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You are here: Home / Archives for Politics / Politicans / Cruz-ifiction

Cruz-ifiction

Late Night “Yup, Still the Wrong Choice” Open Thread

by Anne Laurie|  July 23, 20161:15 am| 159 Comments

This post is in: Cruz-ifiction, Election 2016, Hail to the Hairpiece, Open Threads, Republican Stupidity, Republicans in Disarray!, Assholes

"You have to appreciate that he just has, you know, a unique communication style." It's been fun to see the little lies they tell themselves

— Martin Gelin (@M_Gelin) July 22, 2016

In case you were wondering if GOP insiders are still in a cranial rectal state. pic.twitter.com/Ua1nbxxPUX

— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) July 22, 2016

Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, held a press conference today. And it was… something. https://t.co/14AQIadOtN

— Ashley Parker (@AshleyRParker) July 22, 2016

From the NYTimes article:

… After declaring that he had unified the party in one of the most “love-filled” conventions in political history, Mr. Trump launched an extended diatribe against Mr. Cruz, who pointedly declined to endorse him during his own convention speech on Wednesday and instead urged people to vote their conscience. The speech embarrassed Mr. Trump and cast a shadow of discord over the convention, which had already been marred by plagiarism in a speech by Mr. Trump’s wife, Melania, on Monday.

“I don’t want his endorsement,” Mr. Trump said angrily, in a rambling stream-of-consciousness performance that seemed half stand-up routine, half vengeful rant. “If he gives it, I won’t accept it.”

The remarks were a noteworthy display of lingering tension within the party and Mr. Trump’s inability to let go of grudges.

They also represented a seemingly inevitable reappearance of Mr. Trump’s irrepressible id. Having spoken from a teleprompter for more than an hour on Thursday, the final day of his convention, he seemed almost incapable of restraining himself any longer as the campaign moved into its next phase…

Mr. Trump briefly turned his focus from Mr. Cruz to Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent, who will be formally nominated next week at her party’s convention in Philadelphia. Attention is expected to shift to the Democrats in the coming days, but Mr. Trump said that he did not expect to watch Mrs. Clinton’s speech because she is “boring.”…

show full post on front page

At one point, the Republican nominee quipped that, as president, he might form a “super PAC” to challenge a Senate re-election bid by Mr. Cruz, before questioning the ethics of such a move. And he kept up the personal attacks, saying that Mr. Cruz did not know how to properly use his intellect…

Nonetheless, Mr. Trump said that the convention was a raging success and that the party was, in fact, coming together.

“That was unity,” Mr. Trump said from a downtown hotel here. “The party has just come together.”…

This is terrific. He's going to spend his post convention bump fretting about Ted Cruz. https://t.co/AS2N6ozvS0

— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) July 22, 2016

Suddenly today I'm seeing a lot fewer complaints about "tone policing" & a lot more recognition that "screaming angry vulgar" is a bad tone.

— jtlevy (@jtlevy) July 22, 2016

https://t.co/oxOkQA7QHw pic.twitter.com/ToLFSPlwlm

— Matt Pearce (@mattdpearce) July 22, 2016

Trump to begin receiving intelligence briefings next month https://t.co/dmMo9FZRNl pic.twitter.com/QGrIXoYfW5

— The Hill (@thehill) July 23, 2016

Can we get Trump to play a nice long game of Civilization instead?

— Kelsey D. Atherton (@AthertonKD) July 22, 2016

Late Night “Yup, Still the Wrong Choice” Open ThreadPost + Comments (159)

The RNC in Cleveland: Threat Level Plaid

by Anne Laurie|  July 21, 20164:40 am| 44 Comments

This post is in: Cruz-ifiction, Hail to the Hairpiece, Open Threads, Republicans in Disarray!, Assholes

So for the third straight night, division, disorganization and sheer hatred form meta-message of RNC 2016.

