Another Reason to Hate Ted Cruz
The senator's vacation isn’t just an insult to Texas, but to parents
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As millions of Texans suffer without power, water, or heat in the middle of an unprecedented crisis—known asshole Ted Cruz made his way to the Ritz Carlton in Cancun. Even worse, when taken to task for his ill-advised vacation plan, Cruz defended himself by saying his daughters really wanted to take a trip with their friends.
“Wanting to be a good dad, I flew down with them last night and am flying back this afternoon,” Cruz said, giving the impression he was simply escorting his family to Mexico. After someone leaked texts to The New York Times, however—and folks online pointed out that Cruz was carrying a suitcase meant for more than just a quick trip—the Texas senator admitted he had planned on staying for a few days of sun.
Still, even after apologizing (sort of), Cruz shifted responsibility to his daughters, 10 and 12 years old, who had a “tough week.”
I can’t imagine how mad Texans are watching someone who is supposed to fight for their interests simply abandon the state and country when he’s needed most. As a parent, though, I’m furious.
Most American children haven’t had a birthday party, a sleepover, or an unmasked playdate in over a year. But his children are cold, so he whisks them away to a luxury resort?
My kid is 10 years-old, like one of Cruz’s daughters. She has her classes in a refurbished dance studio, behind plexiglass, as teachers Zoom in to a projector at the front of the room. She doesn’t get to leave that room all day. When she eats lunch at her desk, she is not allowed to speak in order to reduce aerosol transmission. These safety measures are smart and necessary, but also grueling and difficult to manage.
Layla is an only child, so we do our best to plan outdoor playdates—which have become harder to manage with the cold weather—and allow her extra screentime to play with friends online. Still, she is lonely and struggling. I have no idea what kind of impact this year of isolation will have on her mental health, especially given she’s at an age where social-emotional connection and learning is so important.
That’s why it’s so galling for Cruz to use his daughters’ happiness as an excuse for shirking his duties. American parents barely have their heads above water right now. They’re losing jobs and cutting hours, helping their children with remote learning, and trying to keep their spirits up when it feels impossible to do so. We don’t get a break, and neither do our kids.
And what about the children in Texas, freezing and trying to survive without basic necessities as their representative flies off without a care?
I would like to think this will be the end of Cruz’s political career—that a misstep this lacking in empathy will come with consequences. But I’m jaded enough to know better.
I’m sure lots of kids would love a trip to the beach with friends. To pretend that there’s no national pandemic, that their lives are normal. But normalcy is a privilege reserved for the rich and their children. Ours will just have to wait.
UPDATE: Someone alerted me to this horrific story after I published: a 11-year old boy froze to death in Texas. I don’t know what to say - just that this didn’t have to happen.
When I read "wanting to be a good Dad" horseshit, I literally started screaming. "Tone deaf" doesn't cover it at all.
When my kids were still in high school, there was a vicious ice storm that knocked our power out for nearly a week. We were stupidly fortunate to nab the last room in a shitty hotel that still had power and would let us bring our pets. We were stupidly fortunate to have enough available credit to afford five days in a run-down hotel at $50 a night, two adults, two teens, a dog, and two cats, crammed into two lumpy double beds with scratchy sheets and thin blankets.
But sure, to be a "good parent", you have to be able to fuck off to a luxury resort at a moment's notice. The rest of us should be so ashamed of ourselves.
Fuck him.
Periodically there are rumblings of Texas seceding from the nation. If it weren't for the children who deserve better parents than they have I'd actively cheer on the departure. Actually Texas children would be better off if taken out and placed in foster or adoptive homes as far as possible from a state that operates as if run by dimwitted teenagers with too damned much testosterone.