I. How many Republicans does it take to screw sound light bulb energy standards?
Remember the great light bulb freakout of the early 2010’s?
In 2007, George W. Bush signed the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act (ESIA) that set efficiency standards for general-purpose screw-in incandescent light bulbs. [You read that correctly, it was George W. Bush who signed it.] The Act was to go into effect in 2012, but right wing nut-jobs found out and geared up the Mighty Wurlitzer of right wing conspiracy theories, claiming there was a “ban” on incandescent bulbs. No matter the claims were rated Pants on Fire by Politicfact.
Chris Mooney in Light Bulb Madness: A New Case Study in Right Wing Misinformation pointed out:
Trouble is, there is no “ban.” Rather, the law required greater lighting efficiency, and some inefficient incandescents will accordingly be phased out beginning in January 2012, but you can still buy other versions. What has actually happened is that the legislation caused the lighting industry to retool and put more energy efficient incandescents on the market—and in fact, the industry wanted these standards in the first place.
In Light bulb joke, CAP via Media Matters cited Glenn Beck, FreedomWorks et al.’s loony crusade.
“You may have heard Glenn Beck talking about Fred Upton introducing a bill to ban incandescent light bulbs,” FreedomWorks blared last year. “The truth is, Fred Upton has a Big Government record a mile long, and light bulbs are just the beginning.” “The light bulb ban is the perfect symbol” of the Congressional assault on “personal freedom,” Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) screamed, as he challenged Upton for the energy committee chairmanship. “In at least 40 instances since the beginning of 2011, conservative media outlets wrongly told consumers that the light bulb efficiency standards scheduled to take effect in 2012 will require them to use compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs),”
Remember — Upton was a Republican, but this was still fodder for the crazy mill. Nonetheless, every year from 2011-16, the spending bill contained the Burgess Amendment, banning use of federal funds to enforce the law.
II. Mask Murder*
The light bulb caper shows, contrary to what Never Trumpers and media people say, Republican madness did not begin with the “Dude descending a staircase” in 2015, (echoed by Walking Down Ramp on a Sunny Morning, in 2020). It was well on its way by 2011, and long before that, encompassing Vince Foster and all the toxicity flowing from the minds of Newt Gingrich and Tom Delay in the ‘90s and ‘00s.
And while the consequences of light bulb madness were trivial (old bulbs were phased out and manufacturers adjusted), its current heritage, including Covid denial, early openings and mask demonization -— has been deadly for hundreds of thousands. The Great American Bulb Shitshow — a link in the 40-year chain of conspiracy theories -— has led to the election and empowerment of enablers of lethal infection in whole states and the country. There’s a direct line between light bulb mania and the staggering and fatal denial and lying by Trump and Republicans for the last six months, when it has become apparent the Emperor's Nakedness has turned Deadly.
Florida and Georgia are following Trump’s lead and trying to blame terrible spikes of Covid in their states on testing, trying to avoid their culpability for opening too early and without precautions, and failing to mandate masks. Meanwhile, wildly popular podcaster Joe Rogan says “masks are for bitches.” Thanks Joe. Your body count may rise into 5 or 6 figures or even more.
This is in the face of studies showing Covid cases would plummet if 80% of people wear masks. Let’s repeat:
“Covid cases would plummet if 80% of people wear masks.”
And yet millions refuse to wear them and harass and attack those who do, while Republicans try to prevent localities from mandating masks.
We are all Alec Guiness at the end of The Bridge on the River Kwai, muttering,
*Mask Murder: The killing of large numbers of people by failing to require wearing of masks.