This made me laugh out loud.
Rep. Peter King (R-NY) appeared on CNN’s The Situation Room Monday afternoon and when Wolf Blitzer asked him to explain his statement that compared Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) to a “carnival barker,” the Republican congressman opted not to walk back his comments but instead take about a dozen steps forward.
“We need intelligent debate in the country. Ted Cruz may be an intelligent person, but he doesn’t carry out an intelligent debate,” King said. “He oversimplifies, he exaggerates and he basically led the Republican Party over the cliff in the fall of 2013. He has shown no qualifications, no legislation being passed, doesn’t provide leadership and he has no real experience. So, to me, he is just a guy with a big mouth and no results.”
But would King support Cruz if he ended up becoming the Republican Party nominee for 2016?
“I hope that day never comes,” King told Blitzer. “I will jump off that bridge when we come to it.”
I might add that Rep. King lumped Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky in the same lack-of-talent pool.
This is what I predicted would happen. The early attacks on Senator Cruz are more personal than ideological in nature. Of course there is a big ideological divide between Rep. Peter King and Senator Cruz, but King would rather not get into the specifics too much. Rather than pointing out precisely where he disagrees with Cruz, he attacks him for lacking experience, temperament, judgment, and seriousness. I expect this to be the path that most of the Republican candidates follow.
Credit where credit’s due, definitely. King’s immoderate quotes like these can be refreshing.
It says something quite extraordinary about today’s Republican Party, though, that the truly awful racist Rep. Peter King has become their chief voice of reason on some issues. When Peter’s pissing his pants over criminal terrorist acts justified by the criminals in the name of Islam, his immoderation is pretty awful, particularly when you consider that King actually championed similar criminal terrorist acts justified by the criminals in the name of the IRA.
He’s not a racist. It’s very annoying that this “racist” crap is just a reflexive statement dropped on all opponents. Some people are racists. Some people just do stuff we disagree with.
King is not a racist. Stop with the automatic use of this term.
How is King not a racist?
You are innocent until proven guilty.
I have a question for you. In your view of things, name 5 Republicans who are not racist.
Well, certainly Steve King is racist.
Steve King is a special guy, with a lack of class all of his own. He has certainly made many racist statements.
When everyone is a racist, the word no longer has a meaning. Note that I asked for 5 republicans who are not racist. Certainly there are many. Rauner, Walker, Peter King, Mark Kirk, Thune, etc. There’s a lot of guys/girls who I do not agree with, but not because they are racist.
In the Democratic Party, the term “racist” has really lost its meaning. It’s just dumped out in a splenetic tremor of annoyance.
I can name plenty of Republicans who aren’t racist, but that’s not the point. I can also name plenty of Republicans who aren’t cannibals, too. Even Steve King is not to my knowledge a cannibal. As far as I know, there are no cannibals in the Republican party. OK?
But how many cannibals would it take before it became an issue? Certainly if there as many cannibals as racists in the GOP, it wouldn’t do much good to insist that most of them aren’t cannibals. The primary fact of the situation would be that they have a cannibalism problem.
So, they are all racist. How pathetic. I refer to you, not the republicans.
Do you really not know the difference between “all” and “too many”? And you call yourself dataguy?
Your stereotyped argument is basically 1) there is one racist 2) they are all racists. That’s the sum total.
You have a serious problem with jumping to conclusions. You don’t seem to be able to distinguish between the issues for one or more, and for the whole group. You said “But how many cannibals would it take before it became an issue? Certainly if there as many cannibals as racists in the GOP, it wouldn’t do much good to insist that most of them aren’t cannibals. The primary fact of the situation would be that they have a cannibalism problem.”
In other words, if there is one racist, they are all racists. Your own words.
That is not my argument. Grow up.
“…they have a cannibalism problem.” is exactly the same as “black folks sho have rhythm”. But you don’t recognize your own prejudices. Sad.
What I suspect is at play is that Peter King is a leading advocate against any form of legalization and immigration reform, no matter what that bill looks like. And Peter King makes statements that make white people feel comfortable on this front, as opposed to Steve King donning his hood.
“a leading advocate against any form of legalization and immigration reform” OK. He probably is.
And exactly what does that have to do with his supposed “racism”? Of course, for some, apparently for you, “immigration reform” is “fixing up stuff for certain groups”, which is a hugely racist statement.
One of the most serious problems in immigration reform is visa overstays. This does not involve that many Mexicans, Guatamalans, etc. It does involve a lot of Germans, Swedes, Indians, Pakistanis, and Chinese.
Explain to me again, why is it that “I oppose amnesty for illegals” is inherently racist?
As to that, I often defend those who have been unfairly attacked. I shudda been a lawyer. Like John Adams, I stand for truth, not the common rabble and its bloody shirt.
Let me get this straight. According to you, “He has certainly made many racist statements.” But he’s not a racist? Please tell me your secret for looking into the soul of people. You seem to have a huge advantage over us mere mortals. We’ve all just been making judgments based on their words and actions. Shame on us.
