Peter Schorsch
While declaring himself a candidate for U.S. president at the self-proclaimed “largest Christian university in the world,” Ted Cruz said he would not just overturn Obamacare, but would repeal “every word” of it.
Every. Last. Word.
And then a few hours later – seriously, less than a day – we learned that U.S. Sen. Cruz is signing up his family for healthcare using the dreaded, socialist, competition-stifling, Affordable Care Act.
The need comes, ironically, because Cruz’s wife is taking an unpaid leave of absence from her job to help on his freshly minted presidential campaign and is need of health insurance. Just like millions of Americans.
And with predicted outrage – OUTRAGE, I TELL YOU – the Dems are pouncing.
“He’s a hypocrite!” they virtuously and angrily extoll.
But I think they have it all wrong.
Look, Cruz is just doing what is in the best interest of his family. Yeah, sure it looks ridiculous and there is no doubt it was bad strategy. I mean the ink wasn’t dry and the electrons hadn’t quite settled in on the news that he was officially a candidate for president when he made the boneheaded statement.
So can we agree that it was a dumb move on day one of his candidacy?
But a shocking hypocrisy? From a member of Congress? Oh, come on.
No, the real hypocrisy comes from the right wing of the right wing, which has reacted with a deafening roar of silence and even a stand-by-your-man defense.
Where is the good old-fashioned Tea Party outrage? Where’s the “get the government out of my Medicare” anger we have come to know and love?
Isn’t Obamacare the end of capitalism, as we know it? Isn’t it one of the signs of the apocalypse? Plagues, famines, earthquakes and state-established health exchanges. It’s all right there, after all.
C’mon guys. You were THE power a mere five years ago. You were the force that flipped dozens of U.S. House seats and hundreds of state legislative seats. Are you really going to sit idly by while your poster boy tucks tail back to the cozy confines of the Senate and buys for his family what he wants to repeal – every last word – for everyone else?
Some (like The Daily Caller) are even defending him, saying he has no choice. Really? A U.S. senator and serious candidate for president of the United States a victim?
Of course, the reaction from the left was entirely predictable and not all that genuine. (I can envision the scene; “Hey, guys, Ted Cruz just announced he’s signing up for Obamacare. See if we can get someone to be outraged about this. OK, what’s next on the agenda?”)
I guess Ted Cruz probably had to do what he had to do for his family. It’s a dumb move, poorly timed and, yes, it’s a wee bit hypocritical.
But the real hypocrites, the ones who deserve a good old-fashioned calling out are those Tea Party leaders who like to shove their POV in everyone’s face at every possible chance. The object of ire here should be those self-appointed guardians of American values and the so-called defenders of the Constitution.
Let’s save the outrage for those who truly deserve it.
Peter Schorsch is a new media publisher and political consultant based in St. Petersburg, Fla. Column courtesy of Context Florida.
