You have to hand it to Republicans; they are a fearless bunch. They refuse to be intimidated by facts. They will stubbornly defend their statements no matter how patently false they may be.
In last night’s Fox News presidential debate, Ted Cruz was confronted with a video showing his support for a pathway to legalization of undocumented immigrants. This video was from very early in his political career. But now, in a deliberate and dishonest effort, he maintains he never held such a position.
It doesn’t seem to matter to Cruz that the amendment to the immigration bill calling for legalization (i.e. legal status as opposed to citizenship) was his own! He maintains his amendment was meant to be a “poison pill” designed to kill the immigration bill.
But this is what Cruz is seen saying in the video:
“I don’t want immigration reform to fail. I want immigration reform to pass. I believe if this amendment were to pass, the chances of this bill passing into law would increase dramatically. … I believe if the amendments I introduced were adopted that the bill would pass and my effort in introducing them was to find a solution that reflected common ground and that fixed the problem. … If the proponents of this bill actually demonstrate a commitment not to politics, not to campaigning all the time, but to actually fixing this problem, to finding a middle ground—that would fix the problem and also allow for those 11 million people who are here illegally a legal status with citizenship off the table.”
Of course, Ted Cruz is not the only Republican candidate who is trying to walk away from policy positions he once advocated and championed. For Marco Rubio, his current anti-amnesty position flies in the face of his having co-sponsored the Senate immigration bill calling for a pathway to citizenship.
It was extremely satisfying to see Fox News play old clips of both Cruz and Rubio making statements that directly contradict their current claims. But it is doubtful such lying (flip-floppery) will make any difference to the loyal Republican voters who support the two amigos. For in the GOP world these days, facts or anything that even smacks of truth, are just part of a large liberal media conspiracy.
For Republicans, it is: are you going to believe me or your lying ears and eyes? Just pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
Photo | telegraph.co.uk
Stephen says
Their voters are not concerned about lies. The inmates are running the asylum!
John DeProspo says
Let’s hope reason prevails and the inmates do not end up running the country!
jkarov says
Ted Cruz is a radical, militant Christian Dominionist above all else.
His ultimate agenda is to try and fulfill prophecy about his “anointed” status as a Christian “King”, and to force evangelical Christian doctrine on every US Citizen by law, if at all possible.
In Ted Cruz’s world, his faith and belief in the supremacy of his god is paramount, and anyone else’s viewpoints are mere obstacles to overcome.
He does not, and cannot believe or support the US Constitution based on the 1st amendment, and Article 6, paragraph 3.
There is no quarter given by the Dominionists in their attempt to dominate the USA in what they call the “Seven Mountains”, being government, church, education, family, media, arts, and business.
These folks feel called by their God to dominate, every single aspect of society, and force a virtual theocracy on the USA, in clear contradiction to the 1st amendment, and Jefferson’s clear statement about “separation of church and state”, in his letter to the Danbury Baptists.
Ted Cruz doesn’t want the general public to know anything about his hidden agenda, but it’s crystal clear that he is not about being a US Senator, and fulfiling his obligation to Texas citizens.
He is 100% for Christian domination of government in exactly the same way that Sharia law functions in Islamic countries.
John DeProspo says
Totally agree. The good news is that Canadian Ted will never be president. He won in Iowa because of the state’s large evangelical vote. Just remember the last two winners of the Iowa caucus were Santorum and Huckabee. I would actually welcome Cruz being the Republican nominee. It would lead to a Democrat landslide and perhaps the end of the GOP as we now know it.