Posted on 03/25/2015 7:39:18 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Last June, CNNs senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin profiled Ted Cruz for The New Yorker under the headline The Absolutist. Now that Cruz has made his 2016 presidential campaign official, Toobin discussed the senator/candidate at length with Fresh Airs Terry Gross on Wednesdays show.
Towards the end of their conversation, Toobin discussed what it was like to spend time with Cruz last year for a series of interviews. Well, first of all, hes just a very smart guy, Toobin said, calling the former Supreme Court clerk a law nerd at heart. Toobin also called Cruz a very polished speaker, noting, This is someone who is an extremely good political communicator. Now, obviously, you have to be receptive to his message which is extremely conservative.
Toobin even defended Cruz from those like Morning Joes Donny Deutsch who have equated Cruz with someone like Sarah Palin.
One of the things that I find frankly offensive when I hear discussions of Ted Cruz they say, oh, hes just Sarah Palin, Toobin said. You know, he could not be farther from Sarah Palin. This is someone who has a completely thought-out political philosophy. And you can agree with it or disagree with it, but it holds together.
But the interview wasnt all praise for the first official 2016 GOP candidate. At the same time, Toobin pointed out how unpopular Cruz has become in his own party, as evidenced just this week by Rep. Peter King (R-NY) suggesting he might jump off a bridge if Cruz becomes the nominee.
Earlier, Toobin criticized Cruz for suggesting the abolition of the IRS. That strikes me as a false note in what otherwise I think is a fairly comprehensive and comprehensible worldview on the part of Cruz, he said. You know, when I wrote about him in The New Yorker, he was not quite in full presidential campaign mode. And if I can speak simply, he wasnt saying dumb things like abolish the IRS.
Listen to audio below, via NPR:
(AUDIO-AT-LINK)
I don’t understand why they all think its dumb to abolish the IRS. Its not like its required to collect taxes.
He says, launching into a frankly offensive insult to Governor Palin.
Cruz/Palin scares the Rats and RINOs so badly they're wearing Depends.
Toobin is blindly arrogant.
He likes Ted Cruz because he is of his tribe - an Ivy League intellectual just like him. Naturally the implied (and unexamined) idea in Toobins head is that people like him are better than people not like him.
I do not see that having a “completely thought out political philosophy” helps a real politician, or a real statesman for that matter. Its historically absurd. Churchill didn’t have a “completely thought out political philosophy”, neither did Metternich.
I’m not saying anything about Ted Cruz, he seems a fine fellow, but on the whole being a fine fellow comes in spite of his Ivy League background, not because of it.
They’re just against whatever conservatives are for. That pretty much sums up liberals. Then later they make up reasons to justify it, and finally tack a label onto it so that they don’t need to repeat the argument. When enough people have forgotten why they opposed it, they may support it and call it a liberal idea.
“. . . Rep. Peter King (R-NY) suggesting he might jump off a bridge if Cruz becomes the nominee.”
Well, there’s another good reason to hope Cruz is the nominee.
Oldplayer
I think I already suggested before Ted Cruz announced that the Left will try to hang Sarah Palin around his neck, having in their mind no better way to keep him corralled from breaking out beyond his conservative base.
It is notable to me that even the Left’s Jeffery Twobit laid that to rest. I’m not sure it’s enough, or the end of hearing the Palin comparison, but it is a start.
Cruz was careful not to alienate that IRS point, when he was discussing his support for a simple flat tax, and then, only in the cooler style of a well placed after thought, did he add the words, “ideally we really should abolish the IRS”, and went right back to discussing the need for simplifying the tax rate with no more than a postal card.
I see no problem with Toobin speaking well of Ted Cruz. Gotta take it when you can get it.
further
Picturing Toobin a few years from now, muttering bitterly to himself as he does his taxes on a post card.
When did Peter King (R-NY) become so popular?
Toobin ia an amoral a-hole who cheated on his wife. I guess that makes him qualified to judge the character of the most honest and patriotic politician in Washington, D.C.
As you know better than most, Palin was an easy target because she fit their paradigm. She was from “outside” the elite class, so when she said anything that they could twist int sounding dumb, it helped them marginalize her conservative beliefs.
Ted Cruz is from the “inside” - Ivy League schools, high-powered lawyer, former federal employee, US Senator. So his conservative beliefs are at odds with his pedigree which is awkward for the elites to deal with. In their view, a man with his credentials simply should not think the way he does. Because he doesn’t fit the mold he is not an easy target like Palin was, so they are going to have to work a lot harder and devote more resources to taking him down.
“Theyre just against whatever conservatives are for. That pretty much sums up liberals.”
Sad, but true. Can’t get much more mindless than that.
If Ted Cruz has become “ unpopular “ with the GOPe then ?
That’s all the more reason to like him and vote for him.
Haven’t donated to the RNC in about 10 years, you hear that RNC ? No Money to you dopes.
GET ON THE SUPER CRUZ TSUMINI WAVE IN 2016.
RINOS NEED NOT APPLY BUT GO HOME !
Donny from CNN ?
SUPER CRUZZING IN 2016 : TED CRUZ / SARAH PALIN 2016 !
Most people would love to abolish the IRS.
The RINORATS got the hebegebies scared out of them.... GOOD TOOTING !
IRS = Protected Democrat extortioners/goon squad.
That’s why they are gathering all their forces and sources to bring down Ted Cruz and early.
They, both the left, the MSM and the RINOo elites see him as a threat to their golden boy or golden gal and needs to be stopped early.
Unfortunately for them, he’s got a voice that’s being heard not since Ronald Reagan and people are sitting up and taking notice and shutting out the white noise riffraff from the MSM, the left, and the RINORATS GOPe.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.