The Briefing Room

General Category => Politics/Government => Topic started by: sinkspur on February 14, 2014, 05:49:32 pm

Title: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: sinkspur on February 14, 2014, 05:49:32 pm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/02/14/ted-cruz-isnt-planning-to-be-in-the-senate-for-very-long/


Ted Cruz isn’t planning to be in the Senate for very long


    By Chris Cillizza   
    February 14 at 9:00 am

On Wednesday, Ted Cruz did something you almost never see in the Senate: He purposefully made political life harder for his Republican colleagues.

By forcing the Senate to round up 60 votes to end debate and force a final vote on a clean increase of the debt ceiling, Cruz knowingly complicated things for the top two Republicans in the chamber -- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn (Texas). Both men face primary challenges from their ideological right and neither relished the idea of helping break a filibuster for a debt ceiling increase with no Republican proposals attached.

Here's how the Wall Street Journal's conservative op-ed page described what Cruz did:

    "We're all for holding politicians accountable with votes on substantive issues, but Mr. Cruz knew he couldn't stop a debt increase the House had already passed. He also had no alternative strategy if the bill had failed, other than to shut down the government again, take public attention away from ObamaCare, and make Republicans even more unpopular."

It's not news that Cruz cares little for Senate tradition. He ran in 2012 on his willingness to shake up the institution, and time and again -- most notably during his nearly 24 hour talk-a-thon to protest Obamacare -- he has been willing (and gleefully so) to be a fly in the ointment. But, this latest gambit by Cruz may well be the most telling because it directly impacts two men who, if Cruz had any thought of sticking around the Senate for any extended period of time, not only could, but would make life very uncomfortable for him.

There is nothing that politicians -- and especially Senators -- hate more than being forced into a politically uncomfortable vote by a colleague of the same party. McConnell and Cornyn, both of whom are favorites to win their primaries, will never forget Cruz's move this past week.  And, Cruz is plenty smart enough to realize that.

Cruz, ultimately, wants to be president. And, he may well seize his high profile and his status as a hero among the tea party to run in 2016. (If he runs, he is either in or very close to the top tier of candidates.)  If Cruz doesn't win (or doesn't run), he won't be up for re-election until 2o18.  He may well run for a second term but if he decides at some point between now and then -- or even after he is re-elected -- to go the Jim DeMint route and simply walk away from the Senate, don't be surprised.

Cruz won't be climbing the leadership ladder. Ever.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: truth_seeker on February 14, 2014, 06:18:05 pm
Great speaker. Ambition to be President. Piss off your colleagues. Lacks good judgment. Big talk, but no results.

Describes?
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: raml on February 14, 2014, 09:31:13 pm
Obama!
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Rapunzel on February 14, 2014, 09:35:59 pm
Obama!

(http://invisiblebread.com/comics-firstpanel/2012-04-05-a-high-five.png)

good on you raml......
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: sinkspur on February 14, 2014, 09:44:38 pm
Great speaker. Ambition to be President. Piss off your colleagues. Lacks good judgment. Big talk, but no results.

Describes?

Cruz is following the Obama playbook perfectly. 
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: truth_seeker on February 15, 2014, 02:18:50 am
Cruz is following the Obama playbook perfectly.
Why not? It worked, especially with low information types.

"Sure, okay. Trash the good faith and credit of the United States, harm the economy, anything with shock value, never mind the lack of votes to pull it all off, just give me the microphone-and the chance for headlines."
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Rapunzel on February 15, 2014, 02:26:55 am
Do ANY OF YOU realize what The President is doing while people like McConnell and Boehner sit back and bite their fingernails in fear of doing everything possible to stop him???  No - what you do is go after the very few we have in congress trying to stop this madman from taking over our country...... get over yourselves and your hatred for Cruz and the Tea Party and realize what is going on because it is very soon going to be too late to do anything... and I blame every one of you who are so afraid of change you support people who are well past their expiration dates and are as much the problem as the Democrats.  These people are not working for US they are in it for themselves and the hell with all of us - the ONLY people trying to help us are people like Cruz, Lee, Paul and about 60 men and women in congress.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: alicewonders on February 15, 2014, 02:40:24 am
Do ANY OF YOU realize what The President is doing while people like McConnell and Boehner sit back and bite their fingernails in fear of doing everything possible to stop him???  No - what you do is go after the very few we have in congress trying to stop this madman from taking over our country...... get over yourselves and your hatred for Cruz and the Tea Party and realize what is going on because it is very soon going to be too late to do anything... and I blame every one of you who are so afraid of change you support people who are well past their expiration dates and are as much the problem as the Democrats.  These people are not working for US they are in it for themselves and the hell with all of us - the ONLY people trying to help us are people like Cruz, Lee, Paul and about 60 men and women in congress.

 :amen:   :patriot:   :beer:   goopo
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Formerly Once-Ler on February 15, 2014, 05:27:18 am
Do ANY OF YOU realize what The President is doing while people like McConnell and Boehner sit back and bite their fingernails in fear of doing everything possible to stop him???  No - what you do is go after the very few we have in congress trying to stop this madman from taking over our country...... get over yourselves and your hatred for Cruz and the Tea Party and realize what is going on because it is very soon going to be too late to do anything... and I blame every one of you who are so afraid of change you support people who are well past their expiration dates and are as much the problem as the Democrats.  These people are not working for US they are in it for themselves and the hell with all of us - the ONLY people trying to help us are people like Cruz, Lee, Paul and about 60 men and women in congress.

It's funny how I see you as the misguided fool.  Working so hard to destroy the only realistic chance we have in stopping Obama...voting in Republicans.  But your post shows you fear working with a majority of Americans to solve our problems and your arrogance in thinking you can demand to get your way through the force of your righteous indignation.  The GOPe no longer fears you.  The world no longer revolves around 3 pitiful freshmen Senators and 60 Congressmen.  You are outnumbered in this war.  comeback when you got more guys.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Carling on February 15, 2014, 06:03:14 am
Great speaker. Ambition to be President. Piss off your colleagues. Lacks good judgment. Big talk, but no results.

Describes?

If Cruz runs in 2016, then I will dismiss all of his actions as political theater.  If he does not, then perhaps he actually does want to change the Senate.  I'm 90% that it's the former, but if it's the latter, then I'm willing to not dismiss him as a sideshow barker.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: aligncare on February 15, 2014, 12:51:20 pm
Do ANY OF YOU realize what The President is doing while people like McConnell and Boehner sit back and bite their fingernails in fear of doing everything possible to stop him???  No - what you do is go after the very few we have in congress trying to stop this madman from taking over our country...... get over yourselves and your hatred for Cruz and the Tea Party and realize what is going on because it is very soon going to be too late to do anything... and I blame every one of you who are so afraid of change you support people who are well past their expiration dates and are as much the problem as the Democrats.  These people are not working for US they are in it for themselves and the hell with all of us - the ONLY people trying to help us are people like Cruz, Lee, Paul and about 60 men and women in congress.

That's how I see it, too. History teaches me that politics as usual gets us to Obama/McConnell/Boehner arguing about the arrangement of deck chairs. Meanwhile, "Captain, we're taking on water!"
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: aligncare on February 15, 2014, 12:54:31 pm
It's funny how I see you as the misguided fool.  Working so hard to destroy the only realistic chance we have in stopping Obama...voting in Republicans

That's where you're wrong. Republicans don't mind big government bureaucracies as long as they're in charge of it.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: massadvj on February 15, 2014, 01:27:04 pm
It's funny how I see you as the misguided fool.  Working so hard to destroy the only realistic chance we have in stopping Obama...voting in Republicans.

And Republicans are stopping Obama how, exactly?  By capitulating to his every whim?
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Oceander on February 15, 2014, 02:53:45 pm
Great speaker. Ambition to be President. Piss off your colleagues. Lacks good judgment. Big talk, but no results.

Describes?

Do ANY OF YOU realize what The President is doing while people like McConnell and Boehner sit back and bite their fingernails in fear of doing everything possible to stop him???  No - what you do is go after the very few we have in congress trying to stop this madman from taking over our country...... get over yourselves and your hatred for Cruz and the Tea Party and realize what is going on because it is very soon going to be too late to do anything... and I blame every one of you who are so afraid of change you support people who are well past their expiration dates and are as much the problem as the Democrats.  These people are not working for US they are in it for themselves and the hell with all of us - the ONLY people trying to help us are people like Cruz, Lee, Paul and about 60 men and women in congress.

It's funny how I see you as the misguided fool.  Working so hard to destroy the only realistic chance we have in stopping Obama...voting in Republicans.  But your post shows you fear working with a majority of Americans to solve our problems and your arrogance in thinking you can demand to get your way through the force of your righteous indignation.  The GOPe no longer fears you.  The world no longer revolves around 3 pitiful freshmen Senators and 60 Congressmen.  You are outnumbered in this war.  comeback when you got more guys.

(http://moodyeyeview.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/liberal-circular-firing-squad-430x219.jpg)


And this is precisely why Obama and the democrats will continue to run things after 2014 - may even have a lock on Congress, again - and may even give us President Hillary Clinton in 2016, even though it should be more and more obvious by now that they've thoroughly trashed the country. 


Instead of shooting at each other, why not at least try shooting at the democrats from time to time?  Heaven knows they've given you enough juicy targets - even someone who couldn't hit the broad side of a barn could at least get a wing-shot in with the targets they've provided.

The blame goes both ways.

How about this:

(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qahxm4GSj_U/TymKE6GayzI/AAAAAAAAAVk/JIXMuJBmTVU/s1600/Good+Cop+Bad+Cop.jpg)



The Cruzes of the world, and the tea partiers, make the perfect bad-cop foils to the Boehner, et al., good-cops; conversely, the Boehner good-cops make the perfect foils to the Cruz bad-cops.  Or would, if only they - and their supporters - could get their heads out of each other's nether regions long enough to realize that.


So why don't the lot of you try applying a little more of the 11th Commandment - and a little more intelligence and common sense - and make common ground?  Otherwise, you're nothing more than the perfect campaign ad for the democrats:


Hillary for President 2016
this ad brought to you by the GOP
(and paid for by the rest of the country)


Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Bigun on February 15, 2014, 03:03:58 pm
(http://moodyeyeview.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/liberal-circular-firing-squad-430x219.jpg)


And this is precisely why Obama and the democrats will continue to run things after 2014 - may even have a lock on Congress, again - and may even give us President Hillary Clinton in 2016, even though it should be more and more obvious by now that they've thoroughly trashed the country. 


Instead of shooting at each other, why not at least try shooting at the democrats from time to time?  Heaven knows they've given you enough juicy targets - even someone who couldn't hit the broad side of a barn could at least get a wing-shot in with the targets they've provided.

The blame goes both ways.

How about this:

(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qahxm4GSj_U/TymKE6GayzI/AAAAAAAAAVk/JIXMuJBmTVU/s1600/Good+Cop+Bad+Cop.jpg)



The Cruzes of the world, and the tea partiers, make the perfect bad-cop foils to the Boehner, et al., good-cops; conversely, the Boehner good-cops make the perfect foils to the Cruz bad-cops.  Or would, if only they - and their supporters - could get their heads out of each other's nether regions long enough to realize that.


So why don't the lot of you try applying a little more of the 11th Commandment - and a little more intelligence and common sense - and make common ground?  Otherwise, you're nothing more than the perfect campaign ad for the democrats:


Hillary for President 2016
this ad brought to you by the GOP
(and paid for by the rest of the country)


I strongly disagree with your entire post but will defend to death your right to post it!

There is currently a battle going on for the heart and soul of the Republican party and that battle MUST be won by conservatives! If it isn't this country is FINISHED as anything even remotely like a free country!
 
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Oceander on February 15, 2014, 03:42:28 pm
I strongly disagree with your entire post but will defend to death your right to post it!

There is currently a battle going on for the heart and soul of the Republican party and that battle MUST be won by conservatives! If it isn't this country is FINISHED as anything even remotely like a free country!
 

Disagree away.  Just do so with the awareness that your views are antithetical to those of Reagan:
Quote
When I began entering into the give and take of legislative bargaining in Sacramento, a lot of the most radical conservatives who had supported me during the election didn't like it.


"Compromise" was a dirty word to them and they wouldn't face the fact that we couldn't get all of what we wanted today. They wanted all or nothing and they wanted it all at once. If you don't get it all, some said, don't take anything.


I'd learned while negotiating union contracts that you seldom got everything you asked for. And I agreed with FDR, who said in 1933: 'I have no expectations of making a hit every time I come to bat. What I seek is the highest possible batting average.'


If you got seventy-five or eighty percent of what you were asking for, I say, you take it and fight for the rest later, and that's what I told these radical conservatives who never got used to it.


That you were a purist who demanded all or nothing, and never compromised on that principle will be cold comfort when you're suffering in the fetters of socialism being forged for you even now.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Bigun on February 15, 2014, 03:50:49 pm
Disagree away.  Just do so with the awareness that your views are antithetical to those of Reagan:

That you were a purist who demanded all or nothing, and never compromised on that principle will be cold comfort when you're suffering in the fetters of socialism being forged for you even now.

I have labored in the vineyard of the Republican party for more than 40 years now (since 1972), observed the 11th commandment for most of that time,  and what has it brought me? NO MORE will I be silent when I see fellow Republicans aligning themselves with the forces of EVIL!

NEVER AGAIN!
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: alicewonders on February 15, 2014, 03:59:41 pm
I strongly disagree with your entire post but will defend to death your right to post it!

There is currently a battle going on for the heart and soul of the Republican party and that battle MUST be won by conservatives! If it isn't this country is FINISHED as anything even remotely like a free country!

Could not agree more Bigun!  This is no time for business as usual - and it is certainly NOT the time to go wobbly in the knees!  Not only are we engaged in a battle for the heart and soul of the Republican party - we are in a battle for the survival of our American destiny. 