— Ed Kilgore (@ed_kilgore) July 21, 2016

I stand corrected. This @GettyImages photo is the most amazing thing to come out of Day 3 of the GOP convention. pic.twitter.com/chRc2M1Vwr

— T. Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) July 21, 2016

By calling on GOP politicians to honor their pledge to support Trump, Ingraham is preparing a post-election "stabbed in the back" myth.

— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) July 21, 2016

Omnishambles. This is an omnishambles convention.

— Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie) July 21, 2016

I didn't enjoy writing this, but I think it's true: "Why This Convention Could Turn Out To Be a Trump Success." https://t.co/NLD7p6nofy

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) July 20, 2016

I would honestly sleep easier if Kristol wrote a piece saying "Trump Will Win" https://t.co/Ke41U5oXcq

— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) July 20, 2016

Remember that the only one guaranteed to do well from Trump licensing his name is Trump. https://t.co/0zN1Oqk2nU

— John Scalzi (@scalzi) July 20, 2016

Report: Trump plans to license his name to his administration, not to run it https://t.co/KeFy4GUEo2 pic.twitter.com/M3QhRkG54t

— New York Magazine (@NYMag) July 20, 2016

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Wow, Ted Cruz got booed off the stage, didn't honor the pledge! I saw his speech two hours early but let him speak anyway. No big deal!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 21, 2016

Vote your conscience. https://t.co/xahMq2sU1q

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) July 21, 2016

Trolling level: Final Boss https://t.co/JmNEilri1r

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 21, 2016

If Ted Cruz got up on stage and said, "I'm quitting this rotting corpse of a party," then I'd celebrate his bravery as not self serving.

— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) July 21, 2016

I don't know how much longer the GOP can take the cognitive dissonance between what they've believed for decades and what Trump says.

— mieke eoyang (@MiekeEoyang) July 21, 2016

This is amazing: https://t.co/8oXunXu2X7 #RNCinCLE pic.twitter.com/lBI8tDpSz0

— Andrew Katz (@katz) July 21, 2016

Ok, because it's late and I don't care anymore: the FM of a NATO country told me the election of Trump is "the end of the West."

— Michael Weiss (@michaeldweiss) July 21, 2016

Or that Trump says America lacks the moral authority to criticize dictatorships. (Imagine what the GOP would say if a Dem nominee said it!)

— Jon Lovett (@jonlovett) July 21, 2016

It's also that Trump does this without any thought, preparation, research, or sense of history. He is flying blind, and thinks that's fine.

— Jon Lovett (@jonlovett) July 21, 2016

.@TheRickWilson I think it's more like a giant tire fire. The smell is obnoxious and the leftovers are toxic to all. .@realDonaldTrump

— MJ Welch, B.SC. (@Prairiewaif) July 21, 2016

The RNC in Cleveland: Threat Level PlaidPost + Comments (44)

Open Thread: Your 2020 Republican God-King Presidential Candidate, America!

by Anne Laurie|  July 20, 201611:13 pm| 327 Comments

This post is in: Cruz-ifiction, Open Threads, Republicans in Disarray!, Assholes, Riveted By The Sociological Significance Of It All

Amazing that Trump invited Cruz to speak w/o extracting promise of endorsement. Got rolled by Cruz, who will be the story of the night/week.

— Ryan Lizza (@RyanLizza) July 21, 2016

Anybody with more than ten minutes’ exposure to Ted Cruz expected something terrible during his speech tonight, but HOLEE FARKING 1968, BATMAN!

Cruz seems to be galvanizing #nevertrump crowd on Twitter

— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) July 21, 2016

The overhead screens at #RNCinCLE and the "crawl" around the arena now both appear to have died. Weird. Started to flicker when Cruz spoke.

— Olivier Knox (@OKnox) July 21, 2016

Crowd boos @tedcruz as he declines to endorse @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/nqLaVey8mp

— POLITICO (@politico) July 21, 2016

Good Lord. I get the context, but this still sounds like the #RNCinCLE crowd booing "God bless America." https://t.co/AnIiV8cw0o

— Daniel Drezner (@dandrezner) July 21, 2016

Does anyone really think Ted Cruz minds being booed?

