There's a bill before the Senate that virtually every lawmaker supports and has voted in favor of once already, that has massive public support, and that everyone knows is going to pass sooner rather than later… but it has been turned into a colossal peeing match between the two parties and their media allies.
And all for the sake of what, exactly? Moral preening? Posturing? Virtual signaling? Fundraising?
And people wonder why there is such detachment from the electoral system, such distrust of lawmakers, such utter contempt for the political class.
If you missed the action, first count yourself blessed. Then observe the reemergence of former Daily Show star Jon Stewart, who released a foul-mouthed video decrying Senator Ted Cruz and other Republican Senators for voting against the recent cloture vote to advance the PACT Act, a bill designed to address health concerns for veterans who were exposed to toxic hazards overseas.
[Warning: Strong Language]
Already adored by the leftist press for his relentless, nightly attacks on former President George W. Bush over a decade ago, Stewart's witty, sarcastic broadside on Cruz, one of the left's most hated foils, had them swooning all over again.
So much so that Cruz himself recorded a video response attempting to explain where the comedian was wrong:
By trade a provocateur-for-profit, Stewart couldn't let that stand, so he fired back a tweet thread short on any specific rebuttal to Cruz's explanations, but full of condescension ("dearest Theodore," "sweetie," "I'll go slow") and hyperbole ("forces of misinformation," Cruz wanting to "kill more vets").
And right on cue, Stewart's legion of sycophantic fans joined in. Having learned from the best, they addressed precisely none of Cruz's words:
As it turned out, Cruz and Senator Pat Toomey – the man who is spearheading the Republican effort to pass this bill – were right in their assessment and the comedian was wrong.
For what it's worth, Goldwein is a budget policy expert who has a Twitter feed revealing a dogged centrism, praising and defending elements of President Biden's "Inflation Reduction Act" in-between his analysis of Stewart's missteps on his PACT Act tantrum.
Not that his or anyone else's analysis is going to matter – not to the players so committed to this endless kabuki theater. And that has to be the most frustrating part of all. Hurting veterans are camping at the Capitol building just waiting on elected officials and their comedian friends to stop exploiting them.
In the end, it reminds me why so many people distrust and dislike politicians and their media and social media lackeys. And it also reminds me why it's important those people remember that Jon Stewart is part of that miserable club.
