Oh really?
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) argued forcefully Sunday that the government shutdown late last year was not the Republican Party's fault, but was in fact the Democrats' doing -- a contention that even members of Cruz's own party disagree with.
"I think it was a mistake that President Obama and the Democrats shut the government down this fall," Cruz said on CBS's "Face the Nation," according to a transcript. "The reason they did so is that President Obama dug in and said he wouldn't compromise and he wouldn't negotiate."
Cruz said it was actually President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) who threatened and caused the shutdown.
"I didn't threaten to shut down the government the last time," Cruz said. "I don't think we should ever shut down the government."
Okay, that's hilarious. And when I say "that," I'm not just referring to Cruz, who was of course hilarious, but I'm also referring to the
Washington Post's characterization that Cruz had "argued forcefully" in making his point.
I mean, c'mon. I could see "sputtered incoherently" or even "provoked laughter by saying," but when the media feels too scared of Ted Cruz to say anything other than "argued forcefully" when he makes a complete ass of himself, that's pathetic.
That having been said, we're talking about Ted Cruz, so let's end on a happy note, especially since we don't often get opportunities to salute Bob Schieffer, who actually handled Cruz's contention with all the seriousness it deserved: He chuckled and asked Cruz a simple question: "If you didn't threaten to shut down the government, who was it that did?" And when Cruz said it was Harry Reid and President Obama who had shut down the government, Schieffer said he was wrong, citing none other than John Boehner to make his point.