The Muppets are back, you guys. First there were those unaccounted for Muppet viral videos, then there were rumors that The Muppet Show might be revived. Meanwhile, Jason Segel is currently writing a new Muppet movie, and a Fraggle Rock movie is currently in pre-production.

But the true test of just how back the Muppets are, that proves their backness, is the appearance of Statler and Waldorf as Op-Ed columnists in today’s New York Times. Wait, whuuuuuuut? I love Statler and Waldorf as much as the next guy who’s old enough to remember Statler and Waldorf, but the Op-Ed page of the New York Times? They’ll give those things out to anyone these days, huh, David Brooks? More importantly, does this mean the “paper of record” is going to have to include an op-ed from Alligator Boots now? So that the American people get a black puppet’s perspective?