How can we entrust the GOP as currently led to wage this do-or-die battle?  We can't!  They run for cover as soon as the going gets rough.  People like Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Mike Lee and a few other courageous people are willing to put their necks on the chopping block to actually stand up and fight this monstrous rape of our life, liberty and pursuits of happiness!

These things will never be found while clinging to the government teat!

I swear - there are people here that are absolutely OBSESSED with hating on Ted Cruz!  It seems that they stalk the board, searching for any mention of Cruz so they can pounce on him and pummel his body to a bloody pulp!!!

WHY???  Because he DARES to stand up to the powers that be!  He dares to enter the battle that they say "can't be won". 

I'm sure there were those that said those things about Normandy and D-Day - thank God we had leaders that refused to listen.  Victory is not for the timid.  Instead of giving Cruz bloody hell - how about backing him and perhaps giving others who are more timid some cover so they will wage the battle too?  We need all the help we can get - and I don't want to hear anymore of this crap that we can't win the battle right now and we have to concede... concede... concede... CONCEDE... (which will supposedly put the Democrats in a tight spot to have to concede some of their sacred cows  :chairbang: - that's really rich!  :silly:) - until we can gain control and defeat them!  That is suicide!  Yeah...right - the GOP is going to gain control by insulting and mocking their base and by letting the media and their progressive mole consultants tell them that they must become more like the Democrats to win elections.  You can't make this stuff up!
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: EC on February 15, 2014, 04:05:59 pm
I have labored in the vineyard of the Republican party for more than 40 years now (since 1972), observed the 11th commandment for most of that time,  and what has it brought me? NO MORE will I be silent when I see fellow Republicans aligning themselves with the forces of EVIL!

NEVER AGAIN!

You still do, my brother - the bolded bits. You speak of them in your silence most of the time. That's pretty neat and something I respect.

I am not going all out for Cruz for only one reason. He's kept his word. He's shaking things up and getting people to notice how bad things are. But you know pup officers come in all eager and excited and half of them implode within a few months. I want to see him tested in the green, not in theory. Thus far, I like him. Don't always agree with him, that's a given.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Bigun on February 15, 2014, 04:06:19 pm
Could not agree more Bigun!  This is no time for business as usual - and it is certainly NOT the time to go wobbly in the knees!  Not only are we engaged in a battle for the heart and soul of the Republican party - we are in a battle for the survival of our American destiny. 

How can we entrust the GOP as currently led to wage this do-or-die battle?  We can't!  They run for cover as soon as the going gets rough.  People like Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Mike Lee and a few other courageous people are willing to put their necks on the chopping block to actually stand up and fight this monstrous rape of our life, liberty and pursuits of happiness!

These things will never be found while clinging to the government teat!

I swear - there are people here that are absolutely OBSESSED with hating on Ted Cruz!  It seems that they stalk the board, searching for any mention of Cruz so they can pounce on him and pummel his body to a bloody pulp!!!

WHY???  Because he DARES to stand up to the powers that be!  He dares to enter the battle that they say "can't be won". 

I'm sure there were those that said those things about Normandy and D-Day - thank God we had leaders that refused to listen.  Victory is not for the timid.  Instead of giving Cruz bloody hell - how about backing him and perhaps giving others who are more timid some cover so they will wage the battle too?  We need all the help we can get - and I don't want to hear anymore of this crap that we can't win the battle right now and we have to concede... concede... concede... CONCEDE... (which will supposedly put the Democrats in a tight spot to have to concede some of their sacred cows  :chairbang: - that's really rich!  :silly:) - until we can gain control and defeat them!  That is suicide!  Yeah...right - the GOP is going to gain control by insulting and mocking their base and by letting the media and their progressive mole consultants tell them that they must become more like the Democrats to win elections.  You can't make this stuff up!

BRAVO!!!!

 :hands: :hands: :hands: :hands: :hands: :hands: :hands: :hands: :hands: :hands: :hands: :hands:

 :bighug:
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Bigun on February 15, 2014, 04:10:37 pm
You still do, my brother - the bolded bits. You speak of them in your silence most of the time. That's pretty neat and something I respect.

I am not going all out for Cruz for only one reason. He's kept his word. He's shaking things up and getting people to notice how bad things are. But you know pup officers come in all eager and excited and half of them implode within a few months. I want to see him tested in the green, not in theory. Thus far, I like him. Don't always agree with him, that's a given.

Thank You for the kind words my brother!

Hell! I Don't always agree with him but I DO very much admire the fact that he is out there leading from the front as all REAL leaders do! As you say we will have to wait and see what it comes to but at this moment I could not be more proud of the man!
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: alicewonders on February 15, 2014, 04:12:13 pm
BRAVO!!!!

 :hands: :hands: :hands: :hands: :hands: :hands: :hands: :hands: :hands: :hands: :hands: :hands:

 :bighug:

Thanks Bigun - my brother in battle - prayers for our victory!  We have truth on our side. 

 :patriot:
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Bigun on February 15, 2014, 04:17:11 pm
Thanks Bigun - my brother in battle - prayers for our victory!  We have truth on our side. 

 :patriot:

We're going to win Alice! Count on it!

 :vote:
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: EC on February 15, 2014, 04:18:09 pm
Thank You for the kind words my brother!

Hell! I Don't always agree with him but I DO very much admire the fact that he is out there leading from the front as all REAL leaders do! As you say we will have to wait and see what it comes to but at this moment I could not be more proud of the man!

 :beer:

I wouldn't necessarily trust him to take a strike team into Hell. I would trust him to get them out in mostly one piece.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Rapunzel on February 15, 2014, 04:48:28 pm
Thanks Bigun - my brother in battle - prayers for our victory!  We have truth on our side. 

 :patriot:


Perhaps the Cruz haters and posters telling us to fall in line and shut up can show us what the,old guard GOP gas accomplished lately??? All they do is capitulate while Obama and his minions steal the country from under them.. fun fact, if we didn't have Cruz, Lee, Paul the,take over would be complete and won without,a whimper from the GOP... and telling us Boehner gave us sequester don t fly, he caved on it,at his first opportunity.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Bigun on February 15, 2014, 04:49:47 pm
(https://scontent-a-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t1/1558581_675558725837593_2122776130_n.jpg)
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: 240B on February 15, 2014, 04:53:55 pm
Obama is a horrible role model. He is a horrible manager. He is a horrible 'American'. He is a horrible President. He is a horrible worker who would get fired within a month if he worked at Burger King.
 
He is a slacker stoner from who knows where, with no mother, no father, and an extended Muslim family in Kenya. He comes from a crazy mother, a father who abandoned him, and a disfunctional childhood. He was unwanted and kicked around like a soccer ball as a child, and he does not know who he is.
 
Obama is the exact opposite of everything America represents. When he says things like, "Our forefathers, fought a revolution..." I always wonder who he is talking about. His forefathers fought lions for after-kill. He didn't fight any revolution. What is he talking about?
 
But,
 
Obama is making America stronger. Obama is way too stupid and gauche to 'boil the frog'. He is like an awkward retarded giant who comes in and says, "I want cotton candy!!" and when the store clerk says they don't have any cotton candy, he repeats, "I want cotton candy!!" Hulk Smash!!
 
The point is he has exposed both the Left and the Right for the greedy money hording worms that they are. He has put the spotlight on government like never before. He has exposed, through his childish stupidity, the graft, greed, corruption, and cronyism that is embedded in goverment from top to bottom.
 
Just like every single thing with the Left, they always accomplish the opposite of what ever they set out to do.
 
Obama will be the best thing to ever happen to America. He is destroying the Washington establishment. In a few years, after Obama is long gone and no one in high school even knows his name or who he was, America will be stronger for it.
 
Obama is challenging the weak points in America, and after we get rid of this fool, we will be stronger for it.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Rapunzel on February 15, 2014, 04:57:52 pm
Good points 240.  What dome mock or call a circular firing squad is actually a lot of us woken up and fighting for the soul of the nation.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Bigun on February 15, 2014, 05:00:28 pm
Good points 240.  What some mock or call a circular firing squad is actually a lot of us woken up and fighting for the soul of the nation.

 :beer:
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: alicewonders on February 15, 2014, 05:16:44 pm
Good points 240.  What dome mock or call a circular firing squad is actually a lot of us woken up and fighting for the soul of the nation.

Good post Rap!  We will not be silenced by those who mock us and try their level best to shift the blame on Washington's problems over to us!  It wasn't the tea partiers that brought us to this point - poised on the edge of the cliff, staring down at the jagged rocks.  We will not be silenced - the rest of the country should be THANKING us for being willing to stand up for them!
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Rapunzel on February 15, 2014, 05:25:11 pm
 8888crybaby
Good post Rap!  We will not be silenced by those who mock us and try their level best to shift the blame on Washington's problems over to us!  It wasn't the tea partiers that brought us to this point - poised on the edge of the cliff, staring down at the jagged rocks.  We will not be silenced - the rest of the country should be THANKING us for being willing to stand up for them!


I think a lot of people fear change so they are okay with status quo no matter if quo is taking all of us down a rabbit hole...  it's why they vote for the same old politicians year in and year out, all they care about is whether the person is an R or a D, they never stop to look at what the politician is doing to screw America..
 And by extension the person voting.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: aligncare on February 16, 2014, 01:32:34 pm
Great outpouring. I've got nothing to add. Y'all said it better than I could.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: DCPatriot on February 16, 2014, 02:27:56 pm

 
Obama will be the best thing to ever happen to America. He is destroying the Washington establishment. In a few years, after Obama is long gone and no one in high school even knows his name or who he was, America will be stronger for it.
 
Obama is challenging the weak points in America, and after we get rid of this fool, we will be stronger for it.



Translation:  Don't think a Republican will EVER be able to get away with this sh*t!   :patriot:
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Luis Gonzalez on February 16, 2014, 02:56:17 pm
8888crybaby

I think a lot of people fear change so they are okay with status quo no matter if quo is taking all of us down a rabbit hole...  it's why they vote for the same old politicians year in and year out, all they care about is whether the person is an R or a D, they never stop to look at what the politician is doing to screw America..
 And by extension the person voting.

I'm just baffled how so many people still work under the assumption that there are two separate parties vying for power in DC.

If we all stop watching the social issues puppet show just long enough to analyze what's been going on in this country for the past several decades, we may actually figure out that no matter which "party" has been in power at what time, government expansionism and the move toward central planning-style Socialism has been constant, and relentless. 

When in the Course of human events...
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Bigun on February 16, 2014, 03:18:27 pm
I'm just baffled how so many people still work under the assumption that there are two separate parties vying for power in DC.

If we all stop watching the social issues puppet show just long enough to analyze what's been going on in this country for the past several decades, we may actually figure out that no matter which "party" has been in power at what time, government expansionism and the move toward central planning-style Socialism has been constant, and relentless. 

When in the Course of human events...

You are right about that and ONE of the current political parties has been selling itself as the one who will FIGHT to stop that but always never quite getting there! It's always wait until ____________ (you fill in the blank) with them and I'm SICK TO DEATH OF IT!   They finally and conclusively proved that to me when the very second one of theirs (Ted Cruz) actually tried to DO what he had promised to do in his campaign the long knives came out! NO MORE of that for me! Henceforth I will be working with the TEA party and other like groups  to take over the Republican party from the inside out! I am with them all the way in that effort!
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Luis Gonzalez on February 16, 2014, 03:37:19 pm
You are right about that and ONE of the current political parties has been selling itself as the one who will FIGHT to stop that but always never quite getting there! It's always wait until ____________ (you fill in the blank) with them and I'm SICK TO DEATH OF IT!   They finally and conclusively proved that to me when the very second one of theirs (Ted Cruz) actually tried to DO what he had promised to do in his campaign the long knives came out! NO MORE of that for me! Henceforth I will be working with the TEA party and other like groups  to take over the Republican party from the inside out! I am with them all the way in that effort!

There you go.

Sort of like an "Occupy the GOP" movement without the drum circles.

Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: andy58-in-nh on February 16, 2014, 03:39:47 pm
Greetings, all.

I haven't been around these parts for quite a while now, largely owing to my new responsibilities, which have consumed an average of 60 hours per week for the past six weeks. I've been catching up on sleep much of the rest of the time, or else I've been consumed with the mundane chores attendant to blissful domesticity, e.g.: chopping wood to feed the stove, blowing snow off the driveway, repairing drafty doors and leaky pipes, etc.

I find myself now trying to catch up on what I have missed - and there has been a good deal of food for thought, including this excellent thread. There are many comments here that I'd like to address individually, but I'll settle on just a few:

Quote
240b: 
Obama will be the best thing to ever happen to America. He is destroying the Washington establishment. In a few years, after Obama is long gone and no one in high school even knows his name or who he was, America will be stronger for it.

I believe that is a distinct possibility in the long run. But I am concerned most now about what will come in the relative short-term, and it will be nothing less than disaster: economic ruin, domestic unrest, and likely terrorist acts fomented by those who this horrid Administration has willfully encouraged.  May God help us all, and may we find the courage and strength to help each other.

Quote
Alicewonders:
How can we entrust the GOP as currently led to wage this do-or-die battle?  We can't!  They run for cover as soon as the going gets rough.  People like Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Mike Lee and a few other courageous people are willing to put their necks on the chopping block to actually stand up and fight this monstrous rape of our life, liberty and pursuits of happiness!

I could not agree more, nor said it any better. That won't stop me from trying, however.  :tongue2:

The present GOP leadership lacks any relevance or political force.  It is not that they believe in nothing; in fact, much of what they appear to believe is essentially correct. Instead, their irrelevance proceeds from an unwillingness to publicly defend those beliefs, an inability to effectively communicate them, and a disinclination to risk placing the interests of their constituents above their future career ambitions.

John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, Eric Cantor (and a few others) are not all of the same kind, but there are at least four qualities of which they share an absence: leadership, vision, courage, and will. As a group, they are not statesmen, but rather future members of the Lobbyist Class.

Quote
Bigun:

I have labored in the vineyard of the Republican party for more than 40 years now (since 1972),observed the 11th commandment for most of that time, and what has it brought me? NO MORE will I be silent when I see fellow Republicans aligning themselves with the forces of EVIL!

