Tag: Jefferson Smith

Politics Makes Strange Bedfellows: Is Ted Cruz Being “Assimilated” By the Vichy Republicans?

On By kingsjesterIn Politics2 Comments

th (62)Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies. – Groucho Marx

The Washington Post reports that

CONCORD, N.C. — Sen. Ted Cruz stood on a stage straddling the lanes of a dragway at the Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday, speaking directly to blue-collar workers with “calluses on your hands” and railing against the political establishment — prompting cheers and stomps on the metal bleachers.Meanwhile in Florida, a group of volunteers, including wealthy donors who supported Jeb Bush’s candidacy, was knocking on doors this weekend in Jacksonville, asking voters to cast ballots for Cruz (Tex.) in Tuesday’s Republican primary.

As Cruz hopes to land a knockout blow against Sen. Marco Rubio in Florida and narrow the primary contest to a two-man race between himself and Donald Trump, he is increasingly trying to appeal to two very different groups: working-class voters who may find themselves drawn to Trump, and voters from the traditional political establishment who want to stop him.

“For a lot of supporters I think it comes down to this sudden reality of a Donald Trump nomination,” said one of the Jacksonville door-knockers, Paul Dickerson, a Houston lawyer who supported Bush but is now backing Cruz, whom he considers a friend. Trump, he said, “would be a disaster for the country and embarrassment for the nation, and Ted is the best chance to defeat Donald Trump.”

The fit is not a natural one for Cruz, who pillories the political establishment on the campaign trail and wants to blow up what he calls the “Washington cartel” of lobbyists and special interests. He is detested in the Senate — Cruz jokes that he needs a “food taster” in the dining room there — and only one colleague has endorsed him.

But with Rubio’s candidacy sputtering and with Ohio Gov. John Kasich far behind, the establishment is warming to a man who called Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) a “liar” on the Senate floor. Even Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), a longtime Cruz nemesis, now says the party may need to unite behind him. And Neil Bush, Jeb Bush’s brother, is supporting Cruz.

Many point to Cruz’s second-place standing in the delegate race and his organized and well-funded campaign as reasons to support him.

“Most of the people that I know would not have been naturally with Ted,” said Charles Foster, a Houston lawyer who backed Bush in the presidential race and Cruz’s opponent in the Republican primary for his Senate seat in 2012. “. . . Some are reluctant because that’s not where they were to begin with, and some are still sitting on their hands.”

The establishment world is hardly foreign to the Texas Republican. Cruz; his wife, Heidi; and his campaign chairman, Chad Sweet, all worked for George W. Bush and are making overtures to people who supported Jeb Bush, Cruz backers said. Foster said Cruz called him, while Dickerson said the campaign has been quick to extend a “welcoming hand” with no hard feelings. (Cruz’s campaign said there is no concerted effort to woo Bush supporters.)

Cruz is making the same type of overture to voters on the campaign trail, asserting that he is the only candidate who can beat Trump and directly appealing to those who support other candidates. But he is also infusing more populism into his stump speeches — a direct appeal to would-be Trump backers.

The Establishment warming up to an “outsider”. Now, where have I seen this before? Oh, yeah.

In the 1939 Frank Capra Classic, “Mr Smith Goes to Washington”, naïve and idealistic Jefferson Smith (Jimmy Stewart), leader of the Boy Rangers, is appointed on a lark by the spineless governor of his state. He is reunited with the state’s senior senator–presidential hopeful and childhood hero, Senator Joseph Paine. In Washington, however, Smith discovers many of the shortcomings of the political process as his noble goal of a national boys’ camp leads to a conflict with the state political boss, Jim Taylor.

However, in this case, as the political shenanigans pulled by his Campaign Staff have sadly shown us, Senator Ted Cruz is no “Jefferson Smith”.

He is as much a Professional Politician as Jeb! Bush.

Hence, the support by Jeb!’s brother, Neil, and the reluctant embracing of his campaign by the Vichy Republicans.

