Twentieth century animated cartoon art morphed into 21st political hackery?
No one has accused me of being a partisan or supporter of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, but he’s now at the center of a political controversy which shows just how looney tunes our politics has become. And is becoming.
But first: I apologize in advance to Warner Brothers and those wonderful animators who so bested Walt Disney’s dignified but staid Silly Symphony series with their own brand of punchy, irreverent and looney humor. These incredible cartoons were far more dignified than the latest controversy in the Republican Party.
Looney Tunes may no longer be produced as a cartoon movie series, but they are available to enjoy over and over and over. Just as Republican birtherism — at first aimed at President Barack Obama — remains to produce feelings of nausea among thoughtful people of both parties or no party everywhere. This time the birther bilge swirls around the Canadian born Sen. Ted Cruz, who by law is an American. To be sure, the birtherism issue isn’t exactly the same, as The Washington Post points out:
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) released his birth certificate two years ago, seeking to put to rest questions about whether the Canadian-born senator is qualified to run for president in 2016.
Immediately, parallels were drawn to President Obama’s 2011 release of his own birth certificate, which also was meant to end lingering questions about his eligibility to be president. And now that Cruz is a GOP presidential front-runner, his eligibility is being called into question, too — most notably by Donald Trump on Tuesday and early Wednesday.
And for the few in the birther and media watchdog communities, they see hypocrisy. Why is the media not utterly denouncing those who question Cruz’s eligibility in the same way they have denounced the “birthers” who questioned — and continue to question — Obama’s?
Because the only thing these two situations seem to have in common is that they involve a birth certificate and a presidential candidate.
Questions about Cruz’s eligibility have everything to do with interpretation of the law; the questions about Obama’s eligibility had everything to do with a dispute over the underlying facts — more specifically, conspiracy theories about whether the president was born in the United States, as he claimed, and whether he somehow forged a birth certificate that said he was born in Hawaii.
In Cruz’s case, nobody is disputing the underlying facts of the case — that Cruz was born in Canada to a Cuban father and a mother who was a U.S. citizen. As we wrote in March 2013, that makes him a U.S. citizen himself, but it’s not 100 percent clear that that is the same thing as a “natural-born citizen” — the requirement for becoming president.
Most scholars think it’s the same thing, and the Congressional Research Service said in 2011 that someone like Cruz “most likely” qualifies to run for president. But to this point, there is no final word from the courts, because while foreign-born candidates have run — including George Romney and John McCain — none of them has actually won and had his eligibility challenged.
But everyone knows why this issue was REALLY raised about Obama and is now being raised about Cruz, don’t we?
It’s because the way our politics works, it’s a lot easier trying to discredit someone or try to turn a rumor or falsehood about someone into a fact than simply taking them apart in the area of POLICY and IDEAS. It’s because in 21st century America politics is intensely personal and about trying to take someone out.
For instance, you’d think Arizona Sen. John McCain, who (for good reason) is not enamored with Cruz (who has verbally swiped at him several times) would squelch the birther issue here. But nooooooooooooo:
Add former presidential candidate John McCain to the list of people who think it’s legitimate to question if Ted Cruz — who was born in Canada to an American mother — qualifies under the Constitution as a natural born citizen and thus able to serve as president…When asked about it today on “Morning Joe”, former McCain staffer Nicole Wallace couldn’t even keep a straight face with Joe and Mika suggesting McCain was trolling Cruz because he doesn’t like the senator from Texas.
Cruz, who has almost gleefully sought and earned the enmity of many GOP Senate members, has often said unkind things about McCain, who has returned the snark. Now Cruz has this explanation to what’s really going on with McCain and this “issue”:
Ted Cruz’s explanation for why John McCain is questioning his eligibility to become president: McCain secretly supports Marco Rubio for the Republican nomination.
“Everybody knows John McCain is going to endorse Marco Rubio,” Cruz told reporters Thursday when asked about how the Arizona senator had brought up whether his birthplace would make him ineligible for running for president.
“Their foreign policies are almost identical. Their immigration policies are identical,” Cruz said. “So it’s no surprise that people who are supporting other candidates in this race are going to jump on the silly Attacks that occur as we get closer and closer to the election.”
Rubio has earned more establishment Republican support than Cruz, but McCain has not endorsed the Florida senator in the 2016 GOP presidential race — instead holding off on supporting another candidate after his preference, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, dropped out.
