The Pragmatist Philosopher argued that human society is characterized by a desire to win the approval of one's peers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Rorty
If this is the case then Ted Cruz is clearly an anti-Rortian. Indeed, if it's not about a popularity contest, he seems to be well ahead of the game.
Ok. I guess he has popularity with some people-the Tea Party district in Texas that voted him in for starters. However, he is not very popular anywhere else including places you would expect otherwise-among Congressional Republicans. It's tough to find GOPers that are Ted Cruz fans right now.
GOP aides today were claiming that Cruz is less well liked than Nancy Pelosi.
"House Republicans are still steamed at Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) for what they claim is an apparent last minute retreat in an effort to defund Obamacare in exchange for funding the federal government."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Rorty
If this is the case then Ted Cruz is clearly an anti-Rortian. Indeed, if it's not about a popularity contest, he seems to be well ahead of the game.
Ok. I guess he has popularity with some people-the Tea Party district in Texas that voted him in for starters. However, he is not very popular anywhere else including places you would expect otherwise-among Congressional Republicans. It's tough to find GOPers that are Ted Cruz fans right now.
GOP aides today were claiming that Cruz is less well liked than Nancy Pelosi.
"House Republicans are still steamed at Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) for what they claim is an apparent last minute retreat in an effort to defund Obamacare in exchange for funding the federal government."
"House GOP aides exchanged angry emails and even cursed at "amateur" Cruz in the cloakroom Wednesday, according to a National Review Online report published Thursday."
“Cruz keeps raising conservatives’ hopes, and then, when we give him what he wants, he doesn’t have a plan to follow through,” one aide said, according to NRO. “Nancy Pelosi is more well-liked around here," said another.
"In a joint statement Wednesday with Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Marco Rubio (R-FL), Cruz said that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) "likely" has the votes to strip language defunding Obamacare from any bill that makes its way over from the House."
"This is outrageous," a senior House GOP aide told TPM on Wednesday. "They demand a fight for two months, supposedly on behalf of the grassroots and constituents and then within hours of getting the fight, they slink away, abandon those same people and do nothing."
"Cruz explained to NRO that his intention was never to spark a defund effort in the Senate, but to galvanize the country into doing so instead."
“And on Obamacare, I’ve said, from the start, that if typical Washington rules apply, we can’t win this fight,” he said. “If the forums in which we make this case consist of the smoke-filled rooms of Washington, the votes aren’t there. The only way this fight will be won is if the American people rise up and hold our elected officials accountable.”
"Rep. Pete King (R-NY) had another message for the Lone Star State firebrand Thursday evening: Mind your own business."
"He should stay in the Senate, keep quiet," he said on CNN. "If he can deliver on this, fine. If he can't, he should keep quiet from now on and we shouldn't listen to him."
The good news though is that I like him better now. It shows that he isn't totally nuts. It also shows the House GOP is going to see this defund Obamacare bill go where all 'Plan Bs' from the House-ie, that get Boehner's support as an alternative-lining a bird cage.
It seems that we have quite a grudge match going between the House and Senate GOPers. Senate Republicans like Cruz-as well as Rubio. McConnell, et. al-have pretended to want to trade funding the government in exchange for defunding Obamacare. However, now Cruz admits it was just a scam all along. Even better he's playing the same game with Republicans that they usually play with Democrats: obstruct, talk a big game. and generally do nothing and then claim it's the Democrats' fault. Now Cruz is actually claiming that if defunding Obamacare doesn't happen it's on House Speaker Boehner-never mind the fact that he voted for this silly thing.
Now House Republican Peter King has ripped into Cruz:
"We as House Republicans should stop letting Ted Cruz set our agenda for us," King said on CNN. "He should stay in the Senate, keep quiet. If he can deliver on this, fine. If he can't, he should keep quiet from now on and we shouldn't listen to him."
If Cruz is non-Rortian-not popular-when will the Republican part as a whole have it's anti-Rortian moment? It's amazing that a party with such unpopular ideas gets any votes at all.
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