February 15, 2013

"Cruz has taken the wear-their-scorn-as-a-badge-of-honor approach with his liberal critics."

"Behind the scenes, Cruz has rankled even Republican colleagues, who think he lectures too much at private party sessions — 'pontificates' is one word used — and listens too little, especially for a newbie."

WaPo's Ruth Marcus unleashes some classic schoolgirl-style taunting: No one likes you.

ADDED: He pontificates? You mean he's uppity? The liberals need to pre-ruin any people of color on the GOP side. After Marco Rubio's career went down in flames because he drank a glass of water, the appetite for destruction rages. Look! There's another Hispano-Conservo! Get him!

81 comments:

Cody Jarrett said...

I love the comments there. I don't have time to read them all, but I glanced at the first dozen.

He must be doing something right (as he suggests).

tim maguire said...

If he truly wears their scorn as a badge of honor, then he has a bright future indeed.

traditionalguy said...

Cruz is obeying that famous order to soldiers, " Move out and draw fire."

The man has guts. That must be why the Propaganda Media Complex is so upset. He's just not afraid of them.

Henry said...

I like him better already.

Patrick said...

Behind the scenes, Obama has rankled even Democratic colleagues, who think he lectures too much at private party sessions — 'pontificates' is one word used — and listens too little, especially for a newbie.

Cruz '16!

Bayoneteer said...

Probably the best situation a conservative pol can is being from one of the ever diminishing places in America where no one gives a flying fuck what the snarks, scolds, & mean kids at the Times think.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

I was one of the few people to get out and vote in the July special runoff because I wanted to send that man to Washington. He has backbone, which is something Republicans are sorely in need of these days. The GOP needs to get some dignity and stop being cowed by the scorn of the cool Beltway kids.

SteveR said...

There's no reason to play nice.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

The presumption is he's looking to get bought off.

robinintn said...

The people who don't like him either don't exist, or they're making unattributed nasty comments about a fellow Republican to the Washington Post. Either way, I think it's safe to dismiss Marcus' "concern".

ricpic said...

I trust Cruz and wish he was the Republicans' golden boy, not Rubio.

Hagar said...

Marcus and Rove.

edutcher said...

That's how you beat them.

Give nothing.

Larry J said...

A newbie congresscritter comes to DC and either adapts to business as usual or gets squeezed. Business as usual for both parties is what got America into the mess it's in with annual deficits of over a trillion dollars with no end in sight and a national debt now exceeding the GDP. Maybe it's time for the newbies to stand up against the establishment drones and refuse to be corrupted by the system.

Insufficiently Sensitive said...

Ruth Marcus is going along with the MSM preemptive hit job on Senator Cruz, to get along with her sorority sisters at WaPo.

The traditional stance for a freshman senator is to hold back a bit. ...but most new senators choose, as much as it clashes with their instincts, to tamp down.

And she thinks that gossip-columnist mindset will work to bulldoze US public opinion against Cruz. Nice try, Marcus, but his razor-sharp questioning of the Obamapoodles before his committee have instead given us some hope for a change for the better.

More power to the Senator, and perhaps Ms Marcus might find the writing of bodice-rippers a more traditionally rewarding occupation than baying at talented conservatives with the media mob.

SteveR said...

Good thing folks like Marcus are so tolerant and high minded. They could get nasty.

Chip S. said...

Let's just hope he's not so reckless that he declines an invitation to a Sally Quinn dinner party.

Anonymous said...

The liberals need to pre-ruin any people of color on the GOP side.

The "pontificates" quote is attributed to a fellow republican.

Chip S. said...

The "pontificates" quote is attributed to a fellow republican.

Chuck Hagel?

Henry said...

Given the height of the horse that Ms. Marcus has clambered upon, I have to wonder what she had to say about Mitt Romney's tax returns.

SteveR said...

Freder you think there's a practical difference in many cases?

Rusty said...

He's pissing off the right people. Good.

Anonymous said...

but his razor-sharp questioning of the Obamapoodles before his committee

Insinuating that Hagel is been paid off by North Korea without any evidence is just beyond the pale.

But of course Althouse will claim the "what if" exception to excuse his outrageous questioning.

Brew Master said...

Can we begin to label this for what it is?

Character Assassination

This is being done in a coordinated fashion with deliberate targets by all the usual suspects. And it works.

