The World’s Greatest Deliberative Body…Simply Isn’t

senate poster

I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

Nowhere in that oath is there a clause that says, “except if one of the senators is a big meanie, in which case I get to do whatever I want to preserve my incredible perks.”

Say what you will about Ted Cruz, he is aggressive and unyielding and abrasive, but he is a clear and unequivocal supporter of the United States Constitution. That more Republican senators have not publicly endorsed him is a clear example of the dysfunction of the senate. They are more concerned with collegiality than political philosophy, more interested in maintaining the status quo of donations and trading influence in furtherance of their own careers, at the expense of the republic.

In reality, it is a collection of entitled, infantile and in many cases feeble old frat boys whose only goal is to look and sound impressive in their sound bites, and get to the booze carts in their obscenely expensive offices before 5:00pm. Hopefully their aides will have done their jobs and a hot junior lobbyist will be there for a quickie before dinner.

The childish behavior exhibited by the United States Senate is unbecoming of the great men who inhabited the Senate in years’ past. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, perhaps the last great senator (and a man whose politics I disagree with) was more deliberative and erudite while drunk (A common thing) than any of the current crop is stone cold sober. He could also rise above partisan politics and recognize the great challenges that faced America. For this he was vilified, but he stood fast….behavior that has not been seen nearly enough in the last generation of senators.

The Senate was given its structure by the Founders to be calm and thoughtful and deliberative. The intent was not to create a closed fraternity whose sole purpose is self-protection. The greatest thing a politician can do is act to “support and defend the Constitution” regardless of its effect on his career. Perhaps more senators should put down their bourbons and their bimbos and reread their oaths.

3 comments to “The World’s Greatest Deliberative Body…Simply Isn’t”
  1. Bless Senator Lee for endorsing Cruz.

    As for Ted’s alleged awfulness in the Senate, he’s pretty middle of the road in GovTrack’s “leadership” scoring. In other words, he co-sponsors bills at roughly the same rate as other Senators. Even ideologically, he scores just somewhat more conservative than “average” in terms of his legislative work.

    But none of that matters to me. This election isn’t about being a Senator — it’s about being President. I really don’t see why we’d want a “get along” type in the White House given how poorly the Senate has performed in recent years.

  2. “Say what you will about Ted Cruz, he is aggressive and unyielding and abrasive, but he is a clear and unequivocal supporter of the United States Constitution.”

    Seriously? How can you say that with a straight face? You mean like voting for the TPP trade agreement? You mean like not even being an American citizen, born in Canada to a Cuban father and calling himself a Natural Born Citizen eligible to be POTUS? You mean by lying and not disclosing a $500K campaign loan and his his wife Heidi (Counsel on Foreign Relations, executive for Goldman Sachs, investment banksters extraordinaire)? Give me a friggin’ break!

  3. Calm down, take the little pill, and learn from your betters.

    1. He is an American citizen, and your refusal to understand the law doesn’t mean anything other than you are not bright.
    2. Where in the Constitution does it say anything about trade agreements being illegal? I disagree too, but it’s legal.
    3. He disclosed the loan on one form but failed to do so on another. Hardly an indictment of his honesty.
    4. You have no idea the difference between his wife’s MD position in Houston (and she is on leave…appropriately) and the demonized Goldman Sachs ‘master of the universe” image from the mainstream press.

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