Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., listens during the House Intelligence Committee hearing in July, 2018. Bill Clark/Congressional Quarterly/Newscom via ZUMA
As the 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls debate the merits of socialism versus capitalism, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) warned Saturday night that socialism has already taken over California. The evidence? A new law that requires restaurant patrons to ask for a plastic straw before one is served. The goal is to ease ocean pollution, but Nunes apparently sees a nefarious socialist plot behind the new environmental rule.
At restaurant tonight waitress asks if we want straws. Says she has to ask now in fear of “THE STRAW POLICE”. Welcome to Socialism in California!
— Devin Nunes (@DevinNunes) March 10, 2019
On Sunday, the congressman’s tweet was widely mocked on Twitter, both for its bizarre logic, and for the irresistible fact that Nunes used a literal straw to set up a straw-man argument.
The key thing people fail to understand about the STRAW POLICE is that, beneath the uniform, they’re just straw men. https://t.co/yQlQFQUcoN
— Tim Carvell (@timcarvell) March 10, 2019
https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/1104753192389304321
Socialism: the form of political and economic organization in which everyone must specifically request a plastic straw if they want to use one. https://t.co/xZ7k8Go9C4
— Zach Carter (@zachdcarter) March 10, 2019
https://twitter.com/SopanDeb/status/1104840381273911296
What a harrowing tale. Glad everyone made it out ok. https://t.co/Es9addE2ng
— Susan Hennessey (@Susan_Hennessey) March 10, 2019