Every representative of a minority voting block that the democrats must have in order to win, that is not a Democrat, must be destroyed or marginalized in the eye of the low information public.

To allow an elected member of a minority voting block, that is not a Democrat, to be shown in a respectable and intelligent light would undermine the coallition that they need in order to secure their grasp of power.

Vile tactics by vile people.

AustinRoth said...

"After Marco Rubio's career went down in flames because he drank a glass of water"

That has to be the single funniest thing I have read all morning.

cubanbob said...

WaPo is a democrat party house organ. Why would Cruz or Rubio give a crap what they write? Why would any republican who is actually a real conservative give a crap what the MSM publishes?

Bryan C said...

"especially for a newbie."

Because his voters don't deserve to have actual equal representation unless they choose an incumbent. Like they're supposed to.

Original Mike said...

"and listens too little, especially for a newbie."

Right, because the veterans in Congress have so much to teach.

Jay - that's sarcasm.

So was that.

edutcher said...

Freder Frederson said...

but his razor-sharp questioning of the Obamapoodles before his committee

Insinuating that Hagel is been paid off by North Korea without any evidence is just beyond the pale.


The Lefties do this all the time. I thought there was no pale anymore.

We're all half-Ugandans now.

Known Unknown said...

One Republican senator described Cruz to me as “Jim De­Mint without the charm,” referring to the rigidly conservative South Carolina Republican who left the Senate to head the Heritage Foundation — and who was not exactly renowned for being warm and fuzzy.

Never divulge your sources, Ruth.

lemondog said...

Feisty. Must get it from his father.

Ted Cruz

His father was jailed and tortured by the Fulgencio Batista regime and fought for Fidel Castro in the Cuban Revolution[38] but "didn't know Castro was a Communist" and later became a staunch critic of Castro when "the rebel leader took control and began seizing private property and suppressing dissent."[39] Rafael Cruz moved to Austin in 1957 to study at the University of Texas. He spoke no English and had $100 sewn into his underwear.

Rusty said...

Freder Frederson said...
but his razor-sharp questioning of the Obamapoodles before his committee

Insinuating that Hagel is been paid off by North Korea without any evidence is just beyond the pale.

But of course Althouse will claim the "what if" exception to excuse his outrageous questioning.

The irony. It giggles behind its hand.

MathMom said...

Cruz is my senator, and I worked hard to get him there. The debate I attended between DewCrist and Cruz was just painful to watch at times, because Cruz is so smart and intellectually facile, compared to DewCrist, who can't be dumb, because he has made a huge success of himself in business.

But there is a timidity, a desire to be part of a club, a John-McCain-like tendency to want to "reach across the aisle" which infects too many Republicans.

Cruz is willing to stand on his side of the aisle, and wait for others to start reaching.

When you get a guy like Cruz coming out of the gate, he makes others afraid. Many of them realize they are mediocrities when they are standing next to someone like Cruz, IMHO. So they call him a poopyhead.

bleh said...

Rubio and Cruz will be real assets in the ongoing effort to Republicanize Hispanics. More Spanish-language speeches, more interviews on Univision and Telemundo, more outreach.

Because he's Protestant and sounds like a Southerner, Cruz seems less authentic for some reason.

FWBuff said...

Texans love Cruz. We're glad he's representing our state instead of Dewhurst (who would have followed the "expected" behavior for a new senator to a tee!).

Sam L. said...

Put that man on Cruz Control!

Henry said...

Insinuating that Hagel is been paid off by North Korea without any evidence is just beyond the pale.

He should just have insinuated that Hagel paid no taxes on his unreleased returns.

Actually, I agree, that Cruz's insinuation is pretty despicable. But it's not beyond the pale. It's par for the course.

"Beyond the pale" has an interesting origin. I thought it derived from the Pale in Russia, but usage apparently predates Catherine the Great.

Paddy O said...

The traditional stance for a freshman senator is to hold back a bit. Being reticent and deferential are not qualities that come naturally to those who manage to win Senate seats, but most new senators choose, as much as it clashes with their instincts, to tamp down.

Not Obama.

Within 3 year of gaining office he publicly defied Senator Hillary Clinton's policies and skills, in an unprecedented move for a freshman senator to undermine the ambitions of a part of the previous Democratic administration.

He then openly clashed with a senior senator, John McCain on a variety of issues in a year long contest. He openly defied the Bush administration in publicly repudiating their policies.

dreams said...

