-baiting progressive hack Jonathan Capehart. I guess because Capeheart is a black, gay progressive hack while Brooks is a white, heterosexual, under-cover progressive hack, this is what NPR regards as “balance.” Here was Brooks’ pronouncement regarding what Democrats have to do in the wake of Trump’s re-ascension to the White House. As with the previous installment, I’ll have some comments.

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This is the day before my birthday, once a relatively welcome event, now taboo, as December 1 was the day I found my wonderful father dead in his favorite chair after he died in his sleep at the age of 89. I can’t shake the sense that my father’s exit from the world was of more import than my entering it, though I know he would disagree. My sister has convinced me to let her tale me to see “Wicked” tomorrow evening, which will be the first movie I have seen in a theater since 2019. I consider this excursion ethics research and an obligation of cultural literacy. Is the film “woke”? Is it another Hollywood propaganda effort but one that is subtle enough not to alienate audiences, like Disney’s recent output? Are conservative critics just seeing the movie through jaundiced eyes? Are there any songs in the show that are genuinely memorable, unlike the songs in virtually every other Broadway hit musical since “Les Miz”?

As was pointed out by commenter John Paul here, the film version of “Wicked” has an unethical title, as it is in fact only the first act of the musical despite clocking in at over 150 minutes, almost as long as the stage show. There will be a “Wicked” Part 2 for sure: if the film had tanked, it would have been quietly cancelled, like the the planned second installment of “The Golden Compass” and the promised sequel to “Silverado.”

Now ponder this deranged NYT comment on a Times story about the film:

Yikes. Yeah, a musical spin-off of “The Wizard of Oz” would have overcome the epic incompetence of the Harris campaign if only it had been released earlier. That may be the wackiest excuse for Trump’s win yet.

Meanwhile…

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I re-watched “White Christmas” last night in preparation for this year’s posting of my annual guide to the film, which will show up here some time in the next few weeks. I noticed quite a few details that I missed in previous viewings, including the material for a terrific (and tough!) trivia question that I have never seen posed before. Ready?

What 1930s film star appeared in both “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “White Christmas”?