Ted Cruz Is No Hypocrite. He’s Worse.

[homersapien 11,386]

The senator’s error is not that he was deliberately shirking his duty, but that he couldn’t think of any way he could help.

 

Nero fiddled while Rome burned; Ted Cruz jetted to Cancún. And although the emperor was at least ensconced in a lavish, louche palace, the senator from Texas was stuck in economy class with the peasantry.

Cruz’s appeal as a politician, such as it is, has never been about being lovable or relatable, but the latest incident is embarrassing even by his standards. He was spotted on a flight to Mexico yesterday, amid a catastrophic storm that has left Texans without power, heat, and sometimes water, huddled in freezing homes and community centers as the state’s electrical grid verges on collapse. More than a dozen of his constituents have already died. Cruz is headed home today—if not necessarily chastened, at least eager to control the damage. In a statement, he said he took the trip at his daughter’s behest. Blaming your children is a curious tack for an embattled politician, but he doesn’t have much else to work with.

The pile-on was nearly as fierce as the storm. A Cruz tweet from December resurfaced in which he lambasted the mayor of Austin, a Democrat, for flying to Cabo San Lucas during coronavirus stay-at-home orders. “Hypocrites. Complete and utter hypocrites,” Cruz wrote at the time.

It is tempting to turn the “hypocrite” label on Cruz, but his sin is worse. Every politician is a hypocrite at some point. Cruz’s error is not that he was shirking a duty he knew he should have been performing. It’s that he couldn’t think of any way he could use his power as a U.S. senator to help Texans in need. That’s a failure of imagination and of political ideology.

Cruz’s approach to politics and Texas’s approach to electrical generation flow from the same libertarian-inflected, low-regulation, small-government vision. In this worldview, the government’s role is to set a set of minimal baseline requirements, offer market-based incentives to ensure they work, and then stay the hell out of the way. Cruz reveres the late President Ronald Reagan, who quipped, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.”

Consider how this works out in the case of electricity. The lower 48 U.S. states are divided into two big electrical grids—except for Texas, which maintains its own independent system. (Small, outlying parts of the state belong to the big grids.) The state maintains a separate grid to avoid having to comply with federal regulation. If Texas had been connected to the broader national grid, the state might have been able to borrow power that would have filled the hole left when large parts of the system failed in this storm: As demand for energy for heating surged, power plants went offline, equipment froze, and wind turbines froze too. Instead, Texas has experienced staggering blackouts.

Texas had ample warning that this system was vulnerable. A decade ago, another storm caused large (though smaller) failures, as the Texas Tribune explains. A report warned that the state needed to harden its grid to prepare for major storms. But the state’s regulators didn’t want to mandate upgrades. Instead, they issued voluntary guidelines to providers, and they offered financial incentives to make upgrades. This is by-the-book free-market governance: The government shouldn’t make requirements, but companies will do the right thing if it serves their business interests.

As we now know, that didn’t work. Rick Perry, the former Texas governor and U.S. secretary of energy, says now that Texans are willing to endure blackouts in order to maintain the independence of their grid. That’s a bold bet to make when hundreds of thousands of them still don’t have power.

Small government won’t just take a hands-off approach to regulation; it’s also likely to take a more hands-off approach to assisting citizens in the case of a disaster. (I’ve praised citizen-led efforts like the Cajun Navy, but they should serve as a supplement to, rather than a replacement for, government disaster relief, and all too often they have been closer to the latter.) Now Texans are turning to the government for help, but Cruz apparently didn’t see a role for himself.

Cruz’s defenders say that criticism aimed at him is nothing but point-scoring, and that there’s nothing for him to do: Any response that Cruz offered would be performative, rather than actually useful. Cruz calls himself a constitutional conservative, and it is true that nothing in the Constitution lays out a local disaster-response role for a senator.

But this dismissiveness is a double failure of imagination. First, it overlooks the importance of leaders bucking up the morale of a struggling population. Giving heart to citizens is good politics. (This lesson was not lost on Reagan, but Cruz has never had much of a way with soft persuasion.) Second, it ignores the power that Cruz holds. A U.S. senator has immense unwritten power. He can use his connections, and the doors that a Senate role opens, to call on businesses and leading citizens to get things done. He can also use his political network to organize relief efforts.

Even a non-senator can do that. Democrat Beto O’Rourke, whom Cruz beat in a 2018 Senate race, said he’d organized phone banking to check on vulnerable seniors. But such a role seems never to have occurred to Cruz. He did, however, see how government could help him—drawing on a presumably stretched-thin Houston police force to escort him through the airport yesterday.

