TED CRUZ, AVANT-GARDIST

Jennifer Rubin is calling Senator Ted Cruz "a jerk" because he attacked fellow Republicans for being "squishes" in a recent speech at a FreedomWorks conference in Texas. Cruz is portraying himself and fellow hard-liners Rand Paul and Mike Lee as the guys who won the gun control fight for the GOP, at a time when fellow Republicans were going wobbly; in fact, as Dave Weigel has pointed out, Cruz's chronology is completely inaccurate and the Republicans were already winning the fight. But Cruz has no time for such facts. He's pleased with himself, and he doesn't seem to care who's pissed off at him.

But isn't that a bad career move for a rookie senator? Steve Benen think so:

All of this dishonest grandstanding may make right-wing activists swoon, but it should also cause Cruz some trouble on Capitol Hill. Senators have traditionally forged relationships with their colleagues in order to build coalitions and be more effective in passing legislation. Cruz is going out of his way to do the opposite -- scolding his veteran colleagues, lecturing them on his wisdom, and creating conditions in which just about everyone who knows him dislikes him.

This should make it all but impossible for Cruz to play a constructive role in the chamber, though that may not matter to him, since he doesn't seem especially interested in governing anyway.

But isn't that the direction the congressional GOP has been heading in for years now? Only silly, old-fashioned Republican members of Congress -- mostly retired ones -- think it's worthwhile to "play a constructive role in the chamber" and "be more effective in passing legislation." Cruz is just openly embracing the new style in a bolder, more avant-garde way than his fellow Republicans in D.C. He's not even pretending that he's willing to work with people who aren't hardcore. There's an honesty to this, at least.

Cruz is the future of GOP politics. He doesn't even bother trying to seem cooperative. He defines everyone to the left of him, even the likes of Jennifer Rubin, as sellouts and RINOs. (By the way, a lot of the right agrees with him on that.) His goal is noncooperation until the wingnut revolution happens, and then merciless application of right-wing Correct Thinking afterward. He's the counterrevolutionary New Man.