As Texans freeze, a ticket to paradise
Seems like the state’s junior U.S. senator could use a break, and we could, too: Resign.
Texans’ anger with Ted Cruz right now could power an entire electrical grid.
The outrage was sparked by viral images on social media Thursday showing Texas’ junior senator making his way through the airport, bag in tow, and boarding a flight to sunny Cancun as more than a million of his humble constituents shivered in the cold without power, heat, light, or in many cases, running water.
With the statewide death toll mounting into the dozens, snowmegeddon melted into catastrophe for struggling Texas families already on the brink amid a global pandemic. Even as millions saw their power restored, others faced burst pipes, boil water notices, long lines for food, and warnings of another hard freeze on the way.
It’s a mess. We don’t begrudge anybody their “wanna get away” fantasies.
But a senator elected to represent nearly 30 million people? He got a ticket to ride and he don’t care.
While it’s not Cruz’s job to shovel the coal, and the crisis is the handiwork of state officials, not federal, we expect leadership and perhaps a little solidarity from a man whose re-election campaign heavily rested on claims of his compassion and advocacy for suffering Texans after Hurricane Harvey.
“When the hurricane hit, you stood up for Texas,” a 2018 TV ad proclaimed. “And Ted Cruz stood up for you.”
Not this time. He plopped himself down on a direct flight to paradise and left us to fend for ourselves in this frozen hell.
Cruz quickly announced plans to fly back and defended his tone-deaf travel as a gallant act of good parenting. He released a statement saying his daughters had asked to go on a trip to Mexico with friends since school was canceled for the week and he had merely accompanied them on their flight.
“People are going to say what they're going to say. I'm a dad and just trying to be a good dad, and take care of my kids,” Cruz said in a video captured at the airport by the Dallas Morning News’ Spanish-language publication, Al Dia.
Cry us a Mai Tai. Good parents all over Houston are modeling resilience for their kids as they struggle to make do without enough food or water or the lesser comforts of civilization such as iPhones and Netflix.
What about modeling a little resilience not just for his kids but for the millions of other Texans struggling to survive? Plenty of elected leaders are doing their part.
And excuse us if we don’t find the excuses of Flyin’ Ted any more trustworthy than those of Lyin’ Ted, the nickname he first acquired from candidate Donald Trump and later earned wholeheartedly in his role as President Trump’s surrogate, parroting mythical claims of widespread voter fraud and perpetuating delusions that helped fuel the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Cruz’s excuse that he was just escorting the kiddos became even less believable late Thursday when the New York Times reported it had obtained texts that Cruz’s wife, Heidi, sent to friends on Wednesday, lamenting a “FREEZING” house and inviting them to join the Cruzes at the oceanfront Ritz-Carlton at $309 per night. She proposed a getaway until Sunday, the Times reported, which doesn’t quite jibe with Cruz’s insinuation of a onenight stay.
This editorial board called for Cruz’s resignation last month for his role in the Capitol riot, saying he wouldn’t be dearly missed by constituents anyway because he has never prioritized the unsexy tedium of governing and advocacy over the goal nearest and dearest to his heart: winning the presidency.
But escaping to Mexico hits a new low — even by the senator’s own standards.
Recall that back in December, Cruz showed no mercy in responding to a CNN story on Democrat politicians, including Austin’s mayor, who weren’t heeding their own advice to residents on COVID-19 precautions.
“Hypocrites. Complete and utter hypocrites,” Cruz tweeted. “And don’t forget @MayorAdler who took a private jet with eight people to Cabo and WHILE IN CABO recorded a video telling Austinites to ‘stay home if you can … this is not the time to relax.’”
It appears that Cruz flew commercial, but only after requesting an official police escort from the Houston Police Department to assist in his departure.
The senator couldn’t just take a vacay from his own obligations. He had to distract others from theirs during an escalating emergency that’s draining already scant resources at HPD.
Texans are aware of Cruz’s deficits in compassion, as evidenced by his vote against funding for Hurricane Sandy victims.
But he always seemed a little too calculated for such a gross error in political judgment. We were wrong. Cruz’s trip to Mexico was foolish, callous and sadly telling of his approach to the job over the past seven years.
Take our advice, senator, and resign. Seems like you could use a break and we could, too, from an ineffective politician who, even in crisis, puts his personal itinerary before the needs of Texans.