Ted Cruz Mounts Faux Filibuster, Right Wing World Goes Wild!

There are at least two things wrong with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and his "defund ObamaCare" filibuster: a) he's "blocking" cloture on a bill he actually supports, and b) the actual "bill" is not yet before the Senate. It is therefore not a filibuster and has no practical effect whatsoever. It's grandstanding at its most overt and most self-congratulatory. Cruz is doing this to pump up Cruz in Cruz's base. That's it.

South Park's Randy Marsh, after having been denied access
to the internet for far too long. And, what the average
FReeper looks like right now.

It's working, in that limited scope. I checked out FreeRepublic.com* to see what they thought of the spectacle. Comments were racking up as fast as I could read them, and the overall attitude there could be best expressed in the image of Stan's dad Randy, from South Park, shown here. In short, they like it a whole, whole lot. To the point of absurdity. The cheerleading there exceeds the most rabid right-winger's idea of what an "Obama-Bot" feels for the President to a ridiculous degree.  What's more, most of them seem to be under the misapprehension that this is an actual filibuster. Those lonely realist FReepers willing to point out the obvious, are shrugged off in exchange for the euphoria the rest of the crowd is feeling. Which is why the South Park image is so perfect.

Feel free to check it out, but by all means, bring a moist towel with you: FreeRepublic.

By the way "fauxlibuster" has been trending on Twitter, and has been reacting with glee and snark in pretty much the opposite direction.


*And in case you're wondering FreeRepublic is a far-right wing website that fancies itself "real America." Though they are arguably fringe kooks, they are the Tea Party, the hardcore element of it, in any event. That's why I keep tabs on them, even though dipping a toe in that cesspool can be hazardous to ones health. And as a graphic artist, I have to also say that the site has never been redesigned since its debut in the mid-1990s. Calling it an eyesore would be too kind.

UPDATED: to add that upon reading more (why, I don't really know), it's kind of disturbing that you can't get through very many posts without calls to prayer, mentions of God and Jesus, and other intertwining of religion and politics. I mean, I shouldn't be surprised (God, guns 'n' gays, and all that), but these people are really treating this Ted Cruz sideshow like a religious experience.