Ted Cruz's Dad Calls US a "Christian Nation," Says Obama Should Go "Back to Kenya

[7962]

Source: Mother Jones

—By David Corn | Thu Oct. 31, 2013 3:00 AM PDT
In April, Rafael Cruz, the father of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), spoke to the tea party of Hood County, which is southwest of Fort Worth, and made a bold declaration: The United States is a "Christian nation." The septuagenarian businessman turned evangelical pastor did not choose to use the more inclusive formulation "Judeo-Christian nation." Insisting that the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution "were signed on the knees of the framers" and were a "divine revelation from God," he went on to say, "yet our president has the gall to tell us that this is not a Christian nation…The United States of America was formed to honor the word of God." Seven months earlier, Rafael Cruz, speaking to the North Texas Tea Party on behalf of his son, who was then running for Senate, called President Barack Obama an "outright Marxist" who "seeks to destroy all concept of God," and he urged the crowd to send Obama "back to Kenya."




Read more: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/10/ted-cruz-rafael-father-video-christian-tea-party

---

>>>And the GOP thinks Cruz is the answer in '16? Hillary would win without even leaving her house to campaign.
There's a lot to read in the article. And all of it would bite Cruz in the ass if he decides to run. What a joke.

[hobbit709]

1. Rafael should go back to Cuba.

[True Blue Door]

71. He should go back to kindergarten.

[They_Live]

73. I would buy

that T-Shirt.

[LiberalElite]

83. He should go back in time to just before conception -

and then his father should pull out. (Sorry)

[roguevalley]

75. when he left cuba he was an illegal immigrant. he's also legally insane. spare me newcomers

that think they can tell someone to go anywhere. He on the other hand can go to hell.

[True Blue Door]

92. So he's an illegal immigrant to reality from Whackyland.

[deutsey]

2. I'm glad to see this being covered by corporate media, too

It's all over the place....

[leftynyc]

27. Shhhhh

First let them all coalesce around him, let them all proclaim him king - THEN we'll show everyone where he comes from. The loins of a lunatic who wants a theocracy. I'm sure the women and young people will be very impressed.

[Voice for Peace]

50. lolol ... but David Corn is ON it, bless his heart

and lucky for all of us somebody is watching closely.

[anticruz]

85. Corn's on it

He usually is.

[gopiscrap]

86. welcome to DU

[Turborama]

80. It's on CNN and Time's sites...

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/10/31/ted-cruzs-father-in-2012-send-obama-back-to-kenya/

http://swampland.time.com/2013/10/31/ted-cruz-dad-wants-to-send-obama-back-to-kenya/

Can't find it on any other MSM sites, though there is this on a Faux affiliate's site...

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/23841771/father-of-sen-ted-cruz-send-obama-back-to-kenya

[Octafish]

87. The guy's an oil man from Texas via Canada via Castro...

Check out part 2:

The Rise of Rafael Cruz

Senator Ted Cruz’s father is a conservative force.

By Robert Costa
National Review, AUGUST 28, 2013 4:00 AM

EXCERPT...

In the early 1960s, Rafael Cruz was also beginning to start a family. He married and had two daughters, and he started to work in the energy industry. But the marriage ended after only a few years, and Cruz found himself at a difficult crossroads in his late twenties. (One of his daughters is now a physician in Texas; the other is deceased.)

Cruz decided to move to New Orleans to take a new job, which is where he met his second wife, Eleanor Darragh, a computer programmer from Delaware, who was also working for an oil company. They married, moved to Calgary, Alberta, and in late 1970 had their first and only child, Rafael Edward Cruz.

They weren’t in Canada long, choosing to move to Houston, where they continued to work for oil companies. He became a Canadian citizen while working there, he says, but it never felt like home. Back in Texas, he became a permanent legal resident, and it wasn’t until 2005 that he formally became a U.S. citizen. “Oh, I know I should have done it sooner,” he says. “I love this country so much, but you cannot change the past.”

It was also back in Texas, in 1975, when his life changed. After attending a Bible-study meeting with a colleague, he became a born-again Christian, leaving his days as a non-practicing Roman Catholic behind.

“The people at the Bible study had a peace that I could not understand, this peace in the midst of trouble,” Cruz says. “I knew I needed to find that peace by finding Jesus Christ.” His son and wife followed him, becoming born-again Christians as well. Around the dinner table, the talk was almost always about the Bible or the latest happenings in the Reagan administration.

