Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Freethinker

Home
Nonreligious
Op-ed: Oh, how they laughed when Ted Cruz joked about Cancún

Op-ed: Oh, how they laughed when Ted Cruz joked about Cancún

Last updated on: February 27, 2021 at 10:10 pm by Ophelia Benson

Op-ed: Oh, how they laughed when Ted Cruz joked about Cancún 2021-02-27T22:10:46+02:00 Ophelia Benson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Images via YouTube

A winter storm with below freezing temperatures killed more than a few people in Texas last week.

The failure of the state’s electrical grid during the weeklong cold snap left more than four million Texans without electricity and heat, many for days on end in subfreezing temperatures. Many residents also lost access to water, and 14.6 million were ordered to boil water to make it safe to drink.

Power had been restored in most of the state by Tuesday morning, but 7.5 million people in 204 counties remained under boil-water orders.

So far, nearly 80 people have died a result of the storm and its effects, according to the Associated Press.

An 11-year-old boy was found frozen in his bed, his family told the Houston Chronicle. A grandmother and three grandchildren died in a house fire as they were trying to stay warm, the Chronicle also reported. At least six deaths occurred near the Abilene area, local media reported, including a patient who couldn’t get medical treatment due to a lack of water and three elderly men who were found dead in subfreezing homes.

And how the hell do you boil water without electricity … or water?

Not really a very amusing situation, but Senator Ted Cruz (Republican, Texas) was joking about it at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) today.

Cruz made light of a controversy last week in which he flew to Cancún, Mexico, for a family holiday even as millions of Texans shivered in unheated homes. “Orlando is awesome,” Cruz said. “It’s not as nice as Cancún, but it’s nice!”

The crowd laughed at the quip.

Of course they did, and of course Cruz did. All those deaths in subfreezing homes were a whole entire week ago. Who can possibly keep a straight face about the miserable deaths of almost 80 people a whole week ago? How can a US Senator be expected to 1. take his job seriously and 2. have some semblance of compassion when there’s a crowd of Trumpists and racists and sedition-supporters to do his stand-up act for?

Cruz was cheered as he issued a warning to members of his own party who want to “erase the last four years” and banish Trump’s “Make America great again” movement. “Let me tell you this right now: Donald J Trump ain’t going anywhere,” he said.

Cruz doesn’t know that, of course. Trump is 74, he eats terrible food, and he never gets any real exercise. (Hitting a golf ball doesn’t count as real exercise.) There’s also the fact that he ran out of ways to keep the Manhattan district attorney from seeing his tax records a few days ago when the Supreme Court ruled on the matter.

If he doesn’t keel over dead soon he might be in an orange jump suit, but the die-hards are still pretending he’ll be back.

Cruz and fellow Republican Josh Hawley were among the most prominent senators who voted to challenge the result of the 2020 election. An unrepentant Hawley earned rapturous applause as he recounted that episode.

Yes that “episode,” in which a violent mob smashed its way into the Capitol, killed a cop, stole papers off the desks of senators and representatives, and very nearly got close enough to kill some or all of them.

Cruz and Hawley are facing an investigation from the Senate ethics committee over their conduct before the insurrection. They and others at CPAC have perpetuated the lie of a stolen election despite officials saying it was the most secure election in US history.

But hey, Cancún is very nice, haw haw haw.

Cruz, inset, and the golden statue of Trump that set the whole planet laughing. Images via YouTube.

There was vivid proof of Trump’s continued dominance of the Republican party when a golden statue of him was seen at CPAC. The kitsch monument is larger than life, with a golden head and Trump’s trademark suit jacket with white shirt and red tie. Bizarrely, the disgraced ex-commander-in-chief also appears to be holding a star wand and sporting Stars and Stripes shorts.

The patriotic shorts won’t do him any good when the police turn up at his door.

Millions of pages of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s tax returns and business documents have been turned over to New York prosecutors after he lost a 17-month effort to keep investigators from obtaining them.

The records, including the federal income tax returns Trump filed with the government’s Internal Revenue Service from 2011 to 2019, were handed over to New York District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. by Trump’s longtime accounting firm, Mazars, on Monday.

The handoff came hours after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the former president, who left office a month ago.

He’s also under criminal investigation in Georgia, over that time he phoned election officials to try to bully them into “finding” him enough votes to win the state. Funny guy to do it while being recorded, but he always did love the limelight.

Ordinarily I don’t enjoy seeing people humiliated or tormented, but the ex-president from the outer boroughs is a special case. I would like to see him in handcuffs, told to be quiet, and finally led away to serve a 50 year sentence with no tv and no extra ice cream.

Previous Post

February 27, 2021

Republicans mocked over 'idolatrous' golden Trump statue

Next Post

February 28, 2021 Devil of a row erupts over Cyprus' Eurovision entry El Diablo

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Archive My Atheism News Opinion Reviews Uncategorized

Select a Month December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 March 2007 April 2006 February 2006

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What did Hannah bring annually for Samuel when he lived at the Tabernacle?

Select your answer to see how you score.

A crown A robe A staff A candle

Books by This Author Books by The Freethinker

See All Titles »