Passionate Pastor Rafael Cruz

Pastor Rafael Cruz
speaking at the Cherry Tree Republicans forum

This past Saturday I got to attend a series of speakers on the Constitution and conservative ideas (thanks to the Cherry Tree Republicans). The keynote speaker was Pastor Rafael Cruz, the father of Senator Ted Cruz. I’ve heard him a number of times before, and it’s always an exciting ride.

This was the day after his 80^th birthday, so we sang Happy Birthday to him. His energy is almost overwhelming. He’s nowhere near an age at which he might consider slowing down.

He’s not a pastor with a brick-and-mortar church. He travels and speaks. His purpose is to wake up the churches. As he told us,

I talk to pastors all the time, trying to shake them out from staying behind their pulpits, scared to death of not being politically correct. And I tell them, “You need to be biblically correct, not politically correct.” And they give me all kinds of excuses. One of the most common I hear: “Politics is a dirty business. I don’t want any part of it.” I’m sure everybody in this room has heard that, perhaps some of you have even said it. “Politics is a dirty business. I don’t want any part of it.”

You know Proverbs 29:2. It says, When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice. When the wicked rule, people mourn. If the righteous, the people of principle, the people who stand on the Judeo-Christian principles that made America the greatest country on the face of the earth—if those people are not running for office, if those people are not even voting, what’s left? The wicked electing the wicked. And it becomes our fault.

He just returned from a trip to Romania, a mainly atheist country, as the Soviet states were. They need a religious reawakening, so he was talking to pastors there:

Romania only has 17 million people. Yet they have one year with a million abortions.  Now, we have a million abortions a year in America, but we have 330 million people. So they have 20 times more abortions than America. So my main reason to go to Romania was to wake up the church.

In the process of waking up Christians, he talked about the US Constitution, and how exceptional it is. He pointed out,

The average age, the average lifespan of a constitution around the world—you know how much it is? Seventeen years. Our Constitution has lasted over 230 years.

I agree with him; America, with our Constitution, and our foundation on an idea, rather than an ethnicity, is truly exceptional. He wasn’t the only speaker on the Constitution for the day. I arrived halfway through. I missed a Constitution expert, and my Congressman Dan Crenshaw (sorry to have missed him). But former Speaker of the House Tom Delay spoke on what’s in the Constitution as well.

Let’s start with a bit of history from Pastor Cruz:

The Declaration of Independence did not originate with Thomas Jefferson. I count nineteen grievances against King George in the Declaration of Independence. Did you know that each and every one of those grievances were preached in the churches of America for ten years—ten years, the preachers, from the pulpit, calling out King George for the atrocities that the British were perpetrating on the American people?

As a matter of fact, my friend David Barton says that you could consider the Declaration as a series of sermon summaries.

Going on, he took a history tangent, just for fun:

By the way, how many of you know there was a black patriot riding with Paul Revere? His name was Wentworth Cheswill. He was the first African-American to occupy public office in America. And he held nine different posts in public office before the year 1800.

Now Tom [Delay] also talked about people like George Whitfield, and Jonathan Edwards. But you know, along with—   a little bit later there was a black preacher called Harry Hoosier. From Indiana. As a matter of fact, most people in Indiana don’t know why they are called the Hoosiers. Because of a black preacher called, in the early 1800s, the greatest orator in America. See, all of that has been erased from history books.

We lived in Indiana when son Political Sphere was born, for just a couple of years. Loved it there. But he’s right, we didn’t know—and no one around us seemed to know—where the name Hoosiers came from. Now I know.

