Deadspin thought they would take a shot at Ted Cruz and it didn’t work out exactly like they planned when the Senator himself responded.
@Deadspin what do I win? pic.twitter.com/9XuRmmIkJS
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 25, 2017
And they took it with precisely the amount of grace you would expect.
@Deadspinpic.twitter.com/TMiDBco2TB
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 25, 2017
Read the entire thread. It is hilarious — especially when Deadspin tries to explain how they weren’t just owned by the most conservative guy in the Senate. (Update: an adult must have stepped in because the tweets denying Ted’s ownership have been removed since I originally wrote this.)
If you are wondering why Deadspin asked the question it is because they had published an article about Cruz starting a basketball league for Senators and staffers. Since Deadspin fancies itself a humor site which tries to combine leftist politics with sports coverage this should have been fertile ground for them. But since they aren’t funny it really didn’t work out.
I have noticed over the last 8 years that the left has developed a brand of bitter, humorless comedy which consists almost entirely of sneering at anyone who thinks differently than they do. And I think one of the reasons this exists is that for humor to actually be genuinely funny it has to reveal a deeper truth. Progressivism really doesn’t have any of these truths.
But progressives still have a need to feel superior. This creates a quandary for them since the only way they can show their superiority is to somehow go against common sense, because obviously if they shared the same sensibilities as everyone else then they too would by definition be common. But common sense is common for a reason, that being that it is usually correct. So perversely for progressives that means the only way they can show their superiority is to assume positions which are inferior. Without any deeper truths around which to center their humor this means their comedy must consist mainly of virtue signalling with the tacit agreement that everyone will pretend to laugh at the right moments. It is really less comedy than it is smug-edy. Even they don’t think it is funny.
So when a smugedian runs into someone using actual humor they simply don’t know how to handle it, and there is usually a bunch of cursing which follows —which is what we see here. They can’t believe that one of their supposed inferiors can actually get the better of them and it undercuts their whole worldview and self-image. It takes grace and a sense of ones own self-worth to laugh when someone gets one over on you.
Anyway, as usual I have written too much for what should have been a quick, throwaway post.