Ted Cruz’s “Pittsburgh Over Paris” marketing campaign exhibits us how silly the Biden years will probably be

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• In response to Biden’s re-entry into the US under the Paris Climate Agreement, GOP Senator Ted Cruz launched a “Pittsburgh over Paris” campaign.

• Cruz says Biden, rejoining the Paris Agreement, will cost the citizens of Pittsburgh jobs, but the idea makes no sense and is just another nasty attempt at political points.

• This is the norm for Republicans and a sign of what is to come.

• This is a split opinion. The thoughts expressed are those of the author.

• You can find more stories on the Business Insider homepage.

Before the ink could dry on Joe Biden’s first batch of executive orders as President, Republicans went back to their pockets with obstructive gimmicks.

Mitch McConnell, the leader of the GOP’s new Senate minority, criticized Biden’s actions from day one, trying to see them as a wave of radical politics. McConnell said Biden “should remember that he doesn’t owe his election to the far left.”

But Biden’s actions reflected popular beliefs, which were supported by a wide range of the American public. And his stance against Defund the Police, unconditional student loan forgiveness and Medicare For All make it clear that Biden is – as he always said – moderate. McConnell’s complaints are barely disguised attempts to label something more liberal than hardcore GOP politics as “socialism” or “too far left”.

Then the QAnon-friendly MP Marjorie Taylor Green immediately filed for impeachment. She posted a five second long announcement video that also stated this. It has something to do with Ukraine, but the statement openly announcing the impeachment made little sense.

Despite national calls for unity, it was the length of Biden’s inaugural address before Republicans reverted to a strategy of evil will.

Nowhere was this more evident than with the potential GOP presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz from 2024. In response to Biden’s re-entry into the US in the Paris Agreement, an international agreement to curb climate change, Cruz launched his own campaign.

The story goes on

It’s called “Pittsburgh over Paris” and it’s a sign of how stupid things get in the Biden era.

Read more: Biden promised a return to “normalcy” but it is clear that it will not happen anytime soon.

here we go again

Black and yellow, the official colors of the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL and thus the unofficial colors of Pittsburgh itself, are the colors used in Ted Cruz’s latest move of 2024: a “Pittsburgh over Paris” bumper sticker that he is giving away (see Figure below).

TedCruz / Twitter

Nothing says “Pittsburgh” like a picture that highlights the shape of Texas.

Cruz’s false outrage at the service of the Pittsburghians is a scratch. What does “Pittsburgh over Paris” actually mean? Why is it harming Pittsburgh to contain the harsh effects of climate change? Why choose a city that has ambitious goals to fight climate change, such as moving to 100% renewable energy in city buildings by 2030?

Cruz says the Paris Agreement will “destroy jobs,” presumably in Pittsburgh, but the city overwhelmingly voted for Biden – who has repeatedly pledged to revert to the Paris Agreement. Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto said Thursday he approves Biden’s decision. County Executive Rich Fitzgerald of Allegheny, where Pittsburgh is located, blew Cruz’s slogan.

“We’re going to do what we have to do here, Senator, and keep your nose out of our business,” Fitzgerald told reporters.

Did Ted Cruz choose Pittsburgh because it starts with the same letter as Paris? He did it, didn’t he?

All of this is frustrating because Cruz doesn’t care about Pittsburgh. He made this clear when he tried to disenfranchise the city’s largest county, Allegheny, when he not only helped spark a riot to cast their voices but also doubled on that sentiment hours later. Instead, Cruz is trying to set up a cultural foundation that is slated to run for president in 2024. Because of this, this stunt shouldn’t be taken seriously.

Cruz’s glib slogan is not about the actual politics or concern of Pittsburgh workers (many of whom could likely get permanent jobs in green energy if the GOP actually supports investment in the industry), but rather about policy opportunities. Despite their demand for unity, Republicans are preparing for another cycle of calamities and misdeeds. So the whole conversation about Pittsburgh should start with an Allegheny-sized grain of salt.

That worries me about the next four years. Biden’s tenure faces a host of Republican virtues. The virtue signal, or the insincere expression of moral strength, is the most common game in her playbook. That includes pretending to be concerned about the national debt while accepting the spending if it’s responsible, and everyone to the left of Ronald Reagan calls out “Radical Socialism.”

Cruz is the face of the Republican virtue mark, despite continual complaints about the practice. In fact, Cruz’s anti-virtue signal stance is a virtue signal within a virtue signal – which sounds like the plot of the lamest possible Christopher Nolan film.

It will be difficult for us to beat the days of the Trump administration considering that among other things, the then president made news of staring straight into the sun during a solar eclipse. Given that we hit a critical eye-roll level in the first few days of Biden administration, it doesn’t look like things will get much better either.

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