Posted on 12/28/2015 3:20:21 PM PST by VinL
One thing that frustrated even the most ardent supporters of George W. Bush's administration was his refusal to hit back hard at over the top, abominable personal attacks against him and his family, including his daughters, by those in the media and in the culture at large.
Bush revered the office of the president and, unlike his successor, held it to a higher standard than did gutter snipes such as Sean Penn or the New York Times. This is why Newt Gingrich drew cheers and praise during the 2012 election cycle when he hit back at the media for its open bias.
Who can forget that CNN's John King opened a primary debate by asking Gingrich questions about his ex wife (something to remember every time we're told Bill Clinton is off limits)?
This election cycle, the role of credible media tormentor has been notably filled not by Donald Trump but by Ted Cruz, and it's resonating more because Cruz has a clearer path to the nomination than Gingrich did in 2012.
What started out with Internet memes and social-media snickers at Cruz culminated last week in Ann Telnaes’s cartoon at the Washington Post in which she depicted Cruz's daughters as trained, leashed monkeys. The Post withdrew the illustration but did not apologize. Even primary competitor Marco Rubio, a father of young daughters himself, took a break from his fight with Cruz over immigration to defend the Texas senator.
Telnaes, whose Twitter wallpaper features a Charlie Hebdo cartoon, played the victim and censorship cards when criticized by Cruz and his supporters. What Telneas and our other brave truth tellers in media somehow don’t understand is that we on the right don’t care about the attack on Cruz as much as we care about the double standard of the media.
Telnaes has the courage to satirize Ted Cruz’s children but not Mohammed. That’s why she’s not Charlie Hebdo. For my part, I wish the Washington Post had left the Cruz cartoon up. Cruz’s response to Telnaes may have caught some pundits off guard, but for those following him and his campaign, it was vintage Cruz.
He did not respond with bomb throwing tweets or statements that generate page clicks or mentions on cable news, and the Post's attempts to anger Cruz enough so he’d hulk out into The Incredible Trump failed. He responded simply by defending his daughters, then by posting a cartoon of his own that portrayed the Washington Post and the New York Times as Hillary Clinton’s leashed lapdogs.
It's perfect red meat for his supporters, and the media fall into their own trap. This has to be painfully frustrating for pundits and personalities who are attempting to goad Cruz into a fight that would prove he's not as culturally savvy as Buzzfeed and IJ.com are making him out to be. This is becoming a pattern for Cruz.
Whether he's halting the debate antics of an obnoxious moderator, responding to the incoherent Twitter rant of a pop star, or debating a Hollywood actress attempting to ambush him with cameras for her own show, Cruz is proving that he's a savvy professional with a deft ability to handle the media.
For those who are eager to see just how far they can push conservative candidates, how far they can go in attempting to Palinize conservatives out of mainstream culture altogether — Cruz must come as an unpleasant shock. (snip)
“I just did a search on your recent posts (1st page only) and just about everyone is attacking or disparaging Cruz “
Not Cruz. His sycophants for their cringe-worthy posts, and with these goofy bloggers that are obviously spinning a narrative about him based on increasing hype because Trump towers so high over the election.
I do have DISAGREEMENTS with his campaign strategy, but my main beef is with his supporters.
Now if you find posts where I talk about his wife’s ties to some bank, TIPP votes, or HB1 visas or that other stuff then give me a ring, because I dont touch that stuff because it isnt relevant to me.
You mean your lying word where you fabricated a quote? No, you're already backing off of it.
Did I mention he is a kid?
You have no idea how old I am, but as to the "vile names" thing: I saw a news story that said people who use more profanities also have higher IQs. It was on Drudge. So, I totally accept most of your lame post.
Did I mention he is a kid?
By the way, you only hate me because I tell the truth and am not intimidated by the handful of Cruz-bot bullies :P
A kid. Lacking wisdom and discernment.
And a hypocrite to boot. BTW, have you figured out what sanctification is yet?
Are you kidding? I got way more wisdom and discernment than all of you put together! You're still enamored by a candidate who is into cult-like religion and lies.
But what is the FIRST thing you guys say when you come on over to harass Trump supporters? "I can't believe they won't support the PRINCIPLED conservative man of God!"
Hahaha. A kid.
In other words, you find it permissible to condemn (wrongly perceived and non-existent) attempts to idolize Cruz, while excusing the same of Trump.
If you ask me, there's only so much "excitement" that should revolve around a politician, because it's assumed people understand that they're hiring an employee to do a job.