— James Poniewozik (@poniewozik) July 21, 2016

This is going to make an entertaining HBO mini series one day pic.twitter.com/pY2dNs9yu4

— Joe Caporoso (@TurnOnTheJets) July 21, 2016

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Old CW: Cruz too conservative for general election
Trump CW: Liberal Ted Cruz betrays American by refusing to swear fealty to Cheeto Jesus.

— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) July 21, 2016

Heidi Cruz was escorted out by security as hecklers yelled "Goldman Sachs!" at her, @mkraju reports. #RNCinCLE

— Eric Bradner (@ericbradner) July 21, 2016

CNN reports that a man in a donor suite had to be restrained from assaulting Ted Cruz after he entered it after his speech.

— Conor Friedersdorf (@conor64) July 21, 2016

Two sources tell me Trump team actively whipped the “boos” at the end of Cruz speech

— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) July 21, 2016

Just spoke to a source who says witnessed the head of the WA delegation go "bananas" on Cruz and call him a traitor

— Rosie Gray (@RosieGray) July 21, 2016

Mike Lee declines to comment to @mkraju on Cruz's speech.

— Teddy Schleifer (@teddyschleifer) July 21, 2016

Chris Christie tells @DanaBashCNN that Cruz's speech was "awful and selfish."

— Teddy Schleifer (@teddyschleifer) July 21, 2016

BREAKING: Sources with the RNC say @Tedcruz speech was 'classless.' Party officials expected him to congratulate @realDonaldTrump.

— Bill Hemmer (@BillHemmer) July 21, 2016

Entire Senate replies, "Mmm hmmm." https://t.co/weNaDzemWW

— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) July 21, 2016

Another successful night at the #RNCinCLE! pic.twitter.com/1I7Iz46oCs

— Josh Dorner (@JoshDorner) July 21, 2016

Open Thread: Your 2020 Republican <del>God-King</del> Presidential Candidate, America!Post + Comments (327)

Open Thread: Return of the Cruz-ifiction Candidate

by Anne Laurie|  June 16, 20165:31 pm| 72 Comments

This post is in: Cruz-ifiction, Election 2016, Fables Of The Reconstruction, Open Threads, Religious Nuts, Republican Venality, Republicans in Disarray!, Assholes

.@TedCruz calls the gun filibuster a "sideshow" and says "it was offensive to see Democrat after Democrat rattling on about the NRA."

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) June 16, 2016

With the Democrats openly rebelling against the NRA (and the GOP candidate flailing on all fronts), a call went out in search of a New Hope. And guess who happened to be waiting by the phone…

You don't defeat terrorism by taking away our guns. You defeat terrorism by using our guns. https://t.co/JppvzOuH5U

— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) June 16, 2016

From the Hill, yesterday:

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) attended a confidential dinner with more than 20 top conservatives on Tuesday night to plan his comeback as a movement leader in the mold of Ronald Reagan.

The dinner was at the Virginia home of conservative activist Brent Bozell, and the agenda was to plot Cruz’s future and the future of the conservative movement.

The undertone of the dinner was about how to position Cruz for a future tilt at the presidency and to spearhead the conservative movement from his seat in the Senate, those in attendance said.

Dining with Cruz and his chief of staff, Paul Teller, were some of the most powerful figures in the conservative movement.

The spectrum of economic, national security and social conservatives seated at the table included Heritage Foundation President Jim DeMint, Club for Growth President David McIntosh, direct-mail guru Richard Viguerie, National Rifle Association board member and former Cincinnati Mayor Ken Blackwell, and Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser, sources confirmed…

Many of the leaders at the dinner want Cruz to run for president again, and they are viewing Cruz’s unsuccessful 2016 run as similar to Reagan’s failed attempt in 1976 to unseat the incumbent Republican president, Gerald Ford…

Reagan gave the grifting bigots of the “Moral Majority” a comfy seat at the top table, back in the day when AIDS was still a mysterious new “gay plague”. And as far as these good Christianists are concerned, it’s not as though the Orlando massacre involved, you know, actual American people — just “pawns of the devil“…

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On Senate floor, Ted Cruz calls Dems' #filibuster a "political show"
"This is not a gun control issue — this is a terrorism issue"

— Betsy Woodruff (@woodruffbets) June 16, 2016

He filibustered to take away people's health coverage. https://t.co/pANe5FIvCA

— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) June 16, 2016

The only possible gleam of light I can see from #Failgunner Ted’s re-emergence is that he might’ve timed it badly. He’ll never go away, but one can hope there’s enough public revulsion at his new grab for the spotlight to send him back to the fever swamps for a while.

