Jeffrey Toobin: The Rise of Ted Cruz : The New Yorker



This is the last paragraph in Jeffrey Toobin's recent piece in The New Yorker on Ted Cruz.


 Cruz’s sincerity in these goals is beyond question. When he was solicitor general of Texas, he had a piece of advice for the lawyers on his staff. “I tried to stress to every lawyer in the office that if any lawyer from the S.G.’s office stands in front of the judge and says, ‘The law is X and the facts are Y,’ then that judge would always, always trust that we are levelling [sic] with them and telling the truth.” He’s approached politics the same way. “Since I became a senator, a year and a half ago, I’ve kept two promises to the people of Texas,” he said. “I have endeavored to do what I said I was going to do and I have always told the truth. It says something about Washington that those are perceived as radical acts."



I don't doubt Senator Cruz' sincerity in wanting to realize his goals. The issue is, has he stated his goals without being disingenuous?   Or, differently, are his tactics a sincere reflection of his stated goals. I'd like to bring Mr. Toobins attention to a recent speech Mr. Cruz gave to his fellow committee members saying that Democrats were [sincerely?] trying to bring down the First Amendment by attempting to muzzle corporations. All the while, I was envisioning some law that would eliminate lobbyists from D.C. Why not, I asked myself. Eliminate lobbyists and legislators would have to tax their own brains to come up with new regulations--thereby ipso facto, less government--one of Cruz' sincere goals.



But NOOOOOO, the good Senator was talking about the attempt by some members of Congress to eliminate the disenfranchisement brought about by the Citizens United ruling of SCOTUS. Evidently, his Texan constituents don't mind being disenfranchised. I don't know, maybe it sounds like a business term to them, "Let's take away his McDonalds. Let's disenfranchise him." Or, "his wife divorced him thereby effectively disenfranchising him of his McDonalds."



I'd like to ask Mr. Toobin if he knows of this little speech and, if he has heard it, does he think Mr. Cruz' sincerity is still "beyond question?" Also, is Mr. Toobin aware that Senator Cruz has his doctor bills paid for by the insurance benefits of his wife, an official of Goldman Sachs? Finally, how does Mr. Toobin view Senator Cruz eschewing big government by attacking government for an intrusion that most would welcome--even Texans I dare suppose--i.e., preventing the buying of our representatives by the 1%? How the hell does the Tea Party feel about oligarchy, btw?

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