![Ted Cruz](https://i.kinja-img.com/image/upload/c_fit,q_60,w_645/5bfd0450d0161d6efad40a7678b59fba.jpg)
There are plenty of completely valid reasons to be skeptical of self-driving cars. Safety concerns are very real, especially since even the most advanced robotaxi prototypes don’t always get it right in what should be simple situations, and that’s before you throw inclement weather into the equation. There are also very real concerns about what self-driving cars would do to cities and you can’t forget the pollution that still comes from brake and tire particles. Ted Cruz, though? NPR reports he’s declared research into self-driving cars “woke DEI” along with this nation’s other biggest threat — solar eclipses.
Cruz recently released a database that he used for an October report that claimed more than 20 percent of the National Science Foundation’s budget went to “left-wing ideological crusades masked as ‘academic research.’” Cruz took aim at 3,400 National Science Foundation grants that he claimed advanced “neo-Marxist class warfare propaganda.” It would be hilarious if it wasn’t so dangerous and scary. The report also contained a list of words that are banned regardless of context because the Free Speech Defenders can’t have that, can they.
Cruz didn’t just stop at self-driving cars and solar eclipses, either. He sees woke hiding around every corner:
The database included research grants from all corners of the country, large research institutions and small colleges. The list included projects aimed at finding better ways of synthesizing new medications; studying how to make self-driving vehicles safer; investigating how military service could help more women pursue science careers; figuring out why some proteins start to malfunction in ways that can lead to cancer.
“It’s ludicrous,” says Joshua Weitz, a biologist at the University of Maryland whose research was not flagged but who has received NSF grants. “[Cruz] is using his position as a senator to make a big noise about fundamental research and mis-categorizing what’s going on in the research and technology sector in this country. If one looks at this list, you find things that we should absolutely be proud of funding.”
Many of the research proposals that seem wholly unrelated to DEI were likely flagged because they included language about broadening the participation of women and underrepresented groups in science, Weitz says, something that Congress has mandated NSF consider in its grantmaking since the 1990s.
Cruz’s office has not responded to multiple requests for comment. A press release accompanying the database says “DEI initiatives have poisoned research efforts, eroded confidence in the scientific community, and fueled division among Americans … Congress must end the politicization of NSF funding and restore integrity to scientific research.”
Now, no one has ever accused ol’ Teddy Boy of being a particularly likable person. In fact, I seem to remember a certain Mr. Donald J. Trump once saying, “He’s a nasty guy. Nobody likes him. Nobody in Congress likes him. Nobody likes him anywhere once they get to know him.” Still, you wouldn’t think even someone as viscerally repulsive as Ted Cruz wouldn’t want other countries dethroning the U.S. as the world leader in scientific research.
Except, that’s exactly what he’s doing. Ted Cruz hates facts, winning and the American way. And yet, Texas is still so gerrymandered, even voting harder probably won’t be enough to get people like him out of office.