Senator Ted Cruz on "The 11th Commandment"

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX)  made a piercing floor speech denouncing the tactics of Majority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) of reneging on promises about floor votes over the Export-Import Bank.  Majority Leader  McConnell used the parliamentary tactic of "filling the amendment tree" to only add the Export Import Bank Amendment to the must pass Senate Highway Bill and a symbolic Repeal Obamacare vote (which was doomed to fail cloture), Senator Cruz lambasted protecting the vested interests of the Washington Cartel through legislative legerdemain which ousted Senate Majority Leader Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) made famous. 

Thereafter, it was unlikely that Senator Cruz was going to be invited to any future Cocktail Parties by the Washington establishment.  But Grand Old Party establishment grey beards like Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), denounced the lack of decorum, which opaquely criticized the Junior Senator from Texas. Of course these attacks were more restrained than earlier criticisms of young turk's aggressive  ways in Washington, which colleague Senator John McCain affectionately attributed as "wacko birds".

 Ronald Reagan had popularized the political "11th Commandment"  -- to not speak ill of your fellow Republican.  In fact, Senator Cruz has been conspicuous for not denouncing Donald Trump because Cruz does not want to attack fellow Republicans on the campaign trail. Charles Krauthammer considers Cruz's floor speeches to be an example of hypocrisy. 

The question is whether telling the truth is included in Reagan's 11th commandment is key to discerning party loyalty.

Senator Cruz has been positioning himself as an insider campaigning for the Oval Office as an outsider. Cruz has also bucked the Republican Senate Leadership's "go along to get along" modus operandi through the budgetary filibuster in September 2013 which caused the federal government to shut down for over a fortnight. 

Many have attributed the wave of support for Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump to dissatisfaction with Do Nothing Republicans who will not speak the truth. If the Trump boomlet ends, has Ted Cruz positioned himself to gain the support of those who want to Make DC listen again?

A broader question for the Grand Old Party faithful is whether the electorate should not register their protest for elected officials that campaign one way but govern in another that is almost indistinguishable from the Democrat opposition. 

The Huckster on Running for Higher Office

Former Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR) has distinguished himself as a candidate for the Republican nomination in 2016 by coming out of the gate attacking his fellow Republican opponents.

 Perhaps it was lost for Gov. Huckabee on the mythical "third tablet" of Mount Sinai.

Several of the top tiered GOP presidential candidates, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) are "moonlighting" for the GOP nod as they continue their elected roles in the U.S. Senate.  It should be noted, however, that Senator Rubio has vowed not to seek re-election for the Florida Senate seat as he threw his hat in the ring for President.

Obviously, Governor Huckabee is not observing the Reagan 11th commandment "Thou shall not speak ill of thy fellow Republican".

Be that as it may, we need not judge Gov. Huckabee on words alone, as this is not his first time to the presidential rodeo.  

It is true that Governor Huckabee was not holding office when he ran for President in 2008, as his term in Little Rock expired January 8, 2007.  However, the telling fact is whether "The Huckster" applied the same standard to his 2008 opponents as he did to the current crop of candidates.  

Of Governor Huckabee's many swipes against his opponents in the 2008 cycle, he was remembered for spreading anti-Mormon innuendo against former Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) rather than taking pot shots against Senator John McCain (R-AZ) for holding office while running for President.

If Governor Huckabee folksy populist quest for higher office is not successful, there is little chance of going back to his gig at Fox News, after trash talking "the trashy" women on Fox News Channel,