I suppose I gave up the practice of not criticizing other Republicans when I came to realize that marching in lockstep was a feature of Progressive Left that we'd do well not to emulate. Reasonable people can differ on many things, whereas an enforced intellectual uniformity is the product of fearful and unreasoning minds, sometimes of the kind that openly welcomes political repression. 

That conservatives sometimes disagree and vocalize their differences is not evidence of weakness, but of inner strength and of a belief in free speech, free minds and a free marketplace in which differing viewpoints may be tested and refined.

It is the opposite of the intellectual world which Barack Obama and his Progressives are presently intent upon creating.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: EC on February 16, 2014, 03:42:04 pm
Andy!! Hope it's all going well for you, it sure sounds it!  :laugh: :laugh:

Missed your insights and your posts.

Thread derail over.

Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: andy58-in-nh on February 16, 2014, 03:47:12 pm
Andy!! Hope it's all going well for you, it sure sounds it!  :laugh: :laugh:

Missed your insights and your posts.

Thread derail over.
Thanks. It's good to be back. And equally nice to have a three-day weekend.  :beer:
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Bigun on February 16, 2014, 04:02:57 pm
Quote
I suppose I gave up the practice of not criticizing other Republicans when I came to realize that marching in lockstep was a feature of Progressive Left that we'd do well not to emulate. Reasonable people can differ on many things, whereas an enforced intellectual uniformity is the product of fearful and unreasoning minds, sometimes of the kind that openly welcomes political repression.

That conservatives sometimes disagree and vocalize their differences is not evidence of weakness, but of inner strength and of a belief in free speech, free minds and a free marketplace in which differing viewpoints may be tested and refined.

It is the opposite of the intellectual world which Barack Obama and his Progressives are presently intent upon creating.

 :thumbsup2: :thumbsup2: :thumbsup2:  :beer:

Welcome back! We've missed you! Glad to hear that things are looking up for you!!
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Rapunzel on February 16, 2014, 05:18:42 pm
Andy you gave no idea how much you've been missed here... glad you found a new job, sorry it's taken you away.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: happyg on February 16, 2014, 05:43:07 pm
Andy, you expressed my thoughts exactly! Glad to see you here.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Fishrrman on February 17, 2014, 03:39:38 am
Andy wrote:
[[ The present GOP leadership lacks any relevance or political force.  It is not that they believe in nothing; in fact, much of what they appear to believe is essentially correct. Instead, their irrelevance proceeds from an unwillingness to publicly defend those beliefs, an inability to effectively communicate them, and a disinclination to risk placing the interests of their constituents above their future career ambitions. ]]

The Republicans are 21st-Century Whigs. If the party doesn't change direction in the next five years, they will disappear as a national party within fifteen years, if they're able to hang on that much longer.

The 2014 and 2016 elections will be the harbingers of the party's future.

A comment about what you wrote above, "much of what they appear to believe is essentially correct." Hmmm -- it's like the Pubbies are all in a rowboat that's pointed in the right direction, but next-to-nobody is rowing as the current against them rages. I would like to see a repeat of 1994 in 2014, but considering the sideways drift the Pubbies are in today, that's looking less likely than I would hope.

I don't think we'll lose the House in 2014, but if the Republican showing in 2014 is weak (as distinguished from decisive), the democrats may again sweep both houses of Congress in 2016, along with the presidency.

At that point the presidency is going to be beyond the "Republican reach". Will they be able to continue to exist as a party of any influence with such hopes fading into the sunset ??
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: olde north church on February 17, 2014, 12:29:19 pm

Perhaps the Cruz haters and posters telling us to fall in line and shut up can show us what the,old guard GOP gas accomplished lately??? All they do is capitulate while Obama and his minions steal the country from under them.. fun fact, if we didn't have Cruz, Lee, Paul the,take over would be complete and won without,a whimper from the GOP... and telling us Boehner gave us sequester don t fly, he caved on it,at his first opportunity.

I'm no Cruz hater.  Just don't trust him. 
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Rapunzel on February 17, 2014, 09:02:13 pm
I'm no Cruz hater.  Just don't trust him.

~LOL~ but you trust Chris Christie??????????  John McCain????  Mitch McConnell???? John Boehner????
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: olde north church on February 18, 2014, 12:34:20 am
~LOL~ but you trust Chris Christie??????????  John McCain????  Mitch McConnell???? John Boehner????

That's quite a leap.  I don't trust any of them.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: sinkspur on February 18, 2014, 12:59:11 am

Perhaps the Cruz haters and posters telling us to fall in line and shut up can show us what the,old guard GOP gas accomplished lately??? All they do is capitulate while Obama and his minions steal the country from under them.. fun fact, if we didn't have Cruz, Lee, Paul the,take over would be complete and won without,a whimper from the GOP... and telling us Boehner gave us sequester don t fly, he caved on it,at his first opportunity.

Well, we saw what Cruz and Lee accomplished when given their way:  they cajoled the 60 GOP Tea Party congressmen to follow them off the cliff and shutdown the government.

And, in their first big test, they showed their incompetence:  no strategy, no realistic way to achieve their goals, and the halt to a rise in Republican approval rating over Obama's Syria failure.

Lee seems to have learned his lesson, Cruz has not.  The man seems to think that "my way or the highway" is a viable plan when his party controls one half of one branch of the US government.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Chieftain on February 18, 2014, 01:04:56 am
US Senators make he absolute worst Presidential candidates, and you would think that the example Obama set by using one elected office to leapfrog himself into a campaign for the next office, would have taught us something.

Ted Cruz has work to do in the Senate, and I like him just fine right where he is.  I urge him to stay there and provide leadership in the Senate, and perhaps work to return the Senate to its proper Constitutional role representing the interests of the Several States and functioning as an effective check and balance as intended.

I won't hold my breath till that happens though.....

 :smokin:

Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: truth_seeker on February 18, 2014, 01:10:56 am
That's quite a leap.  I don't trust any of them.

"Don't trust any of them." Great starting point. Let them earn respect, with results.

And for me "results" means more than political speeches, which remind me of the only qualification Obam had.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: sinkspur on February 18, 2014, 01:15:43 am
US Senators make he absolute worst Presidential candidates, and you would think that the example Obama set by using one elected office to leapfrog himself into a campaign for the next office, would have taught us something.

Ted Cruz has work to do in the Senate, and I like him just fine right where he is.  I urge him to stay there and provide leadership in the Senate, and perhaps work to return the Senate to its proper Constitutional role representing the interests of the Several States and functioning as an effective check and balance as intended.

I won't hold my breath till that happens though.....

 :smokin:

I agree.  He should stay in the Senate, mature, become a statesman.  He's young and has plenty of time to achieve and run for President later. 

If he runs in 2016, he won't even win the primary.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: aligncare on February 18, 2014, 10:12:00 am
I agree.  He should stay in the Senate, mature, become a statesman.  He's young and has plenty of time to achieve and run for President later. 

If he runs in 2016, he won't even win the primary.

By the way, who says Cruz is planning to run? I've never heard him say that. I think others have said that about him. Using it like a weapon. Implying that his positions are merely calculations. Accusing him of "ambition" as a way of impugning his sincerity.

Given that Cruz beat Dewhurst – the candidate you supported in the Senate race – that's not something you would do, right? Accuse him of insincerity and presidential ambition?
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: olde north church on February 18, 2014, 12:19:07 pm
BTW, doesn't Cruz translate to Cross?  We're already dealing with one "messianic" tool.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: aligncare on February 18, 2014, 12:43:42 pm
We don't get to choose our parents. Hey, his last name could've been O'Toole.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: olde north church on February 18, 2014, 01:49:08 pm
We don't get to choose our parents. Hey, his last name could've been O'Toole.

Or Throat Warbler Mangrove.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Gazoo on February 18, 2014, 01:59:13 pm
BTW, doesn't Cruz translate to Cross?  We're already dealing with one "messianic" tool.

That is quite a bizarre comment. Using the messianic theory on Ted Cruz would only work if the media would cover for him if he attacked progressives using the IRS as a a political arm, aided and abetted terrorists, lied like a rug and destroyed America.

Reagan was called nuts in the beginning. So any time the media uses the politics of personal destruction Alinsky tactics on someone, they are a threat to their democratic progressive hijack of America.

Edited to add: Whose side are you on?  I am curious as I have seen many comments on this forum referring Cruz to be Obama like. Where does this thought process come from?
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: olde north church on February 18, 2014, 02:24:54 pm
That is quite a bizarre comment. Using the messianic theory on Ted Cruz would only work if the media would cover for him if he attacked progressives using the IRS as a a political arm, aided and abetted terrorists, lied like a rug and destroyed America.

Reagan was called nuts in the beginning. So any time the media uses the politics of personal destruction Alinsky tactics on someone, they are a threat to their democratic progressive hijack of America.

Edited to add: Whose side are you on?  I am curious as I have seen many comments on this forum referring Cruz to be Obama like. Where does this thought process come from?

Maybe it's me but I just really don't understand public prayer.  Religion, like salaries, should be a private matter.
There was a pic of Cruz sometime around his filibuster* praying with some clergyman.

*Filibuster was acceptable.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Bigun on February 18, 2014, 02:26:01 pm
That is quite a bizarre comment. Using the messianic theory on Ted Cruz would only work if the media would cover for him if he attacked progressives using the IRS as a a political arm, aided and abetted terrorists, lied like a rug and destroyed America.

Reagan was called nuts in the beginning. So any time the media uses the politics of personal destruction Alinsky tactics on someone, they are a threat to their democratic progressive hijack of America.

Edited to add: Whose side are you on?  I am curious as I have seen many comments on this forum referring Cruz to be Obama like. Where does this thought process come from?

"In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a brave and scarce man, hated and scorned. When the cause succeeds, however, the timid join him...for then it costs nothing to be a patriot."

 Mark Twain
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Bigun on February 18, 2014, 02:28:06 pm
Maybe it's me but I just really don't understand public prayer.  Religion, like salaries, should be a private matter.
There was a pic of Cruz sometime around his filibuster* praying with some clergyman.

*Filibuster was acceptable.

What I don't get is the fact that prayer bothers you so much! Why is that?
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: olde north church on February 18, 2014, 02:37:47 pm
What I don't get is the fact that prayer bothers you so much! Why is that?

Prayer doesn't bother me.  Publically, beside a moment of silence or national tragedy, it does.  I think it's a private thing.  I don't like public displays of affection either.  I'm a private person.  I don't go to the bathroom with an open door, either.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: aligncare on February 18, 2014, 02:40:42 pm
Yikes! You want to rethink that last sentence?
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Bigun on February 18, 2014, 02:42:22 pm
Prayer doesn't bother me.  Publically, beside a moment of silence or national tragedy, it does.  I think it's a private thing.  I don't like public displays of affection either.  I'm a private person.  I don't go to the bathroom with an open door, either.

OK! Just wondering.  I happen to disagree with you on the public prayer part but that's OK as well.

I think that if a group of people want to pray in public it is their absolute right to do so and have no problem at all with it UNLESS they try to force me to participate.  At that point it would become a problem.

In my case I would be likely to join in with Christian prayers but Muslim prayers NO WAY!
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: olde north church on February 18, 2014, 02:43:04 pm
Yikes! You want to rethink that last sentence?

I came from a modest household.  Good bathroom habits and cutlery are all that separate us from animals.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: aligncare on February 18, 2014, 02:45:31 pm
Lol. You haven't seen me eat.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: olde north church on February 18, 2014, 02:45:55 pm
OK! Just wondering.  I happen to disagree with you on the public prayer part but that's OK as well.

I think that if a group of people want to pray in public it is their absolute right to do so and have no problem at all with it UNLESS they try to force me to participate.  At that point it would become a problem.

Remember when Bubba used to walk around with the Bible in his hand?  I'm surprised he didn't go up in flames.  On the other hand, I could count the times on one hand the times I saw Reagan expressing his faith, which I still couldn't tell you what it was.
Am I making myself a bit more clear?
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: olde north church on February 18, 2014, 02:47:30 pm
Lol. You haven't seen me eat.

It's funny you should say that, which I why I used the cutlery example.  I never ate in front of a non-related female until I was about 23 and then only rarely and by candlelight or dimmer.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Bigun on February 18, 2014, 02:47:53 pm
Remember when Bubba used to walk around with the Bible in his hand?  I'm surprised he didn't go up in flames.  On the other hand, I could count the times on one hand the times I saw Reagan expressing his faith, which I still couldn't tell you what it was.
Am I making myself a bit more clear?

You have made your position perfectly clear and I respect it. I just don't agree with it.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Gazoo on February 18, 2014, 02:52:15 pm
Maybe it's me but I just really don't understand public prayer.  Religion, like salaries, should be a private matter.
There was a pic of Cruz sometime around his filibuster* praying with some clergyman.

*Filibuster was acceptable.

When did prayer, public or otherwise become a taboo? The progressives can force their religion on our children in public schools with the common core garbage.  If you don't want religion/cults in government. I simply disagree that general prayer is harmful to anyone.

I view the anti-God/anti-prayer mantra as  the demoralization of America as an old communist tool. Why is it progressives embrace CAIR and the muslim religion and dismiss Christianity?

Would an atheist as President solve anything? Would a Christian as President harm anything?

Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Luis Gonzalez on February 18, 2014, 02:52:33 pm
OK! Just wondering.  I happen to disagree with you on the public prayer part but that's OK as well.

I think that if a group of people want to pray in public it is their absolute right to do so and have no problem at all with it UNLESS they try to force me to participate.  At that point it would become a problem.

In my case I would be likely to join in with Christian prayers but Muslim prayers NO WAY!

Matthew 6
"Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Gazoo on February 18, 2014, 02:59:48 pm
Prayer doesn't bother me.  Publically, beside a moment of silence or national tragedy, it does.  I think it's a private thing.  I don't like public displays of affection either.  I'm a private person.  I don't go to the bathroom with an open door, either.

