Author Topic: Cruz's End Game  (Read 3635 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline sinkspur

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 28,567
Cruz's End Game
« on: September 25, 2013, 03:04:11 pm »
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2013/09/25/cruzs-end-game/


Cruz’s end game

By Jennifer Rubin,
 Published: September 25 at 9:30 am



It was not that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) lacked a “game plan” on Obamacare. Cruz’s gab-fest was the end game, a way of hoisting himself above fellow gadfly Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), of attacking fellow Republicans who have the temerity to demand a legislative purpose not a chest-thumping exercise and of making sure he commands the most ardent troops on the right pining for someone to express their burning resentment and paranoia.

He will stop at nothing. The depth of his narcissism and the crassness of his politics became evident when he compared his Republican opponents to Nazi appeasers:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmlQSQVLnNM

In his air of moral superiority, he mimics President Obama, not conservative icon Ronald Reagan. Obama, to my knowledge, never dared to use the Nazi analogy, but accused Republicans of putting party above country, wanting us to breath dirty air and practicing social Darwinism. Cruz goes a step further in casting his fellow conservatives as quislings.

Unlike Winston Churchill (the man who spotted real evil), Cruz seems not to grasp that the distinguishing feature of a vibrant democracy is the toleration of and respect for political opponents (not to mention political allies). In his world, opponents are not simply wrong, but morally defective or enablers of evil.

This is an ambitious man who will not distinguish himself by legislative accomplishments nor with a legion of colleagues and acquaintances praising his personal virtues. (Does anyone from college remember him fondly?) Cruz knows that only by appealing to his base’s basest emotions — anger, paranoia, resentment, radical fervor — will he elevate himself.

Cruz is a big deal you see. He’s bigger than getting rid of Obamacare. He’s bigger than the GOP. But he will go to great lengths to convince you he is but a selfless warrior for you, the besieged conservative who can’t get anyone to tell you exactly what you want to hear — again and again, with more anger and certitude than you’ve ever heard.

It is evident that no one who didn’t fervently believe on Tuesday Obamacare is a scourge would wake up on Wednesday convinced of its destructiveness. Cruz does not persuade; he incites. The people who thought him swell on Tuesday are enraptured now, mistaking a self-serving and self-made ordeal for real political courage.

The pundit class proclaimed that even if he loses, he wins. Perhaps. There are few substantial GOP donors who would support a man so reckless with the party’s future. He’ll enjoy no support from fellow senators aside from the band of misfits supporting his charade. (Sen. David Vitter, Sen. Mike Enzi and Sen. Marco Rubio, to name three, all are suffering either an identity crisis or are in desperate need of a gold star from the party’s principal extremist.)

But by bedtime Tuesday it was evident that Cruz has further subdivided the conservative universe. A good chunk even of the conservative media began to mock him, a fate far worse than criticism. He now holds in his grasp a sliver of a sliver of the American electorate. If only intensity made up for volume.

I can’t think of a man less Reaganesque in approach and style. Reagan had an 11th commandment not to criticize fellow Republicans; that’s most of Cruz’s shtick. Reagan was self-effacing; Cruz is self-referential. Reagan was magnanimous and the quintessential happy warrior, inducing people who disagreed with him to love him; Cruz is fueled by unbridled hubris and seems perpetually angry, inducing people who agree with him to dislike him.

In the end who benefits from this? Well, those fund raising off his stunt (Heritage Action, FreedomWorks). And of course the Democrats who can, whatever suits the moment, use Cruz to paint the GOP as the party of destruction or to confuse voters about who voted to get rid of Obamacare. (A vote for cloture is a vote for Obamacare Cruz asserts!)

The smart conservatives who told us Cruz was brilliant may not have been wrong. But they should have assessed his character more carefully. Perhaps they now will.
« Last Edit: September 25, 2013, 03:06:16 pm by sinkspur »
Roy Moore's "spiritual warfare" is driving past a junior high without stopping.

Offline sinkspur

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 28,567
Re: Cruz's End Game
« Reply #1 on: September 25, 2013, 03:07:25 pm »
Cruz is the GOP's version of Barack Obama.
Roy Moore's "spiritual warfare" is driving past a junior high without stopping.

Offline ABX

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 900
  • Words full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
Re: Cruz's End Game
« Reply #2 on: September 25, 2013, 03:11:21 pm »
Cruz is the GOP's version of Barack Obama.


Weren't you decrying outrageous comparisons yesterday?

Offline Rapunzel

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 71,613
  • Gender: Female
Re: Cruz's End Game
« Reply #3 on: September 25, 2013, 04:19:19 pm »
Cruz is the GOP's version of Barack Obama.