Down in flames because he drank a glass of water just doesn't seem right.

virgil xenophon said...

Well, you know what they say in the Air Force (Navy & Marines, too): "When you're taking heavy Flak you know you're over the target." LOL. My Man Cruz!!

Chip S. said...

Down in flames because he drank a glass of water just doesn't seem right.

Say what you will about Ted Kennedy, but at least he never drank water. Chivas neat, I believe.

Brent said...

Imagine . . .


just imagine . . .

for one minute . . .

Ruth Marcus writing this about a female Democrat Senator.

What spunk the woman would be praised by Marcus for! Waht cajones bringing it into the man's world!


I understand that Elizbeth Warren was considered intolerable by all of her previous colleagues except for the most partisan leftists, and this apoplied everywhere she worked, even Harvard.

But did Ruth Marcus ever write about that, and more importantly . . .


will Ruth Marcus write about it now?





Yea . . . . that will happen

Brent said...

Sorry about the typos . . took 6 stitches in the right palm and am not so good at hunt and peck . . .

Strelnikov said...

Well,if there is anyone who would know what is going on behind the scenes in the GOP, it's Ruth Marcus.

Guimo said...

Ruth Marcus is really David Brooks in drag.

TMink said...

Ruth Marcus is a liar as well as socially regressed to middle school. Many of us LOVE Ted Cruz.

Trey

Mark said...

Henry - `Beyond the Pale' come from English rule of Ireland in the 14/15th Century, when it would have been foolish or deadly for a Englishman to take one step beyond the Pale [their demarcated land].

One more example of a term with a fascinating a deep history.

Chuck said...

It seems particularly appropriate to bring up another name this weekend:

Miguel Estrada. Hispanic conservative, distinguished attorney. DC Circuit Court of Appeals nomination killed by the liberals on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Durbin, Schumer, Kennedy, Biden.

I know that many people think that the primary challenge of Richard Lugar was a terrible mistake. And use it as an example of what Republicans must stop doing in this century. Actually, Republicans have just started doing it in this century.

In any event, I hope that there are more Ted Cruzes along the way. If we can avoid the Mourdocks (and I have to say that I think Mourdock was treated very unfairly by the press, and that journalism story is the really big one, not Dick Lugar), that's fine but what we really need are more Ted Cruzes. We need as many Ted Cruzes, as there are Boxers, Feinsteins, Leahys, Durbins, Schumers, Murrays, Warrens, etc.

GT said...

Oh, he's likeable enough.

Bruce Hayden said...

I think that this is great. Right now, I expect Rubio, not Cruz in 4 years as the Republican nominee, and that will be because both the Dems and the Republican establishment will see him as the "good" Hispanic, compared to the dogmatic Cruz, who will bee seen a the "bad" Hispanic, because he doesn't know to play ball with his betters.

The water thing about Rubio is totally bogus. Drudge had pictures the other day of Obama, Rubio, etc. all drinking water in the middle of speeches. Sure, he didn't look as grand and important as Obama did, not before the entire Congress, with all the ceremony involved. But, no one can.

I think that the left has just woken up to the reality that the Republicans now have two very articulate conservative attractive Hispanics in the Senate. And what do the Dems have? An older, almost unknown, Senator now accused of using child prostitutes, taking a lot of illegal in-kind campaign contributions, and then running interference for his biggest campaign contributor to keep Medicare funding flowing despite (rare for Medicare) allegations of fraud.

The Hispanics broke fairly heavily for "brown" Obama and sharply against white bread northerners Romney and Ryan in the last election, arguably being the margin of victory for the Dems. Next time around? With a family values Hispanic on the Republican ticket?

My prognostication right now is Rubio in '16, or if not, then Cruz in '20.

Guimo said...

Won't matter whether it's Cruz or Rubio in either of those two years. Latinos are not going to vote Republican. They want to be on the Democrat gravy train.

Bruce Hayden said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bruce Hayden said...

Won't matter whether it's Cruz or Rubio in either of those two years. Latinos are not going to vote Republican. They want to be on the Democrat gravy train.

Maybe a lot, but we saw how many otherwise sensible moderate Blacks closed ranks and voted for Obama in the last two elections, and, yes, Cuban-Americans aren't Mexican-Americans, but... George W. Bush was able to pull a lot more Hispanics than did Romney/Ryan, and that I think may have been because he came from a border state, and could communicate with them a lot better than two northerners ever could (and, then he had his telegenic Hispanic namesake nephew leading the charge too the first time around).