The well-worn phrase, “Politics make strange bedfellows”, has never been more appropriate when describing a political alliance, than this situation.

Back on March 22, 2015, in a post reporting on Cruz’s announcement that he was running, I wrote

Get ready for the worst attempt of character assassination of a politician running for the Presidential Candidate Nomination of their Party by a coalition of the Main Stream Media and the Good Ol’ Boys in the Beltway, since Sarah Palin.

Just after Midnight, Conservative Firebrand, the Republican Senator from the great state of Texas, Ted Cruz, announced that he was in the hunt for his Party’s Nomination as their Candidate for the Presidency of the United States of America.

…I’m not shy about stating that I like Senator Ted Cruz. He is a straight shooter, who is not afraid to tell it like it is.

The Republican Establishment, or Vichy Republicans, as I have dubbed them, are presently pushing potential Presidential Candidates for 2016 whose platforms are so similar to those of their potential Democrat Opponents as to be virtually indistinguishable.

Oblivious of their past failures (i.e., Dole, McCain, and Romney), while pursuing their milksop Political Philosophy, the Vichy Republicans, or GOPe, as an internet friend has named them, still cling to their mission to hold onto their cushy Seats of Power, recently given to them last November by us, their Conservative Base, by playing an old, tired political game.

Make no mistake, they will defend the Washingtonian Status Quo to their last breath, and savage anyone who threatens it, with the help of their allies from “across the aisle”, the Democrats and their minions in the Main Stream media. Look at how they have attacked Former Alaskan Governor and Republican Vice-Presidential Candidate, Sarah Palin, in the past, and, in recent years, Ted Cruz.

They have called them both everything but Children of God.

Little did I know that, as his campaign for the Republican Nomination progressed, this “New Maverick”, Ted Cruz, would align himself with those whom he had fought so hard against in the Senate “on behalf of the people”.

I realize that Donald J. Trump has his shortcomings, as well.

However, as a political candidate, when you promise to fight against the “Washingtonian Status Quo” and then you join forces with its purveyors, in order to get elected, you may gain some potential voters, but you also disillusion a lot of your base.

Just like Captain Jean Luc Picard in “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, it appears that “Man of the People” Ted Cruz has been “assimilated”, with the Vichy Republicans playing the role of “The Borg”.

Only, in the case of Republican Voters,

Resistance is NOT futile.

We have a choice.

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

 

Senator Ted Cruz: Filibustering for Freedom

On By kingsjesterIn Politics10 Comments

Ted-Cruz-filibuster-SeussWe’re going to be gifted with a health care plan we are forced to purchase and fined if we don’t, which purportedly covers at least 10 million more people without adding a single new doctor, but provides for 16,000 new IRS agents written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn’t understand it, passed by a Congress that didn’t read it, but exempted themselves from it, and signed by a president who smokes … same sentence … with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn’t pay his taxes, for which we will be taxed for four years before any benefits take effect by the government, which has already bankrupted Social Security and Medicare — all to be overseen by a Surgeon General who is obese, and financed by a country that’s broke.” – Dr. Barbara Ruth Bellar

As I write this post, Senator Ted Cruz, along with help for a few of his colleagues is holding the Senate Floor, speaking against the ruination of the finest Healthcare System in the world, under the monstrosity known as Obamacare, which is scheduled to begin October 1st..

To summarize where we are at…

The freshman senator took the floor Tuesday afternoon promising to speak “until I am no longer able to stand” and his effort continued overnight, usually with just two other senators with him in the Senate chamber.

By 5 a.m. Wednesday, the length of Cruz’s marathon discourse had surpassed more traditional talking filibusters delivered by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) in March and a roughly 14-hour filibuster delivered by the late Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W. Va.) in 1964.

As he outlined his opposition to the health-care law, Cruz’s hours of oratory touched a broad mix of subjects and sources, ranging from lyrics from a song by country music star Toby Keith; excerpts from the book, “Atlas Shrugged,” a favorite of libertarians; quotations from the popular reality television show, “Duck Dynasty;” the unemployment rate among African American teenagers; how his father, Rafael Cruz, used to make green eggs and ham for breakfast; a recent acceptance speech by actor Ashton Kutcher at an awards show; and the restaurants Denny’s, Benihana and White Castle.

