Paul Revere by Cyrus Dallin, North End, Boston

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Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Ted Cruz Embarrasses Himself and His Party




UPDATE BELOW




What is Texas Senator Ted Cruz trying to do except make a fool of himself and waste tax payers' money on his futile mission to defund the ACA?

As part of Texas's Congressional delegation, he is surely aware of how inadequately his home state has addressed the shame of having so many of his fellow Texans uninsured.  Yet, instead of working to remedy that disgrace and help those who need it the most, Cruz chose to grandstand and do all in his narcissistic power to make uninsured Americans' lives even more miserable than they already are.

We've seen these sorts of characters in American politics before, but the American public tires of them and rejects them once their circus performances are over. And how else can we describe these actions by this particular clownish senator from Texas, who compared the ACA to Nazism?  And who claimed that his mission to overturn it is comparable to JFK's putting a man on the moon?

Grandiosity, hubris, and just plain stupidity is a trait that runs deep in American politics, and Ted Cruz is the epitome of all three.  






The Embarrassment of Senator Ted Cruz


Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, the public face of the aimless and self-destructive Tea Party strategy to stop health care reform, began an endless floor speech on Tuesday with the theme of “make D.C. listen.”

But even his Republican colleagues had long since stopped paying attention to his corrosive bombast, tired of his pious insults to his own party and unimpressed with his eagerness to shut down the government in pursuit of an ideological dream. 

Like hard-liners in the far right corner of the House, Mr. Cruz has grabbed for every possible lever in his campaign against President Obama’s health law, fully aware that he will not succeed but eager for the accolades and donations that will inevitably follow from the Tea Party’s misguided faithful. In the process, he has demonstrated how little he understands Senate rules and, more important, how little he appreciates the public’s desire for a collaborative Congress.







Here's what Ted Cruz and his fellow TeaPublicans are REALLY afraid of:


Tennessee's health insurance rates among lowest in U.S. on new exchanges

And this:


Government Releases Obamacare Premium Levels for 36 More States



UPDATE BY MATTHEW YGLESIAS

"What Ted Cruz Doesn't Understand About Green Eggs and Ham"
"As part of his fake filibuster today, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) read aloud the text of Dr. Seuss's book Green Eggs and Ham. It's a strange choice of author for a conservative senator. Admittedly, Green Eggs and Ham lacks the overt left-wing politics of a Butter Battle Book or The Lorax but this is still a progressive book. In broad strokes, it's a book advocating openness to experience—one of the key moral dimensions on which liberals and conservatives differ.
In the specific context of the health care debate, though, I'm reminded of Nancy Pelosi's much-mocked remark that "We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it."
What she was expressing was the idea that while the health reform bill may not have been popular, the health reform law would prove popular in practice once it was in effect. People would like their subsidies and their regulatory protections, and wouldn't want to see them repealed. She was making, specificaly, a kind of Green Eggs and Ham argument. The narrator keeps insisting that he hates green eggs and ham, but he's neverhad green eggs and ham. When he finally tries them—he likes them!
The Democrats' bet on the Affordable Care Act is that it's like green eggs and ham—they're convinced the public will like it when they try it.
Conservatives like Cruz claim that this is wrong. That Americans will taste the green eggs and ham and they're going to hate it. But their actions speak otherwise. They're desperate to repeal the law before it's implemented."

21 comments:

Infidel753 said...

And who claimed that his mission to overturn it is comparable to JFK's putting a man on the moon?

I'd say that Cruz's efforts are more comparable to Jackie Gleason's threats to send his wife to the moon in The Honeymooners -- a venting of frustration because he's losing the argument.

In the process, he has demonstrated how little he understands Senate rules

The guy's pretty new and I'm beginning to think he's exceptionally stupid even for a teabagger. What on Earth did he do to get McConnell and Cornyn so riled up against him? It's not like his histrionics are so unusual in themselves. My guess is, he left a few crucial rings unkissed behind the scenes.