Returning back to the story of the Constitution, he tells the story about a tough time during the summer of the Constitutional Convention, about four weeks in, when Benjamin Franklin makes an important suggestion. He roughly quotes Franklin here, sometimes paraphrasing him (my transcription will look like it’s all an actual quote, for simplicity):

Anyway, it was falling apart. And it was none other than this so-called Godless Benjamin Franklin that addresses the president of the convention, George Washington. And Franklin says,[i] “Sir, how is it that we have not once called upon the Father of Lights to illuminate our understanding? Or, have we forgotten, when we first started our struggle against Great Britain, how we met in this very chamber every morning for prayer, seeking His protection? Sir, those prayers were graciously answered. Are we to think that we no longer need His assistance? I have lived a long time, and the longer I live, the more sure I am of this truth: that God governs the affairs of men.

“If a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His knowledge, is it probable that an empire can be built without His aid? As the holy scriptures tell us, ‘Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain that built it.’ If we proceed to build this endeavor without Him, we will fare no better than the builders of Babel.”

He concluded, and I paraphrase, “I beseech you therefore, that from now henceforth, before we proceed to our deliberations, we meet in this chamber on our knees for prayer, seeking His wisdom and direction.”

They left the Constitutional Convention under the leadership of pastor John Witherspoon, one of the signers of the Declaration. They met together for prayer and fasting. They came back to the Constitutional Convention in a totally different mood. Totally harmony, on their knees, seeking wisdom.

Seven weeks later they gave us the greatest document that has ever been written in history outside of the Bible: the Constitution of the United States of America.

I am convinced without a shadow of a doubt the reason our Constitution has lasted 230 years is because it is a divinely inspired document, because it was born on the knees of the framers. We need to honor our Constitution.

I’m convinced of that as well. I’m used to hearing these words among my church leaders. For example, J. Reuben Clark (for whom the Brigham Young University's law school is named), said, 

My faith teaches me that the Constitution is an inspired document drawn by the hands of men whom God raised up for that very purpose; that God has given His approval of the Government set up under the Constitution “for the rights and protection of all flesh, according to just and holy principles”:[ii] that the constitutional “principle of freedom in maintaining rights and privileges, belongs to all mankind, and is justifiable before” the Lord….

So far as my knowledge goes, this is the only government now on the earth to which God has given such an approval. It is His plan for the government of free men.[iii] 

On my way out, Rafael Cruz was standing
at the door, no line, shook my hand
and looked at me like he knew me.
So kind. So I asked for a photo. The
event photographer was nearby and offered
to do that for me. I hope I have this much
energy when I am 80.

Point one is, the Constitution is divinely inspired. Point two is, we should read it and learn what it says. And what it doesn’t say:

Article I Section 8 of the Constitution only has 18 enumerated powers of Congress. If it ain’t there, the federal government’s got no business being involved in it.

You need to read Article I Section 8. The word education—nowhere in Article 1 Section 8. The Department of Education is unconstitutional. Marriage or the family—nowhere in Article 1 Section 8. Supreme Court had no jurisdiction to talk about marriage. But you see, we don’t know the Constitution.

Here’s a rule of thumb he shared with us: “The bigger the federal government, the lesser is your freedom.”

As he puts it,

You know, I must have told my son two dozen times, when he was growing up, when I lost my freedom in Cuba, I had a place to come to. If we lose our freedoms here, where are we going to go? There is no place to go.

If you’re not familiar with his story, he escaped Cuba nearly 60 years ago. He tells this story with a purpose:

One of the greatest things about America is the American dream. Just look at my life. When I came to this country, I didn’t have any money. I couldn’t speak a word of English. But I’ll tell you what; I worked my butt off. I worked full-time, went to school full-time. Got my degree in three and a half years, working in a restaurant 8 hours a day, going to school full-time. Seven years later I owned an oil exploration company. That’s America. And, within one generation I saw my son become a US senator and a candidate for the presidency of the United States. Only in America! Only in America! Only in America!

Rafael Cruz is a high energy speaker. Quintessentially passionate. His purpose is to wake us up, inform us, and motivate us to take action. I don’t think there’s any keeping up with this octogenarian. But I agree with him that the stakes are high. He repeated a warning Reagan quote,

You know, Ronald Reagan once said, “Freedom is not free. Freedom is not passed down from generation to generation in our bloodstream. Every generation has to fight to protect it and defend it. Or we may find ourselves in our later years, talking to our children and our children’s children about what it was like when men were free in America.” I don’t know about you; I’m not willing to have that conversation. And neither should you.

