William Saletan points out a neat example of the hypocrisy of Senator Ted Cruz. When 53% of Congress voted to destroy Obamacare, it was an act of courage. When 54% of the Senate will vote to not destroy it, that will be an abuse of power. Yeah, yeah. I don't know about you but I really have the feeling that this whole battle is about nothing except Ted Cruz and a few of his colleagues trying to prove to one sector of their party that they're tough guys who will never admit defeat, even after they've lost.
I'm reminding of an eyebrow-raising conversation I had with someone at a party a year or three ago. This otherwise-wise woman started babbling on about how Obama's birth certificate was an inarguable, proven-beyond-all-doubt forgery and as all such folks do, she had no answer when asked about the contemporaneous birth announcements in Hawaii newspapers. To the surprise of me, she announced that her heroine was Orly Taitz, the fanatical dentist lady who keeps filing lawsuit after lawsuit to force Obama out of office.
I asked, "You admire someone who loses 100% of the time and makes your side look insane?" The lady replied, "Her heart's in the right place and she has guts."
Those are usually commendable qualities but, I dunno…I kinda like my champions to show some ability to win and there's much to be said for not fighting unwinnable battles. But in the eyes of this woman — and too many others, I'm afraid — what matters is that leaders lead…even if they lead you off a cliff.