His faith, he says, also saved him from becoming bitter and depressed when the oil industry sagged in the mid 1980s and his professional life hit a low point. “There was a big crash and many of my clients went bankrupt,” he says. “It got so bad that I had to close my business. I became a salesman here and there, and I started to build a ministry, as a sort of traveling preacher.”

CONTINUED...

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/356934/rise-rafael-cruz-robert-costa/page/0/1

NAZI pub, pertinent facts.

[liberal N proud]

3. Why is this teabaggers voice news?

He is a racist pig and shouldn't be given 15 seconds.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

14. Because the GOP is seriously considering another low IQ fake Texan again.

[Beacool]

43. Actually, he's not low IQ.

He's highly intelligent, which makes him far more dangerous than Bush.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

45. LOL! If he were "highly intelligent" he wouldn't pull these stunts in the age of the Internet.

[Lucky Luciano]

49. He knows his audience well clearly...like the poster above said, he is intelligent.

A disgusting sick fuck nonetheless whose god can suck my d*ck.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

54. My point is he's not intelligent enough to run for President....

If he were he would make an effort to sell his ideas to the public.

This is like the GOP primaries where the base kept pushing a list of losers to the top of the ticket only to move on to the next loser. It became a case of "whoever steals the most votes wins".

Face it. The GOP doesn't HAVE a "leader".

It's so bad that Limbaugh could toss his hat in the ring and people like Tweety would claim he's got a shot.

[Beacool]

51. Ted is very intelligent.

We may despise the guy, but don't doubt his smarts. He graduated cum laude from Princeton and magna cum laude from Harvard. He was national debating champion and an editor of the Harvard Law Review. His school credentials are similar to Obama's (Harvard) and Hillary's (Yale).

It's a mistake to underestimate an opponent. Cruz should be taken seriously, at least until he's vanquished by another GOP candidate.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

53. The guy may be a master debater (heh) but he's not smart enough to play to a wider audience....

He doesn't believe the things he says. I don't see him as anything other than a con man shilling for shekels.

Once he's got a nice nest egg he will vanish from the public view faster than Bush and Romney.

[The Second Stone]

84. You underestimate him at a peril to our lives and country

He is the same kind of demagogue as Hitler (yeah, I went there right away) but with the smarts and an education to make him one of the most dangerous people in history. He will say and do anything for power, money and attention. First he builds his organization from stupid people appealed to by prejudice and anger, then he expands from there. This guy is the most potentially dangerous thing to happen to America in a long time. He made millions in campaign contributions during the shutdown from millions of donors. He is a demagogue like Sen. Joe McCarthy, but not stupid and drunk like McCarthy. He has no scruples whatsoever.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

88. You just described Pat Buchanan. Look where he landed,...on a butterfly sucking Gore votes.

[jmowreader]

77. There's a term that describes what Ted is

Savant.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savant_syndrome

The guy has no empathy whatsoever and, apparently, very limited social skills outside his circle, which contains nothing but very hard-right people. (IIRC his college roommate has commented on what bad company he is.)

[Tanuki]

82. I think the term "educated fool" applies here. n/t

[jmowreader]

91. The term "savant" was longer before political correctness took hold

It used to be "idiot savant" - "educated idiot" in French. You're exactly right, the guy's intelligence is very tightly focused; he knows everything about those things he's interested in (chasing ambulances, tormenting lower-class individuals) and very little about those things that don't interest him.

[Laurian]

4. What a hateful "Christian" he is. (n/t)

[heaven05]

5. I really am glad

that Barack Obama got elected. It has allowed our country's hate to be seen by the whole world and while I am not surprised at the hate that has been shown so far, I am truly sad and embarrassed at the ignorance and backwardness of this supposed 'enlightened and christian nation'. What a fucking joke. Cruz and his father are dispelling ALL the lies of this 'democracy' being just that. NOT!!!!! One day it's slave sales to start again(Chicago rethug/teanazis). Next day, send the POTUS back to Africa? This has truly been an eye opening 6 years for me concerning race relations in amerikkka.

