The
Texas senator and presidential wannabe can’t even imagine the truth.
By
Senator Ted Cruz’s recent announcement of his presidential
candidacy was a real Cruz-a-palooza.
It was part Ronald Reagan, part Elmer Gantry, part John Lennon,
and part Jerry Falwell — yet it was totally Ted Cruz, full of blather and
bloat.
Cruz thumped the word “liberty” again and again during his speech, like a televangelist thumping the Bible.
“We stand together for liberty,” the candidate declared one final time at the
conclusion of the show, which was staged at Falwell’s Liberty University.
That was more than a little cynical.
While the mass media reported that Cruz drew a packed house of
10,000 Liberty students, few news stories mentioned a pertinent fact about the
crowd: The budding scholars were not at liberty to avoid his speech. Their
school made attendance mandatory.
Imagine, indeed.
Cruz’s family once received free, platinum-level coverage from
Goldman Sachs, where his wife was a top executive. But when she took leave from
the Wall Street giant to join Cruz’s anti-government crusade, they were
suddenly left with no health coverage.
No problem for a hypocrite like Cruz. The day after his big
speech, he said he plans to sign up for Obamacare, the very program he
demonized and once shut down the government in an attempt to kill.
But it was in the speech’s finale that Cruz reached his
crescendo of cynicism: “It is a time for truth,” he bellowed.
Truth?
This is a guy who fabricates facts to foment fear among the
fringiest right-wingers. The good news is that the more he campaigns, the more
obvious it will become that he can’t even imagine the truth.
OtherWords
columnist Jim Hightower is a radio commentator, writer, and public speaker.
He’s also editor of the populist newsletter, The
Hightower Lowdown. OtherWords.org.