Good Monday to you, Ted Cruz, obviously not content to rest on the laurels of his lamentable misappropriation of Dr. Seuss a few years back, has now laid into Big Bird. Mr. Bird, who has existed in age-defying time warp on our television screens since 1969, is scripted to be six years old. As such, he just became eligible to get vaxxed, and he tweeted happily to that effect Saturday. This was too much for Cruz, who responded on Twitter:
Science is propaganda. Great. The thing about these right-wingers is, theyâre completely oblivious as to how much they sound like the people from history they claim to oppose implacably. Exhibit B is J.D. Vance, who in a recent speech said: âI think, in this movement of national conservatism, what we need more than inspiration is, we need wisdom. And there is a wisdom in what Richard Nixon said, approximately 40 to 50 years ago. He said, and I quote, âThe professors are the enemy.ââ That kind of rhetoric is straight out of Maoâs Cultural Revolution. This man is dangerous. However you feel about Tim Ryan, you need to wish him well in this Senate race. And finally, on the freedom-is-slavery beat, consider the smackdown Terry Bradshaw and the rest of the Fox (yes, Fox!) NFL Sunday crew gave to Aaron Rodgers over his reversals of reality about the vaccine:
Yowza. And they were doing the show live from the Naval (not âNavelâ) Academy, and the middies gathered on the quad erupted in cheers. Itâs good on some level to know that the people who are going to be in charge of our nuclear submarines some day let out a whoop on behalf of science. In Congress, attention now turns to the Congressional Budget Office, which in the next few ⦠days ⦠weeks ⦠will release its assessment of the Build Back Better bill. The New York Times described the process here. Basically, if the CBOâs estimates more or less match the Biden administrationâs, that vaporizes the last (well, we think last!) excuse for Democratic moderates/centrists/conservatives to oppose the bill. Weâll see. Democrats hope the score comes this week, which isnât impossible. Op-ed of the day: Jennifer Rubin on what she sees as the coming Biden turnaround. Really lame-o hot take of the weekend: Maureen Dowd. Quelle surprise. At NewRepublic.com today, check out Grace Segersâs excellent round-up on how the House Democrats finally passed the bipartisan infrastructure bill; Molly Osbergâs terrific report on Kaiser Permanenteâs attempt to screw its workers, and their response; and Jo Livingstoneâs sharp read on the new Princess Di biopic. Keep the faith, Michael Tomasky
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Morning quiz:
Fridayâs question: Just to really emphasize the fact that this is the weekend you need to reset your clocks, if you still have any: Can you name the states that stick with one time all year? And for each state, do you know if itâs daylight saving or standard time? Answer: Hawaii and Arizona (anyone who has driven cross-country midsummer has experienced the latter) abolished daylight savings, staying on standard all year long. Many other states have sought to follow suit, though quite a few of them prefer daylight savings. Todayâs political history question: Since I mentioned the Cultural Revolution.⦠Despite the general agreement on the idea that Hitler and Stalin are historyâs two biggest monsters, itâs actually Chairman Mao who holds the record for most humans killed. Within five million, how many deaths is Mao responsible for?
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Todayâs must reads:
Actually, Joe Biden Was Elected to Be FDR Abigail Spanberger is wrong: Biden campaigned explicitly by comparing his ideas to the New Deal. Thatâs what millions of people voted for. by Michael Tomasky
Climate Change Is Killing My Old Summer Job I was a corn detasseler as a teenager. But increasingly weird weather patterns are making the timing of this crucial task harder and harder to predict. by Julian Epp
