From the New York Times:
[I]f you know Mr. Cruz, or are familiar with how government is supposed to work, or with reality in general, you’ll find some of his imaginaries problematic, like abolishing the Internal Revenue Service, sealing the border, or “repealing every word of Obamacare.” “Imagine a federal government that works to defend the sanctity of human life and to uphold the sacrament of marriage,” he said. But Mr. Cruz says he is a champion of personal liberty, too, and gay people who love each other are demanding their liberty to marry, just not in a way he finds acceptable. No data support Mr. Cruz’s claim that insurance premiums are “skyrocketing” under Obamacare. Immigrants, legal and otherwise, are building this country, and efforts to vacuum-seal the border would continue to fail, and the country would suffer from its hostility to its immigrants no matter what Mr. Cruz says. The rest of the world, of course, is indifferent to one Republican’s oratorical dog whistles. The global climate will keep changing, and causing calamities, with or without the acknowledgment of Mr. Cruz and his fellow climate know-nothings.
Mr. Cruz’s speech was an exercise in crowd-pleasing dissonance; the contradictions slip by if you’re not paying attention. America is great but needs to be made great again. Privacy is sacrosanct, and government should not get between you and your doctor, unless you’re a woman who wants to avoid or end a pregnancy. Mr. Cruz wants to repeal programs that protect some immigrants from deportation, but he has also said in the past that Republicans need to do better with Hispanic voters or risk extinction as a national party. His federalist views are incoherent: he wants states to be free to experiment with marijuana legalization, but attacked Mr. Obama for not cracking down on states that do so.
And no, Rafael "Ted" Cruz is not a "courageous conservative," he's a demagogue, who, having benefitted from a top-shelf education, should know better than to repeat half-truths and outright lies to fire up the base:
A courageous conservative would be willing to stand up to the ideologues and zealots in the Republican Party and confront truths that they will not. That may be too much to ask of a presidential candidate -- but when one of them claims the mantle of courage, he or she asks to be judged by that standard.
A courageous conservative would dare to tell the Republican Party that the U.S. economy needs the 11 million immigrants who are here illegally, and many more besides; that they aren't going to be deported, and that it would tank the economy if they were; and that it is long past time for Republicans to put forward a comprehensive plan to fix the immigration system. Cruz, the son of a Cuban immigrant, has the background to make this argument, as other conservatives have done. Apparently he lacks the guts.
A courageous conservative wouldn't be afraid to tell Republican voters that the scientific evidence overwhelmingly indicates that human activity is contributing to climate change, which is creating serious economic risks, and that ignoring this danger isn't "conservative." Many Republicans are beginning to face this reality, but no thanks to Cruz. He's adopted the party’s new talking point of calling anyone who favors action on climate change an “alarmist.” ---The Editors, Bloomberg View
God personally speaks to him and tells him what to do! I wonder if he hears other voices telling him what to do? I'll bet the god-voices tell him to do stuff and say things that completely agree with Ted's politics! What do you think?
Not to go all conspiracy-theory-ish, but doesn't it seem odd that we start having relations with Cuba again just as Cruz is starting his run for president? Doesn't it? DOESN'T IT!
ReplyDeleteThanks Obama.
I'll bet the god-voices tell him to do stuff and say things that completely agree with Ted's politics! What do you think?
ReplyDeleteIt's an old observation but still true -- one way we know gods are made in man's image is that a god always hates the same people that his worshipers hate.
The funny thing is, if somebody says he hears the king of the Neptunian lizard people giving him orders through his teeth fillings, we generally assume he's mentally ill, but when another person says pretty much the same thing but attributes the voices to an ancient Middle Eastern tribal war god, it's treated as something deserving of respect. I see no difference.
A couple of questions that would be put to Cruz in a sane world:
1. How do you know that that voice in your head is God? It may claim to be, but how can you be sure it isn't Satan or something else?
2. If you become President and the voice in your head tells you to do something that clearly conflicts with the Constitution, which will you go with, the Constitution or your God?
Infidel753: "A couple of questions that would be put to Cruz in a sane world:
ReplyDelete1. How do you know that that voice in your head is God? It may claim to be, but how can you be sure it isn't Satan or something else?"
Cruz is one of their tribe, so he'll never get that question. If he says god "literally" talks to him, then it must be true. Anyone else who made those sort of statements would be hauled away in a straight jacket.
Infidel753: "2. If you become President and the voice in your head tells you to do something that clearly conflicts with the Constitution, which will you go with, the Constitution or your God?"
Excellent question. The cowards in the MSM will never ask him that. But once a guy is telling the world that God talks to him, people ought to sit up and pay attention to everything else the nut says.
R. Ricardo,
ReplyDeleteThere's clearly a conspiracy somewhere in that. ;)
Ted Cruz sees himself as a true patriot and God speaks directly to him?
ReplyDeleteWhat was that famous quote about when Fascism comes to America?