O’Rourke is a progressive, and those on the left are ideologically more inclined toward this kind of organizing. But progressives don’t have a monopoly on soft power. The late Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina was as fierce a conservative as can be found, but his dedication to constituent services was legendary. (Thurmond was also an appalling bigot, though Cruz is not exactly enlightened himself.)

Cruz’s callousness about his constituents’ suffering is not just morally appalling. It is also—and this probably weighs more heavily on Cruz—politically dangerous. There’s growing evidence that even Republicans drifted toward a larger role for government in the Donald Trump era. Cruz desperately wants to be president, and while he has been happy to debase himself in sycophancy to Trump, he has not adopted Trump’s more populist view of government. Some of his Republican rivals, however, have. Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, with whom Cruz stood in inflating bogus claims of a stolen 2020 presidential election, has called for government to intervene more to help citizens. Who knows what is in Hawley’s heart (if anything), but he knows this is potentially popular. Blackouts and frozen pipes—pace Rick Perry—are not.

If Cruz’s problem were mere hypocrisy, that might be manageable. Politicians (even Ted Cruz) are deeply susceptible to shaming, and voters’ memories are short. But Cruz’s problem is deeper. He didn’t go to Cancún despite knowing he should be hard at work; it just didn’t occur to him that he could help. That, too, is a kind of power failure.

David A. Graham

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/02/ted-cruz-no-hypocrite/618060/

 

[wdefromtx 3,159]

He’s a douche, but him going to Cancun or not will make no difference to me. He’s not getting the power restored any faster. However, there needs to be a look into ERCOT and all that associated with them and people finally held accountable. 

[AUDub 11,153]

11 minutes ago, wdefromtx said:

He’s a douche, but him going to Cancun or not will make no difference to me. He’s not getting the power restored any faster. However, there needs to be a look into ERCOT and all that associated with them and people finally held accountable. 

He has contacts and campaign infrastructure all over the state, so he's actually in a unique position to provide aid. 

Either way, this is a very bad look, going on vacation to Cancun while the populace that elected him suffers. 

[wdefromtx 3,159]

1 minute ago, AUDub said:

He has contacts and campaign infrastructure all over the state, so he's actually in a unique position to help.

Either way, this is a very bad look, going on vacation to Cancun while the populace that elected him suffers. 

His constituency services division have been working. They called my grandmother to offer help and asked her if she needed any assistance. She declined , she hates him. 
 

It’s bad optics, but just because he’s not all over Twitter patting himself on the back like Beto doesn’t mean there’s not people in the background doing work.  

[creed 1,640]

He’s probably living it up with the Hollywood stars who are posting all their bikini pictures on Yahoo while the rest of us have to stayed shuttered in due to Covid. 

[autigeremt 6,642]

He's no superman and neither is the government. Hopefully this will shed light on the issues we face with our energy policy and the infrastructure improvements we need moving forward. 

 

dislike by ICHY in 3.....2.....1......

[wdefromtx 3,159]

1 hour ago, wdefromtx said:

His constituency services division have been working. They called my grandmother to offer help and asked her if she needed any assistance. She declined , she hates him. 
 

It’s bad optics, but just because he’s not all over Twitter patting himself on the back like Beto doesn’t mean there’s not people in the background doing work.  

I know @icanthearyou, I facepalmed when she turned down any help they tried to offer. 

[wdefromtx 3,159]

48 minutes ago, creed said:

He’s probably living it up with the Hollywood stars who are posting all their bikini pictures on Yahoo while the rest of us have to stayed shuttered in due to Covid. 

Also, short memories many have. He ain't the first politician to go on vacation when a crisis happened. 

[CoffeeTiger 5,114]

 

1 hour ago, wdefromtx said:

 

It’s bad optics, but just because he’s not all over Twitter patting himself on the back like Beto doesn’t mean there’s not people in the background doing work.  

Cruz sure was on Twitter making fun of California for their power struggles in the summer though. 

But your right, Cruz is such a humble public servant that he doesn’t want to be seen as ‘bragging’ about all the good him and his office is doing during this disaster from his beach condo. 

 

 

[wdefromtx 3,159]

Just now, CoffeeTiger said:

 

Cruz sure was on Twitter making fun of California for their power struggles in the summer though. 

But your right, Cruz is such a humble public servant that he doesn’t want to be seen as ‘bragging’ about all the good him and his office is doing during this disaster from his beach condo. 

 

 

And he will have to own what he said last summer. It won't be the first time he has said sometime stupid only to have it come back and bite him and it won't be the last I am sure. 

 

I could care less if he went to a beach condo or not, politically it was a dumb move. Can't fault Beto to trying to use the publicity for his political gains. The left is sure eating it up on social media acting like he is some type of saint. Then Cruz practically hands him some ammunition. But people will forget about it by next week I am sure. 

