The special hell of a Ted Cruz rally: What it’s like to spend an evening with the GOP’s oiliest oper [View all]

[applegrove]

The special hell of a Ted Cruz rally: What it’s like to spend an evening with the GOP’s oiliest operator

by Gary LeGum at Salon

http://www.salon.com/2016/02/05/the_special_hell_of_a_ted_cruz_rally_what_its_like_to_spend_an_evening_with_the_gops_oiliest_operator/

SNIP...........


Cruz is often described as “oily,” but that word doesn’t really do him justice. In fact, he’s so oleaginous he reminds one of the puddles covering the stained cement floor of a Jiffy Lube. It’s not just a physical characteristic – though there is that; the man has a sheen about him – but also one of affect. When he strides out to a rapturous greeting from the crowd and walks along the edge of the stage slapping hands with people in the front row, it feels so studied that I can picture college-age Ted Cruz practicing this move in his Princeton dorm room.

The speech is filled with the usual bullshit that no one will call him on, even in a GOP debate, because all the candidates are trying to appeal to a base that has gone beyond reason and Earth’s orbit. But it’s worth rebutting a few of the lies here, if only for the benefit of future archaeologists picking through the ruins of our civilization if Ted Cruz winds up leading it.

For economic policy, Cruz has a plan to turbocharge the American economy. It seems to go something like this:
•Repeal Obamacare
•Institute a flat tax on all personal and business income
•Economic growth!!!!!

Never mind that this plan would yank health insurance from millions of people and blow a hole in the deficit, adding mountains to the nation’s $19 trillion debt that he decried elsewhere in his sermon. “Repeal Obamacare” and “flat tax” are words that appeal to the deepest, most primitive part of the conservative lizard brain. Any downsides can just be blamed on liberals later on.


...........SNIP