Ted Cruz

Cruz Control

Featured image If you pay attention, you’ll know that Ted Cruz is a pretty funny guy, and he’s long been able to poke fun of himself, unlike leftists. (Do I even need to mention that most leftists are humorless, and utterly incapable of self-deprecation?) First, his cameo in this latest Babylon Bee series about Californians moving to Texas is pitch perfect (around the 1 minute mark): But wait—there’s more! Today Cruz appeared »

Ted Cruz grills Merrick Garland about possible conflict of interest

Featured image Following Merrick Garland’s recent appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee, we posted the portions of his testimony in which he answered (and sometimes evaded) the questions of Sen. Tom Cotton and Sen. Josh Hawley. In this post, I want to add Garland’s exchanges with Sen. Ted Cruz. Cruz did his usual effective job, and the entire thing is worth watching. Towards at the end, at around the seven minute mark, »

Why police officers should be terrified of Kristen Clarke

Featured image When Kristen Clarke wasn’t lying under oath to Senators during her confirmation hearing, she was trying her best to mislead them. For example, Clarke grossly misled Senators during an exchange with Sen. Tom Cotton regarding Jacob Blake, who was shot by a police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Shortly after the shooting, Clarke stated on social media that Blake was unarmed. It is undisputed, however, that Blake had a knife. When »

Vanita Gupta’s obfuscation

Featured image Carrie Campbell Severino accurately described Vanita Gupta’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee as rife with “obfuscation and double standards.” The same can be said of the DOJ nominee’s answers to written questions by Senators. In this post, I will highlight some of the obfuscation. I will discuss double standards in a follow-up post. The following examples are from the answers, if you can call them that, to Sen. Ted »

Uses and abuses of Texas power outages [UPDATED]

Featured image Sen. Ted Cruz is under attack for flying to Mexico while Texas is facing severe winter weather and power outages. Cruz explained why he went there: With school cancelled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends. Wanting to be a good dad, I flew down with them last night and am flying back this afternoon. My staff and I are in constant communication with state »

Sheldon Whitehouse’s not so beautiful mind

Featured image I skipped yesterday’s hearing on the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. I didn’t want to waste a day listening to speeches by Judiciary Committee members. In theory, today’s hearing is devoted to questions for Judge Barrett. Yet, in the nearly three hours of the hearing I watched, there wasn’t much questioning. Mostly, there was speechifying. If I’m not mistaken, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse devoted all of »

Iran’s Cruz stunt

Featured image There is nothing funny about the Iranian regime’s threat to the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and other Americans, but the regime’s impending imposition of sanctions on Trump administration figures and other opponents such as Senator Cruz injects an element of comic relief. The Trump administration’s sanctions on Iran must be taking a serious toll. Now Iran is about to retaliate. At the Washington Free Beacon, Adam Kredo picks »

If You’re Gonna Run In Texas…

Featured image Democrats dream of turning Texas into a blue state, thereby cementing the far left’s hold on America for the foreseeable future. They hope to make progress toward that goal this year, and they were counting on a blue wave of enraged liberals to emerge in Tuesday’s primaries as a harbinger of victory in November. They even hope that their man Beto O’Rourke can drive Ted Cruz out of the Senate. »

Stumping Sanders

Featured image I missed the town hall debate on tax reform held earlier this week in Washington between Senators Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz. Hosted by CNN, the debate may have been missed by many Power Line readers. The Daily Wire’s Robert Kraychik draws attention to one of the highlights with the question put to Sanders by Cruz: “What is the difference between a socialist and a Democrat on taxes?” The question »

Sec. Mattis drops Anne Patterson

Featured image We wrote here (per Eliana Johnson) about White House pushback against the selection of Anne Patterson for the position of undersecretary of defense for policy. As ambassador to Egypt in the Obama administration, Patterson strongly backed Mohammed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood government. I’m happy to report (per the Washington Post) that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has withdrawn Patterson as his choice for the Pentagon policy post. Mattis did so »

The Muslim Brotherhood revisited

Featured image In significant respects the Muslim Brotherhood is the progenitor of the Islamic terrorism that hit us on 9/11. Lawrence Wright therefore began his account of al Qaeda and the road to 9/11 with Sayyid Qutb, the “intellectual godfather” of the Brotherhood. The avowedly genocideal and terrorist group Hamas is an offshoot of the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood itself is a little cagier, but it takes a case of willful blindness to »

What’s law got to do with it?

Featured image Minnesota Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken have announced their opposition to the confirmation of Senator Sessions as Attorney General of the United States. What’s happening here? Klobuchar aspires to become a player of national importance in the Democratic Party. She has published the obligatory memoir to advance her case. She isn’t about to offend the lunatic left in her party by supporting Sessions. In search of a rationale on »

Escapism anyone? A look at 2020

Featured image Assuming that Donald Trump loses this year’s presidential race, who is likely to be the GOP nominee in 2020? The FiveThirtyEight crew takes a stab at this question (as well as the Democrats’ side of the equation). The discussion is too snarky and anti-Republican for my taste, but worthwhile nonetheless. Here (in no special order) are the six Republicans I consider most likely to be the nominee in four year: »

Cruz to vote for Trump; some freak out

Featured image “Ah, friends once more: Ted Cruz endorses Trump, who says he is honored.” With this headline (in the paper edition), the Washington Post signals its disgust with Sen. Cruz for saying he “will vote for the Republican nominee, Donald Trump.” The headline is stupid. Cruz’s tepid endorsement of Trump by no means suggests that he is “friends once more” with the obnoxious tycoon. Rather, as Cruz explained, though he has »

Is Ted Cruz finished nationally?

Featured image Late last night, I wrote: Where does Cruz go from here? The Washington establishment can’t stand him; hardcore Trumpsters presumably now despise him; neither Hillary nor Trump is going to nominate him for the Supreme Court. However, Cruz remains a remarkable talent admired by many Republicans. If Trump loses big, he may be remembered more for courage rather than for treachery. On reflection, I believe Cruz’s future prospects are worse »

From Rocky to Cruz

Featured image Theodore White attended the Republican convention of 1964 and sat among the Goldwater forces. When Nelson Rockefeller gave his speech condemnig “extremists” of various stripes, White was there. This was of course shortly after Rockefeller’s divorce from his first wife, back in the antediluvian era when divorce was frowned on. White observed one of the Republican women booing Rockefeller during his speech. She shook her fist at Rockefeller as he »

Did Cruz miscalculate?

Featured image Ted Cruz seems to me an unusually calculating politician. He has been planning to run for president at least since he was sworn in as a senator in 2012. Among conservative Republicans, he has sought (and seeks) to occupy the Ivory Soap niche. He’s the purest of them all. Last night we saw Cruz’s calculating the aftereffects of the Trump Train Wreck that is scheduled for November 8. Cruz wants »