"[W]hen the pandemic hit Ardern and Robertson had a decision to make. Respond in a fiscally prudent manner or borrow seventy billion, at least thirty of this was spent on non-pandemic frippery, and wrap themselves in a cloak of virtue while leaving an economic calamity to a future set of politicians. ...

"Ardern and Robertson used the pandemic to advance their own agenda ... [John] Key saw a crisis and, lacking an economic agenda or political philosophy, ran to the international money men to maintain the status quo rather than attempt meaningful reform.

"Given the content of the Covid Report the current government is right to highlight Robertson’s fiscal incontinence; pointing to the 70.4 billion total spend as a contrast with their own rectitude.

"Except. Well. ... [Nicola] Willis, who has managed to add over twenty billion new debt in her first two years in office, is projected to increase sovereign debt by more than Robertson achieved over the next five years.

"And this is without a pandemic, major earthquake or outbreak of foot and mouth. ...

"Imagine a company director who has seen revenue fall but maintains payroll by borrowing. Eventually the line of credit ends, staff lose their employment and the director is forced to sell the family home.

"That is our economic policy in one paragraph."

~ Damien Grant from his column 'John Key and Jacinda Ardern both turned to debt when disaster hit'

Jimmy Kimmel used his Oscar presentation to decry countries that curb free speech.

He name-checked North Korea and, tongue in cheek, elevated CBS to nation status for “silencing” Stephen Colbert.

If the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” host wanted to do something about free speech, he could invite Ben Bankas onto his ABC couch.

Bankas is an unabashedly right-leaning comic who has faced serial cancellations in recent months. He lost six sold-out shows in Minneapolis for making a crack about the late Renee Good.

Comedian Ben Bankas had six sold-out shows at the Laugh Camp Comedy Club in St Paul, Minnesota, cancelled after videos of him joking about the death of Renée Good went viral and sparked threats of protests.

Venue owner Bill Collins said the decision was made due to “heightened… pic.twitter.com/enxrV17iV9

— PinkNews (@PinkNews) February 3, 2026

Yes, a joke can still get you canceled in America. And the problem is even worse up north.

Bankas, a Canadian native, told the hosts of “Triggernometry” that he’s been repeatedly canceled in his home country for telling the “wrong” jokes. That won’t stop him, though.

“I don’t believe in censoring myself, especially on stage,” Bankas said.

The cancellation efforts are well-organized and aggressive, sometimes using street posters to coax people to pressure clubs that dare to host him.

“They have the Canadian Anti-Hate Network and all these organizations that are paid for by the Liberal Party in Canada … through back channels, apparently,” Bankas told podcast hosts Francis Foster and Konstantin Kisin. “That organization’s goal is to shut down people like me, I guess, that aren’t censoring themselves or aren’t woke.”

Case in point. Two sold-out Bankas shows in Kitchener were just canceled.

The cancellation came after “an extensive internal and external review of safety, operational and legal factors,” including, the theatre said, its responsibilities under the British Columbia Human Rights Code and Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Bankas suggested that if someone like Kimmel suddenly switched their political allegiances, they might face some of the free speech scrutiny he endures.

RELATED: ALL KIMMEL DOES IS LIE (AND CRY)

Let’s not pick on just Kimmel for ignoring a fellow comedian in distress. Have other powerful Hollywood voices reached out to support Bankas’ right to tell his jokes on his terms?

Stephen Colbert? John Oliver? Jon Stewart? Seth Meyers? Mark Ruffalo? Sean Penn?

Have any of the folks claiming President Donald Trump is stifling speech said something about the restrictive speech rules North of the Border, let alone the Minneapolis situation?

Are they afraid to defend someone like Bankas because he leans to the Right? Or do they stay silent because there’s no way to hammer Republicans while defending a comedian’s free speech rights?

Either answer proves they don’t actually care about speech. It’s mere virtue signaling, the kind that falls silent when the “wrong” people are silenced.

The post Why Won’t Hollywood Rally Behind Ben Bankas? appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.