There are 2 Kings, which I hope you know. Steve is from Iowa, Peter is from Longisland.
sounds pretty racist to me. Or is profiling ethnic minorities on the basis of their ethnic background no longer deemed racist?
Your link does not work.
thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/04/05/155992/peter-king-ethnic-profiling/
I care less about which Republicans are personally racist than I care about how the Republican Party makes appeals to racism in its election campaigns.
Are you Democratic internet troll known sometimes as “Nick Danger”? Just curious.
dataguy, it was your response to my assertion that got this colloquy going. So, let me clarify: I am not confused about which Rep. King is a racist. Both Steve and Peter are. And, while Steve’s is more clownishly blatant and easily seen, Peter’s overblown attacks on all Muslims in America are best understood by his need to make this particular group the “other”. He sees the vast majority of Muslims as browner than him; that’s racist bigotry in a nutshell:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/03/06/peter-kings-anti-muslim-bigotry-haunts-terrorism-he
arings.html
I repeat from my earlier post: when “his people” were murdering innocents in Belfast and London, Peter was more than fine with that. After fundamentalist Christians murdered cops and Federal agents and health care workers and people near the Olympic grounds, and Christian-based “militias” declared themselves sovereign citizens who had no need to obey laws, Peter wasn’t hosting Congressional hearings which investigated the dangers of Radical Christian Terrorism.
No, you’re wrong on this one.
Couldn’t have said it any better than King did.
King is no intellectual giant, but in comparison with Cruz and Paul he appears one in today’s Republican Party.
Of course there is a big ideological divide between Rep. Peter King and Senator Cruz, but King would rather not get into the specifics too much.
Really? Like what?
Off a cliff in 2013? How many senate seat a, house seats or state legislatures were lost because if the shutdown? Was there any price paid at all?
I feel a Cruz/Paul ticket would help out Democratic Party , so I am all for this ticket. What about You?
The good thing about rabid, irrational ideologues is that they burn out quickly after achieving a bit of power. A following limited to a collection of rubes is enough to build a mega-church, but about sixty million short of moving into the White House.
With Kings past history with the IRA, would be interesting if someone would ask him if he got info from the Israel on the Iran talks.
Connecting with “real Americans” Cruz style:
This may be simultaneously the most clueless and obvious pandering comments from any pol ever. So, far into his “born again” schtick (which he can’t claim to have personally experienced because his daddy did it for the family) that switching the radio dial from classic rock to country after 9/11 is similar. (Not wonder if he wasn’t born in Canada, but merely hatched there.)
Notice neither before nor after 9/11 did Cruz favor Christian rock which would seem to be more in tune with all his other nonsense.
Heheh. Yeah, it does seem quite a pander stretch. Of course, there is quite an overlap between country and xtian music, so he gets partial credit at least for scoring points with both those groups. And for the trifecta, he invokes 9/11, a pander to the national security voters.
This one though does compete with Kennebunkport Poppy Bush’s famous pander to the rural folks, back in 1988 I believe, against elitist Mike Dukakis, when George Herbert Walker Bush allowed as how he liked to wake up to country music, and that one of his favorite foods was pork rinds. Not opera and caviar, but country music and pork rinds.
Actually I find that one more laughable than Theodore’s pander.
You can’t be a real politician unless you eat crap you wouldn’t feed to a dog. Remember when Kerry got ripped up and down for not putting Velveeta on his Philly Cheesestake? Gad, can you imagine – velveeta – yuck. Some stuff I can eat with enthusiasm, but pork rinds, deep fried twinkies, etc. And if it gets offered, you gotta eat it, or you are some kinda eastern wimp who does sailing on his vacation…
What is the functional difference between “cheese whiz” and Velveeta? Probably little. They are both “cheese foods”, which means that real cheese is just a chemically induced distant cousin.
I wouldn’t eat it, myself. But, hey, if you wanna eat that kind of stuff, no problemo.
Where do you stand on the deep-fried Twinkie, Boo? I actually would stand on it. Probably would not eat it, and thus, stand no chance in Iowa to win anything.
I stand with you on the deep-fried Twinkie. We probably literally could do so.
As for the Philly Cheesesteak, I’m afraid I would order it thusly: “One cheesesteak. Hold the cheese, hold the steak, and hold the bread.”
If this is a regular part of Philadelphians’ diet, it’s no wonder they’re so cranky all the time. I mean, booing Santy Claus …
what’s the difference between Hellman’s mayonnaise and Miracle Whip or Heinz Ketchup and Hunt’s Catsup?
One sucks and one is great.
Same for Velveeta and Cheez Whiz.
I seem to recall only half-believing that Kerry Philly Cheesesteak story, and maybe put it aside as just opponent ratf***ing or a silly story made up by the Bush scribes in the MSM.