When some allow themselves to fall headlong into a cult of personality, well, yeah, there's going to be a LOT of excitement---of the hysterical variety. It's then that you see people keening about the "Trump of God", making the comparisons I mentioned earlier, writing hymns to him, and proposing we tear up the Constitution and install him as dictator.
So Trump has said some things. He's an entertainer; that's what he does. Cruz is effective without yelling and railing and acting like a buffoon. Some of you, however, have become so used to the Trump show that anything except Kardashian politics bores you.
What do I think the reaction of people should be...?
Well, of course for those of you so emotionally invested in him, you're going to rage. And he knows that and he plays to it; he understands his audience. Note how he fills his speeches with "me against the world" references.
Personally, he isn't my candidate and I recognize him as a liberal celebrity, so I don't care.
Hey guys, check out the wise one...
>>No, one fights. One educates and one fights. If one believes in liberty and freedom,, one fights.
>>Good Lord, Americans should be made of sterner stuff.
Not all of us are Internet Tough Guys. You can pretend to be whatever you want when you are safely behind your keyboard.
So, is your game plan to just insult all the Trump supporters until we give in? Are going to keep claiming that Cruz is possessed by the ghost of Ronald Reagan and that it is still 1988?
The sad thing is that every Trump supporter is ready to support Cruz if he wins. You don’t need to insult us at all. We are your allies in the big game against the Dems. But we think that someone needs to bring the issues out into the open. Cruz has FAILED to do that. Sure, Trump sucked all the air out of the room, but Cruz could have been that guy-—if he had the moral strength to be that guy. He doesn’t. He’s a smart guy and a great debater trying to lead a nation of idiots.
Cruz is so far superior and lacks the bad qualities of your hero, like whiny, bullying, bragging nonstop, etc etc etc
>>You are essentially admitting that Trump is a megalomaniac, end-justifies-the-means and screw-the-constitution-because-I-can-solve-the-problem guy. I think so, as well.
And how did you get that from my post?? I’m saying that he knows how to lead and think fast in quickly changing conditions.
“Cruz is so far superior and lacks the bad qualities of your hero, like whiny, bullying, bragging nonstop, etc etc etc”
Yeah...
THIS is exactly what is making lots of us seriously consider, if he manages to win the nomination, sitting it out and seeing how well your big mouths fare against the left.
Since you folks like to echo the talking points the left uses against Trump, I can only assume that you will fare sooooooooooooo well.
“LIMBAUGH: Brilliant, and conservative through and through. Trustworthy, strong, confident, leader, and somebody in whom you can totally depend.”
Bought a new dryer — made in Mexico. Thought about Trump and Cruz. Cruz voted for TPA the first time; only voted against it the second time, he claims, because it takes immigration control away from Congress and turns it over to an international cartel. However, he evidently embraces all the rest, which is why, when you buy anything, it will NOT be made in the USA. Cruz is cool with that.
Daily “Build-Up-Cruz” piece in National Review. Predictable as clockwork.
It isn’t 1988 anymore! The world that your brand of perfect conservatism exists in is like a town in a model train layout. We aren’t the Center Right nation on the Left=Socialism/Right=Free Market scale we once were. We are a Far Left and Far Right nation on the European model (Left=Globalism/Right=Nationalism).
******************
Don’t deflect it on me. That’s what you said, and that’s what I reacted to. You posit that we exist in a European socialist model, and that’s why you support Trump.
I advanced that “European Socialism” is diametrically opposed to what FR purports to stand for— and certainly what Cruz stands for.
I’ve insulted no one. I merely made a statement of fact. Doctrinaire conservatives stand with Cruz— “European Socialists” stand with Trump.
“We are a nation of Law, not the cult of Obama or Trump, and we have not yet acceded to a Divine Right of Kings...”
Not a cult?
I don’t know. Try this on for size:
“LIMBAUGH: Brilliant, and conservative through and through. Trustworthy, strong, confident, leader, and somebody in whom you can totally depend.”
Totally depend? Those are divine prerogatives he listed.
Except when it comes to the Obama agenda, then he is all in — TPA and the Corker bill, which Limbaugh and Levin completely ignore. It never happened.
“Better then to understand the transformation when Cruz is elected.”
You don’t sound so much like a 13 year old girl as a cultist you deny. I don’t want another transformation of America, I want a restoration.
Says profanity is an indicator of intelligence, huh? Until Trump became his object of worship, he used to spend time in the Religion forum acting sanctified.
He says he’s going to do a thread on Ted’s ties to cultic religion, which is a classic leftist attack. Last night he was talking about Rafael Cruz, Kenneth Copeland, and the prosperity gospel.
It’s all too easy to post information about Trump’s doings with Copeland and with another prosperity preacher, Paula White.
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.