A.J. Castellitto
A time for truth!
By A.J. Castellitto
"There's nothing more dangerous than a smart Republican." – Joe Biden
I just recently got a hold of Cruz' inspiring new read, A Time for Truth, and I'm really impressed by what the good Senator from Texas has to say.
In persuing the table of contents, I assumed that chapter 8 titled "Into the Beast" – denoting Cruz' introduction to Washington style politics – would be pretty juicy, so I turned right to page 220 and started reading. This chapter provided so many crucial insights that I fear if I read any further I would be forced to quote the whole book. But if I may, I'd like to share a few (well more than a few actually) vital anecdotes as a warm reminder that when Cruz is allowed to lead, we all win!
Cruz on...
Harry Reid
"He just sat there, staring at me with blank eyes behind his wire-framed glasses, the beginnings of a wry smile forming at the corners of his mouth. I couldn't help but wonder if the wily and partisan Democrat was thinking, 'What a poor sap! We're going to eat his lunch!' "
Chuck Hagel (former Secretary of the Defense)
"When Hagel's nomination came up for a vote in committee, I voted no. I focused on his extreme foreign policy record and also his refusal to answer reasonable financial disclosure questions from twenty-six senators. I noted that his written answer regarding the $200,000 payment – that he could not tell us if it came from a foreign source...I observed, 'it is at a minimum relevant to know if that $200,000 that he deposited in his bank account came directly from Saudi Arabia, came directly from North Korea'....Immediately I was accused of a "new McCarthyism"...If you have the law, pound the law; if you have the facts, pound the facts; and if you don't have either, pound the table. In the game of distraction, the White House, Harry Reid, and the Democrats very ably changed the subject from Hagel's disastrous foreign policy record and his refusal to provide reasonable financial disclosure to the specter of a Texas Republican as the second coming of Joe McCarthy."
Politifact
"Through this website, left-wing editorial writers frequently dress up their liberal views as "facts" and conclude that anyone who does not agree with their view of the world is objectively lying. Then, left-wing hacks immediately run out and say, 'Look! This conservative said something that PolitiFact calls a lie. He wouldn't know the truth if it hit him with a two-by-four!' "
His Stand with Rand (Paul)
"...the Obama administration was forced to do what it had refused to do for three consecutive weeks: put in writing that no, the Constitution does not allow the U.S. government to use a drone to target American citizens on U.S. soil."
Chuck Schumer and the Second Amendment
"Whenever anyone suggests that the Constitution prohibits federal authority on a particular matter, Schumer routinely bellows something to the effect of 'Child pornography! Rights are not unlimited! We can prohibit child pornography!' His point is that even though watching child pornography could in some people's interpretation be an exercise of free speech, the Supreme Court has upheld legislation prohibiting it. In Schumer's view, because child pornography can be banned, the federal government has carte blanche to violate every part of the Bill of Rights. What Schumer apparently missed is that child pornography is not an 'exception' to the First Amendment that unelected judges created out of whole cloth. For centuries, beginning with the founding generation that ratified the Bill of Rights, obscenity has been understood to be outside the First Amendment's reference to the 'freedom of speech.' At common law, and in the original understanding, the words simply did not encompass child pornography. That is why it can be prohibited."
Dianne Feinstein
"...whenever I ran into her in the elevator, we'd have the following exchange:
'Hello . . . tough guy.'
'Diane, I'm all sunshine and smiles.'
'Is that . . . what your wife tells you?'
Three times, we've had that exact same exchange, word for word. It's very odd. And somehow, every
time she greets me, I hear the words from Seinfeld, 'Hello . . . Newman.' "
The Right to Keep and Bear Arms
"...the right to keep and bear arms protects the fundamental right of each and every one of us to protect ourselves, our family, and our children from imminent physical harm. If somebody enters my home seeking to injure my wife or my daughters, they will encounter a very direct exercise of my Second Amendment rights. It's very hard for Hollywood celebrities to understand this. They have no need to own a firearm, because typically they retain armed bodyguards who travel with them. Likewise, other liberal elites living in wealthy suburbs have the resources to hire out their self-protection to the local police through higher property values and property taxes. The threat to their lives, to their property, and to their families is minimized. ...Australia recently followed the path of President Obama and the Democrats, responding to a terrible shooting by banning handguns altogether. The results have been disturbing. Since banning handguns, sexual assaults and rapes in Australia have skyrocketed, because there are few things a criminal likes better than an unarmed victim."
Standing for and with the American people in victory against the political establishment
"I joined with Mike Lee and Rand Paul to send a simple four-sentence letter to Harry Reid. It informed him that we intended to filibuster any legislation that undermines the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.That letter was met with derision by the Democrats, by dismay from the Republican leadership, and by denunciation from their friends in the media. Indeed, the Wall Street Journal promptly editorialized how terrible it was that we were making this stand on the Second Amendment. Our letter accomplished two things. First, it slowed the process down, which gave the American people time to engage. Second, it shined a powerful light on what the Senate Democrats were trying to do. ...And when the day came for the gun control proposals to be voted on, every single one of President Obama's proposals to undermine the Second Amendment was voted down on the Senate floor."
We need leaders who will stand on constitutional principles. No candidate will ever be perfect (God alone is perfect!) but some are much worse than others. An ethical, transparent, God-fearing leader who truly represents the people (and the Constitution he has sworn to uphold) would be a nice change of pace!
The winds of change are upon us... Let the Revolution begin!
