Just in case you missed it, last week United States Senator
Ted Cruz (R-Texas) secured his place in American history by speaking on the
floor of that august legislative body for 21 hours and 19 minutes straight, the
fourth longest filibuster ever. No stops. No breaks. No interruptions, though
it makes me wonder just how and if he went to the bathroom. But that’s another
column.
Why Cruz’s tireless tirade? He wants to defund, stop, halt,
do all he can, anything he can, to derail “The Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act” (PPACA), passed by both houses of Congress and signed into
law by President Obama in 2010. You know,
the healthcare law, the most significant overhaul of our country’s healthcare
system since Medicare and Medicaid passed in 1965.
PPACA’s goals are pretty simple and good: to ensure access
to affordable health insurance and health care for the 48.6 million Americans
who lack coverage. Minimum wage workers, young adults, day laborers,
independent contractors, the unemployed, folks who work for companies that
either cannot or do not provide insurance, eight million children.
The law seeks to bring a measure of security and peace of
mind to every last American citizen, anyone who gets sick, anyone who worries
about whether a trip to the doctor or hospital spells doom, and not just for
the body but also for the wallet. But apparently, in Cruz’s opinion “ObamaCare”
(as he calls it) will instead lead to the downfall of the republic, the
bankruptcy of the federal government, and the apocalypse.
As Cruz said in his filibuster, “I rise today in opposition
to ObamaCare…to speak for 26 million Texans and for 300 million Americans. All
across this country Americans are suffering because of ObamaCare….By any measure
ObamaCare is a far less intimidating foe than those I have discussed (Nazi
Germany, Soviet Union, etc.), with the possible exception of the Moon. The Moon might be as intimidating.” Hmmm. The moon?
He continued, in no particular order: “Duck Dynasty is one
of the most popular shows on TV. It is about a God-fearing family of successful
entrepreneurs who love guns, who love to hunt and believe in the American
dream.” And, “I am a big fan of eating White Castle
burgers.” Cruz also read "Green Eggs and Ham". Guess when you have 1,279 minutes to fill, you
wing it.
Did I mention he also held up some other rather
important government business? Funding the government so it won’t shut down.
Raising the debt limit so Uncle Sam won’t default on trillions of dollars in
debt, which could rock the markets and even destabilize the entire world
economy.
Cruz’s filibuster did fail.
The Senate finally voted to get back to business. But the sideshow plays on and Cruz and his apostles—who
just as rabidly also want to trash health care for all—they are still in the
game. Even though the health care law is
the law already. Even though a government shut down won’t derail the PPACA—it
is exempt from defunding. Even though the President has made it clear he will
veto any bill killing or altering the law. Most ironic of all is that Cruz
represents the state with the absolute worst record of caring for the
uninsured, Texas,
where 24 percent of his constituents lack any coverage, including almost 1.4
million kids. (Massachusetts’ coverage rate is 96 percent.)
So here’s my unadulterated take on the honorable Senator
from the Lone Star state and his historic histrionics. Cruz is crazy. Crazy, as
in willing to crash down an entire government and the largest economy in the
world all to make a point—or perhaps more important for him, to win an
election, to get on the TV news shows, to light up Twitter, and to be the
darling of his equally rabid disciples.
The most ominous thing of all is that there is crazy funny
and then there’s crazy scary. Cruz may
have finally stopped talking but his act, his shtick, his performance, he and his
ilk? They are still standing, spoiling for a fight. For there is much more at stake in the health
care debate than just whether or not we as a society can care for the least
among us: the vulnerable, the young, the economically exposed, the sick. Call
me crazy but as a person of faith I want to see every last American cared
for.
The craziest thing of all is that Cruz and those of his political
stripe do not seem to care one bit about the fundamental question of whether or
not we as a nation can even govern ourselves anymore. The answer to that challenge, more than any
one law, is what really needs to be debated.
Will the crazies win? God help us all.
The Reverend John F.
Hudson is Senior Pastor of the Pilgrim
Church, United Church
of Christ, in Sherborn (pilgrimsherborn.org). If you have a word or idea
you’d like defined in a future column or have comments, please send them to
pastorjohn@pilgrimsherborn.org or in care of The Dover-Sherborn Press
(Dover-Sherborn@cnc.com).
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