It was sort of a special Texas edition of “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” last night. First up was a segment about Sen. Ted Cruz and the not-so-favorable reputation he has aggressively earned after only a few months in the Senate:
“The Daily Show” is a little behind the curve commenting about and poking fun of Cruz, who’s been the subject of seemingly nonstop stories, columns, editorials and news segments since he took office in January. In February I posted an entry on this blog headlined “Ted Cruz finds the spotlight” and pointed to this paragraph in an American-Statesman editorial about Cruz (whom the Statesman endorsed over Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in last year’s Republican primary):
“We’re not surprised that Cruz has found the media spotlight. We expressed concern after his election that he seemed more interested in appearing on Sunday morning talk shows than in serving the people of Texas as a constructive legislator. We can’t say Cruz hasn’t been engaged thus far, but his engagement might soon set a Senate speed record for planting oneself on the margins.”
Cruz replaced Kay Bailey Hutchison, who retired after 20 years in the Senate with a conservative voting record, but also one that showed an occasional bipartisan spirit. Hutchison also was featured on “The Daily Show” last night, as a guest to talk about her book, “Unflinching Courage: Pioneering Women Who Shaped Texas”:
Naturally, Jon Stewart asked Hutchison about Cruz:
“Ted Cruz is very bright. Princeton graduate, Harvard Law School. He’s a bright person,” Hutchison said, starting to struggle to find her words. “And so I think that he is very committed to his cause of trying to keep America free and, uh, so ”
She trailed off. Stewart jumped in. “Everything you said could have described Lex Luthor.”
Hutchison laughed. Then she laughed again. She held up her hands in mock futility.
A brief discussion of the Senate’s increasingly poisonous atmosphere closed the interview. “You don’t miss it at all, do you,” Stewart asked.
“I don’t,” Hutchison said. “Not one minute. Not one minute.”