Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

A Senator Walker would also be an insult to reason, rationality, and decency.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

A dilettante blog from the great progressive state of West Virginia.

Bark louder, little dog.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Come on, man.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

We still have time to mess this up!

Not all heroes wear capes.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

You are here: Home / Politics / Politicans / Cruz-ifiction / Open Thread: Yeah, It’s Just A Grift Now

Open Thread: Yeah, It’s Just A Grift Now

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… because — and nobody knows this better than a Texas legislator — no GOP candidate gets to be the presidential nominee by bad-mouthing “Fortune 500”. Although Cruz can surely use his Bible-based dog-whistling to collect a sufficiency of “love offerings” to make up for putting his wife’s Goldman Sachs career on a temporary hiatus.

But if he’s knocked out early, at least he won’t have to defend his record, and EvenTheDeterminedlyBothSiderist Politico can find lots that needs defending:

Ted Cruz thunders about what he calls a “fundamentally unserious” U.S. defense policy, but when he had a chance to weigh in during Senate Armed Services Committee hearings, he rarely showed up.

Cruz, who announced last week he’s running for president, has the committee’s worst attendance record — by far.

The Texas Republican attended just three of the panel’s 16 public hearings so far this year, according to a POLITICO review of transcripts from full committee hearings. The average committee member attended 13 of the 16 hearings, and Cruz is the only one of the panel’s 26 members with an attendance rate below 50 percent.

Cruz missed opportunities to cross-examine the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan and was absent from a session on the U.S. military prison at Guantánamo Bay — despite being a leading opponent of President Barack Obama’s decision to swap five Taliban commanders at Guantánamo for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. The freshman senator also missed opportunities to cross-examine officials about the effects of across-the-board spending cuts on military readiness and the appropriate levels of compensation for the troops…

Ted Cruz: Fundamentally Unserious.

Reader Interactions

41Comments

  4. 4.

    Kropadope

    @Baud:

    MSNBC just said Cruz was creeping up in the polls.

    Just because he managed to worm his way out of the dirt, doesn’t mean he’s going any farther.

  5. 5.

    BGinCHI

    Cruz is a populist if by that you mean popular among a list of fucking brainless, selfish people.

  6. 6.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Cruz, who announced last week he’s running for president, has the [Senate Armed Services] committee’s worst attendance record — by far.

    The Texas Republican attended just three of the panel’s 16 public hearings so far this year, according to a POLITICO review of transcripts from full committee hearings. The average committee member attended 13 of the 16 hearings, and Cruz is the only one of the panel’s 26 members with an attendance rate below 50 percent.

    If nothing else, I hope all the other candidates hammer him mercilessly on this during the GOP debates.

  7. 7.

    jl

    @Kropadope: I think I read that Cruz was creeping up in GOP primary polls, but not sure.

    And yeah, that tweeter is damn straight that there is no Cruz signage nor stickers nor gear, since that would distract from the World Historical Figure Himself. Now, a huge pic of his mug hanging over the stage while he speaks, that just might do very nicely.

    So far, Cruz is playing a wonderful role in the GOP primary, dragging all close to him ideologically, like ol’ Huck, into ugly extremist and patently deranged hate and fear mongering. And getting brave and intrepid leaderererers like Jeb! and Christie into pissing themselves with panicked double talk and passive aggressive waffle panders.

    Edit: I can see the piss stains spreading on the front of Jeb! and Christie’s pants just reading their drivel, and I think many others can too.

  10. 10.

    Mike in NC

    More like Cruz is creeping out in the polls.

    Would do himself a great favor by growing a toothbrush mustache.

  13. 13.

    Kropadope

    @jl:

    I think I read that Cruz was creeping up in GOP primary polls, but not sure.

    Yeah, like I said, the dirt.

  14. 14.

    Mike E

    @Baud: Holy shit, I’m gonna have nightmares now…not because of him mebbe winning but just from the image alone. Thx!

  16. 16.

    RSA

    It’s just a matter of appearances, but that is a seriously unflattering photo of a Presidential nominee. I’d imagine a serious effort means having someone on your team pay attention to how you look when giving a talk.

  18. 18.

    Wag

    @Hal:

    That’s too mean by far to Mondale. At least he had accomplished a few things in the Senate prior to his nomination

  19. 19.

    jl

    @Villago Delenda Est: it would be better if Indiana just repealed the law,and Arkansas gave up on their version, and the pressure made the very few other states with similarly extreme laws, like Mississippi, do something too.

    But if this kind of nonsense keeps up, it can only hurt the GOP. Read the rancid garbage that Jeb! and Christie are putting out. If this issue is still around right before the election, HRC or Biden, or O’Malley (or Booker, or some others too) could wipe the stage with the likes of Jeb!. Who has the deep bench now, GOP political hacks masquerading as ‘analysts’?

    The GOP stands for allowing intolerant majorities to screw any group they don’t like with impunity. Stands for eagerly chasing after perpetual war. I hope no more issues like the Indiana BS and the Iran talks come up. Sadly I think probably some will.

  20. 20.

    Tree With Water

    “Fortune 500 chases the money” is more like it, as Cruz damn well knows. What a putz.

  25. 25.

    cokane

    Cruz really should be the Republican nominee. He represents their agenda with more of a bold face than almost anyone else. It would do well for the body politic to see a true conservative trounced in a nationwide election.

  29. 29.

    pluege

    cruz is the new palin.

    What would US politics every do these days without an inane effluent spewing, egomaniacal, insane republican to entertain the corporate media?

  30. 30.

    Violet

    So Rand Paul is supposed to declare his candidacy for president on Tuesday? Did I hear that right?

  31. 31.

    Exurban Mom

    Grifters gonna grift. Dude is in it for the wingnut welfare check at the end, not to win.

  35. 35.

    feebog

    I went to the Des Moines Register’s page where they had a series of pictures. Never mind the pants, he was wearing a sports coat that seriously looked liked it had been used as a doormat for the last month. I know you want to project a folksy, aw shucks image, but WTF?

  36. 36.

    Splitting Image

    @Hal:

    I would love Cruz to be the nominee. It would be nice to have a republican Mondale.

    I see him more as a latter-day Alf Landon. Landon may not have deserved to win in 1936, but he had an otherwise long and distinguished career and I think he has been the butt of jokes long enough.

    I think it is high time that somebody broke the record for fewest electoral votes won in a presidential election, and I think that somebody should be Ted Cruz.

  37. 37.

    Yatsuno

    @jl:

    Stands for eagerly chasing after perpetual war

    While cutting taxes to the rich to the point of a near negative tax rate while creating a permanent underclass that pays for everything. Becuz Merika.

  40. 40.

    lou

    Ted Cruz is a flim flam artist. Every time I see him speak, I think of Upton Sinclair’s comment: “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross.”

  41. 41.

    Fester Addams

    Money-grubbers vs. bible-beaters. It’s like it’s War-on-christmas in April!

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