So, back when people cried and prayed out loud after 911 that bothered you? Southern women in particular have no problem peeing not only with the door open but talking to someone while peeing. Some like privacy like you and that is great but using the bathroom and national unity in healing in prayer are two different animals lol

During national tragedy even our very progressive media humbles.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Bigun on February 18, 2014, 03:00:37 pm
Matthew 6
"Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Nothing there that I disagree with and will even give you the fact there are many people around these days who attend Church for the sole purpose of others seeing them there. Those people will have a problem come judgment day.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: alicewonders on February 18, 2014, 03:05:45 pm
The Bible also says:

Matthew 18:20:

"For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

I see nothing wrong with prayer in public gatherings.  It used to be more common when it was allowed - before a football game or before many activities - even in Congress.  God knows the motivations, whether it is done sincerely or hypocritically.  I've seen nothing to indicate that Cruz is a hypocrite.

Sheesh, he really gets under some people's skin. 
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Gazoo on February 18, 2014, 03:08:06 pm
Matthew 6
"Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

I believe the ones who only pray publicly and not in private are the ones referenced . The ones who only appear to be helping the needy for 1000 dollar seed money for the 700K home they live in.  This Bible quote in itself is not dismissing public acts of faith and prayer.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Gazoo on February 18, 2014, 03:10:15 pm
The Bible also says:

Matthew 18:20:

"For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

I see nothing wrong with prayer in public gatherings.  It used to be more common when it was allowed - before a football game or before many activities - even in Congress.  God knows the motivations, whether it is done sincerely or hypocritically.  I've seen nothing to indicate that Cruz is a hypocrite.

Sheesh, he really gets under some people's skin.

 :amen: and  (http://24.media.tumblr.com/896123d9567162b97041450f4c45a007/tumblr_mmnsgroTN11qcmny4o1_500.gif)
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: happyg on February 18, 2014, 03:10:42 pm
The Bible also says:

Matthew 18:20:

"For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

I see nothing wrong with prayer in public gatherings.  It used to be more common when it was allowed - before a football game or before many activities - even in Congress.  God knows the motivations, whether it is done sincerely or hypocritically.  I've seen nothing to indicate that Cruz is a hypocrite.

Sheesh, he really gets under some people's skin.

 :amen: My family prays before every meal, and at family gatherings. Some of them pray before eating at public places, even Golden Corral. These kinds of people are not flaunting their religion, but practicing it. This goes both ways.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: olde north church on February 18, 2014, 03:13:33 pm

Prayer doesn't bother me. Publically, beside a moment of silence or national tragedy, it does.I think it's a private thing.  I don't like public displays of affection either.  I'm a private person.  I don't go to the bathroom with an open door, either.




So, back when people cried and prayed out loud after 911 that bothered you? Southern women in particular have no problem peeing not only with the door open but talking to someone while peeing. Some like privacy like you and that is great but using the bathroom and national unity in healing in prayer are two different animals lol

During national tragedy even our very progressive media humbles.

Reread the bold, please
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Gazoo on February 18, 2014, 03:14:31 pm
:amen: My family prays before every meal, and at family gatherings. Some of them pray before eating at public places, even Golden Corral. These kinds of people are not flaunting their religion, but practicing it. This goes both ways.

This is why the progressive religion of democrats who pray in the Obama church of long legged mack daddy- D E S P I S E  Duck Dynasty.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: happyg on February 18, 2014, 03:16:48 pm
This is why the progressive religion of democrats who pray in the Obama church of long legged mack daddy- D E S P I S E  Duck Dynasty.

 :silly: True! Funny, but true!
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Gazoo on February 18, 2014, 03:18:08 pm
I misread your post. My bad. I thought you were saying

Quote
Prayer doesn't bother me. Publically, beside a moment of silence or national tragedy, it does.

I read it wrong.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Lando Lincoln on February 18, 2014, 03:24:36 pm
Matthew 6
"Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

I sat on the Board of Directors of a private Christian school for a year.  I was stunned by the hypocrisy and Christian "exhibitionism".  I am certain not all are like that - but it saddened and angered me.  What kept me connected at the time, was the excellent classroom environment for my sons.  It certainly wasn't the leadership.

Anyway... back to Senator Cruz and the regular programming.

Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Chieftain on February 18, 2014, 03:27:39 pm
I sat on the Board of Directors of a private Christian school for a year.  I was stunned by the hypocrisy and Christian "exhibitionism".  I am certain not all are like that - but it saddened and angered me.  What kept me connected at the time, was the excellent classroom environment for my sons.  It certainly wasn't the leadership.

Anyway... back to Senator Cruz and the regular programming.

Thank You.  To repeat....if Ted Cruz launches a bid for the Presidency, that makes him no better than Barack Obama.  I like Cruz just fine in the Senate and he can soon have some significant seniority there if he sticks to the Senate and leaves the Presidential politics to others.

Cruz would make a fine Majority Leader after the November elections.....


 :beer:
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: olde north church on February 18, 2014, 03:29:42 pm
I just think it's a bit crass to pray for display.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: alicewonders on February 18, 2014, 03:35:15 pm
I just think it's a bit crass to pray for display.

Agreed - it is crass to pray for display, but I have engaged in public prayer many times where it was most definitely NOT for display and it was, in fact, quite appropriate.  I think praying for God to help in the direction of our country is very appropriate. 
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Gazoo on February 18, 2014, 03:41:47 pm
Agreed - it is crass to pray for display, but I have engaged in public prayer many times where it was most definitely NOT for display and it was, in fact, quite appropriate.  I think praying for God to help in the direction of our country is very appropriate.

 :amen: again
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Gazoo on February 18, 2014, 03:43:18 pm
Thank You.  To repeat....if Ted Cruz launches a bid for the Presidency, that makes him no better than Barack Obama.  I like Cruz just fine in the Senate and he can soon have some significant seniority there if he sticks to the Senate and leaves the Presidential politics to others.

Cruz would make a fine Majority Leader after the November elections.....


 :beer:

So Rand Paul is also dismissed to run because of lack of experience?
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: sinkspur on February 18, 2014, 03:45:13 pm
By the way, who says Cruz is planning to run? I've never heard him say that. I think others have said that about him. Using it like a weapon. Implying that his positions are merely calculations. Accusing him of "ambition" as a way of impugning his sincerity.

Given that Cruz beat Dewhurst – the candidate you supported in the Senate race – that's not something you would do, right? Accuse him of insincerity and presidential ambition?

Why has he gone to Iowa twice?

Of course he's ambitious.  Watch what people DO, not what they say.  Cruz beat Dewhurst, yes.  But running in Texas is not the same as running nationally, and Cruz has burned a whole of lot of bridges that will take time to repair if he wants to run for President.

And he does.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: sinkspur on February 18, 2014, 03:46:58 pm
Thank You.  To repeat....if Ted Cruz launches a bid for the Presidency, that makes him no better than Barack Obama.  I like Cruz just fine in the Senate and he can soon have some significant seniority there if he sticks to the Senate and leaves the Presidential politics to others.

Cruz would make a fine Majority Leader after the November elections.....


 :beer:

Who would vote for him, other than Mike Lee and Rand Paul? 

YOU would have a better chance of being elected Majority Leader than Ted Cruz.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Lando Lincoln on February 18, 2014, 03:51:21 pm
Thank You.  To repeat....if Ted Cruz launches a bid for the Presidency, that makes him no better than Barack Obama.  I like Cruz just fine in the Senate and he can soon have some significant seniority there if he sticks to the Senate and leaves the Presidential politics to others.

Cruz would make a fine Majority Leader after the November elections.....


 :beer:

Agreed.  The question which has yet to be answered - where does Senator Cruz place his personal goals?
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Lando Lincoln on February 18, 2014, 04:00:45 pm
As sink notes, Senator Cruz has not established the requisite alliances to be elected to a leadership position in the Senate.  I simply don't see 2016 White House possibilities for him either.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Gazoo on February 18, 2014, 04:01:06 pm
Who would vote for him, other than Mike Lee and Rand Paul? 

YOU would have a better chance of being elected Majority Leader than Ted Cruz.

Oh crap  :silly: I agree with Sink again.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Lando Lincoln on February 18, 2014, 04:06:38 pm
Oh crap  :silly: I agree with Sink again.

Sink is acerbic - and usually right.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Bigun on February 18, 2014, 04:06:56 pm
As sink notes, Senator Cruz has not established the requisite alliances to be elected to a leadership position in the Senate.  I simply don't see 2016 White House possibilities for him either.

Which spotlights the need for new blood in the senate for him to make alliances with!
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: olde north church on February 18, 2014, 04:12:53 pm
Which spotlights the need for new blood in the senate for him to make alliances with!

The might want to be a bit quicker on the uptake with new allies.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: DCPatriot on February 18, 2014, 04:14:48 pm
Sink is acerbic - and usually right.

 :beer:
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: massadvj on February 18, 2014, 04:21:12 pm
Sink is acerbic - and usually right moderate.

Alternatively:

Sink is acerbic - and usually (slightly) right (of center).
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Gazoo on February 18, 2014, 04:22:24 pm

The polls at RCP have Ryan the current top dog and he is not running. Or is he? He was at the state dinner...
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/2016_presidential_race.html (http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/2016_presidential_race.html)
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Lando Lincoln on February 18, 2014, 04:24:34 pm
Sink is acerbic - and usually right correct.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: sinkspur on February 18, 2014, 04:28:00 pm
Which spotlights the need for new blood in the senate for him to make alliances with!

Cruz reminds me of the guy who thinks everyone in the entire world is nuts but him.

He has no alliances because it's his way or the highway.  That's not the way politics works, which is why he has never won any of his faceoffs.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Gazoo on February 18, 2014, 04:29:53 pm
If McConnell loses the E will have to stop their democratic puppy love and the old guard will phase out.

Quote
Friday, February 07
Race/Topic   (Click to Sort)   Poll   Results   Spread
Kentucky Senate - McConnell vs. Grimes   Courier-Journal/SurveyUSA   Grimes 46, McConnell 42   Grimes +4

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/latest_polls/senate/ (http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/latest_polls/senate/)
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Gazoo on February 18, 2014, 04:33:25 pm
Cruz reminds me of the guy who thinks everyone in the entire world is nuts but him.

He has no alliances because it's his way or the highway.  That's not the way politics works, which is why he has never won any of his faceoffs.

If McConnell loses his seat Cruz will suddenly be in alliance. Sorry but just because the media hates him-I think I may like him.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: sinkspur on February 18, 2014, 04:41:42 pm
If McConnell loses his seat Cruz will suddenly be in alliance. Sorry but just because the media hates him-I think I may like him.

McConnell's not going to lose.  He'll beat Bevins in the primary and tie Grimes at the hip to Obama, especially on the coal issue.

Rand Paul will campaign for McConnell as well.

This reminds me of those Texans who are so sure Cornyn's going to lose.   He's not. 
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: sinkspur on February 18, 2014, 04:42:48 pm
If McConnell loses his seat Cruz will suddenly be in alliance. Sorry but just because the media hates him-I think I may like him.

If you think Republican Senators are going to turn to Ted Cruz as their leader after the stunt he pulled last week, you need to think again.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: DCPatriot on February 18, 2014, 04:47:40 pm
If you think Republican Senators are going to turn to Ted Cruz as their leader after the stunt he pulled last week, you need to think again.


.....not necessarily.  If national polls would reveal most Republican voters want a fighter in place of milquetoast, he's right there to step-in.

I believe most people would like to see two opposing parties throw dirt at each other.   Because when only 1 party is throwing it...and the press doesn't refute it...well, you know.

It time.   We're fighting for the heart and soul of the United States of America.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Chieftain on February 18, 2014, 04:48:36 pm
Who would vote for him, other than Mike Lee and Rand Paul? 

YOU would have a better chance of being elected Majority Leader than Ted Cruz.

I disagree.  If we properly purge the US Senate of all the hangers-on whose only goal is to die in office and lie in state under the Rotunda, you might be amazed at who ends up in Leadership positions.  If Cruz stays put he will soon have seniority, and that counts for a lot.  Stranger leaders than Cruz have emerged....

We shall see.  In any case, I like Cruz right where he is.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Lando Lincoln on February 18, 2014, 04:54:34 pm

In any case, I like Cruz right where he is.

Me too.  For him, the next step will be revealing.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: sinkspur on February 18, 2014, 04:59:19 pm

.....not necessarily.  If national polls would reveal most Republican voters want a fighter in place of milquetoast, he's right there to step-in.

I believe most people would like to see two opposing parties throw dirt at each other.   Because when only 1 party is throwing it...and the press doesn't refute it...well, you know.

It time.   We're fighting for the heart and soul of the United States of America.

National polls reveal even Republicans want leaders, not bombthrowers. 

Voters question the judgment of a man who would shutdown the government with no strategy to win the confrontation he initiated. 

And you're wrong.  Most people don't want political parties to "throw dirt at each other."  Most voters are adults.

Children throw dirt at each other.

How old are you?
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: sinkspur on February 18, 2014, 05:01:09 pm
I disagree.  If we properly purge the US Senate of all the hangers-on whose only goal is to die in office and lie in state under the Rotunda, you might be amazed at who ends up in Leadership positions.  If Cruz stays put he will soon have seniority, and that counts for a lot.  Stranger leaders than Cruz have emerged....

We shall see.  In any case, I like Cruz right where he is.

Who is "we"?  "We" don't get to purge the Senate; only the voters in the states of those Senators have any say in whether they go or stay.  And lots of voters like their Senators. 
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Gazoo on February 18, 2014, 05:05:07 pm
If you think Republican Senators are going to turn to Ted Cruz as their leader after the stunt he pulled last week, you need to think again.

 :silly: remember when the tea party was not even allowed to have a name and be referenced as the tea party? Remember when the tea party was said to be staged nazis?

What did Cruz do last week? Say that raising the debt ceiling is wrong? It is wrong.

