What is this, the inquisition?
A guy can’t hurl a few Palin-esque “you’re a terrorist or terrorist lover” insults at another guy without people going all, “Hey didn’t you say there were Communists hiding out at Harvard?”
Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) spokesperson thinks it’s “curious” that the New Yorker would cover a speech he gave two years ago when he McCarthyed his way into the arms of the Koch brothers with suggestions that Harvard was a cover for a Marxist government take over plot. You see, Ted Cruz’s history has nothing to do with anything. Leave him alone!
The New Yorker reported yesterday:
Cruz’s spokesman called it “curious” that The New Yorker would cover Cruz’s speech “three years” after he gave it. But Cruz’s hostile questioning of Obama’s nominee for Defense Secretary, Chuck Hagel, and insinuations about Hagel’s loyalties had provided a fresh context for looking more closely at the nature of the accusations he has leveled at political opponents. Observers like Senator Barbara Boxer wondered if they were seeing a revival of McCarthyism. Judging from Cruz’s speech—and, now, his defense of it—it’s a good question.
FYI, Harvard is full of Commies, according to Cruz, so he stands by his accusation just like a Breitbart writer stands by his “reporting”. I meant I heard, not I know! Questions must be asked, people. But only of Republican opponents.
You want to know what is relevant? According to Cruz, a speech Chuck Hagel (R-NE) gave in 2000, which by my regular, unskewed math, is 12-13 years ago instead of 2-3 years ago. Curious, that.
Also, Cruz is still waiting to find out if Hagel is pallin’ around with terrorists. Sure, Breitbart’s “Friends of Hamas” has been widely debunked. But Cruz also asked during the confirmation hearings, “It is at a minimum relevant to know that if that $200,000 that he deposited in his bank account came directly from Saudi Arabia, came directly from North Korea.”
Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my! This outraged John McCain, whose VP nominee talked that way on the trail, but not during official business. These sorts of things are not said by civilized people on the floor or during hearings. But Cruz is a “conservative” and hence, not civilized. Please lower your expectations.
What else is relevant? It’s what Ted Cruz thinks the Iranian government means via some American headlines of an Iranian spokesperson. Okay?
Politifact Pants-on-Fired Cruz’s claim that Chuck Hagel’s nomination as defense secretary “has been publicly celebrated by the Iranian government.”
Cruz accused, “Hagel’s nomination has been publicly celebrated by the Iranian government — surely an occurrence without precedent for a nominee for secretary of Defense.”
When asked why, his office pointed to some headlines (yes, headlines). As you may have guessed, world affairs are a bit more nuanced than we might get in our headlines here (Does Cruz not know this or is he playing dumb?).
The Fars account further quotes the spokesman, identified there as Ramin Mehman-Parast, as saying: “We hope that the U.S. officials will favor peace instead of warmongering and recognize the rights of nations instead of interfering in the countries’ internal affairs. If such a trend is adopted (by the American officials),” the Fars story quotes the spokesman as saying, “hatred for the U.S. hostile policies will decrease, although,” he is quoted as saying, that assessment only “can be made in action.”
PolitiFact was left nonplussed, “Our sense is there has been no Hagel party in Iran, leaving this claim worse than incorrect. It’s ridiculous. Pants on Fire!”
Ted Cruz doesn’t think it’s news when he gives a speech 2 years ago, but a speech Hagel gave 12 years ago is all the rage. Never mind that as a Cabinet member, Hagel will be (he will most likely be confirmed in spite of Cruz et al’s Little Boys Crying Wolf routines) enacting the President’s agenda, not his own.
Leave Ted Cruz alone! It’s hard out here for a Koch pimp.
Ted Cruz is more than a problem for the GOP. He is symbolic of the larger problem inherent within the party, driven by the sad, paranoid bubble of conservative media. And he personifies why Republicans can’t win national elections anymore. Sure, he’s fringe — but then so is the Republican Party.
Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.
Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Connect with Sarah on Post, Mastodon @PoliticusSarah@Journa.Host, & Twitter.
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