A moment after posting my preceding piece on Ted Cruz's fanciful talk yesterday at the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, I unmuted CNN, and there sat Dana Bash, who had attended the talk. She was practically chortling at Cruz's "lack of specifics" in his accusations of Obama's program of racial divisiveness, and in a near state of unqualified wonder at Cruz's instant diversion back to Obama when she asked him what he would do about Baltimore.
In brief, Bash stripped Cruz's appearance of its intended depth; she exposed it for what it was — an immensely shallow and indeed utterly absurd assault on the president's imaginary political malpractice.
I mention this news segment not because Dana Bash was on to something of which we were unaware, but because she was only highlighting the monumentally conspicuous: that Ted Cruz is a consummate blowhard whose reputation for mordant debating skills is without merit.
Artful debaters provide, you know, facts, evidence, some sort of support for their arguments. Sen. Cruz, on the other hand, is a timeshare salesman; he struts and bluffs and weaves tall tales, all of which can be easily refuted and simply exposed — on the spot. So easily and so simply, I'll predict that the upcoming GOP presidential debates will act as a negative on his campaign. Even a Jeb Bush could blow him out of the water, and leave him dripping in humiliation.