Texas Senator Ted Cruz is warning conservatives about extremism. That’s like the pot calling the pot a pot. Cruz — who believes “nuance” is a as filthy a word as the word “moderate” — is warning that “liberal fascism” is targeting Christians.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Saturday said Democrats had gone to extremes in their persecution of Christians.
“Today’s Democratic Party has decided there is no room for Christians in today’s Democratic Party,” he said at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition summit in Waukee, Iowa.
“There is a liberal fascism that is going after Christian believers,” the 2016 GOP presidential candidate continued.
“It is heartbreaking,” Cruz argued. “But it is so extreme, it is waking people up.”
Cruz said same-sex marriage had produced rabid zealotry in Democratic ranks. This ideology, he argued, was excluding people of faith.
“Today’s Democratic Party has become so radicalized for legalizing gay marriage in all 50 states that there is no longer any room for religious liberty,” he said.
The Texas lawmaker said this stance was against America’s traditional values. Religious liberty, Cruz claimed, was one of the nation’s founding principles.
“We were founded by men and women fleeing religious persecution,” Cruz declared.
WOW.
This line of reasoning suggests Mr. Cruz could re-record the old dance “The Limbo” and add some political lyrics.
His excessively heated rhetoric typifies what is so troubling and tiresome about 21st century politics: it is truly less about what a politician PROPOSES than what he opposes — but described in an apocalyptic framework calculated to trigger the political “fight or flight” mechanism in like-minded partisans or ideologues (and he is addressing both categories here). It’s about getting those on your side to hate and/or fear the other by exaggerating. Just a teeny weenie. Or (as here) a lot. Or making blanket statements (as here) that are really this. Who cares if its inaccurate or blatantly and knowingly false? Nuance and accuracy is soooooooo 20th century…
Some suggested theme music for Senator Cruz’s campaign:
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.