If McConnell loses they will never be referenced as WACKO BIRDS again.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/02/16/mccain-cruz-had-no-plan-on-debt-ceiling/ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/02/16/mccain-cruz-had-no-plan-on-debt-ceiling/)

Why is it the ones that speak out are labeled the nuts and the ones who vote in their payraises and laugh all the way to the bank and don't give two craps about serving are the statesmen? Why is it that the fat cat establishment like McConnell are fighting for their way of life as career politicians dem lites 2.0?
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: sinkspur on February 18, 2014, 05:10:30 pm
:silly: remember when the tea party was not even allowed to have a name and be referenced as the tea party? Remember when the tea party was said to be staged nazis?

What did Cruz do last week? Say that raising the debt ceiling is wrong? It is wrong.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/02/16/mccain-cruz-had-no-plan-on-debt-ceiling/ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/02/16/mccain-cruz-had-no-plan-on-debt-ceiling/)

Why is it the ones that speak out are labeled the nuts and the ones who vote in their payraises and laugh all the way to the bank and don't give two craps about serving are the statesmen? Why is it that the fat cat establishment like McConnell are fighting for their way of life as career politicians dem lites 2.0?

Cruz wanted another showdown and give Obama an issue to distract from Obamacare and his failure in Syria.    That's why he forced a 60 vote threshold for the debt ceiling vote.   

That's a stunt.  He knew he wouldn't prevail, but he forced tough votes on other Senators.  They don't forget that stuff.

At the rate he's going, Cruz is going to need to hire someone to start his car in the morning.......................
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Luis Gonzalez on February 18, 2014, 05:39:57 pm
Cruz wanted another showdown and give Obama an issue to distract from Obamacare and his failure in Syria.    That's why he forced a 60 vote threshold for the debt ceiling vote.   

That's a stunt.  He knew he wouldn't prevail, but he forced tough votes on other Senators.  They don't forget that stuff.

At the rate he's going, Cruz is going to need to hire someone to start his car in the morning.......................

So, the Pat Caddell story isn't as far-fetched as some would like to think that it is?
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: sinkspur on February 18, 2014, 05:46:36 pm
So, the Pat Caddell story isn't as far-fetched as some would like to think that it is?

That Republican Senators want the IRS to go after the Tea Party groups? 

Yes.  It's far-fetched.  Why would a Democrat consultant know what Republican Senators were advocating?
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Gazoo on February 18, 2014, 05:53:50 pm
IIRC: It was republicans and some democrats that started the entire IRS inquiry because constituents  had wrote republicans about their concerns about what was happening. And Democrats also called for the inquiry that led to it being accurate that they were being targeting and it was not a glitch or coincidence.

If anyone dares to say they were not being targeted by the IRS why did Lerner plead the fifth?
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Gazoo on February 18, 2014, 06:00:28 pm
Quote

Children throw dirt at each other.

How old are you?

Cruz wanted another showdown and give Obama an issue to distract from Obamacare and his failure in Syria.    That's why he forced a 60 vote threshold for the debt ceiling vote.   

That's a stunt.  He knew he wouldn't prevail, but he forced tough votes on other Senators.  They don't forget that stuff.

At the rate he's going, Cruz is going to need to hire someone to start his car in the morning.......................

A bit dramatic?
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Luis Gonzalez on February 18, 2014, 06:05:29 pm
That Republican Senators want the IRS to go after the Tea Party groups? 

Yes.  It's far-fetched.  Why would a Democrat consultant know what Republican Senators were advocating?

Caddell has  not consulted for Democrats since the Carter administration.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Rapunzel on February 18, 2014, 06:26:46 pm
Why has he gone to Iowa twice?

Of course he's ambitious.  Watch what people DO, not what they say.  Cruz beat Dewhurst, yes.  But running in Texas is not the same as running nationally, and Cruz has burned a whole of lot of bridges that will take time to repair if he wants to run for President.

And he does.

Everything you say about Cruz you used to say about Palin. Instead of projecting unknown plans  onto people why not actually appreciate what they are trying to do for the country and wait and see where they take it........
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Rapunzel on February 18, 2014, 06:28:24 pm
That Republican Senators want the IRS to go after the Tea Party groups? 

Yes.  It's far-fetched.  Why would a Democrat consultant know what Republican Senators were advocating?

Why would a Republican in Texas who doesn't actively participate in politics other than to vote know what someone's presidential aspirations are?
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Rapunzel on February 18, 2014, 06:31:46 pm
If you think Republican Senators are going to turn to Ted Cruz as their leader after the stunt he pulled last week, you need to think again.

Stunt?  You have selective memory.   When the shutdown ended too early McConnell and Boehner BOTH said they were going to use raising the debt limit as their Mount Olympus and force spending cuts and a few other things on Obama... instead they gave him spending carte' blanc to March 2015 without a whimper. 

Cruz wanted them to do what they promised.  "Some" of us actually care about things like out of control spending and looming runaway inflation.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Gazoo on February 18, 2014, 06:37:16 pm

Sink, it does not shock you at all that McConnell is losing to his challenger?

This is unheard of an established republican being shown the door.

Furthermore you don't think this will move the musical chairs around, making the tea party people no longer the wacko birds? As I posted in a link, even McCain is stopping his wacko birded speeches about the conservatives.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Chieftain on February 18, 2014, 06:43:37 pm
Who is "we"?  "We" don't get to purge the Senate; only the voters in the states of those Senators have any say in whether they go or stay.  And lots of voters like their Senators.

I meant the figurative "we", and of course voters get to choose their senators.  But plenty of those Senators are facing primary challenges and there is no telling what the next Congress will look like or who ends up allying with who.

Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Oceander on February 18, 2014, 06:45:56 pm
my, my, my ...
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Bigun on February 18, 2014, 06:52:03 pm
Alternatively:

Sink is acerbic - and usually (slightly) right (of center).

I agree!  IMHO Sink (Dave Carney) lives in an alternative universe not in any way connected to reality!
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Bigun on February 18, 2014, 06:54:04 pm
Stunt?  You have selective memory.   When the shutdown ended too early McConnell and Boehner BOTH said they were going to use raising the debt limit as their Mount Olympus and force spending cuts and a few other things on Obama... instead they gave him spending carte' blanc to March 2015 without a whimper. 

Cruz wanted them to do what they promised.  "Some" of us actually care about things like out of control spending and looming runaway inflation.

 :thumbsup2: :thumbsup2: :thumbsup2: :beer:
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Luis Gonzalez on February 18, 2014, 07:01:43 pm
Stunt?  You have selective memory.   When the shutdown ended too early McConnell and Boehner BOTH said they were going to use raising the debt limit as their Mount Olympus and force spending cuts and a few other things on Obama... instead they gave him spending carte' blanc to March 2015 without a whimper. 

Cruz wanted them to do what they promised.  "Some" of us actually care about things like out of control spending and looming runaway inflation.

Then again, it was after the "stunt" that polls began to show that Americans trusted Republicans over Democrats with the nation's finances.

I love how the news reports were all about what an ass kicking the GOP was taking over the shutdown, when in fact there was enough kicking going around to cover most a$$es in DC:

Quote
The Associated Press-GfK survey affirms expectations by many in Washington — Republicans among them — that the GOP may end up taking the biggest hit in public opinion from the shutdown, as happened when much of the government closed 17 years ago. But the situation is fluid nine days into the shutdown and there's plenty of disdain to go around.

Overall, 62 percent mainly blamed Republicans for the shutdown. About half said Obama or the Democrats in Congress bear much responsibility.

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/poll-no-heroes-shutdown-gop-gets-most-blame#sthash.DTFeX1ux.dpuf

People blamed the GOP for the shutdown?

Of course, but the Democrats didn't gain anything from it. In fact, the polls suggest that the shutdown had very little long-term impact the nation's state of mind:

Quote
The Associated Press-GfK survey affirms expectations by many in Washington — Republicans among them — that the GOP may end up taking the biggest hit in public opinion from the shutdown, as happened when much of the government closed 17 years ago. But the situation is fluid nine days into the shutdown and there's plenty of disdain to go around.

Overall, 62 percent mainly blamed Republicans for the shutdown. About half said Obama or the Democrats in Congress bear much responsibility.

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/poll-no-heroes-shutdown-gop-gets-most-blame#sthash.DTFeX1ux.dpuf

BTW... people are pre-disposed to blame Republicans for shutdowns:

Quote
Another CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll in mid-December 1995, for example, asked Americans if the shutdown had changed their impressions of both President Clinton and the Republicans in Congress. Not surprisingly, a large majority (62 percent) said their impressions of Republicans had worsened (23 percent were more positive), but nearly half (49 percent) also said their impression of Clinton had grown more negative as result of the government shutdown (35 percent said they had become more positive).

Third and finally, for obvious reasons, many of the more specific questions did not allow for consistent measurements to track attitudes before, during and after the shutdown. One poll from 1995 that asked Americans who they might hold responsible for a government shutdown before it happened was readily available: ABC News and The Washington Post found that as of mid-October 1995, a plurality were already primed to blame the Republicans rather than Clinton for a shutdown (49 percent to 27 percent).

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/30/voters-blamed-gop-for-1995-shutdown_n_842769.html
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Lando Lincoln on February 18, 2014, 07:06:58 pm
I agree!  IMHO Sink (Dave Carney) lives in an alternative universe not in any way connected to reality!

Honestly, that advanced the discussion... how?
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Luis Gonzalez on February 18, 2014, 07:09:39 pm
I agree!  IMHO Sink (Dave Carney) lives in an alternative universe not in any way connected to reality!

Play the ball not the man.

sink's a great poster, and I respect his opinions.

Even when he's dead wrong, which is the case when we disagree.

 :whistle:
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: katzenjammer on February 18, 2014, 07:15:19 pm

.....not necessarily.  If national polls would reveal most Republican voters want a fighter in place of milquetoast, he's right there to step-in.

I believe most people would like to see two opposing parties throw dirt at each other.   Because when only 1 party is throwing it...and the press doesn't refute it...well, you know.

It time.   We're fighting for the heart and soul of the United States of America.

That message still falls on too many deaf ears...
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: katzenjammer on February 18, 2014, 07:17:48 pm
So, the Pat Caddell story isn't as far-fetched as some would like to think that it is?

IMO, the Pat Caddell (and Doug Schoen) story isn't far fetched at all....  It is pretty much clear as day, if one chooses to really pay attention to what is going on, and not try to excuse away reality...
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Chieftain on February 18, 2014, 07:18:03 pm
I agree!  IMHO Sink (Dave Carney) lives in an alternative universe not in any way connected to reality!

I agree, and like you I mean that in a GOOD way......Honest!!

 :smokin:
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Lando Lincoln on February 18, 2014, 07:23:25 pm

Even when he's dead wrong, which is the case when we disagree.

 :whistle:

Damn Luis.  I gotta ruminate on this!

(http://www.psychologytoday.com/files/u267/iStock_000003149416Medium.jpg)
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Bigun on February 18, 2014, 07:26:53 pm
Honestly, that advanced the discussion... how?

It is my HONEST opinion. Nothing more! I have sink on ignore and have had for quite some time now although I do click on an occasional post of his to see if anything has changed. Unfortunately it hasn't.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: katzenjammer on February 18, 2014, 07:27:22 pm
Caddell has  not consulted for Democrats since the Carter administration.

Actually, Caddell and Schoen had a small polling/consulting practice going up until the point that the two of them started speaking out against and calling attention to the abuses of the current administration in its first term.  Soon there after ALL of their business dried up and they found themselves "blacklisted" (sound familiar??), and the recipients of not so thinly veiled threats.  (I don't have a link, this is my recollection from hearing them both telling Hannity about it all over the course of several appearances on his radio show somewhere around 2010-11.)

Caddell and Schoen are part of a dying breed of patriotic Americans that chose to support the Democrat Party as it existed when they came of age in politics.  What some may refer to as "Your Grandfather's Democrat Party" (at least much more so than it does at the present).  The only other person in this category that comes to mind is a fellow named Peter Johnson, Jr., an attorney that appeared often on the FNC morning show.  I am sure that more than 3 of these people exist, but they are the only ones that I come to mind.  What also comes to mind as I think of the three of them, is that they surely love their country much more than their party (especially as it has become corrupted over time, at an ever increasing rate, I may add).  In my opinion they are very patriotic Americans that are pretty much as disgusted and angry about what "both" parties have been doing to this country for quite some time.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: aligncare on February 18, 2014, 07:33:04 pm
 goopo
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Lando Lincoln on February 18, 2014, 07:33:35 pm
Dang Bigun.  I have been burned out for a long time so, accordingly, my posts have been non-substantive for some time.  I can understand ignoring me.  Sink?  No. 
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: aligncare on February 18, 2014, 07:41:05 pm

Dang Bigun.  I have been burned out for a long time so, accordingly, my posts have been non-substantive for some time.  I can understand ignoring me.  Sink?  No.

I understand the urge to ignore. Political passion is akin to madness. Look at what politics did to the German people in the 1930s. Only under the cover of politics could such madness grow.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Bigun on February 18, 2014, 07:47:50 pm
Dang Bigun.  I have been burned out for a long time so, accordingly, my posts have been non-substantive for some time.  I can understand ignoring me.  Sink?  No.

Let me see if I can help you understand. Sink HATES Ted Cruz and always has! I think he is brightest ray of sunshine we've seen in the political realm in a LONG time! He is actually doing what he promised to do while campaigning. 

Sink thinks that surrender is victory. I think that you cannot possibly win a fight that you never have.

And mostly because he lies! Continually persists with the unmitigated BS that Ted Cruz shut down the government no matter how many times he's been corrected on the point.

We are never going to agree!
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Rapunzel on February 18, 2014, 07:52:00 pm
Actually, Caddell and Schoen had a small polling/consulting practice going up until the point that the two of them started speaking out against and calling attention to the abuses of the current administration in its first term.  Soon there after ALL of their business dried up and they found themselves "blacklisted" (sound familiar??), and the recipients of not so thinly veiled threats.  (I don't have a link, this is my recollection from hearing them both telling Hannity about it all over the course of several appearances on his radio show somewhere around 2010-11.)