Obama does not have a tenth of his intelligence.  You do yourself a major disservice throwing out these ad hominem remarks.
�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776

Offline GourmetDan

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 7,277
Re: Cruz's End Game
« Reply #4 on: September 25, 2013, 04:36:50 pm »
Unlike Winston Churchill (the man who spotted real evil)...

Ah yes.  Ms Rubin takes the time to sustain the idea that there are 'real' politicians.  Unfortunately, at the national-level at least, this simply isn't true.

If they get away from their masters' plans, they are simply shot.  Reagan survived and changed his tune.  Kennedy, and many others, do not survive and are replaced with more amenable tools (LBJ).

We must remember that Cruz was spotted meeting w/ McCain, a man who supposedly 'hates his guts'.  The 'hates his guts' meme is just theatre designed to increase Cruz's stature w/ conservative voters.

The gist of Ms Rubin's article is probably accurate.  Cruz is 'the man' for conservatives but will, in the end, either sell them out (if her personality assessment is correct) or be murdered (if conservative voter opinions are correct).

You simply cannot place your hopes in one man as a 'messiah'.  It must be a broad-based effort that is bigger than one man to be successful.  The 'messianic' hope will always result in either a sell-out or the death of that man.  It's too easy for our 'masters' to take out the 'messiah'.

It always happens that way... always...




"The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left." - Ecclesiastes 10:2

"The sole purpose of the Republican Party is to serve as an ineffective alternative to the Democrat Party." - GourmetDan

Offline sinkspur

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 28,567
Re: Cruz's End Game
« Reply #5 on: September 25, 2013, 04:42:54 pm »


Obama does not have a tenth of his intelligence.  You do yourself a major disservice throwing out these ad hominem remarks.

This is not about intelligence.  It's about narcissism, and these two are supremely self-absorbed self-promoters.
Roy Moore's "spiritual warfare" is driving past a junior high without stopping.

Online andy58-in-nh

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 9,735
  • Gender: Male
Re: Cruz's End Game
« Reply #6 on: September 25, 2013, 04:44:26 pm »
Quote
"Unlike Winston Churchill (the man who spotted real evil), Cruz seems not to grasp that the distinguishing feature of a vibrant democracy is the toleration of and respect for political opponents (not to mention political allies). In his world, opponents are not simply wrong, but morally defective or enablers of evil."

This might be the best modern example of political "Stockholm Syndrome" Ive ever seen. Jennifer Rubin is the Washington Post's version of a "conservative", much as is David Brooks over at the New York Times. Both have repeatedly signaled their identification with the kind of Republicans found most acceptable to their ilk: pliable, non-ideological, and embarrassed by their own base voters.

But I have rarely seen such an overt example of identifying with one's enemies as Ms. Rubin's statement above, in which conservatives are accused - without a shred of supporting documentation - of doing precisely what left-wing Democrats do on an almost hourly basis.

The same Progressives who routinely employ character assassination and smears against conservatives passed ObamaCare without a single Republican vote, and did so by twisting both rules and arms. Is that the sort of behavior that Rubin sees as exemplary of a "vibrant democracy'? As for "toleration and respect", try doing a Google search on "Republican" or "Tea Party" and any one of the following: "racist", "sexist" "bigot", "homophobe", "crazy", dangerous", "evil".

To be fair, the slurs don't just come from Democrats. They also drip from the lips of white wine cocktail party establishment Republicans whose loyalty is not to the Constitution, but to the Ruling Class of which they are a part.
"The most terrifying force of death, comes from the hands of Men who wanted to be left Alone. They try, so very hard, to mind their own business and provide for themselves and those they love. They resist every impulse to fight back, knowing the forced and permanent change of life that will come from it. They know, that the moment they fight back, their lives as they have lived them, are over. -Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Offline Rapunzel

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 71,613
  • Gender: Female
Re: Cruz's End Game
« Reply #7 on: September 25, 2013, 04:44:33 pm »
This is not about intelligence.  It's about narcissism, and these two are supremely self-absorbed self-promoters.



Ummm no... THEY aren't.... Obama is....
�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776

Offline sinkspur

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 28,567
Re: Cruz's End Game
« Reply #8 on: September 25, 2013, 04:45:38 pm »

Weren't you decrying outrageous comparisons yesterday?

You see no similarities in Cruz and Obama?  Even Obama hasn't compared Republicans to Nazi enablers.
Roy Moore's "spiritual warfare" is driving past a junior high without stopping.