Sure, a lot of Hispanics love the ObamaTrain of gravy, but probably not as many, but still a lot do not. For one thing, they seem to assimilate better than Blacks do. And, I think, in a good way that goes both ways. While we seem to celebrate some of the worst parts of Black (i.e. gangsta) culture, we seem to celebrate a lot more of the good side of Hispanic culture.

And, I don't think that you can underestimate the effect that giving speeches bilingually will do, with the Spanish being fast, fluent, and correct. Many, maybe even most, Hispanics in this country don't really speak all that much Spanish any more, but their parents or grandparents did, and so even if they can't understand all that well, it speaks to their heritage, and strokes their egos.

Ruth Anne Adams said...

"Pontificates"??

That's anti-Catholic bigotry if you ask me.

G Joubert said...

The lliberals need to pre-ruin any people of color on the GOP side. After Marco Rubio's career went down in flames because he drank a glass of water...

Yeah, and which you gratuitously used as an opportunity to pile on: "Desperate water-drinking move got my attention more than anything else."

Or was that sarcasm?

mark said...

If drinking water on TV is more important then killing an american teen from Denver with hellfire missiles ... You might be a liberal.

furious_a said...

"Beyond the pale": Also...

The Pale of Settlement (Russian: Черта́ осе́длости, chertá osédlosti, Yiddish: דער תּחום-המושבֿ der tkhum-ha-moyshəv, Hebrew: תְּחוּם הַמּוֹשָב‎, tḥùm ha-mosháv) was the term given to a region of Imperial Russia in which permanent residency by Jews was allowed and beyond which Jewish permanent residency was generally prohibited.

So, see, it's not just Chuck Hagel.

bbkingfish said...

Jindal, Christie, Bachmann, Haley, Ryan, Rubio, Cruz...one-by-one, it takes the great GOP hopes about 15 seconds under the lights to self-immolate.

And I would not have them change a thing.

ken in tx said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ken in tx said...

I think someone was right to try to get Hagel on record as not having connections to Iranian or other foreign elements. After all it has happened before. We may find out later that the questions were not totally out of the realm of possibility.

furious_a said...

Pre-Sen. Cruz had a reputation as an aggressive litigator and, according to local Texas papers, conducted his editorial interviews with a chip in his shoulder. That plus the sense of entitlement that comes with a U.S. Senate seat, it's not surprising he doesn't play well with the other 99 swelled heads. Citing these reasons primarily, none of the major Texas dailies (except, oddly, the Austin American-Statesman), endorsed him in the primaries.

Having watched him expose nominee Hagel's manifest weaknesses, I say we need this man -- he fights.

Known Unknown said...

Jindal, Christie, Bachmann, Haley, Ryan, Rubio, Cruz...one-by-one, it takes the great GOP hopes about 15 seconds under the lights to self-immolate.


Yes, because they all such awful people. Must be something in the (bottled) water.

bgates said...

Say what you will about Ted Kennedy, but at least he never drank water

I'm sure he swallowed some fleeing that crime scene.

Bilwick said...

"Pontificates"--that's funny. I mean, given that the MSM is the cheeleading squad for the Pontificator-in-Chief, "Il Dufe."

Bilwick said...

"Pontificates"--that's funny. I mean, given that the MSM is the cheeleading squad for the Pontificator-in-Chief, "Il Dufe."

Unknown said...

He insists upon himself.

Big Mike said...

You know "uppity" was the first word that came to my mind, too. As Ruth Marcus is trying to point out, Hispanics are supposed to know their place.

Shootist said...

Chip S. said...

Down in flames because he drank a glass of water just doesn't seem right.

Say what you will about Ted Kennedy, but at least he never drank water. Chivas neat, I believe.

I never really thought about it but Teddy probably did drink blended whiskey, but Irish not Scotch.

Willys said...

I voted for Ted Cruz twice last year - primary and general. So far, I'm satisfied.

Nate Whilk said...

Freder Frederson said, 'The "pontificates" quote is attributed to a fellow republican.'

