On Wednesday night Ted Cruz addressed the GOP convention in Cleveland. At first I was a bit disappointed as I was hoping for a masterful dismantling of Hillary Clinton on the biggest stage of the campaign. While he hit her, it seemed almost perfunctory. But upon reflection, he did exactly what he should have done in terms of articulating the principals of freedom, limited government and opportunity. Particularly given the fact that Donald Trump is the GOP candidate and those ideas will likely not find much airtime over the next four months.
Of course none of that really mattered. The only thing that mattered to those on the floor, those in the box seats and those in the media was “Will Ted Cruz endorse Donald Trump?” He didn’t. And as a result much of the GOP establishment, erstwhile conservatives and virtually the entire universe of talk radio hosts have proclaimed his political career over. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t, we’ll have to wait and see.
But what we won’t have to wait and see is what courage looks like. Ted Cruz went into the lion’s den and came out not only alive, but clearly in possession of his principals. Near the end of the speech, as the boos became so loud and the crowd was (intentionally) stirred into a frenzy, I couldn’t help but picture one of those countless scenes between the two world wars when Winston Churchill stood in the well of Parliament and warned of the coming storm. He was called a war monger. He was called a trouble maker. He was said to be an old fool. And most of that was from people in his own party!
If one has ever seen video of the raucous debates in Parliament, you can imagine what it was like for Churchill to stand there withering the slings and arrows yet continue to speak his piece. So too was it with Ted Cruz. The Trump inspired crowd would very much liked to have tarred and feathered Cruz had they been able to get to him. They did what they could to intimidate the Texas senator, but he continued with his message, suggesting those in the hall and those at home vote their conscience.
And that is perhaps the single most telling part of this entire farce. Ted Cruz was not telling anyone to vote for him or not to vote for Donald Trump. No, Ted Cruz talked about the party, the constitution, liberty, freedom and he suggested delegates and viewers should vote for the person who they thought would uphold their vision of those things. When someone tells you to vote your conscience and you think they’ve insulted your candidate that tells you much more about you and your candidate than it does about the speaker.
Finally there is the pledge. Ted Cruz did indeed make a pledge to support the nominee. He, along with the rest of the contenders vowed to support the nominee. And he meant it. Do you for one moment think that if Marco Rubio or Bobby Jindal or Ben Carson were the nominee he wouldn’t have supported them? No doubt he would have, with bells on. When he made that pledge, he had every intention of fulfilling it.
But here’s the thing. Pledges are not written in stone or blood. Think about it… How many Americans have been divorced? When you marry you promise to “Love, honor and cherish till death do us part.” That’s a pledge… yet somehow almost half of marriages end up in divorce. Does that mean the bride and groom were lying? Absolutely not. They meant it, but things don’t always work out as planned. A pledge is not a golden ticket for the other person to do whatever they want. That pledge does not give a husband carte blanche to sleep with half the women in his office and it doesn’t give the wife the right to abuse the children. The pledge that people make to one another at their wedding assumes a relationship within the normal bounds of acceptable behavior… it’s not an iron clad contract for life that remains in effect regardless of what the other person does.
And so too is it with Ted Cruz and his pledge to support the nominee. Cruz had every intention of supporting the GOP’s nominee when he made it. But then Donald Trump personally attacked both Cruz’s wife and father. Yet Cruz was somehow still supposed to pledge his support. If that’s the case, then one wonders what exactly Trump could have done that would have been sufficient to persuade his supporters that breaking the pledge was warranted? “Stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot people”? What if he had been indicted for fraud associated with Trump University but hadn’t yet been tried? What if it became known that Trump was having an affair? What if he had announced that he was once again pro abortion or wanted to restrict the 2nd Amendment? None of those things happened of course, but which of them, if any might have been a sufficient rupture to allow someone to break their pledge.
