The thin-skinned Senator Ted Cruz (TP-Texas) thinks that Pres. Obama has insulted him by criticizing Cruz’s proposal to only allow Christian refugees into the U.S.
When I hear political leaders suggesting that there would be a religious test for which a person who is fleeing from a war-torn country is admitted, when some of those folks themselves come from families who benefited from protection when they were fleeing political persecution, that’s shameful, that’s not American.
Apparently, they are scared of widows and orphans coming into the United States of America. . . . At first, they were too scared of the press being too tough on them in the debates. Now they are scared of 3-year-old orphans. That doesn’t seem so tough to me.
Cruz responded claiming that, “It is utterly un-befitting of a President to be engaging in those kinds of personal insults, attacks.” Cruz further charged that Obama was “belittling the Republican field” and called for the President to “insult me to my face.”
First, the Republican field is doing a more than adequate job of belittling itself with its ridiculous rhetoric. Second, Cruz seems to have a double standard about insults. Cruz has accused Pres. Obama of waging a war on police, being a state sponsor of terrorism and violating the constitution. Cruz also claimed that Obama’s “vilification of law enforcement” was responsible for the shooting death of Harris County Deputy Darren Goforth – a patently absurd claim in light of the facts surrounding that tragic murder. Them’s fighting words where Red comes from.
Moreover, Rachel Maddow of MSNBC points at that if Cruz should be concerned about anyone insulting him it should be Cruz himself – who just last year argued that we should be accepting Syrian refugees while castigating the President for failing to act. But that was before Cruz realized he could score some political points with his Tea Party base by attempting to look tough by calling for a halt to resettlement of all but Christian refugees from Syria.
What’s more, Cruz is doing more than just posturing and thumping his chest for the cameras. As the Washington Post reported, the senator “introduced a bill Wednesday that would prohibit refugees from any country the State Department has determined is controlled in part by a foreign terrorist organization from entering the United States.”
How would blocking victims of terrorism help? Cruz hasn’t explained, though it’s the sort of move that’s likely intended to impress Republican primary voters.
That said, if the senator is serious about a spirited debate over U.S. refugee policy, perhaps the best course of action would be an argument between this version of Ted Cruz and last year’s version of Ted Cruz.
Interviewed in February 2014, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz declared that Syrian refugees should be permitted into the United States and argued that this could be done without jeopardizing national security.
“We have welcomed refugees – the tired, huddled masses – for centuries. That’s been the history of the United States,” he told Fox News in a video featured on Cruz’s website. “We should continue to do so.” He added: “We have to continue to be vigilant to make sure those coming are not affiliated with the terrorists, but we can do that.”
I’ll look forward to Cruz’s condemnation of Cruz for his reckless indifference to national security.
Paradise in Hell 