CRUZ STEALS INFANTILE STUNT FROM TEXAS SECESSIONIST CHRISTIAN GUN NUT

While the mainstream media is trying to persuade you that, apart from that awful Donald Trump, the field of Republican presidential candidates consists solely of mature, thoughtful citizens who are eminently qualified to be leaders of the Free World, Ted Cruz worked with the right-wing site IJReview to produce a video in which he cooks bacon by wrapping it around the barrel of a machine gun:



Cruz didn't originate this stunt -- I was hoping to be the first to tell you that, but Talking Points Memo beat me to the punch. However, TPM doesn't tell you much about Cruz's (unacknowledged) source:

Although Cruz and IJR didn't mention it, they seem to be borrowing the concept from YouTube user Dustin Ellermann, who uploaded his own gun grill to the Internet in March. Ellermann's video, in which he whispered "so much America right now" while wrapping bacon around a silencer, has been watched more than 920,000 times.

Watch the original video below:

Ellermann is not a mere "YouTube user." He was the winning shooter on Season 3 of the History Channel's Top Shot. He also runs a Christian camp:

Before he was the “Top Shot” champion, he was (and remains) the director of Camp His Way a summer Christian kids camp and year round retreat facility. He and his wife are also foster parents and have 3 children of their own....

“Shooting is fun to me and I thank the Lord for the opportunity to be on “Top Shot” and to now be able to share my passion for shooting through clinics, range days and other appearances. Putting God and family first, I look forward to seeing where this journey leads.” ~ Dustin

At the camp, marksmanship is one of the ways kids glorify God:

Youth Marksmanship Camp pic.twitter.com/cSzeDW3dNw

— Dustin Ellermann (@TopShotDustin) March 4, 2014

To support the camp he sells a lot of gear that links God and shooting:

#prayhardshootstraight and #2A custom engraved @Hexmags available at http://t.co/Mbr9UrgOMG all funds benefit camp! pic.twitter.com/HxYmCzuOR2

— Dustin Ellermann (@TopShotDustin) February 25, 2015

On social media, he posts the usual gunner boilerplate, plus (at least once) some Texas secessionism:

"Blaming guns for crime is like blaming spray paint for graffiti." ~ Rich Grassi #2A

— Dustin Ellermann (@TopShotDustin) July 28, 2015

Free men don't ask permission to keep and bear arms.

— Dustin Ellermann (@TopShotDustin) June 21, 2015

"The Republic of Texas" has a nice ring to it lately. #Texas #2A

— Dustin Ellermann (@TopShotDustin) June 28, 2015

He writes for Texas Fish & Game magazine and, well, his posts what you'd expect. The church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina? Title of his column: "Another 'Gun Free Zone' Mass Murder." A couple of years ago, he posted a video of helicopter hunting of hogs in Texas, done to the tune of Louis Armstrong's "It's a Wonderful World":



Oh, and do you want to see a prairie dog blown to bits? He's got that! (Don't worry, it's pixilated out, but you can "Click for the uncensored version.")

And, of course, he thought that fake Craigslist help-wanted ad for "Attorney General," posted after Eric Holder announced his resignation, was "one of the funniest things ever":



I'm sure his bacon video was Cruz's inspiration -- after all, it was shown on Fox & Friends and linked at Breitbart. And I have to say that he and Cruz seem to be a perfect match. Maybe President Cruz will appoint him to head the ATF.

****

Oh, and of course he's a Bundyite:

I've heard a few rumors of weapon confiscations from those at #BundyRanch. So now we have no #2A and #1A zones? What happened to America?

— Dustin Ellermann (@TopShotDustin) April 12, 2014

(More responses to this at Memeorandum.)