3 Whisky Happy Hour

Be afraid, be very afraid, as this livestreamed edition of the 3WHH featured special effects for the first time. Steve has a new toy—a soundboard that comes with the classic sound effects. These turn out to be quite useful when pondering where the Iran War stands, why the deal to end the DHS shutdown was so confusing and ulimately collapsed, what the "pursuit of happiness" means in the Declaration of Independence (one clue: happiness is contending with John's never-ending intransigence about all things metaphysical), why the closing of the 'Liberal Patriot' Substack is an ominous sign for the old-fashioned reform liberal tradition.

Also, we give away the secret of the Straussian cheeseburger, which, to pararphrase Professor Strauss, makes the Big Arch look like an idiot childburger.

This week we raise the Jolly Roger against an imitator podcast that is intruding on the 3WHH's exclusive right of commentary on all things McDonald's, but then we move on to our own balance sheet about the Iran War (verdict—we're winning big, and Trump is killing it), and the saga of the SAVE Act in the Senate, where opinion divides more sharply among the three of us. 

Here we land the blame squarely on GOP Senate leader John Thune, and did you know that "thune" is a slang French expression for for money, though it is often used with a modifier to indicate the lack thereof, like "sans thune." Seems fitting for a GOp Senate that can't figure out how to fight.

The exit music this week is an obscure callback. . . I doubt one person in 1,000 will get it.

To paraphrase—awkwardly—that 70s-era lyric, "International Law! What Is It Good For? Absolutely. Nothing! Good God!" 

Lucretia host's this week's episode, which combines her skepticism of international law, especially as it relates to our current military operations against Iran, along with her impatience with our willful refusal to take radical Islam seriously, now that Islam-inspired violence in the U.S. is now a daily occurence. 

The first topic was inspired by John Yoo's latest article on the subject; the latter subject inspired by the news headlines, needless to say.

Oh, we also make the case briefly for invading Iceland. It has to do with hamburgers. 

Also there are dogs.

This special "Give War a Chance" episode, the second under our joint sponsorship of the Civitas Institute and Ricochet, had some peculiar technical glitches that make it quite odd and somewhat disjointed. Steve cut out halfway through, and getting him back was a great bollix.

In any case, we reviewed some key points of the Great Iran War of 2026, along with observations on the Supreme Court's intervention on the side of California parents (we can't believe this was even an issue, but it is), and then after Steve came back, a mad scramble to the finish.

We do manage to get in some important cultural notes, such as the new McDonald's 1,000-calorie-plus Big Arch burger, and talking John down from his first ever visit to Buc-ees.

This week we went round-robin format—or the podcast equivalent of potluck—with each bartender bringing a subject on their mind. John wonders whether the Clinton deposition about Epstein is really sensible, Steve wonders how Gaffen-Gavin Newsom can possible survive this week's "George Romney Moment" (you need to be a certain age, or have read some political history from the 1960s, to get this reference), and Lucretia wonders why universities have allowed themselves to be swallowed whole by useless administrators.

Along the way we do lighting round hot takes on Trump's stupendous State of the Union speech, whether we're going to go to war with Iran perhaps before these pixels are dry on the screen, and, in response to a listener question, clarifying our discussion last week about the Supreme Court's tariff decision, along with some great pop culture trivia that we hadn't planned.

Plus—this episode opens with a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT about the future of this podcast! And some upcoming events.