6 highlights from Ted Cruz's insane faux-filibuster
Nazis, cocktails, and the Little Engine That Could
Sen. Ted Cruz's big day has finally come.
The Tea Party Republican from Texas took to the Senate floor Tuesday in an ostensible attempt to block a vote that would allow Democrats to strip an ObamaCare-defunding provision from a bill to fund the government. He declared he would talk "until I am no longer able to stand."
Unfortunately for Cruz, he's technically not staging a filibuster. Unlike Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) — who staged a 13-hour filibuster to temporarily block Obama's pick to head the CIA, John O. Brennan — Cruz cannot stop a vote because one has already been scheduled.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Still, Cruz used his considerable time on the floor to discuss all sorts of subjects tangentially relevant to the health-care debate, such as children's books, Nazis, and pro wrestling.
Here, some highlights:
"Accept the Nazis."
"If you go to the 1940s, Nazi Germany. Look, we saw in Britain, Neville Chamberlain, who told the British people, 'Accept the Nazis. Yes, they'll dominate the continent of Europe, but that's not our problem. Let's appease them. Why? Because it can't be done. We can't possibly stand against them.'"
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
"I suspect those same pundits who say it can't be done, if it had been in the 1940s we would have been listening to them. Then they would have made television. They would have gotten beyond carrier pigeons and beyond letters and they would have been on TV and they would have been saying, 'You cannot defeat the Germans.'"
"That little engine can't."
"If you listen to a lot of members of this body, the message would be simple: That little engine can't. What they'd say to that train when it started at the bottom of the hill is, 'No you can't.' 'I think I can, I think I can —' 'No you can't. No you can't. We can't win, we can't stop ObamaCare.'"
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
"The moon might be as intimidating as ObamaCare."
"By any measure, ObamaCare is a far less intimidating foe than those that I have discussed, with the possible exception of the moon. The moon might be as intimidating as ObamaCare."
"They know who's going to win."
"It's a little bit like the World Wrestling Federation." [sic] "The outcome is pre-rigged, the outcome is predetermined. They know who's going to win and it's all for show".
"We don't work for the intelligentsia."
"Mr. President, it is apparently very, very important to be invited to all the right cocktail parties in town. At the end of the day we don't work for those holding cocktail parties in Washington, D.C. We don't work for the intelligentsia who live in cities and write editorials for big newspapers. We work for the American people."
"I confess I don't go to a lot of cocktail parties in town."
"Almost all of us are in cheap suits."
"Most Americans could not give a flying flip about a bunch of politicians in Washington. Almost all of us are in cheap suits with bad haircuts. Who cares?"
For more, go to C-SPAN to watch a live stream of Cruz's faux filibuster.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?
Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Biden, Trump urge calm after assassination attempt
Speed Reads A 20-year-old gunman grazed Trump's ear and fatally shot a rally attendee on Saturday
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court rejects challenge to CFPB
Speed Read The court rejected a conservative-backed challenge to the way the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is funded
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published