At one point Tuesday night, Cruz opted to read bedtime stories to his two young daughters, who he said were home in Texas watching television with his wife. Cruz first read “King Solomon’s Wise Words,” from the Book of Proverbs and then the Dr. Seuss classic, “Green Eggs and Ham,” saying that it was one of his favorite children’s books.

Several times Cruz read supportive messages sent to his office via Twitter. He frequently noted that James P. Hoffa, president of the Teamsters Union, has warned that the new health-care law may create “nightmare scenarios” for employers.

If Hoffa is correct, then Cruz said that “senators shouldn’t be asleep when the nation is undergoing a nightmare.”

Several like-minded Senate conservatives briefly joined Cruz for a time on the Senate floor Tuesday evening, including Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.), two 2016 presidential aspirants. Cruz could yield to colleagues for long-form questions but could not leave the floor or sit.

His most frequent partner was Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who would offer the Texas senator a respite by speaking at times for almost an hour.

President Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmmm) and Former President William Jefferson Clinton(Bubba, to you and me) spoke out against his efforts yesterday:

During an informal discussion at a Clinton Global Initiative Forum in New York City, Obama and former President Bill Clinton focused mostly on the policy details of the law, with the current commander in chief warning that Republicans have tried to “scare” people into declining to get health care coverage.

“You’ve had is an unprecedented effort that you’ve seen ramp up in the past month or so that those who have opposed the idea of universal health care in the first place — and have fought this thing tooth and nail through Congress and through the courts — trying to scare and discourage people from getting a good deal,” Obama said.

Acknowledging the unpopularity of some of the bill’s requirements, Obama said the Affordable Care Act’s mandates on businesses and individuals are integral to a working and fair system.

“People generally don’t like to be told you’ve to get health insurance. And employers don’t like to be told you’ve got to give your employees health insurance,” Obama said. “But as a society what we cannot do is to say you have no responsibilities whatsoever but you’ve got guaranteed coverage.”

Democrats are pushing to publicize the benefits of the new law before open enrollment begins on October 1. Some Republicans have tied a bill to keep the government running to a measure defunding the health care law’s implementation, making the possibility of a government shutdown loom.

As gallant an effort as this is, by this wonderful public servant, the only ones listening to him, are those few colleagues I mentioned…and the American People. The Liberal, socialistic Democrats and their allies, the Vichy Republicans, like John “Juan McAmnesty” McCain and his pet dog Lindsey “Tiddie” Graham, refused to “sully their hands” and listen as Sen. Cruz pleaded for the future of this Republic.

They forgot long ago that they were elected to be OUR voice in Washington. Now, they only speak for themselves, their lobbyists, and an agenda based upon the failed teachings of Karl Marx.

Sen. Cruz is a breath of fresh air. Capra-esque, in fact, and highly reminiscent of the indefatigable Jefferson Smith, in Capra’s classic “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”. Smith (the late, great Jimmy Stewart) says the following as he’s delivering his filibuster:

Just get up off the ground, that’s all I ask. Get up there with that lady that’s up on top of this Capitol dome, that lady that stands for liberty. Take a look at this country through her eyes if you really want to see something. And you won’t just see scenery; you’ll see the whole parade of what Man’s carved out for himself, after centuries of fighting. Fighting for something better than just jungle law, fighting so’s he can stand on his own two feet, free and decent, like he was created, no matter what his race, color, or creed. That’s what you’d see. There’s no place out there for graft, or greed, or lies, or compromise with human liberties.

And that, when you get down to it, is what Senator Ted Cruz has been speaking about, since Tuesday afternoon: LIBERTY.

Our American Freedom was endowed by OUR CREATOR. Obamacare is simply a step toward a totalitarian regime taking it away.

Until He Comes,

KJ