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

Yeah, Cruz's statement was pure BS.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/18/us/politics/ted-cruz-storm-cancun.html#click=https://t.co/QanRlKOEAu

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

Translation: I got caught and scurried home.

 

[wdefromtx 3,159]

17 minutes ago, Brad_ATX said:

Translation: I got caught and scurried home.

 

Duh, should’ve just owned up to it. Hell if I could be on a plane to Cancun I would be. Lol I am done with this free trial of Alaska. 

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

1 hour ago, wdefromtx said:

Duh, should’ve just owned up to it. Hell if I could be on a plane to Cancun I would be. Lol I am done with this free trial of Alaska. 

I would be too.  But the difference between us and him is that we aren't elected leaders.

I am, however, in leadership at my job.  Know what I don't do?  Take impromptu trips during times of stress on our operations.

[wdefromtx 3,159]

26 minutes ago, Brad_ATX said:

I would be too.  But the difference between us and him is that we aren't elected leaders.

I am, however, in leadership at my job.  Know what I don't do?  Take impromptu trips during times of stress on our operations.

Kinda wish Mattress Mack and the CEO of HEB ran things. 

[bigbird 60,560]

10 hours ago, wdefromtx said:

Kinda wish Mattress Mack and the CEO of HEB ran things. 

Seriously, put them in charge of vaccine logistics and get out of the way

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

12 hours ago, wdefromtx said:

Kinda wish Mattress Mack and the CEO of HEB ran things. 

Without a doubt!

[NolaAuTiger 3,295]

15 hours ago, Brad_ATX said:

I would be too.  But the difference between us and him is that we aren't elected leaders.

I am, however, in leadership at my job.  Know what I don't do?  Take impromptu trips during times of stress on our operations.

Subpar optics. But in a contrary vein this is about as goofy as the outrage Nancy got for getting a haircut, or Denver mayor traveling for holidays after telling everyone else to "stay home as much as you can."

I just don't understand what the consequence was of Cruz's absence. Would be far worse if all the plumbers and linemen dipped out on vacation!   

[SaltyTiger 7,816]

4 hours ago, bigbird said:

Seriously, put them in charge of vaccine logistics and get out of the way

And let Chic fil A put it in arms

[SaltyTiger 7,816]

16 hours ago, Brad_ATX said:

Take impromptu trips during times of stress on our operations.

You will learn to with age.....trust me.

[CoffeeTiger 5,114]

11 minutes ago, NolaAuTiger said:

Subpar optics. But in a contrary vein this is about as goofy as the outrage Nancy got for getting a haircut, or Denver mayor traveling for holidays after telling everyone else to "stay home as much as you can."

I just don't understand what the consequence was of Cruz's absence. Would be far worse if all the plumbers and linemen dipped out on vacation!   

Optics are the real consequence. There is a reason why the phrase "Let them eat cake" is quoted and used so much. People don't like it when their leaders or elected "public servants" live by a different set of rules or have the special ability to avoid problems and discomforts that their citizens or constituents are having to deal with. 

 

It fosters anger ( as you see), distrust, and a belief that our leaders may not be seriously thinking about the outcomes of their policies or actions if they know they and their families wont have to deal with any negative consequences of those policies. It's just a natural human desire to want your leaders to really know and experience what difficulties you and your loved ones are having, even if they can't immediately solve the problem or do anything to prevent it directly, you know that they are still suffering like you are and will make decisions and policies with the present, real condition in mind. 

 

 

[homersapien 11,386]

Opinion: Ted Cruz honestly surprised so many people want him around

Opinion by

Alexandra Petri

Columnist

Feb. 18, 2021

 

I, Ted Cruz, am hearing now that my decision to go to Cancun while Texas is devastated by a winter storm and when millions remained without power was — wrong!

This has been very confusing for me. I was just doing what I thought made sense, based on my entire life’s experience of how people respond to my being somewhere, which is to say: They get mad that I am there and say they want me to leave.

One thing I know about myself is that I am Ted Cruz. “I like Ted Cruz more than most of my other colleagues like Ted Cruz. And I hate Ted Cruz,” is something one of my former colleagues said about me. People are always commenting things like that. John Boehner called me “Lucifer in the flesh.” Sen. Lindsey Graham said, “If you killed Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate, and the trial was in the Senate, nobody would convict you.”

There is a long-running joke that I am the Zodiac Killer, which is not something there usually is about people who are universally liked. My college roommate wrote, “Ted Cruz is a nightmare of a human being. I have plenty of problems with his politics, but truthfully his personality is so awful that 99 percent of why I hate him is just his personality. If he agreed with me on every issue, I would hate him only 1 percent less.” Flowers wither at my approach; the sun shrouds itself in shadow; no matter what haircut I have, people agree that it is wrong. And I think this time, it really is wrong!