Surely not even Cruz thinks he can actually destroy the ACA this way. He might have launched this "strategy" to get attention and lock up teabagger support for a future Presidential run, and now that it's dawning on him that he's burned his bridges with the party establishment beyond recovery, he doesn't have a plan B, and can't think of anything to do except stick to his course and hope for the best.

Indeed, the Republicans as a whole seem to be left just staying the course and hoping for the best -- "the best" being a catastrophic failure and public rejection of the ACA. They'll be disappointed there, too.

Hook Echo said...

I don't think the importance of this can be overstated - the importance being that the Obama White House and Democratic Party put into place a plan that is already outperforming expectations.

The contrast to Republican rule under the Bush administration is really quite startling. This isn't surprising to Democrats because we see that our party, warts and all, is actually working for the broad benefit of the country. The question is, how long will it take rank and file members of the Republican Party to wake up to the fact that their leaders ALWAYS hide their true intents, ALWAYS come in way over budget, ALWAYS leave Democrats to clean up after them, and ALWAYS work to funnel more money to the top for the benefit of the few? ALWAYS.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Ezra Klein dissects Ted Cruz's fake fillibuster and his crusade against the ACA:

"Cruz opposes raising taxes on the wealthy. The public supports it. Cruz opposes gun control. The public supports it. Cruz supports sharply cutting spending on Medicare and Social Security. The public opposes it. If Cruz actually believed his job was directly representing the will of the people, his voting record would be extremely different than it is.

Which is why it’s so odd Cruz has chosen this argument. He could just be up there arguing against Obamacare. Instead he’s arguing that we need to #MakeDCListen. He’s making a broad, quasi-philosophical argument that senators should more fully reflect public opinion. But even he doesn’t believe it. Cruz’s filibuster is self-refuting."

Anonymous said...

If Ted Cruz really is such a buffoon who does irreparable damage to conservatives, tea baggers and republicans, why are liberals so obsessed with trashing him?

If he is doing that much damage, get out of his way!

Shaw Kenawe said...

"Anonymous said...
If Ted Cruz really is such a buffoon who does irreparable damage to conservatives, tea baggers and republicans, why are liberals so obsessed with trashing him?

If he is doing that much damage, get out of his way."


We are "out of his way." We're just reporting on his lack of credibility in his opposing arguments.

What you and the other Anon, who has been deleted, don't understand is that reporting what Cruz says and does and giving one's opinion on it is not being "hateful." It is not hateful to point out that someone's arguments are false and that his fake filibuster is nothing more than narcissistic grandstanding.

Infidel753 said...

Anon: He's also threatening to do considerable damage to the country by making a government shutdown more likely. Pointing out the hypocrisy and absurdity of his behavior in an effort to undermine his support is legitimate.

Anonymous said...

I'm the second anon who you didn't delete, and I said nothing about hate. Indeed, I don't see anything hateful about discussing politics.

I was making a tactical point.

Infidel: "Considerable damage?"

Please, calm yourself. This nation has suffered whole brigades of foolish and evil politicians of all ideologies.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Anon@1:21,

The deleted Anon claimed that writing about what Cruz is doing is "hateful."

I've come to expect that from folks who don't like to read about other people doing stupid things.

Leo T. Lyon said...

The level of discourse on conservative blogs regarding the ACA:

"Ted Cruz of Texas just ended his magnificent speech against Obamacare today after almost 22 hours. I think we are seeing one of the most amazing displays of leadership wéll see in our lifetime. This was just awesome to watch .I love how he exposes the slimy, scumy lying backstabbing Liberals who still love that monstrosity called Obamacare.

Harry Reid says Obamacare is the "law of the land" and must be upheld and enforced. I guess he never met Ted Cruz before. Heis really getting under the skin of the lily-Chicken livered cowardly Obamaniacs GO TED.

Cruz is doing what Obama and the MSM have not done, that is telling the low information voters about the exemptions for the privileged few. That is why the creepy idiots on those Progressive bogs are so frightened that they are already blogging their SCUM."

okjimm said...

