Cruz In For A Bruisin'

A while back, I wrote a post in which I admitted that Ted Cruz was right about something. It was one particular aspect of one particular issue, and it was in ways he probably never intended much less understood. But it was still quite shocking for me to admit. Well, now I've got something even more unexpected to admit:

I feel sorry for Ted Cruz.

I'm sure I wasn't the only one who was sorry to see his campaign end, if only because he was the slightly-lesser of two evils. But beyond that, I can't help but feel bad for him and the way he's been treated. That treatment reached new levels of clarity in that final few days, with those much-publicised encounters he had with Trump supporters. Those folks treated him pretty much according to Trump supporter stereotypes, with ridicule and playground-level arguments.

This was made worse by the way satirists seemed to take the Trump supporters' side, pulling-on Cruz rather than acknowledging the awful behaviour of his tormentors. This might be because Cruz is - according to nearly everyone he isn't related to - an rather unpleasant person. Though I fear that it's because Trump's behaviour has been so constant that is just fading into the background.

I've noticed a disturbing trend where Trump's rivals criticize him, then the ridicule seems to be scattershot, with no consideration for the possibility that one side might be far more deserving of attack than the other.  For instance, when the Pope criticized Trump's border wall proposal, I saw several people on TV and the Internet point out that the Vatican has a wall around it.  Yes, it's an easy joke, but is that really the aspect of the story that needs the satire here?

On the other hand, if people target Cruz because of disdain for him as a person, that's quite disturbing too. Politics is becoming more and more like the social world of a school; that became obvious to me in George W Bush's election wins against Al Gore and John Kerry, which was essentially the frat boy using his social status to beat the nerds. Though I suppose in retrospect, Bill Clinton's victories had a Big Man On Campus vibe, so maybe it's been going on for a while.

Extending this analogy, Cruz is the creepy kid that no one likes. But the thing about that kid is, if you have a shred of humanity, you feel sorry for him because you know that even he doesn't deserve the universal scorn he gets.  And that's how I'm looking at Cruz right now.  I don't like him any more than most do.  But when the school bully picks on someone, you have to take the victim's side, whoever he is.