The Milwaukee Post

8 • Milwaukee Post • September 6, 2013 OPINION Cruz missle seeking to land in Washington It wasn't a pregnant pause. Nope, this gap of awkward silence had gone full term. To say I felt like the Elephant Man at a beauty pageant would be a complete trivialization of my low self-esteem. With his bulging eyes and head tilted backward, the iconic leader of observant conservatives said nothing and turned away from me. I had just been introduced to the late William F. Buckley Jr. and, when shaking his hand, blurted out some foolish drivel. Buckley, the multisyllabic host of "Firing Line," the most respected forum for intellectuals to debate public policy, was now a blue-blooded bastard in my mind because he failed to recognize I was a young public policy savant in waiting. I drifted into the crowd disliking his perceived arrogance and hoping my verbal display went unnoticed. At least I knew how to tie a tie. In short order, I realized I was really angry with myself. Mark Twain's aphorism rang true: "Better to be thought the fool, than speak up and eliminate all doubt." I should have just said, "Nice to meet you," and walked away. If he had responded to my expressed stupidity, who knows if I'd even be writing today? Mercifully, he did turn away. Rafael Eduardo Cruz, a natural born Canadian citizen, son of an illegal immigrant, wants to be president of the United States of America. He's the freshman U.S. senator from that crazy state of Texas. We don't generally allow foreign born to run for president in our country; the tea party is the selfappointed watchdog on that issue. President Henry Kissinger or President Arnold Schwarzenegger are not part of the American lexicon. Ted Cruz lived the first four years of life in Canada before moving to the United States. Which begs the question, "Where's all the outrage of the birthers/tea party activists questioning Ted Cruz's background and his constitutional right to serve?" Ted's base is the very same birthers/tea party folk who questioned (and still do) President Obama's citizenship. In truth, Obama's path to citizenship is much more straightforward than Cruz's. It's fair to give him a little gas; but he is a natural born citizen of the United States, too. He and his strain attacked Obama's citizenship because he was a black man, with an attractive black wife, and two lovely black children and did I mention he's the first black president. Ted Cruz has emerged as the GOP's chief aginner, the guy who opposes change on any issue of saliency important to the country. He even antagonizes his Republican colleagues in the Senate. Arizona Sen. John McCain called him a "wacko bird." The GOP was like that once before when it turned to Barry Goldwater in 1964. They had no new ideas, ostracized their own members, and won the battle (the party nomination) but lost the war (the election). Cruz uses almost exactly the same phrases and pronouncements of the '64 Goldwater campaign. Ted maintains when the GOP compromises (tries to broaden its appeal), they lose. So the party should just stick to its guns and do nothing. For the life of me, I can't find where or what it is the GOP lost that he's referencing, other than membership. Cruz says there is a tendency to describe conservatives as either stupid or evil. I have not heard that before, nor do I think Ted Cruz is a stupid, evil, tea party conservative. Evil, that is as strong a word as I'd use to characterize another human being's intentions. Ted is a clever manipulator of words, evil and stupid are fighting words, but it's pure political obfuscation. Evil situations, policies, or people are one of the most unifying emotions people can respond to and it can quickly turn to hate. Shamefully, we as a society are good at hate. Hating something or someone is easy. Hey, who doesn't hate the IRS? So let's eliminate them. The net we cast over whom and what we hate can get very large and unwieldy without even noticing. And, no one wants to believe that his or her beliefs are stupid. Hey, tea party people, they, "the rest of us," think you are stupid; Ted knows how to rile people. Ted the Aginner has no new ideas, but will oppose any solution to any problem. In the halls of our nation's Capitol, while the two political parties can't get together on whether toilet paper should be installed so you pull it over or under the roll, Ted would give a passionate speech against excessive bathroom use. It's his extremist dogma that is troubling, because in your heart you know he knows better. He is of Hispanic heritage, yet opposes any kind of immigration reform. More than 60 percent of Americans want a dialogue on a prudent gun policy without obliterating the Second Amendment. Ted, and a handful of tea party Republicans in the Senate, have threatened to filibuster on any gun measure. By Sept. 30, a continuing resolution to keep funding the government must pass the Congress. This is ideal for Teddy; pass nothing in an attempt to defund the Affordable Care Act. Toss the entire federal government into disarray because of your irrational obsession with Obamacare, that's just swell. Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins called Cruz's strategy "totally irresponsible." Cruz wants to eliminate the IRS, the Transportation Security Administration, and the departments of Commerce, Education and Energy. Oh, and he wants to privatize Social Security; there's an issue that has all of the aerodynamic characteristics of a highly polished stainless steel anvil, but it plays well with other aginners. I spent more than one year working on developing plans to modify and fully fund Social Security for a prominent public policy think tank; privatization is never going to be part of the reform mix. Two weeks ago, Republican Newt Gingrich was asked about the future of the GOP. He said the GOP has zero ideas for health care overhaul. He warned the GOP saying, "People have to think you are serious about governing and have positive ideas." But it's easier to be an aginner. Cruz likes name-calling; if you don't agree with him you are a squishy Republican or a RINO (Republican in Name Only), which means you're a right-leaning centrist who is generally better educated and want debate, discussion and solutions on issues ... you actually read a newspaper and have an opinion. The Iowa Caucuses became less relevant in the 2012 elections. It's a playground for the extreme right and the lefties who like to cause trouble. It is our first and flawed snapshot of presidential campaigns. In '08, they advanced Mike Huckabee; in 2012 Rick Santorum and Michele Bachmann emerged as GOP leaders. The famous Ames, Iowa, straw poll doesn't mean anything after 2012. Michele Bachmann won it and came in last in the caucuses. Her bump was just a short-lived headline and an embarrassment to the Republican Party. The fact that many columnists are writing about the 2016 elections now gives more feasibility to the proposition of publicly funded elections. The RINOs would likely support that idea, so would the DINOs. But ideas really aren't what either party is about nowadays. In 1964, the GOP came up with a slogan for Barry Goldwater, "In your heart, you know he's right." And the Democrats responded by saying, "Yep, and in your gut, you know he's nuts." Well, here's my 2016 Ode to the GOP: "Choose Cruz, and we'll all get the blues, can't get enthused, want to drink more booze, nope, you can't schmooze, we are not amused, we'll have to recuse, the GOP is going to lose, with Teddy Cruz." Ted Cruz's foolish drivel should be responded to by all of us by mercifully turning and walking away. Mise le Meas (Todd Robert Murphy pays attention you can contact him at toddrobertmurphy@gmail.com) Readers Forum Previously we asked: , Should the state support Milwaukee police by providing funds for overtime pay? You answered: "No, the state should not help the city pay overtime.The city should stop furloughs and hire more police officers so they don't have to pay time and a half, double or triple time, which is more expensive in the long run." – Mike Guerrero Milwaukee "This may start a 'me too' reaction of other municipalities. Perhaps the funds, if approved, would be better used for hiring additional police, which would alleviate the shortage of cops on the street, and reduce the number of open vacancies." – Noah Borkenhagen Franklin "The state should support the Milwaukee police by passing legislation to make it more difficult for criminals to acquire guns. Reducing crime would reduce police overtime and other related costs. Money alone will not solve Milwaukee's problems. – Sandy Sue Szanderek Milwaukee Question of the week Should Governor Walker approve the Menomoniee casino in Kenosha? Call 744-6370, Ext. 15 and leave a brief answer to the Question of the Week along with your full name with spelling, phone number and city. No address is required. Readers may also send an email with a brief answer to: dbutler@conleynet.com.

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