For some Americans there are lines in the sand that should not be crossed. Others may have no lines or their lines are fungible. Ted Cruz does have a line and Trump crossed it when he targeted Heidi and Rafael. The fact that Trump has navigated his way through the dysfunctional primary system and come out on top does not somehow undo the means he pursued to arrive there. Actions, as they say, have consequences, and Donald Trump very much took the low road and lost the endorsement of Ted Cruz as a result. Despite that, Ted Cruz more than fulfilled his promise by taking the stage in Cleveland and talking about Republican values, freedom and the Constitution, then suggesting that voters look to their consciences to vote for the person most likely to defend them. He even explicitly stated that Hillary Clinton would not. That he didn’t kneel and kiss Trump’s ring, and the fact that his refusal has so incised Trump’s team tells you everything you need to know about Donald Trump and his supporters. It is not winning that animates them, it’s obedience. At the end of the day, Donald Trump wants rule the nation and Ted Cruz wants to lead it. The GOP voters have made their choice, now we’ll see how that choice plays itself out on the national stage.
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Ted Cruz took advantage of the language of the rules debate over the 1st ballot to insult the vast majority of the delegates.
Remember, there were only 6 states’ delegates, not enough to put the whole ”vote your conscience” issue to a committee vote, who insisted on that before day one of the RNC convention.
The conflating of the same language, ie., ”vote your conscience,” by Ted Cruz from committee issue to ballot box issue led the crowd into the frenzy.
The optics, seen by the cameras, were purposely confused.
The Dems, the Cruzbots and the Leftist media used Ted and he knew exactly what he was doing.
That makes him sleazy.
If anyone knows how rhetoric works, it is Ted.
He did this conflation on purpose.
He got the reaction he hoped for.
I’m sorry but you are simply wrong. Eleven states declared for a minority report and once they had the names of those delegates they bullied and bribed them into taking their name off the declaration. You can say what you want about Cruz, but he is a man of honor and integrity and sadly you obviously aren’t familiar with those types of men. There aren’t many left in America today.
Real men and women of integrity do not get either ”bribed or bullied” into renouncing their beliefs.
See how Christians in the Middle East are being martyred and/or enslaved rather than renounce their belief.
Ted Cruz knew exactly what he was doing in using the exact same language as the debate in the rules’ committee for at the polling booth.
I would agree with him about the polling booth.
All Republicans would.
But his audience was not ALL Republicans.
It was a room full of Republican DELEGATES who had just seen his failed attempt to take over the convention via that same language.
No wonder they railed at him for his conflation.
And that was just what he hoped they’d do.
So he could fool folks like you into just what you’ve fallen for.
yeah… he didnt have to worry about sleeping next to his Goldman sachs wife and CFR member opinions, or the man on his team that was CFR that created the crack epidemic to fund an illegal overthrow of another countries government, or even had to now back down on his 500% increase in foreigners to replace our IT specialists…
eventually everyone saw his colors and they ran, and now he is persona non grata.. good job ted.. and this author can have him, and all his bank chronies, globalist cfr people, and more..
Cruz is a total prick his wife Hedi supports amnesty for illegal aliens and he is history just like Chamberland
If we lose this election, it may be game over for the nation. The Democrats will have a permanent voting majority and a lock on the Supreme Court. No Republican will ever be elected as President again.
Knowing all this, Cruz put his personal pride above the good of the nation. He can burn in hell right next to Benedict Arnold as far as I’m concerned.
But his audience was not ALL Republicans.
It was a room full of Republican DELEGATES
You have a REPUBLIC if you can keep it. (Ben Franklin)
Friggin astounding, jaw dropping Pseudo Conservatives, with maybe little clue of what the founders built.
BURN IT DOWN!(Micheal Browns father)
We would all love to get on the Trump Train, as soon as he passes a mental eval, and stops kicking us.
This is Trumps Election to lose, he has trained his supporters to drive off any support that does not slobber.
Does your conscience bother you?
@kitt:
Traditionally, we are a nation of LAWS, Kitt.
Do you really want to slip and slide into following a man trained in churchifying?
Ted’s dad and he spent years preaching.
When you listen to him do you hear it?
Boy, I do!
And, as a Christian, I HATE it!
Those delegates who he spoke to were aware of the RULES of their convention.
Ted was, too.
Apparently you were not.
But, as far as the General Election is concerned, we are ALL FREE to ”vote our conscience.”
I hope you consider the next decades with a Hillary-packed Supreme Court before you pull that lever.