Offline Rapunzel

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 71,613
  • Gender: Female
Re: Cruz's End Game
« Reply #9 on: September 25, 2013, 04:50:49 pm »
You see no similarities in Cruz and Obama?  Even Obama hasn't compared Republicans to Nazi enablers.



No... what I see is you continue to attack a good, reliable CONSERVATIVE senator who is fighting to save our country from a bill you clearly want implemented .... no matter how much damage will be done to the country and every day Americans cannot afford.   That is what I see. . So I applaud and respect the senators fighting fir our country... putting country ahead of self.   
�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776

Offline Cincinnatus

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5,513
Re: Cruz's End Game
« Reply #10 on: September 25, 2013, 05:11:49 pm »
A selection of my favorite quotes in a veritable smorgasbord of such comments.

Quote
Cruz’s gab-fest was the end game, a way of hoisting himself above fellow gadfly Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), of attacking fellow Republicans who have the temerity to demand a legislative purpose not a chest-thumping exercise and of making sure he commands the most ardent troops on the right pining for someone to express their burning resentment and paranoia...The depth of his narcissism and the crassness of his politics became evident...In his air of moral superiority...This is an ambitious man...Cruz knows that only by appealing to his base’s basest emotions — anger, paranoia, resentment, radical fervor — will he elevate himself...Cruz does not persuade; he incites. The people who thought him swell on Tuesday are enraptured now, mistaking a self-serving and self-made ordeal for real political courage...I can’t think of a man less Reaganesque in approach and style...Cruz is fueled by unbridled hubris and seems perpetually angry, inducing people who agree with him to dislike him.

Is it any wonder Sinkspur chose this piece from, as Andy58-in-nh notes, the Washington Posts' house "Conservative"? It is a litany of personal attacks, ad hominem arguments, mudslinging, and half truths. It suits his style perfectly.
We shall never be abandoned by Heaven while we act worthy of its aid ~~ Samuel Adams

Online massadvj

  • Editorial Advisor
  • *****
  • Posts: 13,322
  • Gender: Male
Re: Cruz's End Game
« Reply #11 on: September 25, 2013, 05:56:42 pm »
I don't know who Jennifer Rubin is watching, but the guy I have been watching is articulate, reasonable, informed and compelling.  It seems to me Jennifer and others (Krauthammer, for example) are overly worried about their influence within the GOP.  They doth protest too much.

Offline Rapunzel

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 71,613
  • Gender: Female
Re: Cruz's End Game
« Reply #12 on: September 25, 2013, 05:59:12 pm »
I don't know who Jennifer Rubin is watching, but the guy I have been watching is articulate, reasonable, informed and compelling.  It seems to me Jennifer and others (Krauthammer, for example) are overly worried about their influence within the GOP.  They doth protest too much.


Word
�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776

Offline sinkspur

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 28,567
Re: Cruz's End Game
« Reply #13 on: September 25, 2013, 06:01:21 pm »


No... what I see is you continue to attack a good, reliable CONSERVATIVE senator who is fighting to save our country from a bill you clearly want implemented .... no matter how much damage will be done to the country and every day Americans cannot afford.   That is what I see. . So I applaud and respect the senators fighting fir our country... putting country ahead of self.

If you think Ted Cruz is putting country ahead of his own selfish interests, you know nothing of narcissistic personalities.
Roy Moore's "spiritual warfare" is driving past a junior high without stopping.

Offline sinkspur

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 28,567
Re: Cruz's End Game
« Reply #14 on: September 25, 2013, 06:03:21 pm »
A selection of my favorite quotes in a veritable smorgasbord of such comments.

Is it any wonder Sinkspur chose this piece from, as Andy58-in-nh notes, the Washington Posts' house "Conservative"? It is a litany of personal attacks, ad hominem arguments, mudslinging, and half truths. It suits his style perfectly.

You use every post lately to attack me.  In fact, in every post attacking me you accuse me of attacking somebody else. 

And you fail to see the irony.

Roy Moore's "spiritual warfare" is driving past a junior high without stopping.

Offline Rapunzel

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 71,613
  • Gender: Female
Re: Cruz's End Game
« Reply #15 on: September 25, 2013, 06:04:02 pm »
If you think Ted Cruz is putting country ahead of his own selfish interests, you know nothing of narcissistic personalities.

�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776

Offline ABX

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 900
  • Words full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
Re: Cruz's End Game
« Reply #16 on: September 25, 2013, 06:04:27 pm »
I don't know who Jennifer Rubin is watching, but the guy I have been watching is articulate, reasonable, informed and compelling.  It seems to me Jennifer and others (Krauthammer, for example) are overly worried about their influence within the GOP.  They doth protest too much.

