Ted Cruz: The Prince of Smugness
When they made Ted Cruz, they broke the mold.
Strike that!
I meant they broke the mold before they made Ted Cruz.
Then they cast him.
Since then, he蘑菇视频 acted accordingly.
Cruz wasn鈥檛 well known beyond the state of Texas when he arrived at the U.S. Senate on Jan. 3rd, 2013.
He immediately made enemies.
He was quite vociferous about his disdain for a bill that would help the people of New York and New Jersey in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. He claimed (falsely) that the bill was loaded with pork-barrel spending that had nothing to do with Sandy relief.
鈥淭wo-thirds of this spending is not remotely emergency,鈥� he proclaimed.
He proudly voted against that bill three times. It still passed the Senate and was signed into law.
At the same time, he made his inaugural pilgrimage to Fox News just five days after he was sworn in.
He appeared to give Sean Hannity the vapors when he railed against the nomination of former U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel to become Barack Obama蘑菇视频 Secretary of Defense.
Ted Cruz is a Republican. So is Chuck Hagel.
That蘑菇视频 a problem.
Especially for a U.S. senator who probably hadn鈥檛 been around the Senate long enough to find his parking spot at quitting time.
It蘑菇视频 then that I began realizing that the hardest thing you can ever do is to find something likable about Ted Cruz.
Ex-Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota, who served in the Senate with Cruz, famously said, 鈥淚 like Ted Cruz more than my other colleagues like Ted Cruz. And I hate Ted Cruz. He蘑菇视频 kind of the toxic guy in the office. The kinda guy who microwaves fish.鈥�
Understandably, a Democrat might find little common ground with the smug, self-important Cruz. But his fellow Republicans hold him in downright contempt.
Republican strategist Rick Wilson (he蘑菇视频 since left the Republican Party) of the Lincoln Project once said of Sen. Cruz, 鈥淵ou either hate him or you hate him.鈥�
And if that wasn鈥檛 clear enough, Wilson has also said, 鈥淭here are two types of people in the world. People who hate Ted Cruz, and Ted Cruz.鈥�
By the end of his freshman year in the Senate, Cruz staged a ridiculous, 21-hour faux filibuster that served as a protest against Obamacare. He decided to talk nonstop (鈥淚 intend to speak in support of defunding Obamacare until I鈥檓 no longer able to stand,鈥� he said) before he eventually stopped and sat down.
His protest ended with nothing having been accomplished.
The following month he became the face of a 16-day government shutdown that cost the country $24 billion.
Again, Cruz蘑菇视频 actions didn鈥檛 achieve anything of value, except to boost his growing Tea Party credibility.
Cruz is fully aware of his tendency to tick-off his fellow Republicans. He once said, 鈥淓ach day I learn what a scoundrel I am,鈥� when he sees what they say about him in the media.
Last month, of course, Cruz was one of two Republicans in the Senate (Missouri蘑菇视频 Josh Hawley was the other) who tried to block the certification of electors that sealed Joe Biden蘑菇视频 victory 鈥� or, as I鈥檇 prefer to look at it 鈥� Donald Trump蘑菇视频 defeat.
But Cruz saved the best/worst for last.
When the people of Texas were in critical need of food, water, electricity, heat, and the support of their political leaders, it was discovered that Cruz leaped into action, but he hightailed it to Mexico.
After pictures began appearing in everybody蘑菇视频 social media feeds of him seeking fun in the sun while hundreds of thousands of his constituents were struggling to stay alive, he finally spoke.
He claimed he left Texas as a way of sharing some fun times with his daughters. That he only planned to stay in Cancun for one day, then return.
That didn鈥檛 work.
Especially when it was revealed that some text messages indicated he鈥檇 planned to be there for an entire weekend.
Mr. Cruz should be ashamed of himself.
He isn鈥檛.
Why not?
He蘑菇视频 Ted Cruz.
Edward A. Owens is a multi-Emmy Award winner, former reporter, and anchor for Entertainment Tonight and, 40-year TV news and newspaper veteran. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.