Nanny G
We were born in rex lex, we survived through lex rex, now the idjits want rex lex back with a false front of elective appearance.
sometimes, as bad as it is, people really have no idea of how good or great they have it… to me, its the princess and the pea… their pain is local, and have little perspective as to the rest of the world, or how other places can operate differently.
hopefully trump will pull us back to lex rex, cause rex lex sucks
(Law is king, versus King is law)
@Artfldgr:
Good point.
If a bit of a tongue-twister.
We should also realize how rare in world history is has been that laws ruled over all men.
We should revere it and want to keep it.
After all, we have little hope of ever being that lead dog who gets to make the rules rather than live under them.
Again I say. Cruz needs to open his records. He isn’t who he says he is.
@Nanny G: #8
Nanny G, for many listeners/viewers this may be the most irritating tool in Cruz’s toolbox — he cannot help himself.
There were other concerns, like his fast-tracking support of Obama’s Pacific Trade deal, but his “preaching” made him appear robotically self-righteous. He’s a smart guy, he’ll eventually figure it out and get back to what he’s good at.
Cruz has integrity. Trump does not. Cruz has never praised Jeffrey Epstein, much less partied with him. Trump has. Cruz has spent his life arguing law to defend the Constitution. Trump has spent his life abusing law to defend himself against aggrieved investors, former supporters and contractors. Cruz is accused of being a globalist. Trump has repeatedly subverted American interests to foreign governments in the guise of business deals. Upon consideration, it would seem the author of the article has hit the nail on the proverbial head.
@Nanny G: I know you will vote your conscience, as will I,
The preaching sure I hear it and understand it is his dads influence, a father he loves and when attacked that cut it for Cruz. So threaten him start a super pac against him he has loads of loyal republican voters.
A Bit insane when Trump knew the speech, knew there was no endorsement coming to again bring up his intelligence briefing by Pecker.
Nutz, looney, wacked Repeat after me Trump tore up that agreement on March 29, 2016 when he was slipping in the Polls.
I dont like the way Trump rants, you dont like the way Cruz preaches, but its the content of the tirade or sermon, the content is what is important.
I am not a Never Trump, I am not a gushing fan of his, I wait and watch and listen as I have said before.
I looked into a BS story about Trump on DNC payroll(by a never trumper), I also looked into a BS story of Cruz sending emails to DNC(by a trumpanzee). You would think both would come from a non republican
I will vote, I dont care what the polls say I dont trust any of the MSM to ever tell the truth.
I want everyone to vote, vote for the person that best reflects our own vision for this Country. The 2 most powerful parties seems the short straw was pulled by both.
To say that Cruz put his personal pride above the party is so insanely wrong as to be laughable. According to you, people should be able to say anything they want about your wife, your children you father and for the sake of the party you should be alright with that.
I’m sorry but a moral, upright person always puts his family first. The only exception would be a soldier going off to war, he must put his country first. The problem with most of you is that you can’t see the forest for the trees. You talk about the people around Cruz yet ignore the fact that the people around Trump are all Soviet sympathizers. Manafort, who handled the pro-Russian side of the Ukrainian situation and Rick Gates an enforcer who was named an agent of the Ukrainian oligarch in a 2011 lawsuit. Carter Page is pro-russian and has financial ties to Gazprom, a Putin controlled gas monopoly in Russia, and you think Cruz’s wife did something wrong by working on wall street?
Like Trump when you don’t have any facts on your side you depend on name calling and reputation smearing just the man you decided you wanted as a leader. When you have facts and figures to show that Senator Cruz did anything he shouldn’t have, when you can prove that Trump didn’t approve the speech Cruz gave and when you explain to me without name calling that what is did was wrong I might listen.
Cruz was the only one on that stage that even mentioned conservative principles. Vote your conscience? Isn’t that what all you Trump people are doing? Didn’t Priebus tell the Dems last night to vote their conscience? Well, that’s what we #NeverTrumps will be doing. Have a nice day.
‘He even explicitly stated that Hillary Clinton would not.’
So, he (implicitly) endorsed Gary Johnson. Good for him.
Good for you, kitt.
