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| Rev. Rafael Cruz photo from Cypress Texas Tea Party |
Rev. Cruz loves freedom. He was born in Cuba, but he makes
sure you know he’s not a Cuban-American; he’s an American born in Cuba. As I
recall his story, he escaped from Cuba during the early Castro regime, with
$100 sewn into his clothes, and nothing else. But America is the land of the
free, and he was able to prosper here, and set up circumstances for his son to
get even more education and success.
He tells his son (I’ve heard Ted Cruz repeat this) that he
had America to flee to; if we lose our freedoms here, where would we have to
go?
He’s a strong defender of the Constitution, and structured
his talk on the part of the Declaration of Independence about protecting life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—pointing out that the order of those
three things is the priority. Life has to come first—and he points out the most
vulnerable are at the beginning and ending of life. Liberty is necessary, or
else you’re a slave. There’s no guarantee of happiness, only a guarantee of the
freedom to work for it, to pursue it in the way we choose.
As a pastor, it’s not surprising that he recognizes we live
in a unique place—founded on the word of God, founded by religious people,
seeking to live the word of God.
He’s a huge supporter of his son, which is understandable.
He started with an anecdote following Senator Cruz’s election. Chris Wallace
had asked him something like, “Are you going to Washington to join the club?”
And Cruz answered, “No. I’m going to kick down the door, tear down the
curtains, and auction off the silverware.”
He told some interesting background about his son’s growing
up that I hadn’t heard. As Ted was entering high school, he was introduced to a
leader of the American Enterprise Institute who got him reading classics. From
there, Ted, in a group of five, formed what was called the Constitution Club.
They memorized the Constitution. They toured the state, doing Rotary Club
lunches and other forums. They would write the Constitution on several
blackboards while people were eating. Then they would give speeches on free
market economics.
A young Ted Cruz gave some 80 such speeches during his high
school years. That had to be excellent preparation for later speaking before
the US Supreme Court on behalf of the state of Texas while he was solicitor
general.
I can’t think of a better high school preparation for
someone serving this country. By raise of hand, how many of our elected
officials have ever memorized the Constitution? Even the Preamble (we had our
homeschoolers memorize it). Can they explain free market economics at least as
well as Ted Cruz could in high school? That ought to be a requirement—if we
could quantify it somehow as a standard.
During the Q&A I got to ask about the senator’s possible
presidential ambitions. Just the night before I’d read something about the
formation of a SuperPAC, which is often viewed as an exploratory preparation
for running. Rev. Cruz said that the SuperPAC was formed in order to help a
number of people in last November’s election, so that was its purpose and
timing. However, he did acknowledge that many people have asked Senator Cruz
about his willingness to run, and he says the Senator is spending some time
seriously considering, and praying and discussing with family, whether he
should run. And we can expect a decision one way or another in the next 30-60
days.
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| I got this button at the Texas GOP Convention last June, just in case I need it someday |
Over the weekend possible candidate Governor Rick Perry
impolitely pointed out that we’ve tried a first-term senator without executive
experience, and that hasn’t worked out so well. Ouch! Personally, I normally
prefer governors, who have executive experience. I’m interested in learning
more about Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, and Gov. Scott Walker of Michigan.
There may be others. Gov. Perry isn’t my favorite, but he’s light years ahead
of what we’ve been experiencing. Gov. Jeb Bush has disqualified himself by
supporting Common Core and amnesty; that makes him a “progressive,” which would
appeal to Democrats, except for the Bush name. So he’s pretty much
unsupportable for either party. That’s of course why the media claims he leads
the polls.
I’ve liked a lot of Gov. Christie’s better moments, but I’m
concerned that at heart he’s not fully conservative, but so far I haven’t
written him off; I’m just not rooting for him. I have similar feelings about
Senator Marco Rubio—who lacks the executive experience as well, and has some
explaining to do about his immigration reform ideas (which have sounded like
amnesty), but I’m willing to give him a listen, since he’s been good on many
other issues. Senator Rand Paul has a lot to recommend him, especially on
economics. But, while he’s not his father, his foreign policy is too
isolationist for a world this dangerous, so I’m concerned but haven’t written
him off.
But Ted Cruz—he lives and breathes the principles of the
Constitution. The Constitution leads to freedom, prosperity, and civilization—every
time it’s tried. We need someone willing to try it. We can’t afford any “compromise”
that just sinks us slowly into tyranny. We need restoration of the brilliant
American experiment in limited government.
While I’m satisfied with Senator Cruz as my Senator, I also
recognize he has a backbone and ability to articulate truth in ways we are much
in need of. As for previous experience, he has served in significant positions
and done them well. No floating along voting “present” and agitating community
organizations. Perry’s implied comparison of Cruz and Obama is pretty
ridiculous. They are polar opposites.
I’m in favor of as strong a contrast as we can get with Clinton
(or the Clinton-like alternative, if such a thing should materialize), who
misspent her youth immersing herself with Marx and Alinsky.
But, speculation about presidential candidates is more of a
sport than a solution. Rev. Cruz pointed out that what really matters is what
happens when we leave that room. Do we share our ideas with others? Do we
become precinct chairs (yes—as a matter of fact, our little tea party group has
worked toward that goal pretty successfully the past couple of years; I am one)?
Do we run for city council and school board? We need conservative
Constitutionalists at every position from the bottom to the top. And every one
of us needs to speak louder and let our representatives know what we expect of
them as our employees.
So much to do! It’s a blessing we have a clear voice like Rev.
Cruz inspiring and encouraging us.
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