Crazy Challenges Conservative

If you were writing a parody of a right-wing nut job announcing for the Senate, you couldn’t do a better job than Congressman Steve Stockman’s actual announcement that he’s primarying John Cornyn in Texas.

Claim the Fed is unconstitutional?  Check.  Claim the U. N. is going to take away your guns?  Check.

Claim John Cornyn is a liberal?  Check.  WTF?  The National Journal named Cornyn the second most conservative member of the Senate.  John Cornyn is as much a liberal as I am a nuclear physicist.

But Stockman claims Cornyn puts “a Republican bayonet in your back…every day.”  He says Cornyn “wakes up every morning and works to make the Senate a more liberal place.”  He suggests Cornyn should become a senator from Massachusetts — yeah, he and Elizabeth Warren, two peas in a pod.

His announcement is funny and delusional and sad and scary.   When is the fever going to break?

Senate D’s and R’s Agree on Something — They All Hate Ted

I’ve been writing about how Ted “Clueless” Cruz, the new Tea Party senator from Texas, has made a terrible first impression on his colleagues.

Here’s Elepeth Reeve, “Senate Reaches Rare Bipartisan Agreement on Ted Cruz,” The Atlantic Wire:

“Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, has only been a U. S. Senator for 43 days, but he’s already accomplished the amazing feat of uniting both sides of the aisle.  Less than six weeks into his term, a remarkable number of both Republicans and Democrats have come forward to say that they think Cruz is kind of a jerk.  In a steady stream of reports from his new colleagues, Cruz’s rudeness comes in both public and private, and it’s not just the words he uses but also how many of them he uses.”

Here’s Ruth Marcus, “Ted Cruz, making quite an entrance,” WaPo:

“Behind the scenes, Cruz has rankled even Republican colleagues, who think he lectures too much at private party sessions — ‘pontificates’ is one word used — and listens too little, especially for a newbie.

“One Republican senator described Cruz to me as ‘Jim De­Mint without the charm,’ referring to the rigidly conservative South Carolina Republican who left the Senate to head the Heritage Foundation — and who was not exactly renowned for being warm and fuzzy. Cruz is said to have a frosty relationship with his state’s senior senator, John Cornyn (R), dating to Cruz’s surprising decision, as Senate candidate, not to endorse his fellow Texan’s bid for party whip.”