I'd bet that the unidentified Republican is a Cocktail Party Republican, i.e., the establishment that didn't want him to be the R. candidate.

traditionalguy said, 'Cruz is obeying that famous order to soldiers, " Move out and draw fire." '

Also the Air Force saying: "If you're catching flak, you're on target."

Michael K said...

"
ricpic said...

I trust Cruz and wish he was the Republicans' golden boy, not Rubio."

Cruz is a heavy hitter. He was the Tea Party candidate, as was Rubio. The next midterms will be the test of the Tea Party. They got blamed for Akin when they did NOT support him.

Let's see what the last four years of coaching has accomplished.

Unknown said...

I don't recall Marcus upbraiding Sen. Reid for making wild unsubstantiated charges about Romney's taxes.

Wilson said...

Cajones!

Cajones?

Do you know how ignorant you sound when you say so and so has "cajones"???

It means BOXES, dumb ass.

Presumably you mean COJONES.

Yes, it's just one letter different. Same way as in English if you said "That guy has big bills".

People would understand what you meant. But they would be laughing at you for your stupidity.

Mutaman said...

The next thing you know they'll be showing kids in their "nig" pajamas.

http://gif.mocksession.com/2013/02/rubio-is-thirsty/

jaynie said...

Ted Cruz is so amazing. Hope that he stays strong and finds some conservative allies for the uphill battles ahead.

Ted Cruz and Rand Paul in the Senate give me that ole' audacity of hope.

Now, in Congress, it'd be nice to find some more like Trey Gowdy, SC. I haven't heard his name much in the news o conservative blogosphere. But this video of him taking Sebelious to task is rather like Sen Cruz. It also tickles that audacity of hope space : http://freebeacon.com/trey-gowdy-takes-sebelius-to-law-school/

(PS Isn't she rather hard to take?)

Æthelflæd said...

My kids and I went to a Ted Cruz rally a week before the primary runoff vote. Sarah Palin and Jim DeMint were there too. My kids got their pics taken with Cruz and tXshirts and hands (!) Autographed by Sarah. They passed out fliers, bumper stickers, etc. all day, in Texas, in the July heat. The homeschool teenagers came out in droves to work and set up for the rally, and set records for phone calls made. We know one homeschool family that made so many phone bank calls that they handed them the keys to one of their major phone bank centers. Keep up the good work, Ted!

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

The NYT is joining in.

Cruz is one tough mean hombre.

jeyi said...

The sh*t hitting the MSM fan over Cruz's not playing nicely with them is exactly what came down with Sarah Palin... whose nomination speech was the single best thing in the 2008 campaign...

And indeed the Dhimmicrat whoring press succeeded in quasi-totally destroying her political credibility (e.g., last week I was a checkout line in a carriage trade specialty food store, in the deepest mid-west, and when Gov. Palin's name somehow came up, the young woman at the register, well-adorned with really abominable tattoos, said "Oh, but she's so stupid". Coyote-uglified checkout girl meet drop-dead gorgeous and vastly accomplished Alaska gov and VP candidate!

And Palin was destroyed not least also because the McCain apparatchiki responded to the MSM poopyhead strategy by thinking maybe they had Made a Big Mistake in giving the nod to Palin, which of course the Soviet Media grabbed and ran with.

HA said...

Given that Hagel was forced to repudiate his own comments about some senators being intimidated into doing stupid things on behalf of the Jewish lobby after being delightfully smacked around by Lindsay Graham, I'm savoring the irony of Marcus playing the indignation card against Cruz for questioning Hagel's motives.

Since Marcus would have us believe that Hagel would not be influenced into saying stupid things by the Saudi lobby - and asserts that even raising the question is a disgraceful smear - then the only other logical conclusion is that Hagel's anti-Semitism is sincerely held.

What reasonable inference is there to draw about this servile old pundit? That there is little she won't stoop to in defense of Obama's loathsome nominee.

timb said...

Ann, It is cute when conservatives get to use the race card, but Cruz was born in Canada. He's about as much an actual Cuban as Louis CK is a Mexican (look it up).

I know you guys revel in tokenism, but Senator Cruz isn't confusing anyone.

Btw, you know his dad fought with Castro, right?

timb said...

Ann, It is cute when conservatives get to use the race card, but Cruz was born in Canada. He's about as much an actual Cuban as Louis CK is a Mexican (look it up).

I know you guys revel in tokenism, but Senator Cruz isn't confusing anyone.

Btw, you know his dad fought with Castro, right?