America Does Post-Modern Opera-Buffa

If you don't laugh at this stuff, you will end up crying

Kerfuffle of the Week: Tucker Carlson, who portrays a cable news journalist on Fox News, expressed his displeasure at changes candy maker Mars made to the cartoon characters of its M&M candies that appear in its advertising:

The green M&M, you will notice, is no longer wearing sexy boots. Now she's wearing sensible sneakers… Because leading women do not wear sexy boots, leading women wear frumpy shoes. The frumpier the better… The other big change is that the brown M&M has transitioned from high stilettos to lower block heels, also less sexy. That's progress. M&Ms will not be satisfied until every last cartoon character is deeply unappealing and totally androgynous. Until the moment you wouldn't want to have a drink with any one of them.

Yes, it’s true- a popular TV entertainer was triggered by cartoon characters who appear in TV ads. Aside from his weird obsession with the “sexiness” of two-dimensional avatars, this is the culture war waged at the elementary school level. And that puts it into the same category as the feigned outrage expressed by Senator Raphael (Ted) Cruz last spring at the deletion by the publisher of the Dr. Seuss catalog of certain lesser-known and poorly-selling titles it found contained inappropriate material. The Senator’s concern for the children of the country surfaced again in November when Big Bird – the fictional yellow bird that appears on the children’s show Sesame Street- tweeted that he had received the COVID-19 vaccine. Senator Cruz called the tweet "government propaganda…for your 5-year-old!"*

Speaking of elementary education, someone over at the Republican National Committee apparently did not do well with their spelling lessons:

Maybe they wanted to shorten the season a bit (“string”?), but they also seem ignorant of the fact that the vernal or spring equinox occurs on March 20.

It seems they didn’t do well with their science lessons, either.

Political Malpractice:

Democrats never agree on anything, that’s why they’re Democrats. If they agreed with each other, they’d be Republicans. - Will Rogers, 20th Century American humorist

Democrats devote more energy to fighting among themselves than finding effective means to combat Republican obstructionism. The problem is the Senate, where the 50 Republic Senators function as a disciplined bloc, offering a resounding nyet! to Democratic overtures to work together. The Republicans wield the filibuster, the anti-majoritarian Senate rule that allows a minority to effectively block legislation, as a cudgel to stymie major pieces of the Democratic agenda. As is their wont, some Dems, particularly the Progressives, are outraged by the refusal of Senators Kyrsten Sinema (AZ) and Joe Manchin (WVa) to entertain changing or eliminating the filibuster, thereby preventing movement of the legislation. Democrats are openly discussing support for primary challenges to both recalcitrants.

How wonderfully short-sighted! Rather than focus their energy and messaging on the nihilist Republicans, they are threatening Senate seats which the GOP could easily win when Sinema and Manchin are up for re-election in 2024. Manchin, a popular ex-governor, is the only Democrat holding a statewide office in bright-red West Virginia. The chances of another Democrat winning that seat are slim.

In Arizona, the state’s Democratic Party expressed their displeasure with Sinema by voting to censure her. One would think that it would be a better strategy for Democrats to focus on winning more seats in this year’s elections than cashiering people in seats they already hold.

Barking Dog Syndrome

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said on Fox News yesterday that members of the January 6 select committee and Attorney General Merrick Garland could face jail time if the Republicans gain control of Congress.

I, for one, was shocked to learn that Newt was still considered relevant enough to get a Sunday morning booking. I guess he needs to keep visible for money-raising reasons.

And, finally, The Whining

I find it funny that many of the accused January 6 insurrectionists are asking the courts to release them from jail as they await trial because they find the conditions too harsh. Did they honestly think jail would be like a room at a Motel 6 except it only locked from the outside?

* https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ted-cruz-big-bird-covid-19-vaccine/

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