BREAKING NEWS and BALLS
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz stumped in Iowa over the weekend, (many had hoped he would merely fall and break his neck), and his father Rafael Cruz was promoting his son’s possibly presidential candidacy to pastors and local Republican leaders during his trip.
In fact, he said in an interview with Christian Broadcasting Networks’ David Brody that he told his son: “You know Ted, you have been gifted above any man that I know and God has destined you for greatness.’ And I started making declarations about the Word of God to him every day.”
He goes on to suggest that his son is destined to save freedom in America, and even Brody called Cruz’s political career “a thing of God.”
When the GOP starts in with their Messiah labeling, it’s time for G-D who told us about false prophets to step in. Rafael Cruz has some deep connections to the current movement known as the New Apostolic Reformation. That movement is really a rebranding of what we know as the "Religious Right", as they were called in the days of Reagan, but with a 21st century dominionist twist.
Cruz was a member of the Religious Round table in the 1980s, an activist group of Christians who were committed to engagement in politics. He boasts in the interview of serving on the state board of that organization:
Rafael Cruz is a pastor with Purifying Fire Ministries, founded by Suzanne Hinn, ex-wife and of Benny Hinn. The Hinns are huckster Christians, just ask CNN, The BBC, and Sen. Grassley dealing in faux emotions and invented manifestations of the Holy Spirit at the most convenient and opportune fundraising moments. They are also smart enough to understand where the gravy train is, and so they've hitched their boxcar to the New Apostolic, or dominionist movement.
Church first, The State Second…the people don’t count….
THE MASTER OF DISASTER
Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz, born December 22, 1970 is the junior United States Senator for the state of Texas since 2013, and is a member of the Republican Party. He was Solicitor General of Texas from 2003 to May 2008, after being appointed by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott.
He was the first Hispanic Solicitor General in Texas, and was also the first Hispanic to be elected U.S. Senator from Texas. Cruz was a partner at the law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, where he led the firm’s U.S. Supreme Court and national appellate litigation practice.
Between 1999 and 2003, Cruz served as the director of the Office of Policy Planning at the Federal Trade Commission, an Associate Deputy Attorney General at the United States Department of Justice, "and as Domestic Policy Advisor to U.S. President George W. Bush on the 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign".
That last line explains a lot…
THE CRUZ -PALIN TICKET
SURVEY: PLEASE PICK ONE: (√)
( ) Tweedle Dumb meets Tweedle Dork.
( ) Vulcan Mind Meld producing nothing.
( ) Ted Cruz showing his thumb is not up his arse as his critics want you to believe.
( ) Sarah Palin admitting she was a thumbsucker.
( ) Cruz is offering Palin a shot at the Vice Presidency. A marriage made in hell.
IN THE SENATE
Cruz was the Republican nominee for the Senate seat which was vacated by fellow Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison. Cruz supports the Tea Party and is endorsed by the Tea Party movement and the Republican Liberty Caucus. In January of 2011, Houston attorney Ted Cruz announced he would seek the United States Senate seat being vacated by Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson.
When asked why he wanted to become a member of the Senate and represent the people of his state in that role, Cruz said, “The reason I’m running for Senate: That’s where the real battle is.”
Let’s hope that Cruz was lying when he suggested that he wanted to be a Senator because “that is where the real battle is.” Let’s hope that he was simply being disingenuous when pretending he really wanted to be a Senator as opposed to setting himself up for where he truly believes that battle to be—the 2016 election for the presidency. On November 14, 2012, Cruz was appointed vice-chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. And let the Kraaken be free...
Recall, if you will, that day on the Senate floor when Cruz’s suggestion that background checks before purchasing guns would place us on a path to a national registry for gun owners, despite the fact that the legislation under debate—the Manchin-Toomey Bill—specifically barred such a federal registry.
If you do not recall this, you might want to take a look at Cruz’s debate with Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) as Schumer highlights the preposterous nature of Cruz’s paranoiac visions of the future.
Just like his efforts to connect same-sex marriage with the destruction of First Amendment rights, in the instance of gun control, Cruz took a piece of legislation that deeply upset his base, despite being popular with the overwhelming majority of Americans, and drew a line to an imaginary consequence.
