Haters Light On History

By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog

McCarthyI know some of you who are going to hate Ted Cruz no matter what I say in his defense.

Likewise, many of you are going to love Ted Cruz and insist that he’s the only man for 2016 regardless of anything I could offer… until, of course, he does/says/thinks something unorthodox.

Like I’ve said many times over the past week: I’m done trying to preach the importance of GOP unity to people who’d rather fight than win and advance the cause. It’s exhausting.

My only request is that we try to get the facts right? Particularly where history is concerned?

Case in point: there was an opinion piece in Tuesday’s New York Times penned by John G. Taft (of the legendary GOP family based in Ohio) in which he echoes the liberal talking point that the Tea Party embodied by Sen. Cruz is actually a contemporary re-branding of McCarthyism.

Wow. Where to begin…

It’s a lazy analogy unworthy of a noted financial analyst, Save Jerseyans, particularly since serious scholars have since vindicated the substance of Senator Joe McCarthy’s life’s work despite his many personal failings. As it turns out, the vast majority of his allegations pertaining to communist infiltration and associate were 100% accurate. That won’t stop the media from repeating it, of course, but you’d expect better from a guy named Taft.

Taft’s criticism is therefore more than a little ironic. He’s essentially admitting that Cruz is right on the substance with his sloppy apples ‘n’ oranges comparison caked in counterproductive vitriol and elitist sentiment, but hey, you can’t get a NYT piece published as a Republican without taking a shot at your own, and from what I can tell on his website, Mr. Taft is trying to sell a book. Here’s hoping it worked for him.

Even the article’s title, including the phrase “true Republican,” is ironic insofar as Mr. Taft’s faction of the GOP frequently decries the Tea Party’s regrettable tendency to over-apply the “RINO” label.

Again, we can have a serious discussion concerning whether the shutdown made sense from a tactical point of view. Plenty of smart conservatives don’t think it did; I’m sympathetic to their argument despite my obvious sympathy for Mr. Cruz’s zeal.

But can we all at least stop behaving like petulant children and get the history right before opening our traps and engaging the conversation? How refreshing would that be for a change? And who knows, maybe if we tried it, our discussions might take a constructive turn for the better.

Matt Rooney
About Matt Rooney 8405 Articles
MATT ROONEY is SaveJersey.com's founder and editor-in-chief, a practicing New Jersey attorney, and the host of 'The Matt Rooney Show' on 1210 WPHT every Sunday evening from 7-10PM EST.

1 Comment

  1. It would also be nice if people could get the role of a Congress right as well. Obama and others for instance seem to keep repeating that Congressmen are there to work for America. Ted Cruz actually gets it right though – he does NOT represent America nor is he paid to -as he stated he represents TEXAS and that is his SOLE responsibility – to be the voice of the people who elected him to the Senate. The rest of the country doesn't have to like it – but that is how our founding fathers set up our government.

    We are 50 sovereign states – and OUR interests are represented by the people WE elect to congress – at least they are supposed represent us. Obama instead acts like Congress is there to do the president's bidding and if they aren't towing the line, they aren't doing their job. Sadly – people are actually beginning to believe this nonsense.

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