Posted on 02/01/2016 2:27:43 AM PST by Sontagged
When Ted Cruz Said John Roberts Is *Undoubtedly A Principled Conservative*
During Wednesday*s debate, Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz said his past support for the confirmation of Chief Justice John Roberts *was a mistake and I regret that*.
Cruz argued during CNN*s Reagan library debate that former President George W. Bush nominated Roberts *because it was the easier choice* and he wasn*t *willing to spend political capital to put a strong judicial conservative on the court.*
But as critics are pointing out, Cruz, who worked on the Bush campaign and later in the administration as a lawyer, was effusive in his praise of Roberts* nomination in 2005.
*John Roberts should be a quick confirm,* he wrote in the National Review.
*As an individual, John Roberts is undoubtedly a principled conservative, as is the president who appointed him,* Cruz said.
During the debate, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush defended his brother’s selection of Roberts, who has angered conservatives for upholding Obamacare, by saying broadly: *I think he is doing a good job.*
*You can rewrite history I guess Ted,* Bush said, *but the simple fact is, you supported him because he had all the criteria that you would have thought would have made a great justice. And I think he is doing a good job.*
I know, I was one of those conservatives who was ecstatic. But the point is that Cruz was Roberts friend and advocate.
Cruz lacks discernment.
His Bushie past was always a red flag for me.
Cruz is the real deal.
He is the most sincerely conservative candidate in the race.
He has the best legal judgment of anyone in the field.
I also remember thinking that with Roberts on SCOTUS, perhaps Roe could be overturned.
But this was before I had any idea that Bush and Rove were FUNDING Planned Parenthood knowingly throughout the entire eight years of W.
(You read that correctly)
Really, did Cruz know his boss Bush was funding Planned Parenthood from 2000 to 2008, and that Rove was dictating PP funding through Susan G Komen?
Cruz is a GOPe shill.
Exactly. This forum has become corrupt. There is nothing wrong with what Cruz was saying then or now. Roberts was not Ted’s first choice but he was a very good choice at the time and there was nobody standing against the nomination.
Where are you getting this "very very good friend" stuff? Cruz described them as just "friends" -- he was actually far closer to Judge Michael Luttig, for whom he clerked, and who he preferred for the nomination. But there was no way Luttig would have gotten confirmed as Chief Justice - the Democrats would have filibustered him, and the Senate wasn't willing (at that time) to use the nuclear option.
More importantly, Bush nominated Roberts, not Luttig. So Cruz' choice was to either support Roberts, or oppose him. Opposing him would have been ridiculous given what everyone thought of him at the time.
There are some legitimate criticisms of Ted Cruz, but this isn't one of them.
Roberts was considered the most conservative Justice Bush could get through the Senate. hich has nothing to do with the point to which I was responding, which was the claim that Cruz thought himself perfect and incapable of admitting error.
There are a lot of things not to like about Cruz, but this is not one of them. I'm not sure where you get this "very, very good friend" stuff, but the Judge for whom Cruz actually clerked was not Roberts, but Luttig. And Cruz is on record of having Luttig as his first choice.
Roberts was pretty universally considered one of the most conservative nominee that could get through the Senate.
“This forum has become corrupt” or is it really that “these conservatives on FR have finally started to wise up about the damning corruption of the GOPe/Uniparty liars”?
Like Mr TPP TPA Amnesty Cruz?
Cruz is probably correct on GW Bush not wanting to fight for a conservative nominee. Bush was a big government statist, not a conservative. Like his Daddy who put Souter on the court, W was more interested in appeasing far left Democrats than in putting Conatitutionalists on the Court.
As to Cruz he was a rising member of the political class trying to build a career in a moderate Republican administration. The lesson here is Cruz will serve his master. The question then is, if Cruz is the GOP nominee, and wins the general election, who will be his master? He is not independently wealthy so he is piling up debts and obligations.
Hell - 95% of self-styled conservatives lack discernment - hence 8 years of Obama....
Ann jumped the shark a long time ago. I trust her endorsement of no one. She was most vociferous for a president Christie and she is still in love with Mitt Romney.
Cruz is a player in the GOPe deception theater that Bush/Rove/Roberts/Boehner/McConnell/Ryan are all a part of.
If we don’t understand the GOPe agendas, we will fall prey to them again as we Tea Partiers did in every past election cycle.
My post is trying to uncover their agenda. Roberts played a really good game of “hating Obama” at the State of the Union before the Ocare decision.
Cruz has played in a lot of good GOPe theater, too.
All at our expense.
Yeah, donnie is pretty sickening with all the false claims he makes.
False claims — like Cruz needs to figure out if he is eligible or not?
If donnie has any balls like everybody thinks he does he would file suit himself. He will not because he said he has already checked with his own high powered lawyers and they told him cruz is legal to run.
Let this big blowhard step up to the plate.
The claim that Ted Cruz lacks discernment for supporting the appointment of Chief Justice Roberts is among the most outrageous departures from sanity that we seem to experience on a daily basis from supporters of Donald Trump. Anyone with any knowledge of how the bar operates, how the Supreme Court operates, how judicial clerks operate, how advocates operate, especially advocates before the Supreme Court, would never go near such a statement as, “Cruz lacks discernment” in the context of Cruz’ support of the appointment.
There is nothing in Robert’s career prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court, including his service on the DC court of appeals, which suggests to any knowledgeable observer that Roberts would rule as he did on Obama care. To suggest otherwise is not to indict Ted Cruz but to betray a level of ignorance, or more likely, rank partisan politicking so common among Trump supporters who eagerly ape their hero.
There is one other facet of this episode which deserves remark; it brings credit on Ted Cruz and, once again, highlights the failings of Donald Trump. Ted Cruz admitted he made a mistake, when is the last time Donald Trump ever admitted having made a mistake about anything? To illustrate by way of one among many possible examples from Trump’s biography, Donald Trump was warned up and down against his hedonistic investments in Atlantic City which subsequently went bankrupt, but Trump heedlessly persisted.
In contrast, Ted Cruz had absolutely no evidence from which to conclude that the appointment of John Roberts might be a mistake. Nevertheless, Cruz is a big enough man to admit a mistake even when the mistake is not his fault but Donald Trump is so narcissistic that he denies mistakes which are clearly his fault.
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What I was thinking, but you said it better than I wold have.
I would like a trumpist to identify any specific decisions that Roberts made that would have indicated he would be a bad Justice.
Meanwhile they ignore Trump’s contentson that his pro partial birth abortion sister would make a “Great” Justice.
I was fooled as well. Roberts colors were shown after he was confirmed.
Cruz knew in advance his eligibility would be a problem.
The question is: why would Cruz purposely allow this issue to plague his candidacy and conservatives?
It’s unseemly and unChristian for Cruz to pretend he didn’t know it would be an issue.
He’s a GOPe shill. He had no path to the nomination before or after his fake George Will statement. This is about helping Jeb.
It’s important to analyze the entire GOPe framework and theatrics so we don’t get fooled again.
Cruz’s acting days are coming to an abrupt end.
I guess electing a democrat or populist will do that... ok.
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