Posted on 03/25/2016 5:14:25 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
In the days of Torquemada and the Inquisition, Spaniards debated which was worse, the rack or the head crusher. Today, Americans debate between Ted Cruz and Donald Trump.
Jeb Bush has made his choice. He announced that Republicans should reject the "divisiveness and vulgarity" of Trump and embrace the divisiveness and zealotry of Cruz. It is precisely that kind of leadership and vision that made Jeb the presidential candidate he is today.
Others are still struggling. This is a hard choice that Cruz and Trump make harder every day.
On Monday afternoon, for example, Trump told editors at The Washington Post that all the other countries in NATO are "not doing anything." He added, "I would structure a much different deal with them, and it would be a much better deal." The next day, of course, terrorists murdered dozens of innocents in Belgium, where NATO is based.
Perhaps Trump could get the U.S. a good deal on office space in downtown Brussels. To entrust him with any more power than that is blood-curdling.
Monday was a big foreign policy day for Trump. He announced a national security team that he hasn't met with, a motley group that even Google can barely find. He delivered a speech at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which was quickly denounced by the head of AIPAC. Embarrassingly, commentators on CNN praised the speech as an important step in Trump's political "maturation" because he read the speech from teleprompter like a big boy instead of winging it as he usually does.
After the bombings the next day, Trump was quick to react. He said the U.S. needs new laws so we can torture suspects faster, bigger and better. We don't win at torture anymore, apparently. And with Trump in the White House, America is going to win at torture, believe me. We're going to torture so great! And we'll get such great deals on torture stuff!
The other war-mongering isolationist in the race, Cruz, didn't try to capture any of the Trump brand's market share on torture. He went straight for segregation, internment and mass racial profiling, demanding new laws to "empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized."
Never mind that this is moronic from a practical standpoint. It's totalitarian. This self-proclaimed guardian of liberty, this constitutional prodigy, is purposefully drawing from the darkest, most shameful chapters of American history to monger some fear and grab some votes. If Cruz could have figured out a way to carpet-bomb Dearborn, Mich., and miss the Christians he'd probably have proposed it.
As Belgians held candlelight vigils that night, Trump and Cruz had moved on to more important matters, their wives.
The Donald was apparently upset on behalf of wife No. 3, The Melania.
It seems an anti-Trump group ran a Facebook ad in Utah that grabbed an old picture of a bare-butt naked Melania posing atop furs inside Trump's jet. The caption said, "Meet Melania Trump. Your Next First Lady. Or, You Could Support Ted Cruz on Tuesday."
Trump's response was only mildly out of character. Instead of bragging about his hot wife, he issued threats by Twitter: "Lyin' Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a G.Q. shoot in his ad. Be careful, Lyin' Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife!"
Cruz's thumbed response: "Pic of your wife not from us. Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you're more of a coward than I thought."
E-sympathy seemed to be on the side of Cruz, a man who had hours before proposed quarantining Muslims in America.
What more can be said about this muck?
If the stakes weren't so incredibly high, one could enjoy the Republicans' misery. But they are. Either one could be the Republican nominee. And no matter how unlikely it seems today, either one could beat Hillary Clinton.
The public seems to have a clear view about which torture is worse. In a recent CBS News/New York Times poll, 50 percent of the public said they were scared of what Trump would do as president. Only 28 percent were scared of Cruz -- such a comfort.
The Republican Party leadership, however, does not appear to be properly scared by either of them.
We keep hearing variations of this line: "The GOP establishment is desperate to stop Trump." I see little evidence that is true; if they were desperate they would do something more serious than ginning up a few hollow endorsements for Cruz. Some in that mythical establishment prefer Trump to Cruz. Most detest them both.
Republican leaders should be scared for their country, not just their party's prospects. This is a moment to act like patriots not partisans. Both Trump and Cruz have earned their fierce opposition.
The party's voters shouldn't have to choose between these two evils. And the country shouldn't be exposed to the risk of either of them.
If I had to pick, I would beg to be spared from the rack, the rack of Trump. It is hard to imagine a worse torture for the country. But Cruz's head crusher comes mighty close.
I pick TRUMP. :)
“Trump told editors at The Washington Post that all the other countries in NATO are “not doing anything.” He added, “I would structure a much different deal with them, and it would be a much better deal.” The next day, of course, terrorists murdered dozens of innocents in Belgium, where NATO is based. “
Proving that Trump was right.
Again.
This guy obviously believes what he is saying. I am constantly amazed (and now entertained as I have admitted defeat) at the thought processes that “learned” people espouse.
Dare I ask what language he "announced" that in?
Who cares what this peckerhead says. Another concern troll who’s “looking out for the best interests” of the GOP. No matter who the GOP nominates they’re going to get destroyed by the media in the general.
If they don’t have the “stones” for the fight, they can at least shut up about those who do.
One positive about this Trump Cruz coming nightmare is that it is coming so early in the process. No where but up to go from here, at least until we learn whether Hillary is even going to be the nominee.
The only torture I’ve been enduring lately is being pummeled over the head with Ted Cruz’s vision for America: Donald Trump did it!
It’s his only campaign platform anymore. I can’t wait until it’s over, and we can get back to making the country prosperous and strong again.
The author, Dick Meyer, has no credibility. He is a longtime leftist hack:
Dick Meyer is the Chief Washington Correspondent for the Scripps Washington Bureau and the author of Why We Hate Us: American Discontent in the New Millennium.[1] He previously served as As Executive Producer for the BBC’s news services in America and Executive Editor for National Public Radio.
Meyer was born in Glencoe, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. He graduated from Columbia University in 1980 with a bachelor’s degree in religion and from the University of Oxford in 1982 with a master’s degree in politics.
Meyer began his journalism career as an election-unit researcher in 1985 for CBS News, covered the 1988 presidential campaign as an off-air producer and filed reports for CBS Radio News. He spent over twenty-three years at CBS News, eventually serving as a producer for the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather and later, editorial director of CBS News online.
Just not a big enough RINO. He obviously prefers someone more like Kasich but realizes Kasich hasn’t a chance in Hades.
Me too.
the 5th amendment bans torturing people into confessions, but during war you can take people prisonner without arrest warrants & kill people without due process. Nobody is seeking to use torture to get a criminal confession out of somebody as the only evidence to convict him of a crime. Intent is EVERYTHING! Torture as punishment is cruel & unusual.Torture... (or something that doesn’t rise to that level like water-boarding) for intent of getting confirmable information to use to protect innnocent lives is something so different that even Alan Dershowitz has suggested the ability to ask judges for “torture warrants” as necessary in some cases.......
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