I’m not willing to have that conversation either. This exceptional country, with its exceptional, inspired Constitution, is worth doing what it takes to conserve.

---

[i] Benjamin Franklin’s prayer speech can be found here: https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/benfranklin.htm

[ii] The scriptures quote are from Latter-day Saint scripture, the Doctrine & Covenants 101:77, 98:5.

[iii] President J. Reuben Clark, Stand Fast by Our Constitution, pp. 7, 172.

Can We Keep It?

Two hundred and thirty-one years ago today, thirty-nine brave patriots signed the Constitution of the United States, which became our inspired form of government following ratification by the states.

As Benjamin Franklin responded to the question of what type of government the men produced for the new nation, “A republic, if you can keep it.”

The US Constitution
image from here

The question, all these years later, is whether we’re doing all we need to do to keep it.

This past week I attended the Christian Values Summit at a church north of Houston. Speakers included several pastors and government officials Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, US Representative Kevin Brady, plus several headliners: Rafael Cruz, Sarah Palin (both nights), and Dinesh D’Souza.

The theme overall seemed to be that people of conscious, mainly Christians, need to stand up and speak out.

Rafael Cruz, a pastor (at large, I believe; he doesn’t have a specific church where he presides) and Senator Ted Cruz’s father, gave some historical background. He pointed out that America is the only country founded on the word of God.

In the Mayflower Compact, the early pilgrim settlers proclaim they are forming their new land “for the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith.” That’s a glorious heritage, he told us. “No other country has this history.

Of the twenty-six grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence, Cruz explained that those had been the subject of sermons during the previous ten years, calling out King George for the atrocities.

When Paul Revere made his famous ride, he was heading to the home of Pastor Jonas Clark, where John Hancock and Samuel Adams were staying. It happened that the battle of Lexington began near this same home.

There was a pastor named Peter Muhlenberg, in Woodstock, VA, who was preaching one Sunday around the beginning of the Revolutionary War. He tells his congregation, “There is a time for war and a time for peace.” Then he pulls out his musket from behind the pulpit and says, “This is a time for war.”

Muhlenberg had a brother, also a pastor, Frederick Muhlenberg, in New York, who chastised him for profaning the pulpit. But then, after the British burned Frederick’s church, he joined the revolution too.

Rafael Cruz
image from Christian Values Summit

Cruz reminded us about Alexis de Tocqueville, the Frenchman who came to America about fifty years into the great experiment, and wrote Democracy in America. He said he found America’s greatness in her churches. He is famously reported to have said, “America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”

Cruz told us, “We’re at that crossroads today.” Then he went through some of the recent historical slippage.

In 1962 prayer was banned from public schools. In 1963 the Bible was banned from public schools. He reminded us that Congress printed the first Bible in America, to be the principle textbook. And this was how it was used for the first 150 years or so.

The bigger problem was that churches remained silent. They said it was a political issue.

Then teen pregnancy skyrocketed. So did violent crime.

In 1977 the Supreme Court “discovered” a right to abortion within the Constitution. Again churches remained silent. Sixty million murdered babies later, their blood is on the churches for their silent consent, he said. He quoted Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: 

God will not hold us guiltless.

Not to speak is to speak.

Not to act is to act.

Cruz went on with his list. In 2015, the Supreme Court—not a lawmaking body, but a bare 5/4 majority of nine unelected judges—redefined marriage. That decision, Cruz attested, wasn’t just about same-sex “marriage”; it was a direct fundamental attack on the traditional family. And if you destroy the family, you destroy society.

