I think readers of this blog will agree that I do not have a partisan bone in my body. I am a reach-across-the-aisle let's-get-along kind of guy who believes that the American experiment in popular democracy works best when Senators from across this great nation can find common ground. For that reason, I have always had a special place of affection in my heart for Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, who has the extraordinary ability to bring ninety-eight of his colleagues together [excluding only Senator Mike Lee] in agreement that he is a dick. As one of his fellow senators explained, when asked why everyone takes an instant dislike to Cruz, "Because it saves time."
I thought of this yesterday while watching the testimony of Sally Yates and James Clapper before a Senate subcommittee. Cruz, a fabled champion debater in college, came loaded for bear, slyly and with manifest self-satisfaction setting a little trap for Yates in his questioning of her refusal, as Acting Attorney General, to defend Trump's original Muslim ban in court.
Yates crushed him. You can see the exchange here, where it drew 118,000 views overnight.
The commentary after the hearing has been an uplifting manifestation of bi-partisan schadenfreude. The natural centrist in me glowed with pleasure.
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A Commentary on the Passing Scene by Robert Paul Wolff rwolff@afroam.umass.edu
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- Robert Paul Wolff
- As I observed in one of my books, in politics I am an anarchist, in religion I am an atheist, and in economics I am a Marxist. I am also, rather more importantly, a husband, a father, a grandfather, and a violist.
4 comments:
I watched that exchange via a different clip, with just as many views, so it has at least half a million views currently (perhaps more, if the clip is on other YouTube channels, as well, which I suspect it is). To see the slimy, sleazy Cruz bested at his own game was indeed a refreshing sight.
That, indeed, was beautiful!
'Cruz, a fabled champion debater in college, came loaded for bear, slyly and with manifest self-satisfaction setting a little trap for Yates in his questioning of her refusal, as Acting Attorney General, to defend Trump's original Muslim ban in court..Yates crushed him.'
Sure, I've heard about this notion that Senator Ted Cruz is an artful debater, but c'mon, so has she and of course she was prepared. Sally Yates served as a United States Attorney and later United States Deputy Attorney General. I might not bother even to add that she earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Georgia School of Law, graduating magna cum laude.
Anyways, I have a scoop -- let's review that Yates was fired by Trump one day after it came out that she had refused to defend his travel ban. Well, piece of news, explosive and surprising: Trump Fires FBI Director James B. Comey. Startling. Of course, Comey was fired as he is leading a counterintelligence investigation to determine whether associates of President Trump may have coordinated with Russia to meddle with the presidential election last year. It is unclear how Comey’s dismissal will affect that investigation..? Whether the Russia investigation continues is now an open question..?
This is all extremely unsettling. The administration is apparently trying to tamp down dissent.
This exchange between the racist moron Ted Cruz and Sally Yate will for ever remain in the history of American politics as the exemplary encounter between the most diabolical and the most sublime in American political and legal culture. I as an Iranian believe that American deserve better than this.
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