No True Scotsman

For some people their lodestar was the Constitution. Trump was an imperfect means to serve the Constitution. And then, they found, the Constitution must be sacrificed to serve Trump.

— Gregg Nunziata (@greggnunziata) March 29, 2022

"Adjacent" is opening a very strange door there. Almost an escape hatch.  This is why:

Conservative ex-judge J. Michael Luttig, whom Cruz has said is "like a father to me":

"Once Ted Cruz promised to object, January 6 was all but foreordained ..."

(via @PostKranish)https://t.co/vrYtyjmtQB

— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) March 28, 2022

To be fair, many people seem to find it hard to realize those who rise to prominence are not always corrupted by being there, but weren't really moral avatars when they started:

The more I ponder the complete moral and ethical dissolution of Tailgunner Ted Cruz, the more vividly I hear the voice of a pudgy orange Palpatine, whispering to him about the power and splendor that await him if he embraces The Dark Side. https://t.co/08YmbPL6HA

— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) March 28, 2022

Ted Cruz started his political career advancing “Agenda 21,” the pre-Q-Anon conspiracy theory that Obama and the UN 🇺🇳 wanted to take all our golfs. He may have thought that was insane-but-what-the-hell, but you can’t keep doing that stuff without people deciding you mean it, and actions do speak louder than words.  Well, that and: live by the lie, die by the lie.

...By my recollection, the actual lawyers gave him some idiot research tasks just to get him out of the room where the actual work was being done."

Remember @tedcruz , this is how everyone felt about you then, and how they feel about you now. 2/2

— Reed Galen (@reedgalen) March 28, 2022

You’ll be shocked know that Ted Cruz‘s account of his role in the 2000 FL litigation/recount is a ludicrous fabrication.

— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) March 28, 2022

I’ve no reason to doubt Rick Wilson was there.

Stone has exaggerated his role in every election since 1972. He’s a degenerate fabulist.

there were actual lawyers involved in the 2000 recount in Florida, but none of them were named Ted Cruz. https://t.co/FujDekRnR2

— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) March 28, 2022

That pudgy orange Palpatine didn’t have to whisper very long; or be very persuasive.

United States senator Ted Cruise announces that he would violently defend his wife from malicious slanders. https://t.co/etBWMQw6fe

— DPRK News Service (@DPRK_News) March 28, 2022

Ted Cruz sold his soul for a mess of pottage a long, long time ago.  Then again, so did the entire GOP (Cruz was first elected to the Senate in 2012, only 10 years ago.  Where does the time go?).  People like Nunziata still can't accept that, though they were quite willing to accept AOC and Bernie as the only people who were the "true" Democratic party.

So it goes.