It was zero...I gave you one up...

PS...I got the damn "sight" thing too...always gets me in hot water but never get credit for seeing.

That's why I no longer call myself a Republican.
I now suddenly recall an editorial cartoon I think drawn by Branco ~
The GOP elephant stands on a folding chair terrified by Obama and a tiny mouse labeled "Government shutdown."

Sure, others complain about states rights but no man, has the right to enslave another man.

And yes I realize we are still enslaved in some respects but this time...we have a mind...a mind that can never be enslaved.

So despite the malignment and personal attacks, you feel Cruz should still endorse Trump. That's your opinion. I differ. I don't have any problem with Cruz refusing to endorse a man who attacked not only his wife, but his father, with open lies while chanting "lyin' Ted" - especially when that man has taken openly anti-Constitutional stances, such as on the use of Executive Orders and calls for limitations on freedom of speech. To endorse a candidate who espouses such ideals would be a repudiation of Cruz' own Constitutional values.
2. Cruz endorsed political candidates who were Constitutionalists. If Trump were such, Cruz' comments would have been the very endorsement you claim he held back.
3. The Constitution specifically reserves ALL powers not specifically delegated to the Federal Government to the States. Please show me where in the Constitution the Federal Government is given power over marriage, because I can't find it. Cruz' defense was precisely in favor of the Ninth and Tenth Amendments - not religion as some make it out to be. Go read his own statements on the matter.
4. Good for you, and I mean that in all seriousness. I won't be voting for either Donald or Hillary either.
5. See point #1 above. It has everything to do with Donald Trump. Cruz was invited to speak at the convention by Donald Trump. Cruz' speech was known and read by Donald Trump in advance. Trump's own people were whipping up anti-Cruz sentiment even before Cruz gave the speech. I didn't ignore your words about Cruz - I pointed out the double standard you were applying and how Trump was the first to break the very pledge you accuse Cruz of not holding to.

Yes, I see huge character flaws in Donald Trump. His past support for the Brady Bill is a red flag. His past financial support for Hillary Clinton is a red flag. The judgments of his unfitness for executive office from at least four bankruptcy proceedings are not lost on me. His abuse of eminent domain in order to build golf courses and hotels offends me. His constant whining about getting attacked by political opponents despite first not holding himself to his own standards disgusts me. His narcissistic insistence that his opinions are the ones which truly matter is the sign of someone so caught up in themselves they can't see reality - a stark reminder of our current Commander-in-Chief.

So was Ayn Rand evil for supporting Nixon twice? I say no. She simply made her choice between what she saw as the best (or least worst) of two undesirable alternatives.

I hope I'm wrong a well. What worries me is that I have a knack for seeing things for what they are and where they are leading. I do hope I'm wrong.

Curious, shouldn't Cruz care about himself? Isn't that an Objectivist principal? Doesn't one have to stand for their own beliefs rather than stand for someone else's? I respectfully ask these questions.

A king would apply more to your view moreso than an elected leader. In this country representative government means they are supposed to be acting in the best interest of the people who elected them - that is the role. Aside from "a rising tide lifts all boats" the POTUS should have zero self interest when it comes to his official decisions, no?

Wish that the Republicans had done that with the Democrats instead of reaching across the aisle.

From the gates of hell...which is exactly where alinsky wanted to be...

OH OH...you said Dino!

Fix it for himself...not necessarily the citizens.

Don't know about you but I hope We're wrong and everything won't be as bad as we project...I know, I know...dreaming again...

Exactly!

That's why they hate Cruz.

Well, that might have been the original idea, but the electoral college now prevents a third party candidate from having any chance at all to be elected. Ross Perot got 19% of the vote and got ZERO electoral college votes. It guarantees that the two major parties have a monopoly on the process.

Add to that the crooked delegate system, and you have what we seen in the democratic party- Sanders was nearly as popular as Hildebeast, but got nowhere. If it wasnt for Trump's popular support that let him hijack the republican party, we would be stuck with another Bush. It really is time for change. I hope that Trump can open up the process and make it more competitive for all

I would like to see a constitutional amendment that said something like "no law shall be passed which takes from one citizen and gives to another".

Then the presidency might even be limited to those people who are efficient administrators of the constitutionally mandated programs, with no ability to take from me and give to others. That would eliminate the lobbyists, the $2billion dollar elections, the cronyism, etc.

He knew... I listened to a phone call after and he said he knew he was entering the lions den when he took trumpet up on the invitation to speak only to the republican voters and not to endorse which the requirement was already null and void.

Poor taste to tell people to vote for Constitutionalists? [shakes head]

The whole problem with our current system is that politics has devolved from being about principles - like the Constitution - into cults of personality - like Barack Obama or Donald Trump. It is no wonder that our nation has devolved and slid into malaise. Until we again embrace the values which made our nation successful, it won't matter which spray-painted face is on the cameras every night.

And the problem is in making the Presidential election popular in the first place. The Constitution calls for the President to be elected by the Electoral College, whose delegations were supposed to be selected by State Executives - not John Q. Public.

Dead on...we were discussing that parallel last night at work.

People do hate Trump. Its visceral. Hopefully they will hate Hillary more (who really deserves the hatred). Cruz was just a distraction. He couldnt succeed in his NEVER TRUMP campaign, so he tried to continue the campaign at the convention. Cruz is a low class brat, who took his marbles and went home where he should stay.

According to Gary Johnson, Cruz's speech amounted to an endorsement of Gary Johnson, not Trump.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/21/politic...

I never thought Ayn Rand advocated for the kind of crapy things trumpet has done...I see her "selfishness" as my "Celfishness". (each individual cell in your body is responsible for it's own survival and when those needs are met then the value gets passed on) - as in capital investment, values created and traded. A cell in your body would not steal, cheat or defraud another cell in your body.

Trump ain't perfect, that's for sure.
I've complained here before about the choice between the loose cannon or the crook but that's all we got.
No, there ain't gonna be a Gary on any serious rise.
I'd think it more likely for the sun to rise in the west.

There are creatures on all sides and inbetween pushing buttons these days...Cruz had nothing to do with that.

I agree with all you say in analysis however I do not like the idea of 1 man 1 vote (pure democracy) because it leads to decadence (like we are experiencing now with the Democrat party buying votes by giving away free stuff. Doing away with Republicanism is a sure fire way to a dictatorship because that's what you always get. Rome did not heed Cicero's warnings and ended up with its first dictator, Julius Caesar thus marking the beginning of the end of the Republic of Cinccinatus). The rest is history and as they say, history repeats itself and that is where we are today with this upcoming election......