Ted Cruz as a consolation prize

Re “Cruz isn’t Trump, so he’s good enough,” Opinion, April 12

I can’t ever remember agreeing with Jonah Goldberg, and I won’t break the string with his column on Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) emerging as the Republican Party’s presidential nominee from a contested convention.

Like other pundits, Goldberg considers only politics and strategy and completely neglects Cruz’s toxicity. The senator has not only a disengaging personality, but also a lot of narcissism that he tends to disguise with an evangelical gush.

Cruz has indicated he is willing to harm most Americans by shutting down the government to suit his needs rather than those of countless others. Let’s not forget the supporting role he played in the Supreme Court appointment of George W. Bush as president in 2000.

Goldberg joins others in forgetting just how toxic Cruz is. Jim Hoover Huntington Beach

Goldberg laid bare the main issue with the Republican Party at this time with these words: “[Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s] definitely not in love, but he recognizes that these are the cards we’ve all been dealt.”

The passive victim tone tells it all.

The refusal to accept and understand that the actions of the Republicans themselves have played a significant role in bringing their party to this point is what is crippling them. This will continue to cripple them until they accept responsibility for what they have created. Kevin Price

Torrance

Before the GOP embraces Cruz completely, I wish someone would address this issue for me:

President Obama was harassed for years by the birther movement. Many on the left suggested there was a huge strain of racism in the complaints, but birthers insisted they were simply protecting the integrity of the office.

In Cruz, we have a real foreign-born man running for president, but I haven’t heard much about this from anyone. His father is from Cuba, and Cruz was born in Canada, has a Canadian birth certificate and was a Canadian citizen until 2014.

I once saw Cruz interviewed on this topic, and he simply said there was no issue. He’s conflating “naturalized” citizen with “natural born” citizen. Since he was born in Canada, he’s not and can never be a natural born citizen.

Where is a good birther when we need one? Cheryl Holt Burbank