The ghost of Tailgunner Joe

By Mustang Bobby

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R) is new to the job, but he's already making news for himself by being a shameless jerk. He's already gotten some notice for claiming that John Kerry and Chuck Hagel are not "ardent fans" of the U.S. military — they were both wounded in Vietnam — and now he's gone and accused Mr. Hagel of being a secret supporter of Iran. It got bad enough at the Senate confirmation hearing for Mr. Hagel that Florida Sen. Bill Nelson (D) got pissed off.

You have to realize that Mr. Nelson is not the most excitable person in the world — if he was any mellower he'd rot — so this little flash of temper on his part is the equivalent of a full-tilt rant from anyone else.


You go, Bill.

For those of us over a certain age, Mr. Cruz reminds us of another junior senator some sixty years ago who made a name for himself by accusing people of being "fellow travelers" and scattering the pigeons with character assassination. To some people, that shit never gets old, and my fellow Texans have got a fresh version of the dyspeptic demagogue on their hands.

(Cross-posted at Bark Bark Woof Woof.)