Can we really be so shocked that Ted Cruz would see fit to lead a group of a dozen Republican Senators in announcing they will object to the electoral college results when Congress meets this coming Wednesday?
After all, this is the same man who only last month volunteered to argue in favor of overturning Pennsylvania's election results before the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case. Shortly thereafter, President Trump reportedly asked Cruz to make oral arguments in the suit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton which sought to overturn election results in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia. Again, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case.
Consider what Cruz wrote about Trump in Time Magazine in April 2018:
President Trump is a flash-bang grenade thrown into Washington by the forgotten men and women of America. The fact that his first year as Commander in Chief disoriented and distressed members of the media and political establishment is not a bug but a feature.
The same cultural safe spaces that blinkered coastal elites to candidate Trump’s popularity have rendered them blind to President Trump’s achievements on behalf of ordinary Americans.
Cruz's description of Trump as "a flash-bang grenade" is apt when one considers the deaths of nearly 350,000 Americans under his watch during the pandemic and the economic devastation which has followed. Many of those who have lost their lives and are struggling to make ends meet are those forgotten men and women of America about whom Cruz speaks so fondly.
The truth of the matter is that Ted Cruz chose Donald Trump over America long ago. That he continues to choose Trump after his presidency was rebuked demonstrates he doesn't give a damn about the will of the American people.
Of course, the same could be said for the Republican Party at large. Indeed, Cruz was something of a late arrival to board the Trump Train.
During his address to the 2016 Republican National Convention, Cruz would not endorse Trump and appeared on his way to becoming a maverick of conscience. As I wrote in The American Spectator at the time in a blog post titled "The Courage and Conscience of Ted Cruz" (I shall never write that headline with a straight face ever again):
Obviously, Cruz has made a calculated risk in choosing not to explicitly endorse Trump. This is all looking forward to 2020. Yes, Trump could get elected and succeed beyond anyone’s expectations. But there’s a good chance that a) Trump will lose to Hillary or b) Trump will get elected and completely fall on his face. Either way, Cruz will be ready to pick up the pieces. Of course, even if these two scenarios come to pass, Republicans might never forgive him for refusing to endorse Trump and will pass him by for some other savior. It is entirely possible his political ambitions may never be viable again after tonight.
But I think Cruz is well aware of this possibility just as he was well aware that millions of people would see him get booed tonight for not endorsing Trump. Given the vitriol Trump’s supporters have towards anyone who views him as anything less than a deity, Cruz’s willingness to speak his conscience took a hell of a lot of courage.
P.S. If Ted Cruz’s political career is indeed over then he died standing tall instead of living on his knees.
Well, Ted Cruz's political career is far from over and this is because he chose to live on his knees with the rest of the GOP.
As for me, just under a month after singing Cruz's praises, I quit writing for The American Spectator when I was told that Trump was above criticism. I'm glad I did it when I did because I would not have lasted long otherwise. Granted, I'm not a U.S. Senator, much less an elected official but I am not prepared to live on my knees to worship at the altar of Donald Trump. As it turned out, he was far worse then I could have ever imagined. Worse enough to vote for Joe Biden and then subsequently vote for Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock albeit with reluctance and reservations.
The Democratic Party does not have a monopoly on common sense or virtue. But they appear to have a monopoly on respecting the rule of law and the peaceful transfer of power. At this point, it's not Democratic vs. Republican; it's Democratic vs. Authoritarian.
In four days from now, Cruz's stunt will fail. Joe Biden will be the next President of the United States because that is what the people wanted. Cruz will be stained by obstructing the will of the people. He will be further tainted should violence encouraged by his fellow Republicans come to pass and result in the loss of life.
These are the kind of things which happen when you choose Donald Trump over America.
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