[lunasun]

32. Sooo many people did not believe this crap existed - now they see it - can only hope they understand

what it truly has been and is.
Yes Just because someone did not realize it was like that for others doesn't mean it does not exist
or people only had a chip on their shoulder
or if called out were playing the race card for attention

[bonniebgood]

6. LOL 'Hood County'. Tea Party where christian is spelled with a K. and let me guest all

restaurants are Kracker Barrel. Radical Junior Hi. Hood police Dept.........

[lastlib]

21. (Three K's.......)

as in 'KKKhristian'..........

Being full of shit must be a genetically dominant trait........

[DetlefK]

7. "Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Dominion movement?"

"Do you concur with the Dominion movement's mission to replace democratically elected representatives of the people's will with a theocracy run by divinely appointed rulers who would stem exclusively from the dominionist movement?"

"Do you concur with the Dominion movement's mission to take away the money of all non-members, refered to under the term >>bringing in the spoils of war<< in dominionist teachings?"

"Is it coincidence that a movement, whose openly stated goal is the infiltration of the US-government, would support your campaign?"

[CanonRay]

23. When is he going to get asked these questions on "Meet the Press"?

I won't hold my breath.

[freshwest]

24. K&R

[Lithos]

8. What a hateful bigot

Coughlin has nothing on this guy

[Moostache]

9. I defer to Ghandi's words...

"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

Cruz is nothing more or less than the rest of the snakeoil salesmen...he exists because of the gullibility of too many that would rather be lied to and comforted with hate than face reality and try to live in love. The example of Christ is so lost on these kind of "Christians" that they couldn't find it in a month of Sundays.

[RagAss]

10. Thorazine is your friend.

[olegramps]

11. Cruz is typical of kids that are subjected to this type of brain-washing.

[dotymed]

12. Please

let us demand more than 2 more corporatist candidates......

I just watched the most inspiring clip. It is posted on the OP about Solitary confinement in American prisons.

The prisoners in Norway are treated better than the average American citizen.

So Sad that WE have allowed this to happen.

[gopiscrap]

13. Cruz's dad needs to STFU

[Snake Plissken]

15. Has he started protesting various events with a "God Hates Sanity" sign yet?

If not, it's just a matter of time.

[SDjack]

16. Rafael and Ted Cruz should go back to Kenya. nt

[LibertyLover]

17. For someone who came to this country

as an adult, Pastor Cruz has certainly been drinking deeply, and often, from the well of The Lost Cause. States' rights in the Bible? I'd love to see the verse cite or cites for that one. Christian nation? Pastor Cruz, please refer to the Treaty of Tripoli signed during the presidency of one of the framers of the Declaration of Independence, John Adams, which states unequivocally that the US in NOT, in any sense, a Christian nation. As one of the architects of this nation, I'd say that John Adams had a better take on the subject than Pastor Cruz. The article in Mother Jones was good and raised a number of important issues, not the least of which is that, for all his protestations, when Pastor Cruz speaks, especially as a surrogate for his son the senator, whatever he says is what Ted Cruz, in his heart of hearts, truly believes. That's a truly scary prospect, even on Halloween. Oh, and can I just add that Pastor Cruz is a putz.

[Third Doctor]

18. Ummm...

Obama was born in the UNITED STATES to a American citizen while you were not, Raphael. This means that a certain hate filled hypocrite should go the FUCK back to CUBA and take his self serving idiot son with him. PLLEEEEASSSEEE!!!!

[VanillaRhapsody]

76. I agree...I am truly disgusted by this greedy... ungrateful man!

he makes me sick...How the fuck dare he demand that the President of the very country that allowed him to immigrate to leave it to go back to a country he has never known nor was he ever connected to in any way other than his father was born there....this freaking ingrate has a hell of a nerve. And if Ted knows whats good for him and his future presidential expectations....he will put a muzzle on that "old man" of his!

[hatrack]

19. Really just one thing to say . . .

?w=600

[geardaddy]

20. How did Raphael pass his citizenship test if he doesn't know US history?

Buh-bye now Cruzes.

[csziggy]

28. Is Rafael a US citizen?

He may just be a resident alien. I've never seen any information either way.

[geardaddy]

33. I'm not sure.

He could be a green card holder, you're right.

[tarheelsunc]

22. Funny thing...

Christianity is more widespread in Kenya than it is in the United States.

[mountain grammy]

25. These crackpots thrive in secrecy, safe under their white hoods and the dark of night.

terrorizing those who are different.

