Posted on 02/16/2016 6:45:23 PM PST by JediJones
Ted Cruz echoes what Randy Barnett and I explored in our Weekly Standard piece–that both President Bushes made their Supreme Court appointments based on what would be easier, and which candidates had shorter paper trails.
Bush 41 chose David Souter over Edith Jones because it would have been easier. Bush 43 chose Roberts over (Cruz's boss) Michael Luttig because he had a short paper trail.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz distanced himself from his past support for Chief Justice John Roberts on Saturday, offering up an alternative history where Roberts...was never appointed to the court.
"I want to focus on two moments in time that made a world of difference," the Texas senator told a gathering of conservatives at Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Council convention in St. Louis on Saturday.
Cruz first focused on George H.W. Bush's nomination of David Souter over Edith Jones to the Supreme Court before quickly turning his attention to Chief Justice John Roberts.
"Let's fast forward to 2005," stated Cruz. "In 2005, in one room was John Roberts and in another room was my former boss Mike Luttig, the rock conservative on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, and George W. Bush picked John Roberts."
"Now in both instances, it wasn't that they were looking for someone who wasn't a conservative, it's that it was easier. Neither Souter nor Roberts had said much of anything. They didn't have a paper trail, they wouldn't have a fight. Whereas if you actually nominate a conservative, then you gotta spend some political capital. Then you gotta fight."
Cruz stated if Jones and Luttig had been on the court instead of Souter and Roberts, then the marriage laws in every state would still be on the books and Obamacare would not been law.
(Excerpt) Read more at joshblackman.com ...
Indications were Roberts would do well. Wasn’t it Ike that regretted nominating Earl Warren? The trouble is the liberal judges do not disappoint. They tow the line.
What are you going to do after the President makes his selection? No one else has that responsibility. Once nominated, what would you have done in Cruz’s position?
Oh, and don’t forget to point to your own prescient take on Roberts, pre-confirmation. I was as disappointed as anyone at the ACA votes, but on what information were you predicting them in 2005?
Well he wasn't and he wasn't
No it isn't ironic at all. Because Cruz lies. When his lips move he lies, and yet, he is the "true conservative."
I don't think Cruzeroids have a clue how hateful they are making the term "true conservative." It is a term used not by reasonable principled conservatives, but by mind-number robots. Every time I hear the term I get this bilious feeling - like I am about to be lied to and swindled again, all wrapped in a bow of sunday school scripture.
Its despicable. It really is.
“... but on what information were you predicting them in 2005?”
What do you mean? Myself, I have no clue as to who to appoint for Supreme Court judge; don’t have the time to find out.
I made the point about Cruz supporting Roberts because during the debate Saturday, he said he did not support Roberts.
And what a lunatic Trump is..... Where does that leave us...?
You created that quote out of thin air. It does not exist in the article. Cruz did not say he endorsed Edith Jones, only that Bush 41 to the easy way out when he nominated Souter.
Not surprised you would lie, especially since you are a Trumpbot, just like many who signed up in July-December 2015.
The quote was not created out of thin air. It came directly from Post 1.
You are correct, so you repeated a lie, didn’t you?
“Cruz lies.”
Not buying it just because of the massive, Joseph Goebbels style media manipulation. Apparently you are very susceptible.
Every conservative organization that tracks candidates and rates them, shows Cruz to be a solid conservative. NARAL rates him 0%. He is hated by all the right people. Trump decided to go scorched earth and tap into that.
But I can hear and see for myself. I am tolerant of Rubio and Trump, but I can see clearly who stretches the truth most, and they are among them. They are not as bad as Hillary, but that is not exactly a ringing endorsement when they are building their campaign on calling someone else a liar.
“Every time I hear the term [conservative] I get this bilious feeling “
Just like you are being conditioned to. Wake up. Did you really expect the most conservative, pro-life candidate to get endless praise from the media? Did you expect them to be honest in their treatment?
You summed it up quite nicely. Half of them are already on another thread accusing Cruz of being a liar. That’s the objective of the Trump Campaign..saturate the discourse and create an echo chamber until its repeated so often by so many people that its no longer questioned.
“saturate the discourse and create an echo chamber until its repeated so often by so many people that its no longer questioned”
You’re right. Joseph Goebbels would be proud.
I have pointed that out on two other occasions when the flavor of the day for Trump supporters was “dirty tricks.” The Big Lie technique at work. Asking for examples usually leads to either silence or repeating it.
I have always been fairly willing to consider all of the candidates, including Trump. The polls have mostly been aligned with my ranking of their conservatism, except with Trump leading over Cruz.
Trump has said some cringe-worthy things early on that would have ended the campaign for most, but because he is a billionaire celebrity, he has has turned the tables on business as usual. That may be a good thing to a degree.
The negativity grew from both Trump and his die-hard supporters.
I reached the point where I strongly favor Cruz over Trump.
But the biggest reason is not mudslinging. It is Trump going soft on conservatism.
The most unfortunate surprise for me is that a lot of Trump supporters simply do not care what policies the guy embraces, no matter how liberal. And that’s very bad.
I would abandon Cruz in a heart beat if started praising Planned Parenthood. I would be strongly questioning my support if he started to boast about being able to work with Pelosi and Reid.
It was awesome to see Trump school the media playground bullies and make them back off. It has not been so awesome to see him become the playground bully.
I spend no time listening to the media. I was an avid fan of WFB. What turns me off these days about so-called "true conservatives" is their own hell-bent unthinking hewing to some sort of standard of ideological purity independent of the problem to be solved. - that is where conservatives are killing themselves - with those who actually want to be sympathetic.
“so-called ‘true conservatives’ is their own hell-bent unthinking hewing to some sort of standard of ideological purity independent of the problem to be solved”
Nearly everyone AGREES on the problems. Liberals, Dems, GOPe, socialists, and even conservatives typically recognize certain things to be problematic. Dollar in decline? Check. Unemployment too high? Check. National security in jeopardy? Check. Politics too divisive? Double check.
Problem is that nobody agrees on solutions. Trump may be able to “get things done”, but if he gets the wrong things done, he will be no better than Obama. Maybe worse, because he will have killed off what is left of conservatism in this nation.
I want to like Trump. Actually I kind of do. I like how he tells it like it is and throws caution to the wind. That’s cool. He is willing to take audacious measures. We need that.
But conservatism does not work only when it is not tried. Donald Trump is NOT solidly conservative. Not ideologically. He may be willing to align 100% ideologically with conservatives, or he may not. Cruz is ideologically conservative. He will do what’s right because it is right, not because it is popular. He has proved it. He has made more enemies than Trump. And it is not because of the marketing meme that he is dishonest.
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