Caddell and Schoen are part of a dying breed of patriotic Americans that chose to support the Democrat Party as it existed when they came of age in politics.  What some may refer to as "Your Grandfather's Democrat Party" (at least much more so than it does at the present).  The only other person in this category that comes to mind is a fellow named Peter Johnson, Jr., an attorney that appeared often on the FNC morning show.  I am sure that more than 3 of these people exist, but they are the only ones that I come to mind.  What also comes to mind as I think of the three of them, is that they surely love their country much more than their party (especially as it has become corrupted over time, at an ever increasing rate, I may add).  In my opinion they are very patriotic Americans that are pretty much as disgusted and angry about what "both" parties have been doing to this country for quite some time.


excellent post.......
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Rapunzel on February 18, 2014, 08:00:21 pm
The "old" Republican Party represented "gentleman" politics.  Gentleman politics, nominating the "next in line" and returning the same old politicians election after election has allowed the Democrats to run amok and it is destroying this country.  We need more Ted Cruz's elected to the Senate.  We  - The People - need to take the power back from DC, Wall and K and that is going to take hurting some feelings of those who still think we can play gentleman politics AND save this country.   We are beyond being able to do both.   

I get that some people here are comfortable with the status quo, I don't understand it, but I get it. I am so far past the status quo I'm in the next universe.  I am sick of watching the Mitch McConnell's, John McCain's, Lamar Alexanders, John Boehners, Eric Cantors and Darrell Issa's put K-Street and the Chamber of Commerce over the people who elect them election after election. 

We have so dumbed down out schools - and Common Core is making it even worse - that we don't have a majority of voters in this country with a flipping clue about what is going on and why our economy is stagnating and they are collecting food stamps, AFDC, Section-8 housing and more instead of having a good-paying job to help support their families.  We have allowed environmentalists to destroy a lot of that and again both parties are guilty - McCain is one of the biggest uninformed greenies out there.....
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: sinkspur on February 18, 2014, 08:01:22 pm
A bit dramatic?

Very dramatic.  Got your attention, didn't it?
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: sinkspur on February 18, 2014, 08:04:13 pm
I agree!  IMHO Sink (Dave Carney) lives in an alternative universe not in any way connected to reality!

If you want to fantasize that I'm Dave Carney, fine.  I'll take credit for Greg Abbott's victory in November...................that is not an insult, BTW. 

Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: sinkspur on February 18, 2014, 08:09:31 pm
Let me see if I can help you understand. Sink HATES Ted Cruz and always has! I think he is brightest ray of sunshine we've seen in the political realm in a LONG time! He is actually doing what he promised to do while campaigning. 

Sink thinks that surrender is victory. I think that you cannot possibly win a fight that you never have.

And mostly because he lies! Continually persists with the unmitigated BS that Ted Cruz shut down the government no matter how many times he's been corrected on the point.

We are never going to agree!

I don't hate Ted Cruz.  I think he's an opportunist who's main goal is to advance his own political prospects, and I find his trajectory to be eerily similar to that of one Barack Obama.

Cruz DID shut down government.  He had the insane idea that he could force Obama to defund his own healthcare law.  Then, when that didn't work, he thought he could get him to defer the individual mandate.  At that point, Obama knew he had him whipped and just had to wait out the GOP.

They ended up getting nothing and resolved that they would never again adopt the crazy shutdown strategy. 

If somebody tells you they're not going to do something, and you act as if they are going to do something, who's to blame when nothing happens?
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Rapunzel on February 18, 2014, 08:16:20 pm
Once again.............

OBAMA shut down the government...............

OBAMA shut down the government..........

OBAMA shut down the government...............

OBAMA shut down the government..........

OBAMA shut down the government...............

OBAMA shut down the government..........

OBAMA shut down the government...............

OBAMA shut down the government..........

trying to save the country and follow the constitution is not "opportunism"



Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Luis Gonzalez on February 18, 2014, 08:17:59 pm
Let me see if I can help you understand. Sink HATES Ted Cruz and always has! I think he is brightest ray of sunshine we've seen in the political realm in a LONG time! He is actually doing what he promised to do while campaigning. 

Sink thinks that surrender is victory. I think that you cannot possibly win a fight that you never have.

And mostly because he lies! Continually persists with the unmitigated BS that Ted Cruz shut down the government no matter how many times he's been corrected on the point.

We are never going to agree!

I have a big problem when the label my opposition to Barack Obama's politics and policies as "hatred".

I have the same problem when it's done by our side.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: happyg on February 18, 2014, 08:19:38 pm
Good posts, katzenjammer and Rap! I agree with both of you. And Rap, I'm with you. I am a voter. Period! We voters don't have the luxury of calling the shots, and don't even have a voice. That is not what the FF intended. Our representatives sit in back rooms, discussing how they are going to win elections, and how far they can go with their constituents. They love their power, and how they can fool the people. So they sit and plot and create a false image of themselves. All we can do is write our displeasure, demonstrate, form groups, and vote. And, in so doing, we become the enemy of our own parties. And, as they sit back in their recliners, the media comes to their rescue, fabricating a persona about true conservatives. The GOPe  relish that the democrats, media, and republicans conspired in a sense to invalidate the true patriots.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Rapunzel on February 18, 2014, 08:23:53 pm
I have a big problem when the label my opposition to Barack Obama's politics and policies as "hatred".

I have the same problem when it's done by our side.

Fact is he has been "fixated" on Cruz from the day he got in the race for Senate. Sink wanted Dewhurst and had nothing but very nasty things to say about Cruz throughout the campaign and even the general election... he has not let up since.... there really is no other term to apply to what he thinks of Cruz... and BTW before Cruz we went thought two years of the same fixation and nasty comments from him re Sarah Palin.   
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Bigun on February 18, 2014, 08:29:57 pm
I have a big problem when the label my opposition to Barack Obama's politics and policies as "hatred".

I have the same problem when it's done by our side.

I agree! But he persists! You don't see me continually pushing Democrat talking points!

Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: sinkspur on February 18, 2014, 08:34:52 pm
Once again.............

OBAMA shut down the government...............

OBAMA shut down the government..........

OBAMA shut down the government...............

OBAMA shut down the government..........

OBAMA shut down the government...............

OBAMA shut down the government..........

OBAMA shut down the government...............

OBAMA shut down the government..........

trying to save the country and follow the constitution is not "opportunism"

You and a phone booth full of other people believe that.  The rest of the country blamed the GOP.

You can like that or not like it, but there it is.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Gazoo on February 18, 2014, 08:36:38 pm
Fact is he has been "fixated" on Cruz from the day he got in the race for Senate. Sink wanted Dewhurst and had nothing but very nasty things to say about Cruz throughout the campaign and even the general election... he has not let up since.... there really is no other term to apply to what he thinks of Cruz... and BTW before Cruz we went thought two years of the same fixation and nasty comments from him re Sarah Palin.   

Sink is old guard republican establishment to the end. The only human beings I can think of that would be this way at this time would be Boehner himself.

Does Sink have a tan? No wait, Sink would never cry at the drop of the hat lol so he has to be a republican party player or live in republican campaign headquarters. lol
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: sinkspur on February 18, 2014, 08:37:25 pm
Fact is he has been "fixated" on Cruz from the day he got in the race for Senate. Sink wanted Dewhurst and had nothing but very nasty things to say about Cruz throughout the campaign and even the general election... he has not let up since.... there really is no other term to apply to what he thinks of Cruz... and BTW before Cruz we went thought two years of the same fixation and nasty comments from him re Sarah Palin.   

So what?  You guys trash Cornyn incessantly, and McConnell, and Boehner.  I guess that's OK.

By the way, I'm not supporting Dewhurst for Lt. Gov.   My vote went to Jerry Patterson, the man who brought concealed-carry to Texas.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Rapunzel on February 18, 2014, 08:37:27 pm
You and a phone booth full of other people believe that.  The rest of the country blamed the GOP.

You can like that or not like it, but there it is.

I don't think the rest of the country gives a flip and polls clearly showed both parties received equal blame..... once again you are projecting your own issues off on Cruz.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Gazoo on February 18, 2014, 08:38:37 pm
You and a phone booth full of other people believe that.  The rest of the country blamed the GOP.

You can like that or not like it, but there it is.


 :silly: :silly:

So who is it that Maxwell Smart Sink supports from his GOP phone booth?
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: sinkspur on February 18, 2014, 08:39:16 pm
I don't think the rest of the country gives a flip and polls clearly showed both parties received equal blame..... once again you are projecting your own issues off on Cruz.

That is not true.  The Democrats got SOME blame, but most of it went to the Republicans.

More importantly, the shutdown wasted two weeks when the attention could have been focused on the botched rollout of the Obamacare.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Rapunzel on February 18, 2014, 08:43:43 pm
That is not true.  The Democrats got SOME blame, but most of it went to the Republicans.

More importantly, the shutdown wasted two weeks when the attention could have been focused on the botched rollout of the Obamacare.

I see..... but it was perfectly okay for Boehner and Cantor to jump right in to push amnesty and take all the attention off Obamacare?   I guess since that was Boehner instead of Cruz then it is okay.  Where is Boehner on Obamacare?  he isn't doing squat to draw attention the disaster that is Obamacare...
 
And everyone took the blame for the shutdown... however.... I think when what you are doing is the right thing then you should be willing to take the incoming flak, Cruz was doing the right thing and I will walk through broken glass to support someone who is trying his level best to save this country.

Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Bigun on February 18, 2014, 08:45:38 pm
Sink is old guard republican establishment to the end. The only human beings I can think of that would be this way at this time would be Boehner himself.

Does Sink have a tan? No wait, Sink would never cry at the drop of the hat lol so he has to be a republican party player or live in republican campaign headquarters. lol

Dave Carney!

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/09/29/125658/meet-dave-carney-rick-perrys-karl.html

http://www.texasobserver.org/the-outsider/
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: sinkspur on February 18, 2014, 08:45:52 pm
I see..... but it was perfectly okay for Boehner and Cantor to jump right in to push amnesty and take all the attention off Obamacare?   I guess since that was Boehner instead of Cruz then it is okay.  Where is Boehner on Obamacare?  he isn't doing squat to draw attention the disaster that is Obamacare...
 
And everyone took the blame for the shutdown... however.... I think when what you are doing is the right thing then you should be willing to take the incoming flak, Cruz was doing the right thing and I will walk through broken glass to support someone who is trying his level best to save this country.

 Is amnesty still on the table?  Nobody's talking about amnesty any more.

Uh, John Boehner brought up over THIRTY repeal efforts against Obamacare.  He's been about as effective as Ted Cruz has been in overturning the law.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: LambChop on February 18, 2014, 08:46:51 pm
That is not true.  The Democrats got SOME blame, but most of it went to the Republicans.

More importantly, the shutdown wasted two weeks when the attention could have been focused on the botched rollout of the Obamacare.

Neutered dog disease sink.  They just don't get it.
And they can't tell us we're wrong anymore than we can tell them they're wrong.

I don't agree with you much, but on this one......

Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: sinkspur on February 18, 2014, 08:47:28 pm
Dave Carney!

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/09/29/125658/meet-dave-carney-rick-perrys-karl.html

Since Bigun seems to have delusions, let me assure everyone else that I am NOT Dave Carney.  I have, in fact, never donated to a single political candidate in my entire life, nor will I. 
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Lando Lincoln on February 18, 2014, 08:49:01 pm
Pathetic turn to the thread.  Frankly, I'm sick of it.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Gazoo on February 18, 2014, 08:49:18 pm
That is not true.  The Democrats got SOME blame, but most of it went to the Republicans.

More importantly, the shutdown wasted two weeks when the attention could have been focused on the botched rollout of the Obamacare.

Most importantly America clearly remembers Obama getting caught saying he was going to make it hurt and inflict pain to play politics. He got busted red-handed putting his politics before country this time.

You're a fool if you didn't think the WWII vets did not ring home with Americans as showing Obama inflicting pain, inflicting the bully role onto his opponent at the cost of Americans enjoyments of visiting a memorial. The republicans were NOT the sole blame.

They were not called Barackcades for no reason.

(http://danieljmitchell.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/wwii-memorial-barackcade.jpg)

(http://www.libertynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/vets-storm-ww-2-memorial.jpg)

The buck stopped with Obama whether you like to spin for the dems or not.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: mountaineer on February 18, 2014, 08:49:21 pm
Neutered dog disease sink.  They just don't get it.
And they can't tell us we're wrong anymore than we can tell them they're wrong.
Us v. them, is it?
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Gazoo on February 18, 2014, 08:54:02 pm
I agree! But he persists! You don't see me continually pushing Democrat talking points!

^ this is true regarding Sink.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: LambChop on February 18, 2014, 09:19:51 pm
Us v. them, is it?

Those who believe one way and those who believe another.

Yes, us vs. them.

The "us" and the "them" change with every topic, but it's there.  You can either accept that not everyone agrees with you on every topic, but has the same general POV or not.  But it's there and always will be.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: DCPatriot on February 18, 2014, 09:26:44 pm
Pathetic turn to the thread.  Frankly, I'm sick of it.

Aw....hang in there, Lando!   :beer:  We're all good!
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Gazoo on February 18, 2014, 10:03:49 pm
The Cruz hate is amazing. You can just feel lol that the haters all cannot stand that they can't just call him stupid.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Lando Lincoln on February 18, 2014, 10:12:10 pm
The Cruz hate is amazing. You can just feel lol that the haters all cannot stand that they can't just call him stupid.

It could be argued that the Cruz love is borderline groupie.  So, you see... everyone has a viewpoint. 
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Luis Gonzalez on February 18, 2014, 10:17:32 pm
Why do we have to engage in the typical liberal bullshit where disagreement or disapproval is labeled hatred?

If we don't behave differently, how can we claim to be better?
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: EC on February 18, 2014, 10:23:07 pm
It could be argued that the Cruz love is borderline groupie.  So, you see... everyone has a viewpoint.

