Earlier today Ted Cruz issued this statement:
“Our nation is at war. From 9/11 to the Boston Marathon, from Fort Hood to Chattanooga, from San Bernardino to last night’s horrific attack in Orlando, radical Islamic terrorism has declared jihad on America,” Sen. Cruz said. “Early reports indicate the Orlando terrorist had pledged his allegiance to ISIS, and he had previously been investigated by the FBI. And yet, as with the prior attacks, we were not able to act to stop this act of vicious terrorism that has now murdered 50 and injured more than 50 others.
“Our hearts go out to those killed and wounded last night. Our prayers are with their families, and with all their grieving loved ones.
“It is a time for action. We need a Commander in Chief who will speak the truth, and who will unleash the full force and fury of the American military to utterly destroy ISIS and its affiliates. We need to pass the Expatriate Terrorist Act, so that known ISIS terrorists cannot use U.S. passports to return to America and wage jihad. We need a President who is serious – who will identify the enemy by name and do everything necessary to defeat it.
“The next few days will be sadly predictable. Democrats will try to use this attack to change the subject. As a matter of rigid ideology, far too many Democrats – from Barack Obama to Hillary Clinton – will refuse to utter the words ‘radical Islamic terrorism.’ They will claim this attack, like they claimed every previous attack, was isolated and had nothing to do with the vicious Islamist theology that is daily waging war on us across the globe. And they will try to exploit this terror attack to undermine the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms of law-abiding Americans.
“Enough is enough. What we need is for every American – Democrat and Republican – to come together, abandon political correctness, and unite in defeating radical Islamic terrorism.
“ISIS doesn’t just target soldiers. They don’t just target Republicans. Or Jews. They also target Christians and fellow Muslims. They target each and every one of us. As we saw this morning, they target the gay and lesbian community. Their objective, which they broadcast worldwide, is to murder or forcibly convert every single American.
“For all the Democrats who are loud champions of the gay and lesbian community whenever there is a culture battle waging, now is the opportunity to speak out against an ideology that calls for the murder of gays and lesbians. ISIS and the theocracy in Iran (supported with American taxpayer dollars) regularly murder homosexuals, throwing them from buildings and burying them under rocks. This is wrong, it is evil, and we must all stand against it. Every human being has a right to live according to his or her faith and conscience, and nobody has a right to murder someone who doesn’t share their faith or sexual orientation. If you’re a Democratic politician and you really want to stand for LGBT, show real courage and stand up against the vicious ideology that has targeted our fellow Americans for murder.
“Today, all of America stands in solidarity with the people of Orlando. All of us should lift them up in prayer, demand action, and if you have any information about the Orlando shooter or potential radical Islamic terror plots, please act to keep us safe by using the FBI tips website:https://tips.fbi.gov.”
Senator Rubio also had comments on the terrorist attacks in Florida here.
2 comments
Statements aren’t strategies, statements aren’t mobilizations, statements aren’t proposed policy directives, statements are media events. Cruz is the master of the soapbox presentation, the ninety second nightly televised news cycle slot, the impassioned punditry write up, here today, forgotten tomorrow. To prepare and gain the national support required to place the nation on a true war footing you need to be able to convince the population that there is a plan, a clear set of objectives and a goal worth shedding more of their sons and daughters blood for. Ted Cruz has never been able to look the American people in the eye in my opinion and achieve that admittedly difficult task, my suspicions are, he never will be able to. But trying to keep an open mind what is he proposing here?
“We need to pass the Expatriate Terrorist Act”,
OK there is certainly some marginal assistance here to deny known US passport carrying ISIS fighters from reentering the homeland but this is a very small number of individuals already known and top priority flagged on all our terrorist watch lists. None of these individuals have been the instigators of recent terrorist acts in the US. It is the radicalized in place Islamists that have carried out such acts at Fort Hood, San Bernardino or most recently Orlando. Most importantly this does nothing regarding controlling our open borders that an increasing number of Middle Eastern refugees are availing themselves of to gain entry to the US.
We have no idea at this time who is gaining access to the US in this manner but if the EU mass migration flow is a useful example to draw from many terrorist operatives are very likely blending themselves into the mix. Why even bother with a passport (real or otherwise) when you can just walk across the border and be bused or flown to an interior destination courtesy of DHS, which is now occurring every day. The Expatriate Terrorist Act is close to a big nothing burger to address the real issues we are facing today.
“Unleash the full force and fury of the American military to utterly destroy ISIS and its affiliates”,
I don’t think he understands what this tub beating statement even means. We have severely depleted both our drone and smart bomb stock inventories already in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Pakistan tribal border areas killing countless terrorist leadership figures, as well as, hitting key objectives in the ISIS held territories to no significant military return to date. The Russian’s have deployed air power even more impressively and indiscriminately to little or no avail as well. Air power alone is not going to win any Middle Eastern ISIS conflict therefore more air power is not going to prevail either. Besides we have seriously stripped our capacities in this area and are currently so underfunded within our military budget that it’s not clear we have the ability to even ramp up a more aggressive air campaign.
What other specific war fighting tactics is he calling for? The reinsertion of massive American ground forces (already overtaxed and overextended) back into the area conflict? What local ally is going to provide the necessary logistical ground support location to even remotely make this a sane scenario? The deployment of tactical nuclear weapons into the combat theatre? What specifically is he proposing here beside more neocon hot air? All we need to do is get a bigger stick (which we have no budgetary funding to support) and swing harder. Right, good luck with that nonsense.
“Need a President who is serious”
Well it’s hard to argue with a generality but it’s equally difficult to use one to achieve much. Perhaps a useful quote from the Senate floor but not a terribly useful commitment to American men and women regarding their possible deaths in a foreign conflict. This is yet another one of his “green eggs and ham moments” heartfelt but meaningless to accomplish anything.
So what do we have here from Senator Cruz? In reality not much. Perhaps it’s time to put his recent primary loss behind him, climb down off his media platform and put on a thinking guise to propose some real policy positions to address an America under attack. If he needs some assistance in this area he could start by looking at some old Reagan interview tapes regarding ending the cold war and his communications on how to achieve that goal to the American people.
You can thank Ted Cruz that you still have the gun rights you do. Bet you didn’t even know that he was the guy whose work won the Heller decision. And who stop the 2013 gun grab.
There is so much you do not know about Ted Cruz because you do not do your research. Yet while you sneer at this accomplished constitutional lawyer you fawn all over the charlatan whose whole campaign is a single slogan and is incapable of making a statement such as Cruz’.