@sahilkapur @tedcruz Cruz is a sniveling coward.THIS is what's really offensive and his hypocrisy is staggering pic.twitter.com/aTgnJx0Bnw

— B. A. Mahrab (@BAMahrab) June 16, 2016

Open Thread: Return of the Cruz-ifiction CandidatePost + Comments (72)

Never Forget Open Thread: Don’t Take Your Eye Off That Cruz Guy

by Anne Laurie|  May 12, 201610:50 pm| 95 Comments

This post is in: Cruz-ifiction, Hail to the Hairpiece, Open Threads, Republican Venality, Assholes

Cruz is asked about Fox News:

"Everyone who was responsible for the rise of Donald Trump, they will bear that responsibility going forward"

— Teddy Schleifer (@teddyschleifer) May 12, 2016

"I like Donald Trump. I think he’s terrific. I think he’s brash. I think he speaks the truth." — Ted Cruz, 6/30/15 https://t.co/qI5I6UIqvu

— Josh Barro (@jbarro) May 12, 2016

If #Failgunner Ted is currently refudiating the Short-Fingered Vulgarian, it means he thinks it’s better to wait for Deadbeat Donald to crash’n’burn in November, by which time the “Cruz 2020: He TOLD You So” campaign will be ramping up. Because it’s not like it’s so hard to win favor with his fellow Repubs…

Each GOP senator that met Trump got a one on one photo with him doing a thumbs up per @seungminkim https://t.co/qCl3M7tksh

— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) May 12, 2016

… unless you’re Ted Cruz, because nobody likes Ted Cruz. For good reason.

.@SenTedCruz arrives back in the Capitol for the 1st time since suspending his presidential bid pic.twitter.com/ZoUhElScv9

— Bill Clark (@billclarkphotos) May 10, 2016

…and essentially filibusters the parking lot. https://t.co/BFiwgCrppf

— Matt Viser (@mviser) May 10, 2016

Never Forget Open Thread: Don’t Take Your Eye Off That Cruz GuyPost + Comments (95)

This Is One For Every Patriots-Hater Out There

by Tom Levenson|  May 4, 201611:50 am| 30 Comments

This post is in: Cruz-ifiction, Gay Rights are Human Rights, Open Threads

The invaluable Charles Pierce on Donald Trump’s distinct political superpower:

It was Jeb (!) Bush who learned the second-worst thing for a candidate to be if he’s running against He, Trump—which is a humorless, privileged fop. The worst thing to be is what the Tailgunner was—a self-important dweeb with delusions of sacred grandeur. In both cases, you are a big bag of hot air in search of a needle. That is He, Trump’s only consistent political skill. No wonder Tom Brady loves him. Nobody is more skilled at deflating people than He, Trump.

I’d add — it’s hard for me to read this as anything but Barack I’m-So-Going-To-Miss-This-President Obama’s parting gift to that self important dweeb with delusions of sacred grandeur:

The White House is considering the creation of a national monument to the gay rights movement on a small piece of Greenwich Village parkland across the street from the Stonewall Inn, where a 1969 uprising helped inspire the push for equality, advocates said on Tuesday.

I know, I know. Not a done deal yet; just kicking the tires; who thought to get this out there today…

But still, even if it is a coincidence (and I’m really not sure that it is), a fine story becomes that much sweeter juxtaposed with Torquemada Cruz (you can’t torque ’em ada anything) on the occasion of his exit, stage far right.

