November 11, 2013

"He came in with his right hand raised and basically kept it raised the entire semester," said Alan Dershowitz about Ted Cruz.

"Every year you see two or three [Harvard Law] students who you know are natural leaders. Everybody saw that with Barack Obama . . . Everybody saw that with Elena Kagan. There are students who come in with charismatic qualities who other people follow. He was one of them."

But how much easier to be the leader at Harvard when you are voicing liberal opinions!

He... enjoyed antagonizing liberal classmates. Late nights at the Law Review were the scene of fierce debates....

“Some topic would come up and it was a free for all,” said Dean Newton, a fellow conservative on the Law Review. “All you’d have to do is say something remotely conservative and it would catch people’s hair on fire. It was fun to goad them.”
Do you have to be the sort of person who finds it "fun" to make your peers mad to emerge as a leader when you are conservative? I'm sure others had some conservative urges but kept silence because they cared about being liked.

I suspect that this is part of a deep structural problem in conservatism today — why the GOP ends up with so many characters who rub women (and sensitive men) the wrong way.

A quote from Cruz:
“There is a depressing tendency in modern political life to disparage those who disagree with you as either stupid or evil.... They’re either too dumb to know the right answer or, even worse, they’re smart enough and yet they wish suffering on others and are just downright evil.’ The truth of the matter, most people are neither.”

55 comments:

cubanbob said...

I suspect that this is part of a deep structural problem in conservatism today — why the GOP ends up with so many characters who rub women (and sensitive men) the wrong way."

Maybe these sensitive types should just stick to voting in beauty contests and let the heavy lifting be done by people who think instead of emote.

Anonymous said...

RE: "“There is a depressing tendency in modern political life to disparage those who disagree with you as either stupid or evil.... They’re either too dumb to know the right answer or, even worse, they’re smart enough and yet they wish suffering on others and are just downright evil.’ The truth of the matter, most people are neither.”

Most People are Not Senators or Congressmen.

Anonymous said...

Re: ""He came in with his right hand raised and basically kept it raised the entire semester," said Alan Dershowitz about Ted Cruz."

Why Do I Have the Feeling That Someone Will Eventually Make a "Sieg Heil", and That That Person Would believe it To Be Clever Commentary?

PB said...

I'm not sure why pointing out facts that conflict with liberal dogma is antagonizing liberals. It would seem their dramatic emotional reaction is evidence of the weakness of their position. Their reaction to demonize and belittle their opponents should repel reasonable people.

Anonymous said...

Sieg Heil" reference, that is.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I'm sure others had some conservative urges but kept silence because they cared about being liked.

Conservative "urges".

Some also "gush with embarrassing enthusiasm".

Anonymous said...

Alan Dershowitz Was a Member of the O.J. Simpson Defense Team: He Knows What He is Talking About.

MadisonMan said...

I also love playing hearts.

Shooting the Moon is not hard if you are playing with people who refuse to pass low hearts.

Anonymous said...

Ted Cruz, like Christie, will NEVER be the POTUS. Never. Ever.

These guys are dinosaurs. Like Palin.

They are the reasons why GOP is a party no one likes.
No one. Not even I like it.

Accept it. Deal with it. The next POTUS is Hillary!

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

The word "urges" to me connotes a passion of the moment, flavor of the month, passing fancy.

If conservatism is anything... it's the opposite of that.
I'm...

Althouse set me up.

Unknown said...

They've interviewed a couple of dozen of Cruz's classmates at this point when he's just become a national figure. Five years into Obama's presidency and I think I've seen one interview with one of his classmates,

cubanbob said...

The scary thing is that AP is probably right. The sleazy lawyer on the Watergate comittee investigation and the Mother Of ObamaCare will probably be the next president unless the Fake Indian Princess gets the nod.

Guildofcannonballs said...

[[[Miller’s play was written during Senator Joseph Mc-Carthy’s Communist witch hunt in the 1950s. Since becoming a senator, Cruz’s critics have likened him to McCarthy for suggesting, without evidence, that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel might have accepted money from extreme or radical groups. The comment drew a rebuke from Senator John McCain, who later called Cruz a “wacko bird.”

Cruz rejects comparisons of himself to McCarthy, suggesting he is the one being judged.

