February 17, 2016 5:23 AM

Another Great Moment in Poorly Researched Campaign Slogans

“You know that ‘TrusTed’ logo?” asks Hlinko at DailyKos. “The one with TRUS and TED merged, yet separated via different colors? Turns out that when you Google ‘TRUS,’ the logo at once becomes hilarious and hilariously appropriate.”….[H]ere’s the first result when you Google TRUS: A transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) is an ultrasound technique that is used to view a man’s prostate and surrounding tissues. The ultrasound transducer (probe) sends sound waves through the wall of the rectum into the prostate gland, which is located directly in front of the rectum. So you could read “TRUSTED” one of two ways. You can read “TRUSTED” as it was allegedly intended to be read: “You can trust Ted Cruz.” Or you could read it as a subconscious message from the dark recesses of Ted Cruz’s frustrated, warped erotic imagination: “Won’t someone please probe me anally!”

Once upon a time, in a land (not so very) far away, there was Rick Santorum, who amusingly became the butt (pun intended) of a long-running Internet joke referencing the byproducts of anal sex. It was the perfect response to a self-righteous, intolerant, homophobe convinced his religious/moral framework is so far superior to those of other, lesser mortals that he believes it appropriate to force all Americans to abide by it. The separation of Church and State? To Santorum’s way of thinking, that’s something important only to losers and Liberals. REAL Americans love Jesus and would have no problem with mixing politics and religion. (Right…because Iran and Pakistan have been SO successful with their theocracies.)

Now there’s Ted Cruz, who’s to Christian charity and tolerance what Timothy McVeigh was to nonviolent conflict resolution. (True Christians don’t promise to bomb the Middle East and turn sand into glass.) An even scarier version of Authoritarian Christian Theocrat 2.0 than Santorum- AND (by all available indications) a thoroughly objectionable and unpleasant personality- Cruz is surrounded by a family who believes him to be the Chosen One, anointed by Almighty God to lead America out of the moral swamp. If that isn’t a recipe for religious tyranny, I don’t know what would be. Then again, it’s only “tyranny” and “oppression” when someone else is doing it to you. When you’re doing it to them, it’s “moral leadership” and “honoring God.”

Unfortunately for the Chosen One, while he may excel at being a judgmental, intolerant, self-absorbed careerist and Christian zealot, he seems to be struggling when it comes to surrounding himself with a competent campaign staff.

I’m no political strategist, but even I can tell you that no proposed campaign slogan should be adopted without at the very least engaging in a cursory Google search. It took about 30 seconds on Google to corroborate that Cruz’s campaign slogan makes him the new Rick Santorum, someone whose world-class bigotry and self-righteousness make him a target for those willing and able to avail themselves of any opportunity to embarrass the candidate. Turns out Ted Cruz is a target-rich environment.

Honestly, how can we trust someone who can’t even hire a campaign staff capable of doing the most basic sort of online research? Ted Cruz may believe himself chosen by God…but his arrogance and self-importance don’t begin to mask his plainly evident ineptitude and inability to hire competent support staff. If he can’t surround himself with competent, capable people, how can we assume him to be capable of handling the pressures and challenges of being President?

Prepare yourself for more transrectal ultrasound jokes over the coming weeks and month. Cruz has only himself to blame.

blog comments powered by Disqus

Technorati

Technorati search

» Blogs that link here

About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on February 17, 2016 5:23 AM.

Not exactly "Bros for Bernie," but everybody's got a thing, right? was the previous entry in this blog.

The road to success is riddled with cheap aphorisms and low bridges is the next entry in this blog.

Find recent content on the main index or look in the archives to find all content.

Contact Me

Powered by Movable Type 6.0.8