Cruz is nothing more than a Texas version of Sarah Palin.....being effective, honest, constructive... is much less desirable than just being in the limelight. I watched some of Ted....... and it was all pointless. Almost 40 years ago, as a college debater, Health Care delivery and it's inequities was a hot national topic. It is still a problem. What I ask of Cruz...."do you have a better plan?"

Les Carpenter said...

Two things the nation knows for certain about Ted the Crapman Cruz; 1) he graduated third grade and 2) he is A McCarthy wannabe.

As for leadership, I agree. If it is of the Rat Pack.

Ducky's here said...

Unfortunately (for Dems) the R's seem really intent on getting a leash on this guy.

Let him control the debate on the right ("Do a Palin") and they are in deep sneakers once again.

A.G. said...

The fundamental principle of the Republican Party these days — is:

“Let’s make absolutely certain that poor people can’t get healthcare when they’re sick.”

Shaw Kenawe said...

"...a venting of frustration because he's losing the argument." --Infidel753

Cruz and the cray crays all over the blogs today! We can tell when they're losing the argument by the volume of their howls and the spittle--so copious it could flood the basements where they bang away at their keyboards. Apparently they're spamming con blogs, talking about the "bill" that Cruz wants to defeat. That's the level of their understanding. It's worse than "Palinesque."

G.W.,

Reading that is like reading someone who threw a bunch of letter block in the air, then copied down the words as an argument. None of it makes sense. But the person who wrote it apparently believes name-calling and cussing will change the world. LOL!

okjimm, Great, just what this country needs, a male version of Sarah Palin. Cruz, however, is way more ELITE, though, he graduated from Hahvahd!

R.N.,

See above. He went to that elitist school--y'know, the one the Kenyan Communist Socialist Fascist went to.

Ducky,

The sane Repubs don't want anything to do with this loose canon.

A.G.,

That does appear to be their goal, since they never say what they'll replace the A.C.A. with.









Ducky's here said...

Oh this is precious:

"Cruz broke with Dr. Seuss' classic rhyming couplet structure in order to modify the text: "When Americans tried it, they discovered they did not like green eggs and ham and they did not like Obamacare either," Cruz read. "They did not like Obamacare in a box, with a fox, in a house or with a mouse. It is not working."

“Green Eggs and Ham” was not the only children's literature Cruz referenced in his bid to stand in one place with cameras on him for a long time. Within the first half hour, Cruz invoked the classic tale of perseverance, “The Little Engine that Could.”

Still talking Wednesday morning, shortly before 9 EDT, Cruz referenced the work of novelist and Objectivist philosopher Ayn Rand. He chose to read from her longest novel, “Atlas Shrugged,” which, like “The Little Engine that Could,” also heavily features the theme of perseverance, and of course trains. “Green Eggs and Ham,” on the other hand, only mentions a train once, and has a moral of the value of reserving one's impulse judgements and being open to trying new things."

KP said...

Mate, one of the funniest several liners of all time! Cheers.

"And who claimed that his mission to overturn it is comparable to JFK's putting a man on the moon?

I'd say that Cruz's efforts are more comparable to Jackie Gleason's threats to send his wife to the moon in The Honeymooners ... "

okjimm said...

a side note on Green Eggs and Ham...
."Green Eggs and Ham is one of Seuss's "Beginner Books", written in a very simple vocabulary for beginning readers.

The vocabulary of the text consists of just fifty different words[3] and was the result of a bet between Seuss and Bennett Cerf (Dr. Seuss's publisher)[3][4] that Seuss (after completing The Cat in the Hat using 225 words) could not complete an entire book using so few words.
..... and it probably did not take him some 23 hours to write.

Infidel753 said...

KP: :-)

Okjimm: And yet Cruz completely missed the point of the story. Obviously its reading level is too high for him. He should stick to reading bumper stickers or mattress tags and work his way up.

Jerry Critter said...

The Republican Party has truly jumped the shark with Ted Cruz. Let him keep talking and 2014 and 2016 will be cakewalks. I hope he runs. If so, they should run the presidential debates on Comedy Central.

okjimm said...

Ted Cuz can see Mexico from his Porch.

Shaw Kenawe said...

okjimm,

LOL!

J.C.

Agreed!