Early Thursday evening, a McCain spokeswoman said he will not be endorsing a primary candidate at this point in the race.
Cruz’s comments come after McCain said it’s “worth looking into” whether the Texas senator is eligible to run for president, since he was born in Canada.
In an interview Wednesday on Phoenix CBS affiliate KFYI, McCain said the questions raised by Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump over Cruz’s eligibility are legitimate.
“I think there is a question. I’m not a constitutional scholar on that, but I think it’s worth looking into. I don’t think it’s illegitimate to look into it,” McCain said.
On Thursday, Trump again hit Cruz and referenced McCain’s comments.
“It was a very wise move that Ted Cruz renounced his Canadian citizenship 18 months ago. Senator John McCain is certainly no friend of Ted!,” Trump tweeted.
Still, let’s not paint Cruz as pristine on the political demonizing front, as Redstate points out:
So Rubio defends Cruz on the issue and how does Cruz repay him? By attacking him because of something John McCain said.
It’s nonsense such as this where Cruz obtains his reputation for being somebody nobody really likes. Donald Trump is doing to Cruz what he did to Barack Obama several years ago and attacking Cruz on his immigration policies and somehow through some kind of weird osmosis, he finds a reason to attack Marco Rubio.
Lame, Senator Cruz. Lame.
Democrats have jumped into the birther political septic tank as well. Mother Jones notes:
Over the last few days, Republican front-runner Donald Trump has suggested that Sen. Ted Cruz should ask a court for a written declaration that the Canadian-born Texan is eligible to be president. That’s to be expected—Trump rose to prominence among conservatives by questioning the eligibility of the sitting president. On Wednesday, Sen. John McCain, one of the Republican Party’s elder statesmen, told a talk radio host that he wasn’t sure if Cruz was eligible to be president. That’s less expected but still easily explained—McCain hates Cruz with the fire of a thousand suns.
And now House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has joined the fray. “I do think there’s a difference between John McCain being born into a family serving our country in Panama than someone being born in another country, but again this is a constitutional issue that will be decided or not,” she told reporters on Thursday.
…..This is absurd. Cruz is eligible to be president because his mother was an American citizen.
….It shouldn’t be a hard question for Pelosi or McCain to answer unambiguously—we’ve spent roughly eight years rehashing the constitutional requirements for the office over and over again (in part because of Trump and the kinds of people who support him). The fact that McCain and Pelosi both—for perfectly legitimate reasons—can’t stand Cruz is just not an appropriate justification for Trumpian nativism.
What’s going on here?
1. It’s another sign of how effortlessly Donald Trump can set the discussion agenda and viewpoints of many Republicans. As polls showed Cruz gaining some strength, Trump started raising the issue which started resonating in parts of the conservative echo chamber.
And to think that Republican conservatives used to accuse moderate Republicans of “me tooism” when it came to Democrats.
The GOP entertainment political media complex is now filled with examples of conservatives who will echo every sound out coming of Donald Trump’s mouth.
Just imagine the huge sound you’ll hear the next time Donald Trump burps.
2. Obama was attacked with the birthism conspiracy from two fronts: a)those who truly believed it and b)those who pandered to it due to either a lack of political guts or the decision to try to bottle political lightning in a jar and put it to their own use. Obama was smeared with the birth “issue” by Trump and others because they didn’t like his policies and were looking for a way to discredit him or short-circuit him– or both. And, above all, they were trying to find a way to put him on the defensive.
3. Cruz is being attacked with the birther issue from two fronts: a)those who truly see a legal issue that needs to be resolved and b)those are are panderig due to either lack of a political guts, because Cruz has made himself one of the most hated Republicans in the Senate or they’r trying to fan and exploit the doubts. But he is smeared with the birth “issue” by those who don’t like him and are trying to find a way to discredit or short-circuit him or both. And, above all, they are trying to find a way to put him on the defensive.
The common thread here between Obama and Cruz? It isn’t so much the activity of birthers.
It’s the clear attempt to find something — ANYTHING — to use against a political foe to take them out, even if it isn’t quite or not at all correct.
Obama and Cruz have both provided plenty of issues on which their political and ideological foes can engage them. Serious issues. Issues that involved questions of policy, policy implimentation and ideology.
But it’s easier to try and personally discredit.
When you see this — as we’re seeing now — it isn’t just an act of political cowardice.
It’s an act of political — and intellectual — laziness.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.