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Thumbworthy Cruz is certainly no Parks; Dems will bring spotlight to city for debate.
If you’re a regular Thumbs reader, you know that U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz comes up a lot. We don’t mean to pick on him, but whether it’s warning America about space pirates or joking that he’s the Zodiac killer, our junior senator is just so
thumbable it’s hard to keep away. His latest journey into thumbdom comes after his lawyers compared him to civil rights icon Rosa Parks in a recent court filing. Now, sure, both are carbonbased lifeforms, but beyond that, the similarities grow thin. Cruz is fighting a Federal Election Commission regulation that limits campaigns to $250,000 in post-election contributions when reimbursing a candidate for personal loans to their own campaigns, while Parks was challenging racist Jim Crow laws when she refused to give up her bus seat. As long as we’re talking comparisons, you would think it would be simple to come up with a few unfavorable ones for Cruz’s lawyers, but in their shamelessness, they are in a league of their own.
It was reported this week that based on current population growth, Houston won’t overtake Chicago for another 25 years. We hate to cheat, but we want those bragging rights, so maybe they can take a recount when the Democratic candidates are in town for their third presidential debate. That will probably put us over the top. We know, it’s easy to make fun of the crowded Democratic field, but at 24, the gaggle of presidential hopefuls is larger than more than a dozen Texas towns. Twenty of those candidates will take the stage in Houston over two nights in September, which brings the national spotlight to the city. It’s clear the party has hopes that Texas may be in play for 2020 — enough hope to give us a debate, anyway, but not enough for the Milwaukee-bound national convention.
Almost a year after the NAACP lifted its travel advisory against American Airlines for alleged discrimination against black passengers, a flight attendant asked a Houston doctor to cover up, after the multicolored romper she was wearing was deemed unacceptable. Dr. Tisha Rowe was halfway to her seat for her flight back to the U.S. from Jamaica when she was asked to step off the plane and told she wouldn’t be allowed back “dressed like that.” Rowe, a family physician, told the Chronicle she was targeted because she is a curvy black woman and that made her outfit “less appropriate in their eyes.” She was eventually allowed on board, covered with a blanket. The airline has since apologized, but to avoid any future humiliation, if you’re flying American to your Caribbean vacation, bring a parka.
After 67 years, Alfred E. Neuman finally has cause to worry. MAD magazine will cease publication in August, ending a storied run that changed the pop culture landscape. Hugely influential, the magazine’s irreverent take on authority, commercialism and mass media spawned ideas such as “Saturday Night Live” and “The Simpsons,” which have become institutions in their own right. In the end, MAD was a victim of its own success. Its snarky spirit, for good and bad, has infused everything from social media to politics. It’s fitting that the end of MAD came when the world itself plays like satire and not even Superduperman can save us.