Dude puts his pants on one leg at a time.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Luis Gonzalez on February 18, 2014, 10:24:42 pm
Dude puts his pants on one leg at a time.

So do I, and always in the same sequence:

1... 2... and 3
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: aligncare on February 18, 2014, 10:27:23 pm
 9999what

So do I, and always in the same sequence:

1... 2... and 3

 :laughingdog:
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Lando Lincoln on February 18, 2014, 10:28:11 pm
Once again.............

OBAMA shut down the government...............

OBAMA shut down the government..........

OBAMA shut down the government...............

OBAMA shut down the government..........

OBAMA shut down the government...............

OBAMA shut down the government..........

OBAMA shut down the government...............

OBAMA shut down the government..........


It does not matter Rap what the reality is.  It has everything to do with who is controlling the narrative.  The prevailing narrative in the MSM is Cruz/Republicans shut down the government.  There is no doubt of that in my mind.  There is also no doubt that the timing was very favorable for Obama and his ACA.  Here is a parallel:  Was the Clinton/Lewinsky affair:

A.  All about sex, or
B: The Chief Executive of the United States lied under oath denying a U.S. citizen due process under the law.

You and I answer "B".  90%+ of all others would answer "A".
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Bigun on February 18, 2014, 10:34:48 pm
It does not matter Rap what the reality is.  It has everything to do with who is controlling the narrative.  The prevailing narrative in the MSM is Cruz/Republicans shut down the government.  There is no doubt of that in my mind.  There is also no doubt that the timing was very favorable for Obama and his ACA.  Here is a parallel:  Was the Clinton/Lewinsky affair:

A.  All about sex, or
B: The Chief Executive of the United States lied under oath denying a U.S. citizen due process under the law.

You and I answer "B".  90%+ of all others would answer "A".

So do we educate the 90% by going around spouting the party line or do we tell them the truth hoping it will sink in eventually?
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Rapunzel on February 18, 2014, 10:35:33 pm
It does not matter Rap what the reality is.  It has everything to do with who is controlling the narrative.  The prevailing narrative in the MSM is Cruz/Republicans shut down the government.  There is no doubt of that in my mind.  There is also no doubt that the timing was very favorable for Obama and his ACA.  Here is a parallel:  Was the Clinton/Lewinsky affair:

A.  All about sex, or
B: The Chief Executive of the United States lied under oath denying a U.S. citizen due process under the law.

You and I answer "B".  90%+ of all others would answer "A".

And that is because too many are afraid to speak out and say it is B and A is insignificant in the scheme of things.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Lando Lincoln on February 18, 2014, 10:41:08 pm
What party line?

I will tell you that I would check my tactics. 

Senator Cruz, with considerable respect due, had ill-conceived tactics and ill-conceived timing.  And in the failed attempt, it smacked as self-serving.

He ended up with answer "A".
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: alicewonders on February 18, 2014, 10:41:44 pm
It does not matter Rap what the reality is.  It has everything to do with who is controlling the narrative.  The prevailing narrative in the MSM is Cruz/Republicans shut down the government.  There is no doubt of that in my mind.  There is also no doubt that the timing was very favorable for Obama and his ACA.  Here is a parallel:  Was the Clinton/Lewinsky affair:

A.  All about sex, or
B: The Chief Executive of the United States lied under oath denying a U.S. citizen due process under the law.

You and I answer "B".  90%+ of all others would answer "A".

You know, it doesn't even matter if Cruz is in the picture or not - if Republicans aren't getting blamed for a government shutdown - they're getting blamed for a war on women or hating immigrants or hating fast food workers making minimum wage or hating gay people just wanting to get married or hating black people...I could go on and on.

The left always has to have a victim and a villain.  This is a winning strategy for them and with the help of the media it's pretty much a fait accompli.  In this instance, it has been wildly successful in (1) cutting Ted Cruz down at the knees (a figure they seem to be terrified of) and (2) scaring the cowardly Republicans into ever letting the government shut down again. 
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Rapunzel on February 18, 2014, 10:43:30 pm
You know, it doesn't even matter if Cruz is in the picture or not - if Republicans aren't getting blamed for a government shutdown - they're getting blamed for a war on women or hating immigrants or hating fast food workers making minimum wage or hating gay people just wanting to get married or hating black people...I could go on and on.

The left always has to have a victim and a villain.  This is a winning strategy for them and with the help of the media it's pretty much a fait accompli.  In this instance, it has been wildly successful in (1) cutting Ted Cruz down at the knees (a figure they seem to be terrified of) and (2) scaring the cowardly Republicans into ever letting the government shut down again.

Correct and we have Republicans who because they dislike Cruz and Palin before him willing to go along with the paradigm the media sets for the party. 
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Gazoo on February 18, 2014, 10:44:07 pm
It could be argued that the Cruz love is borderline groupie.  So, you see... everyone has a viewpoint.

How can a wacko bird have groupies? Candy Crowley says he is Julie Andrews nuts

You cannot call me a groupie because I like anybody for small government and Taxed Enough Already.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Gazoo on February 18, 2014, 10:46:59 pm
What party line?

I will tell you that I would check my tactics. 

Senator Cruz, with considerable respect due, had ill-conceived tactics and ill-conceived timing.  And in the failed attempt, it smacked as self-serving.

He ended up with answer "A".

Are you confusing Ted with Rand? Rand called out the Clinton's war on women and good for him.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Rapunzel on February 18, 2014, 10:48:41 pm
I honestly think the reason a lot of us like Ted Cruz - as opposed to being groupies - is we have been starving for someone in the Republican Party who is willing to charge into the fight instead of call retreat claiming over and over and over again "we have to hold our powder for the next election, the next increase in the debt ceiling, the next presidential election the next, the next, the next and they always count on the voters forgetting they said they would fight - just let us wait until next year or next month or............  All the GOP does is call retreat. I am sick of it. Either fight or get the heck out of the way and let someone who cares enough to fight and not worry about the next election of the next chunk of money the Chamber is going to stuff in their pockets take the helm.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: aligncare on February 18, 2014, 10:49:16 pm
It does not matter Rap what the reality is.  It has everything to do with who is controlling the narrative.  The prevailing narrative in the MSM is Cruz/Republicans shut down the government.  There is no doubt of that in my mind.  There is also no doubt that the timing was very favorable for Obama and his ACA.  Here is a parallel:  Was the Clinton/Lewinsky affair:

A.  All about sex, or
B: The Chief Executive of the United States lied under oath denying a U.S. citizen due process under the law.

You and I answer "B".  90%+ of all others would answer "A".

And that is because too many are afraid to speak out and say it is B and A is insignificant in the scheme of things.

 ... And Clinton-Lewinsky happened in the earliest days of FOXNews and Matt Drudge, before they became influential, and before Breitbart and the rest of the alternative media.

The point is ABC, CBS, and NBC no longer control the narrative. They're still big, yes but not the only voice out there. Not anymore.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Bigun on February 18, 2014, 10:51:57 pm
What party line?

I will tell you that I would check my tactics. 

Senator Cruz, with considerable respect due, had ill-conceived tactics and ill-conceived timing.  And in the failed attempt, it smacked as self-serving.

He ended up with answer "A".

This party line!  "Ted Cruz shut down the Government"! If those who claim to be on our side would quit trying so hard to sell that BS perhaps the truth would prevail a little sooner!

The rest I respectfully but strongly disagree with entirely!
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: DCPatriot on February 18, 2014, 10:52:08 pm
I don't care if his name is Cruz or Snooze....at least somebody stood up and laid out the opposing POV in an 'in-your-face' manner.

We've been apparently listening to the GOP consultant brigades since Ronald Reagan...."Don't stoop down to their level, don't attack them personally, leave Hillary alone...etc.!"

BULLSHI*!

They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results......in the meantime, the American culture has significantly deteriorated since Reagan.

I want an IN YOUR FACE Republican leader who continues to make the news every night with 'outrageous' alternative suggestions and rebuttals toward an enemy that actually would like to see us dead.

WAKE THE F**K UP!

And if that makes me a child Sink.....then I'll wear the badge proudly.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Lando Lincoln on February 18, 2014, 10:52:32 pm
You know, it doesn't even matter if Cruz is in the picture or not - if Republicans aren't getting blamed for a government shutdown - they're getting blamed for a war on women or hating immigrants or hating fast food workers making minimum wage or hating gay people just wanting to get married or hating black people...I could go on and on.

The left always has to have a victim and a villain.  This is a winning strategy for them and with the help of the media it's pretty much a fait accompli.  In this instance, it has been wildly successful in (1) cutting Ted Cruz down at the knees (a figure they seem to be terrified of) and (2) scaring the cowardly Republicans into ever letting the government shut down again.

I could not agree with you more Alice.  That is why Rand Paul fired the Lewinsky shot across Hillary's bow.  He served notice that he is prepared to do battle on the War on Women theme.  The Republicans need to get in front of the narrative.  For some mystifying reason, a Boy Scout troop could do a better job.  And why not - fundamentals and history are on their side for heaven's sake.  They need to have regular, formal ways of messaging the media and the American people.  Weekly info meetings on a select topic with select representatives.  The messaging needs to be on-point, succinct and incessant.  Absolutely incessant.  And the first thing I'd attack and shred is the identity politics of the left.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Lando Lincoln on February 18, 2014, 10:53:45 pm
I honestly think the reason a lot of us like Ted Cruz - as opposed to being groupies - is we have been starving for someone in the Republican Party who is willing to charge into the fight instead of call retreat claiming over and over and over again "we have to hold our powder for the next election, the next increase in the debt ceiling, the next presidential election the next, the next, the next and they always count on the voters forgetting they said they would fight - just let us wait until next year or next month or............  All the GOP does is call retreat. I am sick of it. Either fight or get the heck out of the way and let someone who cares enough to fight and not worry about the next election of the next chunk of money the Chamber is going to stuff in their pockets take the helm.

And that I understand Rap.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: DCPatriot on February 18, 2014, 10:55:00 pm
I could not agree with you more Alice.  That is why Rand Paul fired the Lewinsky shot across Hillary's bow.  He served notice that he is prepared to do battle on the War on Women theme.  The Republicans need to get in front of the narrative.  For some mystifying reason, a Boy Scout troop could do a better job.  And why not - fundamentals and history are on their side for heaven's sake.  They need to have regular, formal ways of messaging the media and the American people.  Weekly info meetings on a select topic with select representatives.  The messaging needs to be on-point, succinct and incessant.  Absolutely incessant.  And the first thing I'd attack and shred is the identity politics of the left.

It's exactly why I'm so exasperated over seeing so many here on the forum continue to call for manners and decorum on the political battlefield....read in front of the camera.

It's time we beat the crap out of them.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Lando Lincoln on February 18, 2014, 10:55:03 pm
This party line!  "Ted Cruz shut down the Government"!

The rest I respectfully but strongly disagree with entirely!

No worries.  I understand, appreciate and share the frustration.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: mystery-ak on February 18, 2014, 10:58:00 pm
I don't care if his name is Cruz or Snooze....at least somebody stood up and laid out the opposing POV in an 'in-your-face' manner.

We've been apparently listening to the GOP consultant brigades since Ronald Reagan...."Don't stoop down to their level, don't attack them personally, leave Hillary alone...etc.!"

BULLSHI*!

They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results......in the meantime, the American culture has significantly deteriorated since Reagan.

I want an IN YOUR FACE Republican leader who continues to make the news every night with 'outrageous' alternative suggestions and rebuttals toward an enemy that actually would like to see us dead.

WAKE THE F**K UP!

And if that makes me a child Sink.....then I'll wear the badge proudly.

What DC said...word
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Bigun on February 18, 2014, 10:58:04 pm
I honestly think the reason a lot of us like Ted Cruz - as opposed to being groupies - is we have been starving for someone in the Republican Party who is willing to charge into the fight instead of call retreat claiming over and over and over again "we have to hold our powder for the next election, the next increase in the debt ceiling, the next presidential election the next, the next, the next and they always count on the voters forgetting they said they would fight - just let us wait until next year or next month or............  All the GOP does is call retreat. I am sick of it. Either fight or get the heck out of the way and let someone who cares enough to fight and not worry about the next election of the next chunk of money the Chamber is going to stuff in their pockets take the helm.

BRAVO!!!  Well said!

 :thumbsup2: :thumbsup2: :thumbsup2:
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: alicewonders on February 18, 2014, 10:58:20 pm
I don't care if his name is Cruz or Snooze....at least somebody stood up and laid out the opposing POV in an 'in-your-face' manner.

We've been apparently listening to the GOP consultant brigades since Ronald Reagan...."Don't stoop down to their level, don't attack them personally, leave Hillary alone...etc.!"

BULLSHI*!

They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results......in the meantime, the American culture has significantly deteriorated since Reagan.

I want an IN YOUR FACE Republican leader who continues to make the news every night with 'outrageous' alternative suggestions and rebuttals toward an enemy that actually would like to see us dead.

WAKE THE F**K UP!

And if that makes me a child Sink.....then I'll wear the badge proudly.

 :amen: 
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Gazoo on February 18, 2014, 10:58:44 pm
I don't care if his name is Cruz or Snooze....at least somebody stood up and laid out the opposing POV in an 'in-your-face' manner.

We've been apparently listening to the GOP consultant brigades since Ronald Reagan...."Don't stoop down to their level, don't attack them personally, leave Hillary alone...etc.!"

BULLSHI*!

They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results......in the meantime, the American culture has significantly deteriorated since Reagan.

I want an IN YOUR FACE Republican leader who continues to make the news every night with 'outrageous' alternative suggestions and rebuttals toward an enemy that actually would like to see us dead.

WAKE THE F**K UP!

And if that makes me a child Sink.....then I'll wear the badge proudly.

^ What you said!  :hands: *girl beer* blij26
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Bigun on February 18, 2014, 11:01:05 pm
I don't care if his name is Cruz or Snooze....at least somebody stood up and laid out the opposing POV in an 'in-your-face' manner.