What happened? Cruz’s base ate it up and the legislation went down to defeat.
Mr. Cruz’s latest effort to scare the crap out of his right-wing following—no matter how ridiculous the perceived end result of a policy with which Cruz followers disagree with may be—is simply a refinement of the time-honored and highly effective GOP practice of using fear and loathing to inspire votes.
HIS FUTURE IS DEFINED BY FEAR
All one need do is look at the success of a “death panel” pitch that did so much to skew public opinion against the Affordable Care Act and the effectiveness of this approach is crystal clear.
Of course there was no rational connection between the actual healthcare reform law and the paranoiac prospect of government death panels, but that really did not matter, did it?
Just as Cruz ignored the realities of the Manchin-Toomey background check legislation which specifically barred the national gun registry Cruz claimed to fear, Senator Cruz knew his delusional argument would appeal to the paranoia of his followers.
And just as the 2011 Supreme Court case would make Cruz’s paranoid vision of gay marriage leading to the destruction of First Amendment rights nothing short of preposterous, Senator Cruz knows full well that creating fear and loathing, in his own unique style, makes for a reliable game plan as he begins his drive towards the White House.
Let’s hope that, in the final analysis, American voters will see through Ted Cruz’s fully manufactured and dark vision of America—or at least the pretend vision that the Senator wishes to sell us. There are enough ‘real life’ things in this world to be paranoid about without purposely supporting a candidate dedicated to purveying his pretend brand of paranoia in the hopes of frightening Americans into going down dark roads that don’t actually exist.
Because if Ted Cruz really meant what he said, he must go down as possibly the greatest failure in the annals of United States Senate history, taking his home state of Texas down with him.
PLEASE PICK ONE:
1) Tweedle Dumb meets Tweedle Dork.
2) Vulcan Mind Meld producing nothing.
3) Ted Cruz showing his thumb is not up his *ss as critics want you to believe.
4) Sarah Palin admitting she was a thumbsucker.
5) Cruz is offering Palin a shot at the Vice Presidency.
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Nearly one year removed from its decision to endorse Ted Cruz, the Houston Chronicle reflected back on that choice in a Tuesday op-ed, admitting that he has not lived up to the paper's expectations.
Miss Kay Bailey Hutchison, had an "extraordinary understanding of the importance of reaching across the aisle when necessary." That skill has not been displayed by Cruz or senior Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), according to the Chronicle. Throwing rocks across the aisle might be a better metaphor.
The Chronicle endorsed Ted Cruz in last November's general election, with at least one specific recommendation - that he follow Hutchison's example in his conduct as a Senator. No away Jose!
Cruz has been part of the problem in specific situations where Hutchison would have been part of the solution.
"We expect Cruz as the senator from the Lone Star State to spend his energies standing up for Texans of every background and economic station, representing their best interests from health care and education to energy, space and medicine," the paper wrote.
Instead, he is the Republican buffoon of the year creating more dissension, and crisis than the entire GOP can and literally starting all out war in the Congress.
THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
THE U.S. GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN 2013
In the summer of 2013, Cruz embarked on a nationwide tour sponsored by The Heritage Foundation to promote the congressional effort to defund the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, arguing that a shutdown of the government would not be a disaster for America or the Republican Party.
On September 24, 2013, Cruz began a speech on the floor of the Senate regarding the Affordable Care Act relative to a continuing resolution designed to fund the government and avert a government shutdown.
Cruz promised to keep speaking until he was "no longer able to stand." Cruz yielded the floor at noon the following day for the start of the proceeding legislative session after twenty-one hours nineteen minutes.
At that point most of the Senators were awakened, a few got oxygen, a fibrillation or two and one reluctantly zipped his pants up.
His speech was the fourth-longest in United States Senate history. Following Cruz's speech, the Senate voted 100–0 regarding a "procedural hurdle toward passing a stopgap funding bill to avert a government shutdown."
Cruz was joined by 18 Republican senators in his effort to prevent stripping out a clause that would have defunded the Affordable Care by voting against the cloture motion, leaving the effort 21 votes short of the required number to deny cloture. Cruz's stand against the Affordable Care Act is generally considered to be a major force behind the U.S. government shutdown in 2013.
