Ted Cruz's Bizarre Appearance At the Heritage Foundation

Sen. Ted Cruz praises noted racist and homophobe Jesse Helms. Cruz said more politicians should say "crazy things." I'm speechless.

“I’ll tell you something … the very first political contribution I ever made in my life was to Jesse Helms. When I was a kid, I sent $10 to Jesse Helms, ’cause they were beating up on him, they were coming after him hard and I thought it wasn’t right, and at the time my allowance was 50 cents a week,” the Texas Republican said. “I am willing to venture a guess that I may have been Jesse Helms’ single largest donor as a percentage of annual income.”

Cruz also recalled a story about when a young Helms received a campaign donation check from John Wayne. He explained that, according to the story, Helms figured out how to get in touch with Wayne and called to thank him for the support.

“Apparently Wayne said, ‘Oh yeah, you’re that guy saying all those crazy things. We need 100 more like you,’” Cruz said. ”The willingness to say all those crazy things is a rare, rare characteristic in this town, and you know what? It’s every bit as true now as it was then. We need a hundred more like Jesse Helms in the U.S. Senate.”

Cruz reminds me of this scene from Airplane!

Rubio Still Dumb

I am not surprised when Marco Rubio says dumb things. The man is not smart. For instance: Rubio has never opened a history book.

America is pretty much the only military power in human history that has not used his power to conquer land and grow it's territory.

Military power was used to take land from the Mexicans and Indians. The fact that a United States Senator is unaware of this is disturbing.

Rubio supports drilling off the coast of Florida. The Daily News editorial board was shocked to learn that Rubio was unaware the Air Force was against offshore drilling because of military exercises.

But he was unaware of military officials’ concern about expanded drilling, which complicates the issue here on the Emerald Coast. In June, the commander of Eglin Air Force Base’s Air Armament Center told our editorial board that more drilling in water ranges that are used for training will, “at some point,” have an impact on national defense.

Mr. Rubio said he would have to research the matter.


The Miami resident also seemed unfamiliar with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s recent shutdown of amberjack fishing, which has riled folks in Destin. The most he could muster was a one-size-fits-all observation that federal officials were “overreaching.”

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Libby Dole Has Lost Her Mind

This is too bizarre for words. Pam Spaulding informs us that Elizabeth Dole is sponsoring an amendment to name an AIDS bill after Jesse Helms. I will give you a moment to absorb that last sentence.

SA 5074. Mrs. DOLE submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by her to the bill S. 2731, to authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2009 through 2013 to provide assistance to foreign countries to combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows: On page 1, line 5, strike ''and Henry J. Hyde'' and insert '', Henry J. Hyde, and Jesse Helms''.

For the sake of journalistic fairness, Helms did have a change of heart about using federal funding to combat AIDS.

"I'm so ashamed that I've done so little," Helms said.

Helms did so little because he used his position on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to block AIDS funding and bash the LGBT community.

"There is not one single case of AIDS in this country that cannot be traced in origin to sodomy, Helms said. Arthur Ashe contracting AIDS from blood transfusions is proof of Helm's willful ignorance. Even if Helm's was corrert, his Christian ideology excluded compassion. Helm's believed if you were gay you deserved to die from AIDS. End of story.

I doubt Senate Democrats will let the Helms amendment pass.

Quote of the Day

"Jesse Helms was a kind, decent, and humble man and a passionate defender of what he called "the Miracle of America." So it is fitting that this great patriot left us on the Fourth of July."

George W. Bush, keeping the Southern strategy going.

Update: Steve Clemons discusses the havoc Helms wreaked on foreign policy.