“It’s a tremendous play,” he said. “And it is obviously a lesson against jumping to conclusions and being unfairly and harshly judgmental of others. That is a lesson I wish a lot more in Washington would take heed of.”]]]

The writing is shitty. It skips around and then comes back to a point and then skips around a bit more.

The authors and editors went over and over the article trying to make Cruz look as devilish as possible and the writing suffered because of it. The Boston Globe has shit writers and editors.

Joe said...

Cruz asks questions and pontificates, but otherwise does nothing. Sounds like the perfect president!

Jane the Actuary said...

Everyone knew that Obama was a natural leader at Harvard? Haven't heard that one before. I thought the story was that, though he was president of the law review, he didn't really have much to show for it.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

The NY Post promoting the book has a tidbit of Marsha Clarke, OJ Lead prosecutor...

“As Johnnie Cochran was about to make his closing argument, Marsha went over to him and whispered, “When you’re up there, I want you to think of only one thing: I’m not wearing any underwear.”

Guildofcannonballs said...

The Boston Globe is racist. Anti-Latino assholes, the lot of them.

How white are the members of the Globe who edited this article? Matt Viser is as white as the background of this blog.

What was and is their socioeconomic status growing up? Because I doubt like Hell they care about poor Latinos, single moms, blacks, and Muslims.

They are bigots, straight up.

Jonathan Card said...

Yes. My liberal friends pretend to care about open mindedness in person, but on Facebook or something they will do things like single out one Global Warming skeptic and start a thread with them and about 30 of their friends at the American Meteorological Society and say, "this guy is a skeptic: tell him why he's wrong," or berate me and others as terrible people just for pointing out that boycotting an entire jellybean mfg. because their Chairman disagrees with a law in another state, and that maybe he disagrees in good faith so putting people out of a job before you even hear his side is irresponsible. It's exhausting. I don't even know how to live in this country any more. Do they think I believe voting Democratic is any more moral than they think voting Republican is? Does it occur to them that I don't condemn them like that? No, it's agree or be exiled. I'm so tired of it.

MadisonMan said...

Everyone knew that Obama was a natural leader at Harvard? Haven't heard that one before.

That also raised my eyebrows. Not an assertion I recall hearing either.

bandmeeting said...

America's Politico said: Accept it. Deal with it. The next POTUS is Hillary!

You are probably correct. What an absolutely pathetic statement about this country. Maybe she'll invite you to accompany her for some bullet dodging in the Balkans.

Guildofcannonballs said...

Ted Cruz has led a perfect life. He has never, ever, done a single thing wrong.

His family is beautiful and healthy.

He cares about you.

Anonymous said...

Well, I am a GOP, and so when I say the next POTUS is Hillary! I say with sadness, but with acceptance that will happen. (Example: Obama in 2008. Enough said.)

Who will be Hillary! VP?

The current gov. of MD, Martin O'Malley.

GOP is a toast. Every minute, every sec. spent on dinos like Cruz, Christie, Palin, etc. is a sec. wasted. Focus on developing smart GOP, so that 2020 is still a shot. Forget 2016. These dinos have destroyed the party.

Guildofcannonballs said...

Ted Cruz could have chosen to make many millions using his degree, but instead he chose to serve you, the public.

The man's self-sacrifice has no bounds.

Ted Cruz is Jesus Christ walking in an un-blasphemousness way.

Guildofcannonballs said...

Your bigotry against Cruz is unacceptable. You are hereby labeled.

Guildofcannonballs said...

Ted Cruz has all the skills of the great Freddy Reidenschneider without any of the negative traits, however you define negative to suit your needs and desires.

Anonymous said...

NotquiteunBuckley said...

Please post this on your computer:

Ted Cruz will NEVER be the POTUS. Never. Ever.

Why?

Because Cruz is a dinosaur. Since you are anti-science, I can tell you a secret. Dinos are extinct as they did not adapt to environmental changes. Cruz is already extinct. He will not even win his re-election. You heard here this first. He will not even be re-elected.

Carol said...

Everyone knew that Obama was a natural leader at Harvard? Haven't heard that one before.

Everyone knew that he was black, or colored, or something. Instant bonus points.