I was noticing how some polls are ”push-polls,” where a pollster asks slanted questions to force the answer he wants, others ask ”all adults,” ”all voters” or only ”likely voters.” Each group answers completely differently.
I often go to the PDF of the raw data of a poll and find the proportion of Independents to Republicans and to Democrats is completely out of kilter with reality.
So, you are right to take polls with a grain of salt or two.
@Nanny G: Damn Straight, so perhaps Trump should court the conservatives much more likely to vote republican, and stop kicking those few and far between politicians that we admire. There are more of the conservatives that know it is our obligation or civic duty to vote than the college age know it alls, fed BS and kept in the dark by progressive college professors. He has to turn right show us the plan, no more speech that is only steam that evaporates as it cools in the air.
Its so much easier to bash Hillary, but we need to keep an eye on him too , he should be aware the libertarian is gaining ground fast. Dope smoking guy that doesnt believe a fetus has the right to life, so it can get liberty from the womb and then find its happiness.
@Alienmotives:
Is that why Ted Cruz emailed the DNC and asked them for money to help him fund his delegate coup at the RNC?
https://wikileaks.org Cruz email: SERIOUS Death threats
CRUZ BEGGED DNC FOR MONEY TO FUND HIS DELEGATE FIGHT IN CLEVELAND!
(I’ll note that Republican Ken Cuccinelli also contacted Eric Bennett asking the DNC to contribute.)
Is “integrity” why Ted Cruz flew with Obama on Air Force One 6 days before the Republican National Convention? Or was it so that he could talk with high level Democrats about his need of money to fund the #NeverTrump #FreeTheDelegates movement?
Funeral Plot
Ted Cruz was photographed leaving Air Force One with Democratic plotters who supposedly convinced him not to endorse Donald Trump at the RNC.
Remember that it was only until this week’s Wikileaks DNC email dump that we learned of Cruz’s and Cuccinelli’s communication with the Democrats.
Yeah, tell me more about Ted Cruz’ “integrity”.
@Ditto: The FORWARDED email from the Cruz camp was a standard letter I also received, it was asking for donations to assist delegates that were threatened by Trumps boy Stone, its like spam , some one gets the emails to keep an eye on what the competition is up to it was put out there by a Trumpanzee under conspiracy theory objectives. Trump also pops up in the released emails but that conspiracy BS was that he was on their payroll of the DNC both have been debunked the day after release.Ya tell me about your conspiracy theory, Trumps camp threatening to release locations of Cruz delgates to crazy Trumpanzees we saw how zealous they were, punching people at rallies. So much for uniting the party kick Cruz backing Republicans you reallly wanna win. pffft
Ditto figure out if you are a lying trumpanzee or a Republican, truth only.
@kitt:
No Kitt. The email was sent from Cruz’s campaign and #neverTrump #FreeTheDelgates partner Republican Ken Cuccinelli directly to Eric Bennett from Ken’s iPhone asking the DNC to contribute. Here is the email in it’s entirety (except for some links that WordPress didn’t like):
Stone was no longer a member of Trump’s campaign (which means it didn’t come from the Trump campaign. ergo, Stone was only representing himself.) when he made the “threat” to release the delegate’s room numbers, suggesting that they be confronted, (there is nothing to indicate that Stone wanted such confrontation to be physically violent). Nor was their any indication that Stone was going to go through with his rant. (I didn’t see Stone release the hotels and room numbers.) The only “death threat” came from an anonymous caller. There was no way that any one can claim that it came directly from Trump Campaign staffer. If you have proof that it came from a Trump campaign official, share it. Other wise, I call it all bogus bloviating.
The “person” punched at that rally was a Democrat activist protestor-infiltrator and punched by a citizen person attending, (not a Trump staffer) When the protestor screamed out profanities and shoved his middle finger in the attendee’s face. The Trump campaign was not responsible for either person’s actions.
Your lame attempted insult is childish. I am a Republican supporting the party’s nominee, who happens to be Donald Trump. You are a sour-grapes whiner who it seems, would rather support a corrupt socialist-fascist Democrat bent on destroying this nation. If you are not going to support the party nominee, you will be partly responsible should Hillary wins. It is you who needs to decide where you stand.