Seeing Texas in crisis, my reasoning was that the last thing anyone would want would be for me to show up. I assumed that the only thing that could make everyone’s experience worse would be the addition of Ted Cruz. “My power is out… I am breaking up my furniture to burn it… and Ted Cruz is here!” That third thing would be the thing that broke you, I think.

Never in my life has someone said, “What a relief! Ted Cruz is here! Now things are looking up!” My presence has the effect of extinguishing the last small bit of hope that people were unaware they still had. Considering this, I concluded that if you were already struggling, my arrival (which in the best of times drains all the joy and color from the world) would not help things along.

So I simply thought it would be best for all involved if I made certain I was somewhere else, where I would not bother the people of Texas by consuming any resources meant for them — people always hate hearing that resources have gone to my support. Cancun seemed pretty far away, and my family happened to be planning a trip there, so I thought I’d go along.

It has been a new experience for me to see people upset that I am NOT there rather than simply upset that I am there. Indeed, seeing people roundly denouncing me for going away from them during their time of trial has been… confusing and bittersweet. It really sounds like they wish I were there, but that can’t be it, can it? I know that can’t be it.

Obviously, if you are about to change the habit of a lifetime and be angry that I am absent instead of present, I am excited about it! I am coming back now! And I have an enormous collection of cans of soup! I promise I will never leave your side again.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/02/18/ted-cruz-cancun-surprised-texas-wants-him-back/

 

[CoffeeTiger 5,114]

[aubiefifty 16,803]

22 hours ago, wdefromtx said:

He’s a douche, but him going to Cancun or not will make no difference to me. He’s not getting the power restored any faster. However, there needs to be a look into ERCOT and all that associated with them and people finally held accountable. 

i cannot stand him either. he is what i call a goober. i bet his wife thinks less of him. i hope he stays............

[aubiefifty 16,803]

1 hour ago, homersapien said:

Opinion: Ted Cruz honestly surprised so many people want him around

Opinion by

Alexandra Petri

Columnist

Feb. 18, 2021

 

I, Ted Cruz, am hearing now that my decision to go to Cancun while Texas is devastated by a winter storm and when millions remained without power was — wrong!

This has been very confusing for me. I was just doing what I thought made sense, based on my entire life’s experience of how people respond to my being somewhere, which is to say: They get mad that I am there and say they want me to leave.

One thing I know about myself is that I am Ted Cruz. “I like Ted Cruz more than most of my other colleagues like Ted Cruz. And I hate Ted Cruz,” is something one of my former colleagues said about me. People are always commenting things like that. John Boehner called me “Lucifer in the flesh.” Sen. Lindsey Graham said, “If you killed Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate, and the trial was in the Senate, nobody would convict you.”

There is a long-running joke that I am the Zodiac Killer, which is not something there usually is about people who are universally liked. My college roommate wrote, “Ted Cruz is a nightmare of a human being. I have plenty of problems with his politics, but truthfully his personality is so awful that 99 percent of why I hate him is just his personality. If he agreed with me on every issue, I would hate him only 1 percent less.” Flowers wither at my approach; the sun shrouds itself in shadow; no matter what haircut I have, people agree that it is wrong. And I think this time, it really is wrong!

Seeing Texas in crisis, my reasoning was that the last thing anyone would want would be for me to show up. I assumed that the only thing that could make everyone’s experience worse would be the addition of Ted Cruz. “My power is out… I am breaking up my furniture to burn it… and Ted Cruz is here!” That third thing would be the thing that broke you, I think.

Never in my life has someone said, “What a relief! Ted Cruz is here! Now things are looking up!” My presence has the effect of extinguishing the last small bit of hope that people were unaware they still had. Considering this, I concluded that if you were already struggling, my arrival (which in the best of times drains all the joy and color from the world) would not help things along.

So I simply thought it would be best for all involved if I made certain I was somewhere else, where I would not bother the people of Texas by consuming any resources meant for them — people always hate hearing that resources have gone to my support. Cancun seemed pretty far away, and my family happened to be planning a trip there, so I thought I’d go along.

It has been a new experience for me to see people upset that I am NOT there rather than simply upset that I am there. Indeed, seeing people roundly denouncing me for going away from them during their time of trial has been… confusing and bittersweet. It really sounds like they wish I were there, but that can’t be it, can it? I know that can’t be it.

Obviously, if you are about to change the habit of a lifetime and be angry that I am absent instead of present, I am excited about it! I am coming back now! And I have an enormous collection of cans of soup! I promise I will never leave your side again.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/02/18/ted-cruz-cancun-surprised-texas-wants-him-back/

 

he needs to quit being an ass and strive to be a better person. and he still owes trump a punch in the mouth.