They must be brought into the light of day and exposed as dangerous thugs they are. Who the hell ever heard of Ted Cruz or his batshit crazy father until last year? Yet, here he is. Some alien from another world disrupting and even endangering the lives of all Americans.

Ted Cruz's dad is a reincarnated concentration camp commandant and Teddy is the head guard.

[The CCC]

26. Ted Cruz's Dad Calls US a "Christian Nation," Says Obama Should Go "Back to Kenya

To be fair and balanced. It is far more important what Senator Cruz says than what his idiot father says.

[csziggy]

30. When you are raised with that level of stupidity and ignorance

It's hard to raise above it - and it clear that Ted Cruz has not. So it is important to hear from Rafael Cruz. It shows us what Ted learned as a child and young adult.

[7962]

65. Like it or not, you ARE judged by the company you keep

And if you're running for office, you should be, IMO.

[Delphinus]

29. And just how

"Christian" is that?

[drynberg]

31. HEY, RAFAEL, JUST GO BACK TO CANADA. I'M SURE THEY MISS YOU.

[Historic NY]

34. That pretty funny coming from a guy...a tripe hitter

who was a Communist Cuban in league with Castro, a Canadian and the switch to the US...are we even sure he is a citizen.

[onehandle]

35. Uninformed foreigner says something. nt

[toby jo]

36. Note to GOP: please nominate Cruz.

[weissmam]

37. Logic

using that logic shouldn't Teds dad go back to Cuba and Ted go back to Canada , since Teds dad was born in Cuba abd Ted Birn in Canada -Teds dad is naturalized , or did he forget that little point

[cosmicone]

38. I wish Obama would

restore diplomatic relations with Cuba and remove all trade barriers by executive order. Let the Miami cubans go piss up a rope.

[question everything]

39. Cruz is the "Cuban Candidate" (a-la Manchurian candidate) (nt)

[NastyRiffraff]

40. Bigoted, stupid and WRONG

Last edited Thu Oct 31, 2013, 05:48 PM - Edit history (1)

Apparently Rafael hasn't studied U.S. history:

the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution "were signed on the knees of the framers" and were a "divine revelation from God,"

First, the Declaration of Independence was written chiefly by Thomas Jefferson, the founder who was one of the most insistent about the separation of church and state. Moreover, he was at best a deist, more likely an atheist or agnostic:

But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.
-Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, 1782

Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because if there be one he must approve of the homage of reason more than that of blindfolded fear.
-Thomas Jefferson, letter to Peter Carr, August 10, 1787

I concur with you strictly in your opinion of the comparative merits of atheism and demonism, and really see nothing but the latter in the being worshipped by many who think themselves Christians.
-Thomas Jefferson, letter to Richard Price, Jan. 8, 1789 (Richard Price had written to TJ on Oct. 26. about the harm done by religion and wrote "Would not Society be better without Such religions? Is Atheism less pernicious than Demonism?&quot

History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes.
-Thomas Jefferson to Alexander von Humboldt, Dec. 6, 1813.

Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law.
-Thomas Jefferson, letter to Dr. Thomas Cooper, February 10, 1814

Jefferson quotes courtesy of nobeliefs

As for the Constitution itself, god is mentioned zero times.

[Blue Owl]

41. Facts are for other people, not for Rafael and Ted Cruz

Shitheads.

[Beacool]

42. The apple hasn't fallen far from the tree.

If anything, Rafael Sr. is even more nutty than Jr.

Scary people........



As for 2016, bring it on Baggers, nominate Cruz at your own peril.

[budkin]

44. Blah blah Kenyan socialist (I'm a racist)

These people need to come up with new material. It's getting old.

[joanbarnes]

46. Careful, 'cause I remember when we laughed and called Ronald Reagan and GWB a joke too.

[7962]

68. But the scream of "RINO!" wasnt an issue in the GOP back then

They usually would unite behind their candidate. Thats not happening now. As you know, they're even running opposition against seated Reps and Senators.
Eating their own.

And remember when early on in the '92 campaign, it was "who gets to get beaten by Bush?". SNL even did a skit on it. And then Perot steps onto the scene...

[jsr]

47. Keep talking.

[FiveGoodMen]

48. Rafael Cruz should go back to hell.

[KamaAina]

52. The real question is, is Canada a Christian nation?

Or Cuba, for that matter.

