Anyway, at this point I feel I'm rambling. But tldr: Conspiracy theories are endemic to politics in the US. The are addictive, spread like cancer and while the Right is running wild on them now it is not unique to them. Understanding this is key to understanding how people in the US view politics.

You get to be the hero in the narrative you are creating. The villains are a cartoonishly evil "them". And, mostly importantly in my opinion, it is more exciting than the real problems. These people are bored, paranoid and self-absorbed.

Others have said it better than me, but this is "The Paranoid Style in American Politics". It's not enough the people in power are corrupt, that they lie, that they abuse the system for their own benefit. It's that for conspiracy theorists, they do so in the most lurid way rather than mundane evils.

They were sure the Kirk assassin was a scapegoat so the right could blame trans people and it was actually infighting on the right that killed Kirk. He was eating up Owens' slop. And because of Crank Magnetism, he also believed all of Owens stuff about Macron's wife somehow.

And while Owens audience is largely on the Right, the Kirk stuff has pulled some people on the Left into it as well. Not that I think Right and Left are useful terms, especially in this case. I had the misfortune of being in the same room as an Owens fan last month, nominally on the Left...

Once you believe one conspriacy theory, you'll start picking up others. QAnon is a big example of that. And once you get in the mindsent that there is a secret, well-funded group that controls the world in secret through a web of lies...you're basically at the Protocols level of antisemitism.

Like all conspiracy theorists, they need to see the "truth" that there are secret, lurid evils manipulating the sheep and they are special enough to figure out the "lies". Cynicism and narcissism in a deadly mix for validation. And, of course, there are no harmless conspiracy theories.

Owens has an audience for the same reason Alex Jones or Joe Rogan has an audience. They appeal to people that think they are not just smart but savvy. They think they're clever enough to pierce the lies and biases (real and imagined) of mainstream media and thought. Owens tells them the "truth".

Also, like in game, I assume the small but viscious dog Snips is just below were the picture cut off. So technically he's there even if not seen or acknowledged.

I would like to see a side-by-side of Starship Troopers critique of the Unalienable Rights and Harari version. Both are "I am deliberately missing the point to be disingenuous" arguements. At least Heinlein (like Peter did I think) accurately describe the line in the DoI as poetry.

And, as is often the case, those two things aren't mutually exclusive. It's easy enough to make a cheaper meal based on people's budgets and then someone has the great idea: "I bet if we told Trump we lowered the price of the meal with no context we'd get buzz and maybe favors".

It could also just be Walmart realizing that people's overall budgets are smaller so they put together a smaller, but cheaper meal.

This, of course, does provide a quick headline grabber Trump would praise Walmart for. The free advertising for this looks to be pretty big. And the Trump admin is pretty shameless playing favorites.

Given the same ingredients, Walmart's Thanksgiving meal is about the same price in 2025 as it was in 2024 is not really a story. It does however raise the question of why they lowered the number of items and therefore the price.