We all heard, I am sure, The Green Eggs and Ham reading. Until tonight, when Tammy Duckworth referred to it to Lawrence O’Donnell, I was unaware of this reprehensible remark by Ted Cruz as he closed out his faux-filibuster.
It is difficult to imagine an insult more searing, ignorance more abysmal, demagoguery cheaper and slimier, and a lack of patriotic respect for history more striking.
Ted Cruz Compares His 21-Hour Speech To Bataan Death March
Hmmm… posted on September 25, 2013 at 12:42pm EDT
Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz compared his 21-hour speech on the Senate floor against Obamacare to the infamous Bataan Death March that killed hundreds of American troops at the hands of the Japanese during World War II. Cruz was speaking Wednesday at the conclusion of his remarks thanking staff who stayed up through the night for his speech.
“Now in 31 minutes we will be concluded,” Cruz said. “I don’t want to miss the opportunity within the limited amount of time is imperative that I do, which is to thank the men and women who have endured this, this Bataan Death March. And I want to take a little bit of time to thank by name. I want to start by thanking the Republican floor staff and cloakroom. I want to thank Laura Dove for her fairness, for her dealing with crises and passions on all sides and for her effectiveness in the job. And this is an interesting occurrence to occur so early in her job and I thank her for her service.”
Read more and watch the CSPAN video if you don’t believe me >>>>
No number of apologies can alter the fact that these words came from his lips. Those words tell you all you need to know about Ted Cruz, his respect for our veterans, troops, and history, and his means to reach his goals. How revolting! How sorry a figure in our government.
This man-child is a self-agrandizing buffoon – I have accepted this – but to compare his 21.5 hours of completely voluntary tilting at windmills to a 60+ mile forced march which constitutes one of the most infamous atrocities of WWII’s Pacific theater. This individual – I cannot call him a gentleman because the term simply won’t stretch that far – looks at everything past, present, and future with one goal and that is to make himself stand in as the hero in every narrative, and not one is sacred. He will play the besieged hero even if it means taking that place from the real heroes who went through the actual death march as opposed to standing in a beautiful, stately, temperature controlled room all safe and secure wearing a nice suit and tie and some sneakers yammering on for an age about whatever found its way into his alleged mind.
This is appalling.
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It knocked the breath out of me! Yes, I was appalled and frozen in shock.
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A gentleman with whom I work is retiring at the end of the year. (I work in local government.) In his letter of resignation which he read to the assembled board and for the benefit of the town government access viewers he made the statement that “first and foremost, we in government are in the service business.” That was all I could think of as I read this because I don’t think that the idea of public service has ever once entered Ted Cruz’s mind. It is all about him. His speeches are about him. His arguments are about him. His positions and what he chooses to advocate for or against are all predicated upon what they can get him – money, donors, media attention, etc – but I do doubt that the effects his actions will have on the lives of his constituents ever plays a major roll in his decisions.
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He is in no one’s service but his own which is why it is astounding that he would compare himself with troops who endangered and sacrificed their lives in true service to this country. He has no idea what service means.
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An inappropriate comparison, without a doubt. As I recall Obama made the same offensive comparison, when he likened his race for the Democratic presidential in 2008 to the Bataan Death March. His unfortunate choice of words was made even more so, given that he had been handed that election on a silver platter.
Regardless of their respective challenges – in using that particular comparison, both Cruz and Obama demonstrated insensitivity and gross disrespect.
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How is this news to me? This is the first I have heard that Obama did the same thing. (Somehow, though, I am not surprised.)
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Here’s an excerpt from a Puff Ho article about Obama’s comparison of the 2008 primary to the Bataan Death March. Here’s what the Entitled One said:
“Obama Compares Election To Bataan Death March”
*******
The Huffington Post First Posted: 04/04/08 06:12 AM ET Updated: 05/25/11 01:30 PM ET
(snip)
“For those of you who are just weary of the primary, and feeling kind of ground down or that it’s like a Bataan death march, I just want everybody to know that the future is bright,” Sen. Barack Obama told a group of fundraisers in New York on Thursday,”
(snip)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/27/obama-compares-election-t_n_93784.html
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I did a search when you mentioned it and found the same article. Incredibly insensitive.
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