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Daylight saving time is basically Groundhog Day (for Sen. Marco Rubio)

We might have the same hours in a day as Beyoncé, but on Sunday we’ll all lose one … again

UNITED STATES - OCTOBER 30: Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., speaks with a reporter after a vote in the Capitol on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2019. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
UNITED STATES - OCTOBER 30: Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., speaks with a reporter after a vote in the Capitol on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2019. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call) (CQ Roll Call)

“We’re about to do one of the stupidest things we do every single year,” a peeved Sen. Marco Rubio said in a video message Thursday.

Unlike the lawmaker’s baseball cap and track jacket, his mood about changing our clocks once again wasn’t chill.

“It’s just dumb — there’s no reason to keep doing it,” he said in the video, which he posted on Instagram.

We’re guessing Rubio feels like weatherman Phil Connors from “Groundhog Day” (just less unkempt).

It’s not the first time the Floridian has expressed disdain for the long-standing tradition that messes with the Sunshine State’s claim to fame. And if Congress doesn’t pass his “Sunshine Protection Act,” it won’t be the last.

Rubio made the rounds this week to promote the legislation, which would make daylight saving time permanent. “Our bill isn’t radical,” he wrote in a Fox News op-ed with Cindy Hyde-Smith, who hails from Mississippi. “Inconveniencing hundreds of millions of Americans to continue changing our clocks for 16 dark weeks is antiquated and outdated.” 

They threw in an ominous-sounding hashtag too: #LocktheClock.

The Senate version of the bill has attracted 13 co-sponsors, including fellow Florida Sen. Rick Scott, and awaits the light of day in the Senate Commerce panel. (Scott signed similar legislation when he was governor, although the state’s plan was moot without congressional approval.)

Arguments against time-hopping cite factors like seasonal depression and lower economic activity — not to mention the annoying task of actually remembering to change the clock. (Because in the age of technology, who does?)

But unlike your smartphone, some clocks don’t have the luxury of an automatic update.

Take the Ohio Clock, for example, the 200-year-old, antique mahogany piece that passes time outside the Senate chamber in D.C. Now there’s a clock that needs some manual TLC all year long.

“The clock is one of the several historic clocks in the Senate collection that are routinely wound and cared for by Senate curatorial staff,” says Senate Curator Melinda Smith.

Others include the clock in the Old Supreme Court Chamber and the one in the Vice President’s Room.

In other words, the clock-work for these timeless artifacts takes place more than just twice a year — which means there won’t be any pomp or circumstance this weekend when it’s time to make the switch.

To paraphrase Marco Rubio: Some things never change.

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