Ted Cruz. A Clear And Present Danger. To the Republicans.

               Senator Ted Cruz delivered a twenty-one hour speech. A speech that everyone has been incorrectly calling a filibuster. It was simply a long exercise in self-aggrandizement that the Majority Leader allowed him to make. This was not Mister Smith Goes To Washington. This is about Senator Cruz building his brand, allied Conservative PACS raising money and both building mailing lists. As the old saying goes, when a Senator looks in the mirror he sees a President.

During the summer when D..C. is a soggy, humid mess and usually quiet politically, Cruz went on the offensive against the Affordable Care Act. He came up with the idea to tie funding the Federal Government to the defunding of the ACA. He did this knowing there was absolutely zero chance of success. The House had already passed a plethora of repeal bills that were DOA in the Senate. Cruz was aided and abetted by former Senator and head of the Heritage Foundation, Jim DeMint.  DeMint's Senate Conservatives Fund Joined in also.

By stoking the anger of the extreme right wing with the idea that a futile last stand against the ACA was viable he has significantly raised his profile. His lonely stand against political reality has elevated him to hero status amongst the Tea Party. Horatio at the gate. Custer. The Tejanos at the Alamo. He has attracted the usual extremist coterie of clowns. FreedomWorks, Sarah Palin and the extreme right radio land. 

These opposing groups are raising money hand over fist and collecting names to hit up for cash over and over. These people and groups feel extortion is a viable political strategy. They all feel the President and the Democrats will cave. These reactionaries know in their hearts if the GOP doesn't blink the Dems will. They will defund, even with a majority in the Senate and White House, they are at a political disadvantage. 

These so called patriots are under the delusion they are the majority in America. They believe this in spite of the decisive reelection of a Democratic President in a campaign the focused on "Obamacare". That loss only happened because Mitt wasn't a true conservative. That delusion is and has been rampant among the right. 

In a move guaranteed to endear these groups to Republican office holders they ran ads against the ACA. Unfortunately these were the types of ads usually reserved for Democrats. The message was any Rep who did not join this march of the lemmings over the cliff of sanity was basically a Dem in disguise and complicit in the socialist plot to ruin America. Well, the ads were successful.

In the House support to defund grew from forty or so to a majority passing the Continuing Resolution. Then the Republican bloodbath started. John McCain called the idea irrational. The WSJ compared the move to charging into bayonets. Ben Stein Not on board. Charles Krauthammer? Not on board. Karl Rove? Forget it. Multiple conservative voices are raised as voices of reason. This argument has propelled us into a societal and political Twilight Zone. They recognize a coming disaster when they see it. Some, like Peter King say correctly, nothing can be done about ACA  without the GOP having The House. Senate and White House.

So this is only a cynical plan for the far right to raise their profiles and funding. Basically they are commuting fraud on the true believers. Bait and switch. We can defund "Obamacare" if we stand together. We are the true majority, elections be damned. We need money to get the message out to these RINO's who will sell us out. They raise expectations then blame the "others" for the failure. So we'll need more money to oust these traitors. The House is too liberal. Even Fox News has been co-opted by the left.

This is not about the Affordable Care Act except as a hot button issue. This isn't about legitimate political differences. This about Ted Cruz. HE is willing to burn down Washington to achieve his goals. HE want's to be seen as a lonely, principled defender of America. He wants the Tea Party to see him as a hero. He wants them to remember him as the 2016 Primaries heat up. He wants the right to go to the mat and nominate him.. 

Cruz wants to prove a far right wing opportunist can win the nomination and the Presidency. He wants to validate that the Republicans have lost the White House because the candidate wasn't conservative enough. He is playing to the delusions of his base. He is throwing the party under the bus. I am afraid of what issues this man will take his all or nothing stand against in the next couple years in his quest. 

The only question is will the GOP let it happen. Can they marginalize the demon they've loosed? Will they even try or due to primary challenge fears will they all buy into this mass delusion?

Rand Paul:We all shrugged.

          The biggest problem I feel facing the Republican Party in 2016 is 2012.
Remember the Debates? Thoughtful, compassionate crowds in attendance. One booed an active duty, deployed service member for being Gay. Another booed Ron Paul as they cheered "let him die" concerning a hypothetical thirty year old stroke victim that was uninsured.
As it looks now the potential candidates will make the 2012 crew look thoughtful, reasoned and statesmen like.
Let's look at the Freshman Senator from the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Dr. Rand Paul.
He is the son of Ron Paul, the darling of campus Libertarians(Mostly on his stance on legalizing Marijuana)
Rand was elected in 2010 during the Tea Party wave.
He immediately went on the Rachel Maddow show and stuck his foot in his mouth. He postulated that the Civil Rights Act was unconstitutional because it forced businesses not to discriminate. It was a Federal Government intrusion into the ownership and use of private property. Newly elected Senator Paul felt the free market was better suited to ending segregation than Government fiat. He said that people who didn't agree with banning African Americans from public establishments would cease supporting those businesses. This would force free market adjustments ending the practice to maintain profitability. This was going so very well in the Sixties. If Woolworth's was still in business we could ask how that was working out. Those lunch counters were the picture of progressive America.
Senator Paul has made it a point to push his brand of Libertarianism into the workings of the Senate, a place where change is not a very welcome visitor.
Paul did an actual 13 hour talking filibuster(which made the GOP nervous in case it created a new precedent). It was sort of about the nomination of John Brennan as CIA Director. He used this to also push his opposition to domestic use of drones on US citizens. As a politician he exaggerated the effect.
Rand Paul is an opponent of Foreign Aid and expounds an isolationist view of the American role in the world. This has caused clashes with more militarily aggressive Republican Senators like John McCain(R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham(R-SC). It has also attracted support from the Unicorn /Emo wing of the Left.
Senator Paul has been visiting the early primary States lately building support for a possible 2016 run. He is hoping to draw on and solidify his father's 2012 base and fundraising channels.Yes, I know it's early. Hell we just had an election last November. It appears the silly season of Republican Presidential hopefuls has started extremely early. This may have the benefit of an early self immolation of nascent GOP hopefuls.
Now he has joined the Senate reactionary push to shut down the Federal Government over defunding the Affordable Care Act. Like his Senatorial cohorts he feels the Democrats and The President will take the political heat for GOP extortion.
There are downsides to Rand Paul's chances.
Only one sitting Senator has been elected President since John Kennedy did it in 1960. That's right it was Senator Barack Obama. After a forty eight year hiatus it may not be extremely likely to happen again so soon.
Hillary Clinton is the presumptive Dem nominee. It is hers to win or lose. Her debate skills are well known. As an Opthamologist Senator Paul's debating skills are suspect. Smart money would be on him getting hammered by Hillary.
His anti immigration stance will likely hurt him with Hispanics. His free market civil rights stance may increase turnout in a general election by concerned African Americans.
His dislike of Social Security and Medicare as they currently exist may hurt his chances with Seniors. He is also not a fan of the safety net. That and his not viewing Women's issues as freedom issues won't help close the GOP's gender gap.
Senator Paul is being touted as a strong candidate by pundits right and left even though he has only won one election. This only helps candidates remaining in the background. Guy's like Governors John Kasich and Scott Walker.
Both are experienced Executives of large States. Both are honing their national images as pro life, union busters to appeal to the rabid right base.
The next three years wil be interesting. Like the Chinese curse interesting.