© A.J. Castellitto
"There's nothing more dangerous than a smart Republican." – Joe Biden
I just recently got a hold of Cruz' inspiring new read, A Time for Truth, and I'm really impressed by what the good Senator from Texas has to say.
In persuing the table of contents, I assumed that chapter 8 titled "Into the Beast" – denoting Cruz' introduction to Washington style politics – would be pretty juicy, so I turned right to page 220 and started reading. This chapter provided so many crucial insights that I fear if I read any further I would be forced to quote the whole book. But if I may, I'd like to share a few (well more than a few actually) vital anecdotes as a warm reminder that when Cruz is allowed to lead, we all win!
Cruz on...
Harry Reid
"He just sat there, staring at me with blank eyes behind his wire-framed glasses, the beginnings of a wry smile forming at the corners of his mouth. I couldn't help but wonder if the wily and partisan Democrat was thinking, 'What a poor sap! We're going to eat his lunch!' "
Chuck Hagel (former Secretary of the Defense)
"When Hagel's nomination came up for a vote in committee, I voted no. I focused on his extreme foreign policy record and also his refusal to answer reasonable financial disclosure questions from twenty-six senators. I noted that his written answer regarding the $200,000 payment – that he could not tell us if it came from a foreign source...I observed, 'it is at a minimum relevant to know if that $200,000 that he deposited in his bank account came directly from Saudi Arabia, came directly from North Korea'....Immediately I was accused of a "new McCarthyism"...If you have the law, pound the law; if you have the facts, pound the facts; and if you don't have either, pound the table. In the game of distraction, the White House, Harry Reid, and the Democrats very ably changed the subject from Hagel's disastrous foreign policy record and his refusal to provide reasonable financial disclosure to the specter of a Texas Republican as the second coming of Joe McCarthy."
Politifact
"Through this website, left-wing editorial writers frequently dress up their liberal views as "facts" and conclude that anyone who does not agree with their view of the world is objectively lying. Then, left-wing hacks immediately run out and say, 'Look! This conservative said something that PolitiFact calls a lie. He wouldn't know the truth if it hit him with a two-by-four!' "
His Stand with Rand (Paul)
"...the Obama administration was forced to do what it had refused to do for three consecutive weeks: put in writing that no, the Constitution does not allow the U.S. government to use a drone to target American citizens on U.S. soil."
Chuck Schumer and the Second Amendment
"Whenever anyone suggests that the Constitution prohibits federal authority on a particular matter, Schumer routinely bellows something to the effect of 'Child pornography! Rights are not unlimited! We can prohibit child pornography!' His point is that even though watching child pornography could in some people's interpretation be an exercise of free speech, the Supreme Court has upheld legislation prohibiting it. In Schumer's view, because child pornography can be banned, the federal government has carte blanche to violate every part of the Bill of Rights. What Schumer apparently missed is that child pornography is not an 'exception' to the First Amendment that unelected judges created out of whole cloth. For centuries, beginning with the founding generation that ratified the Bill of Rights, obscenity has been understood to be outside the First Amendment's reference to the 'freedom of speech.' At common law, and in the original understanding, the words simply did not encompass child pornography. That is why it can be prohibited."
Dianne Feinstein
"...whenever I ran into her in the elevator, we'd have the following exchange:
'Hello . . . tough guy.'
'Diane, I'm all sunshine and smiles.'
'Is that . . . what your wife tells you?'
Three times, we've had that exact same exchange, word for word. It's very odd. And somehow, every
time she greets me, I hear the words from Seinfeld, 'Hello . . . Newman.' "
The Right to Keep and Bear Arms
"...the right to keep and bear arms protects the fundamental right of each and every one of us to protect ourselves, our family, and our children from imminent physical harm. If somebody enters my home seeking to injure my wife or my daughters, they will encounter a very direct exercise of my Second Amendment rights. It's very hard for Hollywood celebrities to understand this. They have no need to own a firearm, because typically they retain armed bodyguards who travel with them. Likewise, other liberal elites living in wealthy suburbs have the resources to hire out their self-protection to the local police through higher property values and property taxes. The threat to their lives, to their property, and to their families is minimized. ...Australia recently followed the path of President Obama and the Democrats, responding to a terrible shooting by banning handguns altogether. The results have been disturbing. Since banning handguns, sexual assaults and rapes in Australia have skyrocketed, because there are few things a criminal likes better than an unarmed victim."
Standing for and with the American people in victory against the political establishment
"I joined with Mike Lee and Rand Paul to send a simple four-sentence letter to Harry Reid. It informed him that we intended to filibuster any legislation that undermines the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.That letter was met with derision by the Democrats, by dismay from the Republican leadership, and by denunciation from their friends in the media. Indeed, the Wall Street Journal promptly editorialized how terrible it was that we were making this stand on the Second Amendment. Our letter accomplished two things. First, it slowed the process down, which gave the American people time to engage. Second, it shined a powerful light on what the Senate Democrats were trying to do. ...And when the day came for the gun control proposals to be voted on, every single one of President Obama's proposals to undermine the Second Amendment was voted down on the Senate floor."
We need leaders who will stand on constitutional principles. No candidate will ever be perfect (God alone is perfect!) but some are much worse than others. An ethical, transparent, God-fearing leader who truly represents the people (and the Constitution he has sworn to uphold) would be a nice change of pace!
The winds of change are upon us... Let the Revolution begin!
© A.J. Castellitto
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
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