But apparently it’s true. Hilarious. But pathetic too — didn’t he have like a fairly large team of well-paid advisers to warn him about proper local etiquette? Or was this another time he decided to go rogue, like the time he went against advisers’ clear advice and went windsurfing during the Republican convention?
Ferchrissakes, he really served one up for the oppo on the cheesesteak — ordering exactly how Karl Rove would have scripted it. Not something American like American or Cheese Whiz, but something foreign and almost French. I’m surprised he didn’t also ask for Grey Poupon on a baguette.
He also was standing under that exact sign when he placed that wind-surfing order.
Jackass.
Ha!
I’m feeling a little less bad for the election having been stolen from him now that I know the full story.
Not exactly a brilliant natural politician was he?
(If you are not elected, don’t panic. Just go to the back of the line and start over.)
I suppose if you’re staging a media event at a Philly cheesesteak place, you should get it right. Normally I would wonder why it made any damn difference at all what Big John ordered for lunch, but I presume the campaign team asked the media to hang with him.
Not nearly as dumb as Gary’s Hart’s double dog dare, but pretty dumb.
Poppy didn’t say that he grew up on and listened exclusively big band music but switched to country because Duke and Ella didn’t respond with the proper American fervor to the Cuban Missile Crisis. He didn’t even say that he only listens to country music or for even more than a few minutes in the morning.
Pork rinds seem to be available in every convenience store. Even way out here on the left coast. So, there are a lot of people that must like them. (No, have never been curious enough to try one.)
So, you and I have this thing going where I say, “Cruz sucks” and you say, “No, he doesn’t or not as much as X did.” The other wannabes may also suck — but until they’re in the race an objective assessment is difficult to make. Then as to which one sucks the least, we’ll have to wait for the debates. Should Ted win that round and the nomination, he still has to wins the general election to refute my charge. Although such a refutation would only be partial because Clinton shares shares self-presentation deficits with Cruz.
Well as I thought I’d signaled earlier, I’m just having some fun trying to boost Theodore’s nomination chances, even as I suspect his chances are slim and none. I want him running against Hillary, but a few folks here seem reluctant to get on the bandwagon.
On the music preferences, c’mon Marie — this stuff is hilarious. And the way, almost Rudy G-like, he found a way to reference 9/11 to polish his national security chops — that’s a hoot. On the food choices: what, you honestly believe GHWB has actually sit foot inside a convenience store?
Now on the speechmaking ability, I’m actually serious — sometimes we have to give the devil his due, and in that category Ted gives great talks. Style, not substance. Hard to believe someone that smart actually believes what he’s saying, but that’s another issue. He gave a very dynamic, smoothly delivered memorized announcement. Too bad the phrase “Ted Talk” is already taken.
So, please, relax. It’s just Theodore “Ted” Cruz. Time for some fun (with some warm memories of Tailgunner Joe and speculation about reincarnation thrown in) because it’s one heckuva long campaign slog and there’s not a lot of comedy opportunity with Hillary.
I’m all for having fun. OTOH, I never concede unwarranted style or substance points to candidates on either side. For several reasons. One of which is that’s where comedy is found.
Hillary would be comedy gold if she were a Republican. As it is, Republicans are pathetic at humor and their attempts against Clinton will just be nasty and juvenile which will force Democrats into a defensive posture.
Not getting why you are calling him Theodore. Is there some joke or negative connotations to Theodore that I’m not aware of? Must tell you that even though I knew that the topic was Ted Cruz, when reading some of your comments where you used “Theodore” there was a split second “who?” in my brain.
Just playing off the fact that the formal name behind the nickname Ted is often Theodore. I find the name rather old-fashioned funny sounding. Like Clarence (as in Thomas). Or Walter (as in O’Malley).
Yes, I know his real name, but that one I happen to like, kinda cool, though unacceptable for a Republican running for prez, and for me. Using Theodore helps me to get into the proper mood for discussing things Cruz. And I can’t help but notice there’s something rather Theodore about Ted, slightly dainty around the edges and bespeaking perhaps a rather too coddled upbringing by the mother.
Btw, not to nitpick, but last I checked, Iowa’s common abbreviation, used by all political junkies and the Postal Service, is IA not IO as you’ve written it several times. Not a biggie, but the first few times I saw it in your posts, I spent unnecessary valuable time going through my head the names of states beginning with “I” and ending in “O”. Never found one.
Not a nit — thanks for the pick. Do seem to have mental glitch with Iowa as IA and should just go back to using Iowa and forget the abbreviation.
Your personal associations of a Theodore for Ted Cruz may be personally amusing for you, but it fails in communicating with others. Would be like calling John Ellis Bush, Jebediah.
More connecting with “real Americans” Cruz style:
Yesterday:
Today:
Trust the crack MSM reporters will follow up on the refusal to accept the employer medical insurance contribution.
WaPo checked with members on their plans in Dec. 2013. Most accepted the contribution, but a few didn’t. Those few accepted a voluntary pay/benefits package decrease.