Before we start: War is terrible but there is a measure of joy to be had watching bad people squirm.
Here’s Fox host Will Cain desperately trying to show how much he supports Trump and loves the troops before asking if maybe this war hasn’t been thought out, he’s Ron Burgundy?
It’s not 100 percent clear to me, general. And that’s not to suggest that I don’t support 100 percent what is happening. Nor that I 100 percent offer my support. I just think I want to ask a couple of critical questions and I hope you know how much respect I have for your service and I think it goes without saying to anybody watching how much respect I have for the men making these decisions but . . .
Bring out the gimp.
Imagine having to live your life like this, never knowing what position the regime will require you to take from one moment to the next.
1. Texas
I’m excited about the Senate primaries in Texas tonight, for two reasons.
(1) Republican voters will continue to show us who they are. They have a perfectly normal, MAGA-aligned incumbent senator in John Cornyn. He is being challenged by a man whose only comparative advantage is that he is openly corrupt. Ken Paxton’s value proposition is:
I am crooked and a bad person. This makes me more authentically Trumpian. It makes me more like you.
If Republican voters choose Paxton over Cornyn there is no way to interpret the result—none—except as voters affirmatively choosing illiberalism. I love that for us, because it makes it easier to sweep away pieties about what Republicans really want.
(2) Democratic voters are running a science experiment. Jasmine Crockett’s theory is that you can win by activating low-information voters through, uh, nontraditional means. By shitposting and giving them reality TV vibes.
James Talarico’s theory is that you can win by leading with religious faith and reaching out to Trump voters.
Which of these theories do you prefer? Well let me channel the Great One, the People’s Champ: