Think back to the classic fairy tale story you’ve heard growing up: an old, haggard woman approaches the protagonist asking for a spare piece of bread and a cup of milk to fill her empty stomach. Our heroine gladly complies, providing food and perhaps shelter to the unsightly woman as a simple act of kindness.
After the heroine has passed this secret test with her hospitality, to everyone’s surprise, the grotesque figure transforms into a beautiful fairy godmother, who uses her powers to reward the heroine’s kindness tenfold.
This is a common trope for a reason—it’s an extremely effective test of character to see how people treat those who are at their lowest, most vulnerable moment. Do they come to their aid, or do they ignore their cries for help?
In real life, of course, we don’t have magic at our disposal to perform such character examinations. But the past twelve months—with a global pandemic, a historic election, extreme weather events, and a literal coup attempt—have given us more than enough to scrutinize those around us, especially our elected officials.
This past week, one of these elected officials embarrassingly failed (yet another) test of character. That man is Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who has proven time and time again that his moral compass is akin to a literal Disney villain.
A severe winter storm has immobilized many parts of the U.S., most notably the state of Texas, which was ill-prepared for such an unusual weather event. According to CBS News, 13 million Texans don’t have access to clean, running water. Many are still without power and continue to suffer from freezing cold conditions.
At times of vulnerability, uncertainty, and danger, we naturally expect our government and our elected officials to come to our aid. I mean, why else are we employing them?
Ted Cruz, however, had a different idea this week. With his constituents literally freezing to death and his state plunged into a desperate state of emergency, Ted grabbed his passport and his swim trunks. It seemed like the perfect time for a family vacay to Cancún, where they could soak up the sun on the beach and forget about the troubles back home.
The only problem is, when you’re an elected official, these troubles are…literally your job. It’s such a quintessential 2021 America ‘Let Them Eat Cake’ moment that you’d think it was written by a team of comedy writers. I mean, it has to be satire, right? If only.
Luckily, social media was not about to let this man flee to Mexico undetected. Airport photos surfaced of Cruz, and the backlash was enough for him to issue an insufficient apology and drag his sorry ass back to Texas the next morning (I guess bullying does work). The best part of his walk of shame was his sporting a Texas state flag face mask—a halfhearted symbolic gesture to show he can at least pretend to care about his state.
Also, let’s not forget the larger context of this debacle. This frivolous trip to Mexico is happening during a global pandemic in which non-essential travel, especially via a plane to another country, is certainly not the responsible thing to do. But it’s not his fault, Ted really needed a get-away.
If none of this is enough to horrify you, he and his family even left their poodle, Snowflake, behind in Texas during these uncertain times.
In conclusion, Ted Cruz sucks, and he should lose his job. Snowflake, and the 29 million people of Texas, deserve better.