CRUZ SAYS SHUTDOWN A SUCCESS
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) brought his pollster to a closed-door GOP lunch to convince members the shutdown was helping the Republican party. What an idiot, doesn't he know some of those GOP'ers can read. The few that can saw that 74% of Republicans think the Cruz tactics are crazy.
"The survey's findings mirrored other national polls: More voters blame the Republicans for the government shutdown than blame President Obama or the Democrats.
But Cruz argued, based on the poll, that Republicans are in a much better position than they were during the 1995 shutdown because this impasse is defined by a disagreement over funding for the Affordable Care Act as opposed to a general disagreement over government spending."
Even those who couldn't read thought the last line was the largest dose of sh*t that had been heard in DC.
SPECULATION - HIGHER OFFICE
Many commentators have expressed their opinion that Cruz is running for President in 2016. On March 14, 2013, Cruz gave the keynote speech at the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington DC.
He came in tied for 7th place in the 2013 CPAC straw poll on March 16, winning 4% of the votes cast.
Beaten by Howdy Doody (4th) and Clarabelle the Clown (5) in the straw pole, which rendered the Scarecrow from Wizard of OZ ineligible.
As seen in the picture, being made of straw, he definitely has a leg up on the opposition in a straw pole. Knowing Cruz he was probably peeing in the bushes.
Other GOP contenders attending the CPAC, were in costume. Boehner in stainless steel so he won't be stabbed in the back by Eric Cantor.
The lead Dorothy played by Michelle Bachmann who sang " I ain't got no body, only one helllova mouth" and Mitch McConnell as the Lion who keeps on lying, on and on.
Note: After being with the Tin Man, Dorothy, and the Lying Lion for a day the straw man poured gasoline over himself and it was over in seconds. He had enough of the CPAC.
Cruz planned several speaking events for the summer of 2013 across Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina which are early primary states, leading to speculation that he was laying the groundwork for a run for President in 2016. After what he did for the country he might be running for his life. 24 Billion Dollars lost during the shutdown. 800,000 to one million out of work.
As Cruz was born in Canada, various commentators discussed Cruz's legal status as a natural-born citizen. Because he was a U.S. citizen at birth because his mother was a U.S. citizen who lived in the U.S. for more than 10 years as required by the Nationality Act of 1940, Cruz is eligible to run for the office of President of the United States. After hearing that according to legal experts he is a dual citizen of Canada and America, Cruz announced on August 19, 2013 that he would renounce his Canadian citizenship.
HE WENT TO HARVARD
It says something about you to be labeled as the biggest jerk at Harvard Law School. The school runs on jerks the way Smurfs run on berries. To be universally recognized as the biggest jerk in your class requires an amazing commitment to inhumanity.
A GQ article by Jason Zengerle yesterday just lit up Ted Cruz over his history of being a giant asshole that nobody likes. Josh Marshall from Talking Points Memo, whose wife was at HLS with Cruz, added to the reporting, calling Cruz an “AASS,” which stands for “Asshole, Arrogant, Super Smart.”
I think a quarter of the HLS class are decent humans who are just trying to get through law school with minimal stress and drama. These are the people who are out there in the world doing good stuff and when somebody says, “Did you know so-and-so went to Harvard?” you’re surprised because they’re such regular, well-adjusted people.
A full 50% of the class are impressionable sorts who can access their inner jerk at a moment’s notice. They think they’re decent people with a “dark side,” but actually they’re jerks who don’t have the strength of personality to pull it off all the time.
The last quarter of the class is actively in pursuit of being an AASS. This odious group might go into law or politics or media. They certainly interview with Skadden, but otherwise they don’t last long in Biglaw because they can’t spend 10 years with nobody listening to them. You never for a second do not know which law school they attended.
The stories, well … the stories.
“My friend [redacted] went to Harvard Law with Ted. [He] says that Ted shocked people when during the first week, he announced that he was creating a study group and only people with high GPAs from the Big Three Ivies could apply for admission. In short, Ted managed to come off as a pompous asshole at Harvard Law.”
As my correspondent notes, Ted managed to distinguish himself as a arrogant a#@hole at Harvard Law School, which is an amazing accomplishment since the competition there for that description is intense.
