It’s been a rough month for Rep. Dave Brat, who apparently views human worth in terms of Twitter followers [1]:
When I asked the Freedom Caucus members how they would respond to Levin’s argument that the party had grown too nostalgic, too Reagan-centric, the room crackled.
“We’re supposed to respond to this guy? How many followers does he have?” David Brat asked incredulously. There was silence for a moment; it was difficult to discern whether he meant Twitter followers or policy acolytes.
“He’s actually a pretty smart guy,” Labrador finally said.
“Well, you can be smart, but does he have any followers?” Brat asked. “A lot of people at Harvard are smart, but they don’t have any followers.”
“I don’t disagree,” Labrador said to me, turning back to the original question. “I gave a speech about Ted Cruz, and I said, ‘A lot of people are saying that Ted Cruz is the next Reagan.’ And I said, ‘I hope he’s not, I hope he’s the next Ted Cruz because I want to make sure that we look forward.’”
“That’s a good one,” someone murmured approvingly.
Brat was sticking to his guns, though. “I totally disagree. It’s not time to move past Reagan. Reagan stands for something, for a positive America.”
But I digress — Dave Brat would rather talk about salad bars this week. To wit, everyone’s favorite leftist-leaning purveyor of truth, justice, and the American way– Politifact [2]:
“The Department of Education for starters, right?” Brat said on June 29. “A few weeks ago, (the) education committee in Congress is deciding what’s going to be in your local salad bar. For real. You can’t make it up.”
Our thoughts went to the salad bars at local groceries and restaurants, and we wondered whether the education panel really is deciding their contents. Lettuce tell you what we found.
For starters, Brat’s statement was overly broad. Barbara Boland, the congressman’s press secretary, said Brat was referring to salad bars in schools.
Whoops.
I mean, it’s not as bad as Brat as claiming [3] that America is about to be overrun by 2,000 ISIL-inspired Syrian refugees dancing across our borders only to find out the batch you were talking about? Were vetted Syrian refugees who hadn’t even come into the country yet — to a Washington Post reporter who was obviously going to fact check that…
…but lettuce stick to the topic at hand:
But only one sentence in the 180-page House bill addresses salad bars. It instructs the USDA to create regulations that would give free-meal schools “flexibility” in setting up and running salad bars. That’s contrary to Brat’s claim that the education committee was “deciding” what’s going to be in any salad bar – school or otherwise.
Salad bars came up for only two minutes during a five-hour debate [4] the committee held on the bill on May 18. That occurred when Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif.,withdrew [5] an amendment [6] that would have required the USDA to draw up a plan to expand the use of salad bars in free-meal schools and offer one-time federal grants to pay for their purchase and installation.
“There is nothing in the House bill that regulates what schools can serve in their salad bars,” we were told by Lorelei Disorga, vice president for the United Fresh Produce Association, a lobbying organization that monitors school lunch legislation.
I mean, damn son.
Stay awake during those committee hearings…
You have to feel bad for Brat’s press secretary, who is trying her very best to explain a principled position through a mouthpiece (Brat) who can’t get his facts straight:
Boland, Brat’s press secretary, also told us in an email that the congressman is concerned by the rising cost of the free breakfast and lunch programs. The price is about $16.5 billion this year and is expected to reach $31 billion in 2025, according to projections by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Boland said Brat thinks the programs would be run more efficiently by states.
“EXTRAORDINARILY VALID POINT!!! WHY NOT JUST SAY THAT!” screams every press secretary, PAO, and press official in America.
So on we go with the Politifact verdict:
The congressman misspoke.
You don’t say?
At some point in time, folks are going to realize what an empty suit Dave Brat is — at least, when a guy who claims to be for free trade not only votes against free trade [7] agreements, but supports the anti-free trade policies of Trumpshevism [8] — all the while getting bored before Brat has even finished is first term in office and speculating on a 2018 U.S. Senate bid?
For a guy that claims to be a genius in the soft science of economics, you would figure that facts and first premises would be utterly essential to this guy.
On second though, thank God he’s not teaching college students anymore… think of the countless minds saved from intellectual weakness, right?
How many Twitter followers could they possibly have, after all?
UPDATE: Delegate Nick Freitas’ office offers a bit of inappropriate criticism [9]…
[10]
You be the judge. The backtracking is humorous at least… but par for the course [11].