What's Really in Your Tea, Ted?

 

In case you missed it last Sunday, Senator Ted Cruz was on Meet The Press. In just 20 minutes, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) declared on national TV the following:

1) That the "gun show loophole" does not exist:

“You know, there actually isn’t the so-called “Gun Show Loophole.” That doesn’t exist. Any licensed firearm dealer who sells at a gun show has to have a background check. It’s a requirement that applies to every licensed firearm dealer. What it doesn’t apply to is personal sales one-on-one. And that’s true whether it’s at a gun show or not.”

3) When asked directly if the disgusting and factually incorrect NRA ad attacking President Obama's children was "over the line" he refused to answer:

"I am going to let people decide to run whatever ads they want."

3) Claimed that the President and other politicians exploited the Sandy Hook massacre:

“What I don’t think is constructive is what the President is doing right now. Which is within minutes of that horrible tragedy in Newtown, the President began trying to exploit that tragedy to push a gun control agenda that is designed to appeal to partisans – designed to appeal to his political partisans."

4) Slammed General Colin Powell for speaking his mind about the current racial problems within the GOP.

"I was disappointed with his comments. I think he was buying into some the partisan attacks."

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Here is a video of the entire interview in case you missed it:

By now, we probably shouldn't be shocked by what Tea Party darling Ted Cruz says. As you might remember, Cruz has been saying insane things like his quotes from Meet the Press for years. Here are some of his most memorable statements and theories:

The Golf Course Conspiracy 

Ted Cruz believes George Soros leads a United Nations conspiracy to eliminate golf. Really. In an article titled "Five Things Everyone Should Know about GOP Senate Candidate Ted Cruz," Think Progress's Ian Millhiser writes:

In 1992, President George H.W. Bush joined the leaders of 177 other nations in endorsing a non-binding UN document known as Agenda 21. This twenty year-old document largely speaks at a very high level of generality about reducing poverty and building sustainable living environments. Nevertheless, Cruz published an article on his campaign website claiming that this non-binding document is actually a nefarious plot to “abolish ‘unsustainable’ environments, including golf courses, grazing pastures, and paved roads.” To top it off, Cruz lays the blame for this global anti-golf conspiracy at the feet of a well-known Tea Party boogieman — “The originator of this grand scheme is George Soros.”

The Government Is Controlling Our Toilet Choices

On Glenn Beck’s radio show in early 2012, Cruz claimed that the Government is controlling our ability to buy toilets that actually flush!

"The federal government’s already shown that they believe they can control every aspect of our life. I mean, right now Congress is trying to tell us what kind of light bulbs to buy and what kind of toilets. Right now you are prevented from buying a toilet that actually flushes because the bureaucrats in Washington know better than you do.”

Gun Control is Unconstitutional

Texas Senator Ted Cruz told Fox News Sunday the recent gun control proposals that resulted from the Newtown shooting were "unconstitutional."

HOST: You are a fierce defender of Second Amendment rights…. is there any new gun control that you would accept?

CRUZ: The reason we are discussing this is because of the the tragedy in Newtown. And every parent, my wife and I we have two girls aged four and two, every parent was horrified at what happened there. To see 20 children, six dults senselessly murdered it takes your breath away. But within minutes, we saw politicians run out and try to exploit and push their political agenda of gun control. I do not suppor their gun control agenda for two reasons. Number one, it is it unconstitutional.

As a Harvard educated lawyer and former Solicitor General of Texas, you would think Cruz would be slightly more informed on gun control and the constitution. Gun control is constitutional and has been declared so by conservatives like Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who wrote, “the Second Amendment does not protect those weapons not typically possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes, such as short-barreled shotguns.”

The French-Kissing Candidates

Back in November, when the Republican party was licking its wounds, Cruz made this brash statement concerning the third presidential debate:

"I'm pretty certain Mitt Romney actually French-kissed Barack Obama." Cruz seemed to believe that Romney lost the election because he was afraid to "rock the boat." And clearly the most effective way to express that was by making a joke about sexual orientation concerning both Romney and President Obama, which leads nicely into the senator's thoughts on gay marriage and civil rights.

The Civil Union That Wouldn't End

In 2011, Cruz did the unthinkable. He actually prevented two men from ending their homosexual relationship. The couple wanted to end their civil union. Before the courts could acknowledge the existence of gay marriage or anything relatively close to it, Cruz stepped in and ended the whole thing. The judgement was vacated and Cruz successfully protected the sanctity of marriage by not ending one... between two men... that he was originally against. Wait, that can't be right.

From ontheissues.org, Cruz's stance on gay marriage/civil rights:

At least twice while serving as Dallas' mayor, Republican Tom Leppert marched in Dallas' gay pride parade. Opponent Ted Cruz has hammered Leppert for joining the marches. Cruz said, "When a mayor of a city chooses twice to march in a parade celebrating gay pride that's a statement and it's not a statement I agree with."

When a state court granted a divorce to two homosexual men who had gotten a civil union in Vermont, Cruz intervened in defense of the Texas marriage laws, which successfully led to the court judgment being vacated.

Ironic, isn't it? Of course, Cruz's intent by intervening was hostile. If two men can get divorced that means two men can get married, something Cruz is blatantly against.

The Akin-Mourdock Protegee

Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock lost their bids for re-election. Their hopes of making it clear to the American people that they have no knowledge of how female anatomy works were dashed. There was a light at the end of the tunnel though. One of their protegees, Cruz, managed to win.  In an article that listed conservatives who agree with Mourdock and Akin, Slate's William Saletan wrote "Akin and Mourdock are the best known cases. But Ted Cruz, the former Solicitor General of Texas, also opposes a rape exception." In a Texas Tribune article, Cruz is sited again. The backlash at the Republican party was huge after Akin's "legitimate rape" comment. Attempting to hush up all the other elected officials who agree with him is working so far, but for how long?