My distant phone photo of Rafael Cruz
at the Christian Values Summit last Thursday

Next come the SOGI (sexual orientation gender identity) ordinances. Here in Houston we remember this attack against the people and the churches. The city council had passed an ordinance requiring that all bathroom and shower facilities be made open to anyone who chose to go in them, regardless of actual sex. Regardless of how you feel about transgendered persons and their “rights,” the ordinance opens up women and children to predators, and labels them as bigoted transphobes if they so much as complain about their fear or discomfort.

The people of Houston  gathered well over the required number of signatures to require that the ordinance be brought before the people. The mayor threw out enough of the signatures—without cause—to claim there weren’t enough. And she also subpoenaed all the churches to provide copies and transcripts of all their sermons, so that she could go through them and accuse them of interfering with government, if they so much as mentioned the issue.

This was one of those times when the churches rose up. Among the pastors was Steve Riggle, who hosted the Christian Values Summit at his northern campus. The churches were successful. And the law was on their side. The mayor had no right to the writings and speeches offered at churches. And churches can address issues; they are entitled to address issues that they believe affect the morality of the community, or for whatever reason. Judges slapped the now-former mayor for both the subpoenas and the throwing out of valid signatures. And then the people spoke, by voting, and ended the ordinance.

That’s what happens, even in a very Democrat city, when people who value morality speak up.

Other cities, and various businesses in other states, derided Houston and said they would boycott. But let me just note that, if they have actually stayed away, it’s their loss. Houston is better off without the ordinance, and has done fine without whatever business was lost, if any.

Here’s one more thing Cruz said, that you hear all the time that politicians cannot legislate morality. “That’s a lie,” he said. “It legislates morality all the time. The question is, whose morality?” The issues he listed: prayer and Bible in school, abortion, redefinition of marriage, and SOGI ordinances—all relate to the morality of the people. They relate to someone’s morality, just not ours. And not the morality the founders knew we needed.

During the break between speakers, just before Cruz's speech, they threw out T-shirts into the audience that said “Stand up / Stand out.” I caught one that came right to me. I pretty much never wear T-shirts with graphics on them, but I might just wear this one.

I’m also thinking about what I can do to persuade my churchgoing friends, and anyone else, to do just the little bit that it takes to be an informed voter—and then to get just enough better educated to know when and how to speak up.

I started my Spherical Model quote file with these words from one of my beloved church leaders:

The building of public sentiment begins with a few earnest voices. I am not one to advocate shouting defiantly or shaking fists and issuing threats in the faces of legislators. But I am one who believes that we should earnestly and sincerely and positively express our convictions to those given the heavy responsibility of making and enforcing our laws. The sad fact is that the minority who call for greater liberalization, who peddle and devour pornography, who encourage and feed on licentious display make their voices heard until those in our legislatures may come to believe that what they say represents the will of the majority. We are not likely to get that which we do not speak up for.

—Gordon B. Hinckley, “In Opposition to Evil,” Ensign, September 2004

The nation’s founders were farmers, shopkeepers, merchants, preachers. Not many of them were wealthy and powerful beyond their relatively small communities and states. Yet they stood up, and stood together. And the result is the greatest example the world has ever seen of how you get to freedom, prosperity, and civilization by good people governing themselves.

As larger portions of the society become less able to self-govern, it’s an experiment in danger of ending.

So I’m looking at what I can do, to enlarge my circle a bit. To speak up. To persuade good people to join together in the cause of liberty, for our country and for the world. That’s my resolve on this Constitution Day.

Hat Throwing

From Ted Cruz's speech at Liberty University, March 23, 2015
announcing his run for the presidency, photo montage from Rush Limbaugh

Today is the day Senator Ted Cruz announced that he is running for president of the United States.

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.

Meeting a Freedom Fighter

This past Saturday we had a special speaker at our local tea party meeting. It was Rev. Rafael Cruz, father of Senator Ted Cruz. It’s the second time I’ve heard him in person, but this time was a smaller group, with more time. He’s a confident speaker, able to go on for an hour or two without notes. And he does probably a hundred or so such speeches a year.

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.

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.