Tyrone Slothrop said...

But he’s a litigator. He has strong views and he makes his points clearly and empathically.

We'd better keep an eye on this mind-melding thing.

Kevin said...

"Every year you see two or three [Harvard Law] students who you know are natural leaders. Everybody saw that with Barack Obama "

Which is why we're not allowed so see Obama's law school grades.

Because he was so successful in law school and all...

Kevin said...

"Every year you see two or three [Harvard Law] students who you know are natural leaders. Everybody saw that with Barack Obama "

Which is why we're not allowed so see Obama's law school grades.

Because he was so successful in law school and all...

David said...

" I'm sure others had some conservative urges but kept silence because they cared about being liked."

Or who say the who exercise as pointless. Why try to convince the closed minded?

There are lots of times I do not voice my opinion. It's not to make people like me, but because it's a waste of effort.

David said...

" I'm sure others had some conservative urges but kept silence because they cared about being liked."

Or who say the who exercise as pointless. Why try to convince the closed minded?

There are lots of times I do not voice my opinion. It's not to make people like me, but because it's a waste of effort.

Levi Starks said...

One of my favorite reasons to read the comments here is to see how people respond to people they think they disagree with, being unable to see the sarcasm in the original post.

Anonymous said...

Cruz/Palin, win/win! Go for it. Seriously.

Jim said...

This post and the one before (the "like" post) have crystallized for me why it was a bad idea to give women the vote. As Althouse likes to point out we are all prone to emotionality.

Althouse considers that to be a neutral thing, but I don't. When it comes to politics, emotionality and the celebrity culture, which is nothing if not driven by women, have played a big part in ruining our politics.

Jim said...

This post and the one before (the "like" post) have crystallized for me why it was a bad idea to give women the vote. As Althouse likes to point out we are all prone to emotionality.

Althouse considers that to be a neutral thing, but I don't. When it comes to politics, emotionality and the celebrity culture, which is nothing if not driven by women, have played a big part in ruining our politics.

Anonymous said...

Woo Hoo, Jim the misogynist wins the thread!

n.n said...

The teachers in my life have all invited and welcomed participation. In fact, the silence of students was sufficient to motivate mediocrity.

The truth of the matter, most people are neither.

You can never be sufficiently moderate to appease any extreme.

Christy said...

Yeah, that natural leader thing about Obama didn't ring true to me either. More like he was the first clean, articulate black man (quoting Biden) anyone had ever met and, Oh! What a coup to be able to claim him as one of my best friends.

Bruce Hayden said...

Re: ""He came in with his right hand raised and basically kept it raised the entire semester," said Alan Dershowitz about Ted Cruz."


Well, not everyone with their hand raised in class every day is a natural born leader. I figured out very quickly that the more you volunteer, the less the profs will want to call on you, and by halfway through the first term, I had the profs trained to only call on me when I was ready for them. This allowed me to brief maybe every second or third case, as contrasted with most everyone else who had to do almost every one. Worked great - I was never called on that first year when I wasn't prepared.

I do remember one large Hispanic woman in my class who walked up to me after one class 2nd term and asked me not to volunteer as much because most of the other students didn't like it. Too bad. I was getting my money's worth for my tuition, and it was their problem if they weren't. They could do what I did, and raise their hands too. But they wouldn't.

My advise to anyone getting ready to start law school is to take a Dale Carnegie class, where you learn that pretty much everyone is scared of public speaking, and if you can muddle through, you have a leg up on most, who don't have the nerve to do so. Then maybe join a Toastmaster's club, where you practice making impromptu speeches. If you do that, you will find that you have a distinct advantage over most of your classmates, esp. first year, when most of them are tongue tied when called on in class.

Bruce Hayden said...

Cruz was also apparently one of the top debaters at Princeton, and really, in the country, as an undergrad. No surprise there that he had the confidence to keep his hand raised throughout law school.

He really is a master debater. We have seen him in action in the Senate, where he has deconstructed and demolished some of the lions on the other side of the isle in debate.

Part of why he is so effective as a debated (but maybe not as a politician) is that he has this mild mannered approach, where he just keeps making his points, one after another, and has all the counters ready to go. And, keeps coming back to his point, by bending his arguments, and not, as with many politicians do, by just ignoring what the other side is saying. He answers them, and then uses that as an avenue to get back on point.

