UPDATE 3: Tuesday, June 23, 2015, 8:18am.
THANK GOD!!!!! Cruz has had a change of heart on Obamatrade and will vote NO today!!!! You can read his full explanation here or below, as excerpted from Breitbart’s exclusive. Thus, he will continue to receive my full $upport for President!
Exclusive – Ted Cruz: Obamatrade Enmeshed in Corrupt, Backroom Dealings
(By Senator Ted Cruz): The American people do not trust President Obama. And they do not trust Republican leadership in Congress. And the reason is simple: for far too long, politicians in Washington have not told the truth.
Both President Obama and Republican leadership are pressing trade promotion authority, also known as TPA, or “fast-track.” and both oppose it.
As a general matter, I agree (as did Ronald Reagan) that free trade is good for America; when we open up foreign markets, it helps American farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers.
But TPA in this Congress has become enmeshed in corrupt Washington backroom deal-making, along with serious concerns that it would open up the potential for sweeping changes in our laws that trade agreements typically do not include.
Since the Senate first voted on TPA, there have been two material changes:
First, WikiLeaks subsequently revealed new troubling information regarding… immigration…
Second, TPA’s progress through the House and Senate appears to have been made possible by secret deals between Republican Leadership and the Democrats… It appears (House Speaker Boehner) made (a) deal with Democrats..
Enough is enough. I cannot vote for TPA unless McConnell and Boehner both commit publicly to allow the Ex-Im Bank to expire—and stay expired. And, Congress must also pass the Cruz-Sessions amendments to TPA to ensure that no trade agreement can try to back-door changes to our immigration laws. Otherwise, I will have no choice but vote no…
It’s a time for truth. And a time to honor our commitments to the voters.
UPDATE 2: Tuesday, June 16, 2015, 5:17am.
Okay. I’ve had a few days to think about it. To ruminate. To stew. Here’s what I’ve decided: We will never, none of us, have a “perfect” candidate. Perfection can’t be a goal; that’s childish. What we can do is seek a born leader, one with a record of unimpeachable integrity, and the intellectual courage to seek opinions which differ from his own. I believe Cruz meets that test… but if he tries to use weasel words again when clearly having been caught not having read the entire bill, or not answering, point-by-point, very legitimate concerns, in this case, raised by Senator Sessions, a colleague he respects, and falling back on ‘only the legislative branch can make law’ as an answer when asked about them, he may permanently piss-me off, because then he may reveal himself to be irretrievably arrogant, thus, unable to be helped by a ‘team of rivals’ should he find himself at 1600 Penn… and then, he would just be a way-smarter version of Obama… and we can’t have that.
UPDATE 1: Friday, June 12, 2015, 1:29pm.
Listened to entire thing. Ted Cruz is not sufficiently paranoid about this president. Still believes in rule of law. https://t.co/ARwL3QEYhn
— Annie (@bloodless_coup) June 12, 2015
== end of updates ==
(The original blog post below was first published on June 6, 2015.)
I just removed this Ted Cruz button that use to reside at the top of the right hand column here on my blog. I broke my long-standing policy of not supporting individuals (versus a principle, which will never let you down). Silly me. This is the tweet that set me off this morning:
These f-ing Guys @tedcruz & Paul Ryan better get their act together. WTF IS WRONG W/YOU GUYS http://t.co/vofE1KsqaW pic.twitter.com/nLDvhUXduW — The Patriot (@ThePatriot143) June 11, 2015
It’s not that I am a fair-weather friend, or a Sunshine Patriot. I still believe him to be a good & honorable man who would be a superb leader in some large capacity, as Attorney General, or as a Supreme Court Justice, and yes, even as *President.
But his support for Obamatrade is so wrong-headed I can’t… understand it. This is a guy who should know better. When a decision is this inexplicable it can only mean one of two things: ignorance/stupidity, or cravenness/corruption.
Well, we know he’s not a stupid man. Perhaps ignorance? (As distinguished from stupidity, which cannot be remedied. Ignorance is merely a state of un-knowing.) Is it a matter of not having read or properly understood some crucial sections? That’s not an attractive alternative, either. That would make him unforgivably derelict in his duties to the people of Texas (and to us, as a presidential candidate).
So that leaves cravenness or corruption. At least so far, he has seemed immune to the pressures of being bought off, which is the very thing that has pissed-off everyone royally and made him so hotly unpopular, and thus, made him so attractive to me. (Being able to “buy” a Senator is to be able to control him. His fellow Senator$ and lobbyist$ couldn’t control him, and that just drives them bat-guano insane.)
So how to explain this? Other than a promise of money, I just can’t understand what could possibly motivate this very smart guy to support this disastrous bill! When you are trying to understand an inexplicable change, it’s useful see if there has been any change to the status quo, anything that caused a disruption, or shift in the dynamic. The only thing that I can see that has changed between “explicable” behavior and “inexplicable” behavior has been his announcement to run for President. He sure as sh*t isn’t getting any help from the deep, deep coffers of the GOP, nor any of their “ground game” operations, so he’s going to need big, big money from somewhere… Perhaps the Chamber of Commerce is buying him? I don’t get it! I just can’t understand this. There’s nothing in his behavior I’ve seen these last few years, nor in his record, which I’ve done some reading on, which would suggest his “soul” is, or ever has been, for sale. I mean, good grief, if ever anyone could have sold-out to save himself a steaming onslaught of sh*t from this, that, or the other thing, it’s him, many, many times before now and he never did it.
Add to this his new cowardice by refusing to be interviewed on the matter by even “friendly” media, most notably to me WRKO’s Jeff Kuhner who just held a hugely successful town hall for him in New Hampshire just 10 days ago!
What. The. Hell?
This is why I never support people, only principles. I broke my rule and I got burned. It’s still possible he could come to his senses, regain his courage and clarity and make a credible mea-culpa, but until it does, not another penny.
BONUS: The tweet that set me off also features Paul Ryan, another one who has let me down. I remember when Mitt Romney picked him for a running-mate I was genuinely excited. Now I look back and am ashamed I was as emotional as an Obama voter. Mitt’s an exceptionally good & charitable man, but he’s a squishy RINO. Paul Ryan also appears to “get it” about America, but he, too, has proven to be inexplicably “establishment.”
If Paul Ryan was my canary, Ted Cruz is my coal-mine.
*I blogged on Ted Cruz’s eligibility here.