"Anyone But Ted Cruz"

In today's New York Times, columnist Frank Bruni executes a hard takedown of smarmy demagogue Sen. "Tailgunner Ted" Cruz that's going to leave a mark. Bruni details Tailgunner Ted's nihilistic, spotlight-seeking behavior, going back to his service in Dumbya's 2000 Presidential campaign, as well as his days at Princeton, traits which have not endeared him to anyone that he's served with.  Says one veteran of Dumbya's campaign:

“Why do people take such an instant dislike to Ted Cruz? It just saves time.”

Tailgunner Ted (so named for his similarity in appearance and style to Joe McCarthy) is loathed by his Republican colleagues in the Senate, who have observed his pattern of self-aggrandizement and incendiary rhetoric.  He thought nothing of engineering the Government shutdown  in 2013 in a clearly futile attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which angered the general public. His McCarthyite smear of former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Vietnam veteran-- himself a Republican -- disgusted even hardliners like Sens. Lindsey Graham and John McCain. His Princeton roommate has said on the record that anyone would be preferable to Tailgunner Ted as President (back in 2013, we noted the Tailgunner's reputation as a creep while at Princeton).

Tailgunner Ted will face increasing scrutiny -- and attacks from his nearest competitors -- as his poll numbers rise. His coming face-off with fellow Cubano gusano Sen. Marco "Glug Glug" Rubio will likely damage both, but Glug Glug has Senate Rethugs  and their organizations lining up against the Tailgunner, which still counts for something despite the rabid base's distrust of them.

(photo: Tailgunner Joe and Tailgunner Ted, made for each other)

Reading Assignment For Tailgunner Ted

Now that reactionary demagogue Sen. Ted "Tailgunner Ted" Cruz's brilliant plan to shut down the Government has blown up in his face and damaged the Stupid Party, he has some free time to read.  The Borowitz Report has learned that Tailgunner Ted is using his spare time to actually read the Affordable Care Act.  After that, he's reportedly planning to read the U.S. Constitution.  We hope he focuses on the 14th Amendment, which we quote in part:

"Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned."(emphasis added) 

Cruzin' For A Brusin'

Many right-wing fanatics are angry over their hero, Tex-ass demagogue Sen. "Tailgunner" Ted Cruz's folding on the vote to open the Government and extend the debt ceiling into next year.  After his infamous meeting with Teathuglican House members urging them to "stand fast" earlier this week at the Capitol Hill restaurant "Tortilla Coast", where Rethug House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy was actually sitting at another table but not invited (!) to Tailgunner's "secret" meeting, Cruz is now seen as the most hated man on Capitol Hill for his self-serving grandstanding and for his willingness to throw his fellow Stupid Party members under the bus as he runs for cover and tries to save his political scalp.

Couldn't happen to a more despicable clown.

BONUS:  Weigel says the knives are already out in the wingnutosphere for Sen. Mitch "Missy" McConnell and "Mr. Tangerine Man" Boehner:

But you can already see how the conservative base will remember this episode. It won't be a story of Republicans making a huge strategic error and bumbling into an Obamacare-defunding fight without the votes to ever win. It will be a story of wimpy party leaders selling out. The shutdown would have been winnable if they hadn't sold out.

"Winnable."  Riiiiight!

(photos:  Tailgunner Ted and Tailgunner Joe McCarthy:  reincarnation on display)

Tweet of the Day

Ted Cruz: "The Democrats are feeling the heat!" And if we keep setting ourselves on fire, they'll feel even more heat!
— Michael Grunwald (@MikeGrunwald) October 11, 2013

The Demagoguery Continues

Joe McCarthy and Ted Cruz

Gun control legislation is being debated in the Senate Judiciary Committee this week, and yesterday there was a sharp confrontation between Chairman Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and the radical new demagogue Sen. Ted "Joe McCarthy, Jr." Cruz (Wacko Bird-TX) over whether the Second Amendment was absolute or not.  After Joe Jr. smugly tried to insist that, unlike other Amendments to the Constitution, somehow the Second Amendment couldn't be limited, Feinstein and Sens. Schumer (D-NY) and Whitehouse (D-RI) jumped on Joe Jr.'s idiotic position.

Joe Jr. isn't stupid;  he's an Ivy League-educated graduate of Harvard Law School.  He is craven and very ambitious, and very comfortably panders to the most reactionary, ignorant elements of his party.  Recently, though, he's even drawn criticism from other right-wingers like Arizona's Sen. John McNasty and South Carolina's Sen. Huckleberry Graham for smearing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel during his nomination hearings.  He's even to the right of Rep. Paul "Lyin'" Ryan, whom he criticized for not going far enough in his reverse-Robin Hood budget.

Joe Jr. isn't your everyday Rethuglican politician, he's a different, far more disturbing type.  A demagogue who won't hesitate to smear, lie, insinuate in order to advance his career....like another Rethug from decades past.

(image:  Separated at birth?)