[DallasNE]

55. This Is The Same Rafael Cruz

That fled Cuba rather than take sides in that battle, later came to America where he then fled to Canada rather than face the draft and probably serve in Vietnam and finally decided Canada inhibited his ability to make money so he fled to the Texas oil fields. His last frontier is the la-la land of a delusional rendition of Christianity that nobody in their right mind embraces aside from the nihilist of the bent of Rafael Cruz. Yeah, right. He wants America to become another Jonestown.

[jsr]

58. That about sums it up

[Amonester]

63. ^^^^ THIS ^^^^ (and)...

Never forget that catapulting the propagoda to the god-scared gullible 24/7 is, and has always been, a very lucrative business...

[FiveGoodMen]

64. "nobody in their right mind embraces"

But this country has a LOT of folks who are not in their right mind.

[pitbullgirl1965]

69. Jonestown started out with good intentions.

Jim Jones preached full equality between race, class and gender. He preached a socialist utopia.
That's why so many minority and poor folks joined. And then they couldn't escape and were forced to drink cyanide laced Flavor Aid
fyi

[ancianita]

70. Exactly. The Cruzes are dominionists on a mission to keep the faithful within the Republican Party.

Keep them talking "real" America, Christian values, anti-Obama inauthenticity keeps the Republican party from splintering. They've got plenty of money to keep this going 'til hell freezes over.

But we can't ignore any of it or back down.

[RainDog]

56. what a shit stain

This is a deeply ignorant man who taught his son the same bullshit he spouts now.

[Tippy]

57. It really makes me sick to hear republicans invoaking the name of God like they ALL doover and over

Guess they think God likes them better then the poor and hungry...

[olddad56]

60. Money is their God.

[olddad56]

61. I want to see the birth certificate, I think Ted Cruz was born in Kenya.

[tetedur]

59. If this were a Christian Nation would we have homelessness?

Or hunger? Or anyone without health care?

Or would all things be held in common? According to Acts 2:44-46 and Acts 4:32-35, the first community of Christians did just that. They sold their possessions and divided the wealth according to need.

Is that what Mr. Cruz is advocating?

Funny thing too you rarely hear a sermon on this part of the scripture.

I wish someone would ask these questions when some one makes the "America is a
Christian nation" assertion.

[FiveGoodMen]

66. It depends whether you define 'Christian' by what their book says or by what the believers do

[bobGandolf]

62. WTF, is that real?

How can these people get away saying such things.

[FiveGoodMen]

67. They get away with it because no one stops them

Or even gets out in public exposing and debunking them.

This site has a pretty big contingent that believes the 1st Amendment gives everyone the right to lie.

If so, we're screwed.

[bobGandolf]

89. I agree

I grew up in an era when they actually had "Truth in advertising" laws. There were consequences for doing it. Hell, now even a news program is based on lies..see Fox. Don't know how to reverse the hole we dug for ourselves, but we need to start quickly.

[Ken Burch]

72. That should be a warning to any Jewish groups who've made alliances with right-wing "Christians".

Last edited Thu Oct 31, 2013, 10:33 PM - Edit history (2)

That kind of "Christian" will discard those people as soon as he or she thinks they're no longer needed...just as it went in medieval Europe.

Inside every "pro-Israel" conservative "Christian" is a would-be Torquemada, or latter-day equivalent of the Dutch opportinists who sold out the Frank family.

It's only the Left who truly fight against anti-Semitism, and all other forms of bigotry.

[Tx4obama]

74. ... video released by Mother Jones' David Corn—the journalist who scooped Mitt Romney’s '47%' video

BRAVO !!!

[Turborama]

79. Hopefully, someone has downloaded a copy of it as, unfortunately, it's been set to "private"

This one has a classic comment under it though, where a supporter gleefully says....

Rafael Cruz is a good man and he should be very proud of his great son, Ted. The old saying..."The Apple doesn't fall far from the Tree," applies here. Thank You Mr. Cruz.

(formatting error fixed)

[Tx4obama]

81. There is a 8:31 minute clip on the link below which is NOT a YouTube one

Here: http://www.mediaite.com/online/sen-ted-cruzs-father-send-obama-back-to-kenya/

That one should be safe from being pulled


p.s. There are FOUR videos over at Mother Jones via the link up in the OP - looks like three of those are working.

[DeSwiss]

78. K&R

- This is what religious-dementia looks like, up-close.

[olddad56]

90. Maybe Ted's issues stem from bad parenting.