Pedro_Berruguete_Saint_Dominic_Presiding_over_an_Auto-da-fe_1495

So yeah, while as many here have noted, Trump is a terrifying existential threat to the idea of the Republic, I still get some naches any day that Ted Cruz gets his comeuppance upside and down.

Open, the thread, it is.

Pedro Berruguete, Saint Dominic Presiding Over an Auto-da-fe, 1495

This Is One For Every Patriots-Hater Out TherePost + Comments (30)

Open Thread: (Character) Assassins on the Loose in Indiana!

by Anne Laurie|  May 3, 20163:50 pm| 170 Comments

This post is in: Cruz-ifiction, Hail to the Hairpiece, Open Threads, Republican Venality, Republicans in Disarray!, Assholes, Riveted By The Sociological Significance Of It All, Schadenfreude

This the, "I've always wanted to kill another president" look. pic.twitter.com/QPxxNqDOl5

— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) May 3, 2016

This is 2016, and #LeeHarveyOswald is trending on Twitter, because such is the state of the Republican presidential campaign. Per Politico:

Donald Trump on Tuesday alleged that Ted Cruz’s father was with John F. Kennedy’s assassin shortly before he murdered the president, parroting a National Enquirer story claiming that Rafael Cruz was pictured with Lee Harvey Oswald handing out pro-Fidel Castro pamphlets in New Orleans in 1963…

“I mean, what was he doing — what was he doing with Lee Harvey Oswald shortly before the death? Before the shooting?” Trump continued. “It’s horrible.”

Trump’s tangent followed his rebuke of Rafael Cruz using the pulpit to court evangelicals for his son.

“I implore, I exhort every member of the body of Christ to vote according to the word of God and vote for the candidate that stands on the word of God and on the Constitution of the United States of America,” Rafael Cruz said in a video clip aired by Fox News. “And I am convinced that man is my son, Ted Cruz. The alternative could be the destruction of America.”

Asked to respond, Trump called it a disgrace. “I think it’s a disgrace that he’s allowed to do it. I think it’s a disgrace that he’s allowed to say it,” he said, before touting his support from Jerry Falwell Jr. and other evangelical leaders.

“You look at so many of the ministers that are backing me, and they’re backing me more so than they’re backing Cruz, and I’m winning the evangelical vote,” Trump continued. “It’s disgraceful that his father can go out and do that. And just — and so many people are angry about it. And the evangelicals are angry about it, the way he does that.”…

Has anyone bothered to ask Rafael Cruz if he killed JFK? Maybe Trump could reassign his Hawaiian investigators onto the case.

— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) May 3, 2016

Failgunner Ted promptly returned fire, per the LA Times:

… “This man is a pathological liar,” Cruz said. “He doesn’t know the difference between truth and lies. He lies practically every word that comes out of his mouth.”…

Cruz called Trump “a narcissist at a level that I don’t think this country has ever seen. … Everything in Donald’s world is about Donald.” Not only that, Cruz said, Trump is “utterly amoral. Morality does not exist for him.”…

For good measure, Cruz also called Trump a “serial philanderer.”

“And he boasts about it … describes his battle with venereal disease as his own personal Vietnam,” Cruz added…

I actually heard @tedcruz just call @realDonaldTrump a "liar" but not denying HIS father knew & hung out with Lee Harvey Oswald-Ted???

— Sharon Andreas (@SharNeal) May 3, 2016

I can't believe the Zodiac Killer's dad helped Lee Harvey Oswald kill JFK!

— W. Axel Foley (@WAxelFoley) May 3, 2016

Me, I’m rooting for injuries. But the Sad! part — to quote one contestant — is that we all know where this will devolve, once Cruz has lost his final primaries…

Cruz last year: Trump is terrific #dealwithit
Cruz now: Trump is pathological, immoral.
Cruz in a few weeks: Time to put division behind us

— Michael B Dougherty (@michaelbd) May 3, 2016

Open Thread: (Character) Assassins on the Loose in Indiana!Post + Comments (170)

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