Michael said...

Bruce Hayden: Cruz would be an equal to the best in the House of Commons or at Oxford Union. Barry, not so much.

Marty Keller said...

"GOP is a toast. Every minute, every sec. spent on dinos like Cruz, Christie, Palin, etc. is a sec. wasted. Focus on developing smart GOP, so that 2020 is still a shot. Forget 2016. These dinos have destroyed the party."

Seriously, cut it out. History almost always makes fools of absolutists predictions. The GOP was toast in '64; won the presidency in '68. In 1993 the Canadian Progressive Conservatives won exactly 2 seats in parliament; now their successor party is back in power. Oh, and of course: the CP USSR was to be in power forever, until, of course, they weren't. None of us has a clue what will happen in the next two years. Stay loose, bro.

chickelit said...

Ted Cruz talks turkey.

Pettifogger said...

Betamax3000 asked: "Why Do I Have the Feeling That Someone Will Eventually Make a "Sieg Heil", and That That Person Would believe it To Be Clever Commentary?"

Your feeling comes from within you. It casts no reflection on Cruz.

Paul said...

"I suspect that this is part of a deep structural problem in conservatism today — why the GOP ends up with so many characters who rub women (and sensitive men) the wrong way."

Rubbing brainwashed feminist women and sensitive beta schlub men the wrong way is always the right thing to do.

Such foolish women and their toadying manginas are the main force animating the transition of the greatest nation on the planet from its roots of freedom and prosperity into a socialist shithole.

Known Unknown said...

"He came in with his right hand raised and basically kept it raised the entire semester,"

Sounds like a Nazi to me.

Known Unknown said...

Do you have to be the sort of person who finds it "fun" to make your READERS mad to emerge as a leader when you are BLOGGING?

Fixed it for you, madam.

Anonymous said...

I see the manly men are out in full force again today. They growl out their disdain for manginas and brainwashed feminists. Hear them roar! Hear them whimper and whine when they lose elections because of their manly machinations.

Anonymous said...

Obama and the Democrats do a great job of playing on the emotions of women and they fall for it hook, line and sinker.

Obama is the bad boy that women are always falling for and thinking they can change. But once he gets what he wants, he moves on to the next conquest.

And when we point this out, the Inga's of the world say, "Misogynist!"

Because criticizing women for their faults is bad. Women have no faults, only men.

David said...

So Cruz was a gunner.

Not surprising.

a psychiatrist who learned from veterans said...

A lawyer may argue for a position and Cruz is good at it. However, he was proposing a murder suicide threat against his opponents and the murder included of the American government. Sometimes I wonder how extreme his Democratic opponent will have to be for me not to vote for him over Cruz in Texas. The other day a comment on a progressive site was 'the only moderate Republican is a dead Republican.' If the Dem opponent said that my voting for him would be a stretch and I probably wouldn't do it, but I'd want to over Cruz.

jr565 said...

America's Politico wrote:
Well, I am a GOP, and so when I say the next POTUS is Hillary! I say with sadness, but with acceptance that will happen. (Example: Obama in 2008. Enough said.)


Nah.

jr565 said...

inga wrote:
"I see the manly men are out in full force again today. They growl out their disdain for manginas and brainwashed feminists. Hear them roar! Hear them whimper and whine when they lose elections because of their manly machinations."

You seem to have a problem with manly men.

jr565 said...

"GOP is a toast. Every minute, every sec. spent on dinos like Cruz, Christie, Palin, etc. is a sec. wasted. Focus on developing smart GOP, so that 2020 is still a shot. Forget 2016. These dinos have destroyed the party."
Who is that smart conservative you're saying should take the place of these dinosaurs, and what should they believe in. Since you are calling both moderates and Tea Partiers dinosaurs. Im' trying to find out who in the GOP meets your standards.
And should dems not have to worry about being the smart party or dinos? Peddling policies that were dated in the 30's and then calling themselves progressives is not dinosaurish?
The Soviet Union went bankrupt. Socialism is the dinosaur. And all you have to do is look at Detroit to see where the "smart" dems are going to take us.