We've been apparently listening to the GOP consultant brigades since Ronald Reagan...."Don't stoop down to their level, don't attack them personally, leave Hillary alone...etc.!"

BULLSHI*!

They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results......in the meantime, the American culture has significantly deteriorated since Reagan.

I want an IN YOUR FACE Republican leader who continues to make the news every night with 'outrageous' alternative suggestions and rebuttals toward an enemy that actually would like to see us dead.

WAKE THE F**K UP!

And if that makes me a child Sink.....then I'll wear the badge proudly.

Going! Going! Going! GONE!!!!

It's an out of the park HOME RUN!

 :thumbsup2: :thumbsup2: :thumbsup2:  :beer:
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: alicewonders on February 18, 2014, 11:06:09 pm
I could not agree with you more Alice.  That is why Rand Paul fired the Lewinsky shot across Hillary's bow.  He served notice that he is prepared to do battle on the War on Women theme.  The Republicans need to get in front of the narrative.  For some mystifying reason, a Boy Scout troop could do a better job.  And why not - fundamentals and history are on their side for heaven's sake.  They need to have regular, formal ways of messaging the media and the American people.  Weekly info meetings on a select topic with select representatives.  The messaging needs to be on-point, succinct and incessant.  Absolutely incessant.  And the first thing I'd attack and shred is the identity politics of the left.

Absolutely right.  We have got to expose the tactics of the left - and we have to be in your face with it.  The left is not nice and polite in their attacks and they continue to win elections - so it is an effective tactic with the public, especially the low information voter.  The left does control the mainstream media and so we have a big challenge in presenting our message and getting it out there to the masses - but if we can't rebuke their lies, the lies will stand as truth. 
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: olde north church on February 18, 2014, 11:59:19 pm
Cruz, Paul, Reagan.  Let's just call a spade a spade, nothing of worth in this nation was resolved by ballots only by bullets.  Independence, the Second War of Independence, the Civil War, Civil Rights.  Everything else is parlor chat.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: DCPatriot on February 19, 2014, 12:05:00 am
Cruz, Paul, Reagan.  Let's just call a spade a spade, nothing of worth in this nation was resolved by ballots only by bullets.  Independence, the Second War of Independence, the Civil War, Civil Rights.  Everything else is parlor chat.

It's the only thing that seems to get everybody's attention.

And it also places the NSA's paranoia into better perspective.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: sinkspur on February 19, 2014, 12:32:14 am
I don't care if his name is Cruz or Snooze....at least somebody stood up and laid out the opposing POV in an 'in-your-face' manner.

We've been apparently listening to the GOP consultant brigades since Ronald Reagan...."Don't stoop down to their level, don't attack them personally, leave Hillary alone...etc.!"

BULLSHI*!

They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results......in the meantime, the American culture has significantly deteriorated since Reagan.

I want an IN YOUR FACE Republican leader who continues to make the news every night with 'outrageous' alternative suggestions and rebuttals toward an enemy that actually would like to see us dead.

WAKE THE F**K UP!

And if that makes me a child Sink.....then I'll wear the badge proudly.

Go ahead.  Support a bombthrower. 

Reagan was an amiable human being who made an effort to work with everybody.  And he did work with everybody.

There seems to be an attitude among some conservatives that if we're just nasty enough, if we just refuse any compromise and show sustained anger, voters will love us.

SOME voters will love you.  Most won't.  But you're welcome to try.

If you throw dirt, DC, you're a child.   In the adult world, that only works in professional hockey.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: olde north church on February 19, 2014, 12:34:22 am
It's the only thing that seems to get everybody's attention.

And it also places the NSA's paranoia into better perspective.

How about one of "our" people suggest the NSA turn the "antenna" outward instead of inward.

Our people as in Rand Paul, Cruz, Lee, Boehner, that crowd.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: happyg on February 19, 2014, 12:38:33 am
Reagan was an amiable human being who made an effort to work with everybody.  And he did work with everybody.
 (http://Reagan was an amiable human being who made an effort to work with everybody.  And he did work with everybody.)

Reagan was a president. Cruz is only a Senator. Reagan got cooperation; Obama is dictatorial. The democrats don't want to cooperate, and they are the instigators. They hammer away, and guess who is allowing themselves to be hammered? The days of mediation between parties is over, unless we get someone in who is intelligent with common sense, and the guts to stand by his beliefs. That is what Reagan did, and like it or not, the democrats were in no position to defy him any more than they already had. They found that the MSM and themselves did not intimidate Reagan, and Reagan went on to be one of our best presidents.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: olde north church on February 19, 2014, 12:41:45 am
Reagan was an amiable human being who made an effort to work with everybody.  And he did work with everybody.
 (http://Reagan was an amiable human being who made an effort to work with everybody.  And he did work with everybody.)

Reagan was a president. Cruz is only a Senator. Reagan got cooperation; Obama is dictatorial. The democrats don't want to cooperate, and they are the instigators. They hammer away, and guess who is allowing themselves to be hammered? The days of mediation between parties is over, unless we get someone in who is intelligent with common sense, and the guts to stand by his beliefs. That is what Reagan did, and like it or not, the democrats were in no position to defy him any more than they already had. They found that the MSM and themselves did not intimidate Reagan, and Reagan went on to be one of our best presidents.

And he did it WITHOUT Consevative talkers, the Internet and the Fairness Doctrine.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Rapunzel on February 19, 2014, 12:42:31 am
DC gets the prize for post of the day, month and year all rolled into one.

(http://www.clipartpal.com/_thumbs/pd/education/award_ribbon_blue_1st_T.png)
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: truth_seeker on February 19, 2014, 12:51:18 am
From the time Nixon was elected Senator, it was 18 years until he was elected President. (1950-1968)

From the time Reagan was elected Governor it was 13 years until he was elected President. (1967-1980)

Cruz comes up way short, when looked at in an historic light. Plenty of others have put in their training time. Governors Perry, Walker, Bush, Huckabee, Martinez, Kasich, Brewer, Sandoval, Christie, would be a list of examples.

Back during my corporate career, we discovered an interesting phenomena - why management went outside for supervisory positions, instead of promote from within.

It was because they knew all the weakness for current employees, but outsiders had no known weaknesses to them.

Cruz reminds me of that situation. In his short time he's made a few speeches, a couple of filibusters. He has no record of accomplishments whatsoever, yet he's a legend in no time.
 
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: kevindavis007 on February 19, 2014, 12:54:22 am
To be quite honest, I don't think the American people will elect another person from Senate again for a long time..
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Carling on February 19, 2014, 12:56:05 am
I disagree.  If we properly purge the US Senate of all the hangers-on whose only goal is to die in office and lie in state under the Rotunda, you might be amazed at who ends up in Leadership positions.  If Cruz stays put he will soon have seniority, and that counts for a lot.  Stranger leaders than Cruz have emerged....

We shall see.  In any case, I like Cruz right where he is.

We both live in Oregon, right?  What are the odds of removing Wyden or Merkely with even a moderate GOP
such as Gordon Smith, let alone somebody like Ted Cruz?  You're hoping for some massive shift that defies reality.  I'm sure it feels nice ideolgically to hold firm on your view, but reality makes it a completely unreasonable expectation.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: katzenjammer on February 19, 2014, 01:30:38 am
I honestly think the reason a lot of us like Ted Cruz - as opposed to being groupies - is we have been starving for someone in the Republican Party who is willing to charge into the fight instead of call retreat claiming over and over and over again "we have to hold our powder for the next election, the next increase in the debt ceiling, the next presidential election the next, the next, the next and they always count on the voters forgetting they said they would fight - just let us wait until next year or next month or............  All the GOP does is call retreat. I am sick of it. Either fight or get the heck out of the way and let someone who cares enough to fight and not worry about the next election of the next chunk of money the Chamber is going to stuff in their pockets take the helm.

 :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: DCPatriot on February 19, 2014, 01:49:36 am
From the time Nixon was elected Senator, it was 18 years until he was elected President. (1950-1968)

From the time Reagan was elected Governor it was 13 years until he was elected President. (1967-1980)

Cruz comes up way short, when looked at in an historic light. Plenty of others have put in their training time. Governors Perry, Walker, Bush, Huckabee, Martinez, Kasich, Brewer, Sandoval, Christie, would be a list of examples.

Back during my corporate career, we discovered an interesting phenomena - why management went outside for supervisory positions, instead of promote from within.

It was because they knew all the weakness for current employees, but outsiders had no known weaknesses to them.

Cruz reminds me of that situation. In his short time he's made a few speeches, a couple of filibusters. He has no record of accomplishments whatsoever, yet he's a legend in no time.
 

I've said it before...if Cruz didn't exist, we'd have to invent one (him)

We should expect the celebrity culture and MSM to build up Ted Cruz as some rookie phenom.   "Build the target...identify....etc."  It doesn't mean we have to get caught up in it.



In the meantime.....I'll keep praying every night that Sarah Palin wakes up one morning with a voice like Susan Sarandan.   :bolt:

Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: katzenjammer on February 19, 2014, 01:51:18 am
Reagan was an amiable human being who made an effort to work with everybody.  And he did work with everybody.
 (http://Reagan was an amiable human being who made an effort to work with everybody.  And he did work with everybody.)

Reagan was a president. Cruz is only a Senator. Reagan got cooperation; Obama is dictatorial. The democrats don't want to cooperate, and they are the instigators. They hammer away, and guess who is allowing themselves to be hammered? The days of mediation between parties is over, unless we get someone in who is intelligent with common sense, and the guts to stand by his beliefs. That is what Reagan did, and like it or not, the democrats were in no position to defy him any more than they already had. They found that the MSM and themselves did not intimidate Reagan, and Reagan went on to be one of our best presidents.

Obviously this is pure speculation on my part.....  but lately, upon seeing his name, "11th commandment," and statements on "compromise" constantly being trotted out in support of the GOPe style tactics and politicians, I wonder if he would say in response, something along the lines of: "Well, those were different times....  we are fighting a different kind of evil now, the kind of compromise that I was able to broker back then really isn't possible with this crew.....  Oh, and as far as my 11th Commandment, you need to understand, when I said that, being a "Republican" actually meant something....."
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: DCPatriot on February 19, 2014, 01:53:43 am
Obviously this is pure speculation on my part.....  but lately, upon seeing his name, "11th commandment," and statements on "compromise" constantly being trotted out in support of the GOPe style tactics and politicians, I wonder if he would say in response, something along the lines of: "Well, those were different times....  we are fighting a different kind of evil now, the kind of compromise that I was able to broker back then really isn't possible with this crew.....  Oh, and as far as my 11th Commandment, you need to understand, when I said that, being a "Republican" actually meant something....."

Wow!   Something to ponder indeed!   :beer:
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: truth_seeker on February 19, 2014, 01:59:42 am
We both live in Oregon, right?  What are the odds of removing Wyden or Merkely with even a moderate GOP
such as Gordon Smith, let alone somebody like Ted Cruz?  You're hoping for some massive shift that defies reality.  I'm sure it feels nice ideolgically to hold firm on your view, but reality makes it a completely unreasonable expectation.

There are 14 states with two Republican Senators.
There are 17 states with one Republican Senator.

Subtotal 31 states with one+ Republican Senators, or 62%.

There are 19 states which have no Republican Senators, or 38%. Of those 16 have a democrat Governor as well (exceptions New Mexico, Michigan, New Jersey). And of the 19 states, 17 voted for Obama in 2014. Of those 19 states, 15 have democrat domination of state legislatures.

I therefore  conclude that 30-40% of the states are out of reach for Republicans at this time.

Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: Lando Lincoln on February 19, 2014, 02:00:23 am
From the time Nixon was elected Senator, it was 18 years until he was elected President. (1950-1968)

From the time Reagan was elected Governor it was 13 years until he was elected President. (1967-1980)

Cruz comes up way short, when looked at in an historic light. Plenty of others have put in their training time. Governors Perry, Walker, Bush, Huckabee, Martinez, Kasich, Brewer, Sandoval, Christie, would be a list of examples.

Back during my corporate career, we discovered an interesting phenomena - why management went outside for supervisory positions, instead of promote from within.

It was because they knew all the weakness for current employees, but outsiders had no known weaknesses to them.

Cruz reminds me of that situation. In his short time he's made a few speeches, a couple of filibusters. He has no record of accomplishments whatsoever, yet he's a legend in no time.
 

Good post.  Reagan honed his message - and delivery - for decades. 
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: olde north church on February 19, 2014, 02:05:40 am
There are 14 states with two Republican Senators.
There are 17 states with one Republican Senator.

Subtotal 31 states with one+ Republican Senators, or 62%.

There are 19 states which have no Republican Senators, or 38%. Of those 16 have a democrat Governor as well (exceptions New Mexico, Michigan, New Jersey). And of the 19 states, 17 voted for Obama in 2014. Of those 19 states, 15 have democrat domination of state legislatures.

I therefore  conclude that 30-40% of the states are out of reach for Republicans at this time.

I respectfully disagree.  Nothing is out of reach with the proper message and correct messenger.  Not all at them concurrently but nothing is out of reach.
Title: Re: Ted Cruz isn't planning to be in the Senate very long
Post by: aligncare on February 19, 2014, 02:08:06 am
Obviously this is pure speculation on my part.....  but lately, upon seeing his name, "11th commandment," and statements on "compromise" constantly being trotted out in support of the GOPe style tactics and politicians, I wonder if he would say in response, something along the lines of: "Well, those were different times....  we are fighting a different kind of evil now, the kind of compromise that I was able to broker back then really isn't possible with this crew.....  Oh, and as far as my 11th Commandment, you need to understand, when I said that, being a "Republican" actually meant something....."

I said something similar elsewhere. This is a different landscape and these are different Democrats. Radical, kooky, dismissive of the free market. And while Obama brazenly ignores the Constitution, Democrats – oops, I meant to say Republicans – run for the tall grass.

It'll take new leadership in Congress to fight this fight. At least Cruz, Lee and Rand are making a good start in the Senate.