I hope they realize soon that the old guard like McCain are fading away and being replaced by people like Cruz and Paul. They aren't hitching to the train that has a future.

Offline GourmetDan

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 7,277
Re: Cruz's End Game
« Reply #17 on: September 25, 2013, 06:05:18 pm »
You use every post lately to attack me.  In fact, in every post attacking me you accuse me of attacking somebody else. 

And you fail to see the irony.

So... people can't point out that you constantly attack people without 'attacking' you?

And you fail to see the fallacy?


"The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left." - Ecclesiastes 10:2

"The sole purpose of the Republican Party is to serve as an ineffective alternative to the Democrat Party." - GourmetDan

Offline Cincinnatus

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5,513
Re: Cruz's End Game
« Reply #18 on: September 25, 2013, 10:18:37 pm »
You use every post lately to attack me.  In fact, in every post attacking me you accuse me of attacking somebody else. 

And you fail to see the irony
.

I shall endeavor to educate you on the difference between me and thee.

Here are some of your typical posts.

Cruz is a balless wonder...Cruz has been staging nothing but a fund-raising stunt...Ted's a prima donna...an arrogant self-promoter like Cruz... his arrogance and abrasive personality...Cruz and Obama share one trait: narcissism.

Those are merely a few of yours I found referring to Senator Cruz. I found similar ones about Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, and Rapunzel, but chose to use only those having to do with Senator Cruz because there are so many of them, they are so very easy to find, and they capture your style with such clarity. Note how they are all personal attacks, vituperation directed at the individual rather than his ideas.

Thus I can say without fear of contradiction: Is it any wonder Sinkspur chose this piece from, as Andy58-in-nh notes, the Washington Posts' house "Conservative"? It is a litany of personal attacks, ad hominem arguments, mudslinging, and half truths. It suits his style perfectly.

I do NOT attack you personally. I do attack the way you post because it consist of little more than "personal attacks, ad hominem arguments, mudslinging, and half truths". I find it personally offensive, feel it contributes nothing of value to the Forum, and, in fact, is far below the customary standards here while lowering its overall quality.

That is not a "personal attack". It's a fact.
We shall never be abandoned by Heaven while we act worthy of its aid ~~ Samuel Adams

Offline sinkspur

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 28,567
Re: Cruz's End Game
« Reply #19 on: September 25, 2013, 10:24:01 pm »
You use every post lately to attack me.  In fact, in every post attacking me you accuse me of attacking somebody else. 

And you fail to see the irony
.

I shall endeavor to educate you on the difference between me and thee.

Here are some of your typical posts.

Cruz is a balless wonder...Cruz has been staging nothing but a fund-raising stunt...Ted's a prima donna...an arrogant self-promoter like Cruz... his arrogance and abrasive personality...Cruz and Obama share one trait: narcissism.

Those are merely a few of yours I found referring to Senator Cruz. I found similar ones about Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, and Rapunzel, but chose to use only those having to do with Senator Cruz because there are so many of them, they are so very easy to find, and they capture your style with such clarity. Note how they are all personal attacks, vituperation directed at the individual rather than his ideas.

Thus I can say without fear of contradiction: Is it any wonder Sinkspur chose this piece from, as Andy58-in-nh notes, the Washington Posts' house "Conservative"? It is a litany of personal attacks, ad hominem arguments, mudslinging, and half truths. It suits his style perfectly.

I do NOT attack you personally. I do attack the way you post because it consist of little more than "personal attacks, ad hominem arguments, mudslinging, and half truths". I find it personally offensive, feel it contributes nothing of value to the Forum, and, in fact, is far below the customary standards here while lowering its overall quality.

That is not a "personal attack". It's a fact.

I've got a deal that ought to make you happy.

I ignore you.

You ignore me.

You may not uphold your end of that deal, but I will have no trouble upholding mine.
Roy Moore's "spiritual warfare" is driving past a junior high without stopping.

Offline Cincinnatus

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5,513
Re: Cruz's End Game
« Reply #20 on: September 25, 2013, 11:02:40 pm »
How does your demand become my "end of the deal"?
We shall never be abandoned by Heaven while we act worthy of its aid ~~ Samuel Adams

Oceander

  • Guest
Re: Cruz's End Game
« Reply #21 on: September 26, 2013, 02:32:11 am »
I've got a deal that ought to make you happy.

I ignore you.

You ignore me.

You may not uphold your end of that deal, but I will have no trouble upholding mine.

That would be a most wonderful deal, and I'll take you at your word that you'll have no trouble upholding your end of it.