That doesn’t happen by accident, folks. You don’t show up and accidentally piss people off with your desire to study only with people who went to college at Harvard, Yale, or Princeton. No, you sit in your room and try to think of a way to make as many people hate you as possible, and you come up with the Cruz plan.
Both TPM and GQ go on to explain that Cruz has operated his political career in much the same way. It’s like he’s been on one continuous crusade to piss people off while winning the loyalty and love of lesser lights who wish they had the balls to be as detestable as Cruz himself.
At each stage, Ted did seem to collect a quite small but core group of friends/followers, mainly people who were deeply in tune with his politics (he was as rightwing on day one at college as he is today) and who took what most found to be his assholery as a form of take-no-prisoners conservative badassdom. Indeed, if you think this is an issue of whom I talked to, just like-minded people maybe, consider this: It perfectly mirrors what’s happened over the last year in the Senate. Cruz has a small handful of followers in the Senate; but basically everyone else in his Republican caucus despises him.
My question is why wouldn’t HLS celebrate this behavior? The school already clearly encourages it. The school already screens for it in applications. You don’t just randomly end up with people like Ted Cruz in your class.
Let me put it like this: If HLS announced it would award the “Cruz Award” to the biggest prick in each class, do you think Ted Cruz would object? Do you think the recipient would feel ashamed? Or do you think Cruz would come out with something like “being mocked by the commies at HLS is an honor,” while the winners were proud to be crowned “the best” at anything?
Look, Cruz’s behavior might land him in the White House. Assholes do well in this world. HLS is already regarded as an asshole factory, so I think the school crowning the biggest and the best would be a public service to everybody else.
TED CRUZ DEMOCRATIC SLEEPER AGENT
A true cynic about American politics would, at this point, be forced to one conclusion: Sen. Ted Cruz is a Democratic sleeper agent. Ted Cruz, the Democrats' secret weapon.
It is tough to appreciate just how much good Ted Cruz has done the Democrats over these last few weeks.
- He convinced Republicans to shut down the government rather than wait and fight over the debt ceiling, where they would have had more -- and more dangerous -- leverage.
- He splintered the Republican Party such that, from day one, it was clear that the GOP leadership opposed the strategy they were executing, and GOP senators were publicly blasting House Republicans. That also cut the GOP's leverage.
- He made this a fight over defunding Obamacare, which polls showed was a wildly unpopular reason to shut down the government, and which united Democrats against him.
- He shut the government down on Oct. 1, the same day Obamacare began, thus distracting the American people from the law's catastrophic rollout.
- He drove the Republican Party to its lowest levels of popularity ever recorded in polls.
- He actually managed to make Obamacare more popular at a time when, by all rights, the law's extremely troubled launch should've been eroding its standing in the polls.
- The culmination of the strategy, today, is that Republicans are reopening the government and raising the debt ceiling in return for…nothing.
There are no policy concessions from the Democrats (income verification is already part of Obamacare). There are no procedural concessions from the Democrats. Just the opposite, in fact.
Democrats managed to get the budget conference they've been pursuing for six months. They got a CR of the length they wanted and ending before the next sequestration cuts rather than six-month CR that Sen. Susan Collins proposed. They got a debt-ceiling increase all the way into February. This is far beyond what Democrats thought possible on Sept. 30.
But the strategy Ted Cruz managed to force on the GOP was so suicidal that Democrats felt comfortable forcing Republicans to cave completely. They were so confident that they managed to reject a deal proposed by Sen. Susan Collins and supported by many Senate Democrats because it funded the government for longer than the Democratic leadership preferred. That's a level of control over the outcome that Democrats never expected to have.
Going forward, not only will Republicans be afraid to shut down the government or threaten the debt ceiling again during this Congress, but if Republicans somehow end up doing it anyway, Democrats will be unafraid of the fight. As Democrats see it, if Republicans want to give a shutdown or a default another shot closer to the 2014 election, well, that's great news for Democratic congressional candidates.
Over the last 24 hours I've seen some Republicans complaining that President Obama and the Democrats are trying to break them. Their anger is misplaced. They should be angry at Ted Cruz for putting Republicans in a position to be broken.