 |
| From Ted Cruz's speech at Liberty University, March 23, 2015 announcing his run for the presidency, photo montage from Rush Limbaugh |
He’s a Texan. We recently voted for him as our US Senator
(2012). Before that he was serving as the Solicitor General, working with
then-Attorney General Greg Abbott (our new governor). His work and education
resume is notable.
I heard him speak at the first Tea Party rally I ever
attended, and I made a note that he was impressive and knew the Constitution.
I heard his father, Rev. Rafael Cruz, speak at a small
gathering last month, and learned
some of where that understanding of the Constitution came from. Ted had
memorized the Constitution as a teen and frequently spoke of freedom and free
enterprise. Maybe he really was raised for such a moment as this that our
once-great nation faces.
He spoke without notes or teleprompter—something the media
seems amazed by, even though that was normal for Sarah Palin back when they
were calling her stupid. But, rather than just being referred to as a great
orator because of a one-time speech back in 2004, he has won multiple debate and
speech contests—with Princeton's annual novice debate team championship named for him.
Anyway, Cruz said, “Today, I am announcing that I am running
for president of the United States. It is a time for truth; it is a time for
liberty, it is a time to reclaim the Constitution of the United States.”
Much of the speech covered his family story--father escaped from Cuba, mother moved up from working class to computer pioneer. He worked his way through college, and married a successful businesswoman. They have two young daughters. It was a compelling, personal story.
He also had some Reagan-like America-inspiring things to
say:
“God’s blessing has been on America
from the very beginning of this nation, and I believe God isn’t done with
America yet.”
“The power of the American
people when we rise up and stand for liberty knows no bounds.”
What is the
promise of America? The idea that—the revolutionary idea that this country was
founded upon, which is that our rights don’t come from man. They come from God
Almighty.
And that the
purpose of the Constitution, as Thomas Jefferson put it, is to serve as chains
to bind the mischief of government.
The incredible
opportunity of the American dream, what has enabled millions of people from all
over the world to come to America with nothing and to achieve anything. And
then the American exceptionalism that has made this nation a clarion voice for
freedom in the world, a shining city on a hill.
That’s the
promise of America. That is what makes this nation an indispensable nation, a
unique nation in the history of the world.
Some of us do believe in America—the America that thrives by
tenaciously sticking to the Constitution. We’ve been heartsick watching the
decay and decline, as an ineffectual anti-Constitutional socialist, along with
minions and media, has taken us downward into tyranny, poverty, and savagery. We can clearly see what hasn’t worked.
And we know what will work, because those principles are known and historically
successful.
What we need is not a strong Washington, DC, to rescue us;
we need a constitutionally limited government that protects our lives, liberty,
and property—but otherwise gets out of our way.
We need a strong leader as president, not because we need a
ruler. We need someone who is one of us—but strong enough to stand boldly
against the socialist juggernaut that has been taking over the country we love.
We need this person to give us hope—to remind us that speaking up for freedom can
have a positive result.
This past weekend at the local Tea Party meeting, some of
the discussion covered the political dilemma regarding whether a politician should
act on principle or just get whatever he can in a compromise. It was a
frustrating day for me. (I'll relate this to Ted Cruz in a moment.)
There was a libertarian speaker, who came over from being
Democrat when he realized free-market principles really spoke to him. But he
thinks the GOP makes a mistake by paying attention to those pesky social
conservatives. We should just ignore them, if we want to bring younger, more
diverse people into the fold, he suggests. I asked him what particular social
issues were getting in the way. He thinks we should legalize marijuana and stop
opposing abortion. Just what you’d expect; some stereotypes show up because the
reality is so common.
I can write about why he’s wrong on both of those issues another
day. But, in brief, if we have a society that values brain altering drugs for
recreation, and allowing the killing of innocent human life because of a
difference of opinion—then we don’t have a society that can handle self-rule or
will abide by the laws required for prosperity in a free market. You have to
have civilization as a starting point. So maybe we ought to try boldly stating
our views—along with the principles underlying them. And then allow the truth
to attract those who actually want freedom, prosperity, and civilization.
And then we had a speaker representing a US congressman,
talking about a couple of recent votes that did not go over well locally. The
position included an explanation that there has to be some compromise. It might
be that the congressman had a valid reason for what looked to us mere constituents
as caving in. But he called people who prefer standing on principle as “cliff
jumpers.”
Here is a moment in which the Spherical Model can
help: if you’re in a tug-of-war with some democrats/socialists who are already
well south into the tyranny zone, and you’re barely hanging on at the equator,
you don’t get above the equator and into the freedom zone by compromising. All
you do is submit to some level of tyranny that is by definition unacceptable.
The congressman’s representative did not win hearts by
saying that we could never even threaten to allow government to shut down,
because the media would do us so much damage. I asked him whether we could ever
count on our representatives just doing the right thing, because the media is
never going to be with us regardless.
Dr. Kyle Scott, also one of our speakers, who is a community
college board member, offered a good question that we want to know about our candidates
and representatives: How do we know if they’ll go the expedient or principled
route?
There may be times when you get almost everything you want,
and it’s enough that you can seek further progress later. That is real
compromise. We understand that. But giving in is not getting what you want in the
compromise; it’s giving up our freedom just because the bad guys insist on it and you're afraid of what they'll say about you.
Most
of the time we want what we’re promised in the Constitution. And we want our
representatives to stand boldly for that.
 |
| I got this last June at the TX GOP Convention, just in case. Glad I'm going to find it useful. |
Bold is a synomym
for Ted Cruz. I prefer bold. It’s sort of like preferring Tex-Mex to
milquetoast. Just more satisfying.
I’m going to repeat a few tidbits from his speech at the TX
GOP Convention last June, because they have that satisfying flavor to them
(from my notes, so may not all be exact quotes):
“I spent all week in
Washington, DC; it’s great to be back in America.”
“In Texas, gun
control means hitting what you aim at.”
“Here’s a simple rule
of thumb—if you’re litigating against nuns, you’re doing something wrong.”
“We will no longer
play footsie with the mullahs of Iran.”
“For five years we’ve been trapped in the Great Stagnation. And
those who struggle the most are the ones most hurt by it. How do we turn that
around? Get back to free-market principles…. Unleash an energy renaissance….Audit
the Federal Reserve…. Abolish the IRS…. And repeal every blessed word of
Obamacare.”
There may be other good candidates. I’ll enjoy hearing from
them too. But I’m really looking forward to hearing some more bold, strong
Constitution-conserving words from Senator Ted Cruz. He inspires hope.
No comments:
Post a Comment