Mark Steyn: Ted Cruz Punches Back

HUGH HEWITT: Now Mark Steyn, on two levels, and we'll talk about the substance, but there is art in that response. There is a man who's litigated successfully nine times before the Supreme Court, who managed without taking notes to retain every personal attack, reframe them, repackage them, repurpose them into a counterattack on the panel expertly. It was actually art.

MARK STEYN: Yeah, and that's the Ted Cruz I like, Hugh. The criticism of Ted Cruz this election cycle has been that he's been too canned and too rehearsed, and he uses his talking points. And when he does that, he can come over as a bit unctuous and oleaginous. But when you just let him rip impromptu like this, as you say, what gave it force was that he remembered with absolute specificity all the stupid questions that these boneheads had wasted America's time with. And that's the Ted Cruz that is absolutely great, and he transformed that debate - because then what happened is that Marco Rubio went and did his line [about the media being the Democrats' SuperPac], and Chris Christie did his line about how even in New Jersey what you're doing would be considered rude ...and then Donald Trump in his windup said that as an example of his great negotiating skills, he'd managed to talk CNBC down to two hours so they could all get the hell out of there. And every single candidate on that panel smiled and cheered at that line. And so the ones who won, I think, picked up on the Cruz dynamic, and the ones who lost were the ones who didn't participate in that ...Jeb Bush and Kasich and Rand Paul.

The criticism of Ted Cruz this election cycle has been that he’s been too canned and too rehearsed, and he uses his talking points. And when he does that, he can come over as a bit unctuous and oleaginous. But when you just let him rip impromptu like this, as you say, what gave it force was that he remembered with absolute specificity all the stupid questions that these boneheads had wasted America’s time with. And that’s the Ted Cruz that is absolutely great, and he transformed that debate

...

That’s what Trump’s been doing all along. I saw an interview where he said the energy of the audience is so much greater when he speaks his mind.

Oops---they forgot to mention: Ted Cruz renounced his Canadian citizenship....recently.

Oh, Please, that can't be connected to this: Cruz's wife...a Goldman Sachs exec.... served on the North American Union task force, and supported their report called---Building a North American Community.

That effort was sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations in association with the Canadian Council of Chief Executives and the Consejo Mexicano de Asuntos Internacionales.

Translated into English, that means forget US sovereignty....just eradicate US borders.

TED CRUZ CURRENT SENATE COMMITTEES
(SOURCE: Cruz web site):

Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities

Subcommittee on Seapower

Subcommittee on Strategic Forces

Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation

Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness, Chairman

Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security

Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet

Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance, and Data Security

Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard

Subcommittee on Oversight, Agency Action, Federal Rights and Federal Courts, Chairman

Subcommittee on The Constitution

Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest

Joint Economic Committee

Committee on Rules & Administration

Presidential Candidates Comparison (Cruz vs. Trump)

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Let's look at Trump's record on civil-liberty issue:

Do you think that we would be able to discuss issues freely in this forum under a Trump administration?

"Trump has an inconsistent record when it comes to civil liberties. He supported the NSA mass surveillance program but did not weigh in on the recently passed reforms. Overall, he has avoided commenting on religious freedom, but says he would be an advocate for Christians. Trump supports an individual’s right to make unlimited campaign contributions, but advocates for an end to soft money in politics. Most concerning is Trump’s belief that the government can use eminent domain powers to seize private property for economic benefit for others."

Trump supports the NSA’s metadata collection program, saying, “I support legislation which allows the NSA to hold the bulk metadata. For oversight, I propose that a court, which is available any time on any day, is created to issue individual rulings on when this metadata can be accessed.” This position was identical to the NSA’s mass surveillance program before being reformed by the USA Freedom Act. (Newsweek)
Trump has avoided commenting on religious freedom since Indiana passed its Religious Freedom and Restoration Act into law. Instead, he has said that he will be the “greatest representative of the Christians they've had in a long time” if elected president. (Christian Today) (Breitbart)
Trump believes political soft money should be banned, while individuals should be allowed to make unlimited contributions. "If I were drawing a political cartoon to represent the situation, it would include a very large guy with a huge bag of money. On that bag would be written one word: soft. Soft money is the bane of the current system and we need to get rid of it." (The America We Deserve)
Trump supported the Supreme Court’s 2005 decision in Kelo v. City of New London, giving public authorities the right to seize private land for economic development by private investors. Trump said, “I happen to agree with [the decision] 100 percent.” (National Review)
Trump highlighted his support for prosecuting "hate crimes" against homosexuals in his 2000 book, The America We Deserve. “Hate Crime” is a term used to extend special protections for a specific classes and in essence elevates the importance of these classes above others. For example, murder of homosexual or heterosexual should be viewed equally under the law and punished equally. Creating special classes is a liberal tactic used to divide and segment society.(Google Books)
Trump said that Kim Davis should not have been jailed for refusing to issue gay marriage licenses. He also said that she should allow her deputy clerks to do so, but also said that 30 miles away you can get a license so people should do that. He added, "The decision's been made, and that is the law of the land." (CNN)
Much like his stance on eminent domain, Donald Trump has shown a troubling tendency to want to use the power of government to stifle political speech. When the conservative Club for Growth released an advertisement regarding Trump's changing positions on taxation, Trump responded with a legal letter calling for them to cease and desist the advertisements. A chilling move towards the silencing of political speech. (Politico)

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