This is Who Tom Cotton Is

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark. arrives to pose for photographers in his office on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 11, 2015. American politicians like to pick and choose when they’ll abide by the storied not... Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark. arrives to pose for photographers in his office on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 11, 2015. American politicians like to pick and choose when they’ll abide by the storied notion that politics should stop at the water's edge, and when to give that idea a kick in the pants. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) MORE LESS
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Here’s a must read story from Josh Kovensky about how Tom Cotton is insisting that China be denied the 2022 Winter Olympics because he says the PRC will use the Olympics to harvest the DNA of the world’s greatest athletes and then use this genetic treasure trove to create a genetically modified race of Chinese super soldiers to dominate the world. I’m not exaggerating or kidding. That’s what he’s saying. Read it here.

Might there be genetically-modified soldiers half a century from now? Maybe. But if you think you’re going to get from here to there by taking a cheek swab from Usain Bolt I don’t think you really understand how genetics or potential genetic modification really works. Nor do I think next generation warfare will turn on feats of strength.

This isn’t my first rodeo. There’s a community of think tank-based right wing freaks who churn out a steady stream of this mix of conspiracy theories and nonsense. We saw it with Iraq, with al Qaida. It’s endless. Cotton’s role in today’s Senate is to be the “sure thing” who will run with even the most inane idea. Because that’s who he is.

It’s not the first thing that occurs to me about this story. But it’s worth noting that China has well over a billion people. Some of them must ran fast or have dead on hand eye coordination. It’s not hard to pick up the idea here that China needs to steal the genetic patrimony of the West to create its super soldiers. Dumb, inane, racist – in other words, your typical idea from Tom Cotton.

This is a helpful context to understand why people rightly dismissed his claims about COVID as a Chinese bioweapon in the early days of the pandemic. He later toned that down to be a shifty and innuendo-laden version of the “lab leak”. Cotton is scurrilous, inane and thoroughly disreputable. This is just the latest, somewhat humorous example.

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