Ted Cruz: The Prince of Smugness
When they made Ted Cruz, they broke the mold.
Strike that!
I meant they broke the mold before they made Ted Cruz.
Then they cast him.
Since then, he无毛视频檚 acted accordingly.
Cruz wasn无毛视频檛 well known beyond the state of Texas when he arrived at the U.S. Senate on Jan. 3rd, 2013.
He immediately made enemies.
He was quite vociferous about his disdain for a bill that would help the people of New York and New Jersey in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. He claimed (falsely) that the bill was loaded with pork-barrel spending that had nothing to do with Sandy relief.
无毛视频淭wo-thirds of this spending is not remotely emergency,无毛视频� he proclaimed.
He proudly voted against that bill three times. It still passed the Senate and was signed into law.
At the same time, he made his inaugural pilgrimage to Fox News just five days after he was sworn in.
He appeared to give Sean Hannity the vapors when he railed against the nomination of former U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel to become Barack Obama无毛视频檚 Secretary of Defense.
Ted Cruz is a Republican. So is Chuck Hagel.
That无毛视频檚 a problem.
Especially for a U.S. senator who probably hadn无毛视频檛 been around the Senate long enough to find his parking spot at quitting time.
It无毛视频檚 then that I began realizing that the hardest thing you can ever do is to find something likable about Ted Cruz.
Ex-Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota, who served in the Senate with Cruz, famously said, 无毛视频淚 like Ted Cruz more than my other colleagues like Ted Cruz. And I hate Ted Cruz. He无毛视频檚 kind of the toxic guy in the office. The kinda guy who microwaves fish.无毛视频�
Understandably, a Democrat might find little common ground with the smug, self-important Cruz. But his fellow Republicans hold him in downright contempt.
Republican strategist Rick Wilson (he无毛视频檚 since left the Republican Party) of the Lincoln Project once said of Sen. Cruz, 无毛视频淵ou either hate him or you hate him.无毛视频�
And if that wasn无毛视频檛 clear enough, Wilson has also said, 无毛视频淭here are two types of people in the world. People who hate Ted Cruz, and Ted Cruz.无毛视频�
By the end of his freshman year in the Senate, Cruz staged a ridiculous, 21-hour faux filibuster that served as a protest against Obamacare. He decided to talk nonstop (无毛视频淚 intend to speak in support of defunding Obamacare until I无毛视频檓 no longer able to stand,无毛视频� he said) before he eventually stopped and sat down.
His protest ended with nothing having been accomplished.
The following month he became the face of a 16-day government shutdown that cost the country $24 billion.
Again, Cruz无毛视频檚 actions didn无毛视频檛 achieve anything of value, except to boost his growing Tea Party credibility.
Cruz is fully aware of his tendency to tick-off his fellow Republicans. He once said, 无毛视频淓ach day I learn what a scoundrel I am,无毛视频� when he sees what they say about him in the media.
Last month, of course, Cruz was one of two Republicans in the Senate (Missouri无毛视频檚 Josh Hawley was the other) who tried to block the certification of electors that sealed Joe Biden无毛视频檚 victory 无毛视频� or, as I无毛视频檇 prefer to look at it 无毛视频� Donald Trump无毛视频檚 defeat.
But Cruz saved the best/worst for last.
When the people of Texas were in critical need of food, water, electricity, heat, and the support of their political leaders, it was discovered that Cruz leaped into action, but he hightailed it to Mexico.
After pictures began appearing in everybody无毛视频檚 social media feeds of him seeking fun in the sun while hundreds of thousands of his constituents were struggling to stay alive, he finally spoke.
He claimed he left Texas as a way of sharing some fun times with his daughters. That he only planned to stay in Cancun for one day, then return.
That didn无毛视频檛 work.
Especially when it was revealed that some text messages indicated he无毛视频檇 planned to be there for an entire weekend.
Mr. Cruz should be ashamed of himself.
He isn无毛视频檛.
Why not?
He无毛视频檚 Ted Cruz.
Edward A. Owens is a multi-Emmy Award winner, former reporter, and anchor for Entertainment Tonight and, 40-year TV news and newspaper veteran. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.