This stream-of-consciousness listing is already getting overly lengthy, so I’ll end it there for now. Every item I thought of led to several more, and the eventual listing would keep President Cruz busy well into his fourth term.

With his spare time, he could be going directly to the American people,telling them what he’s doing and why, and asking them to put pressure on Congress to pass laws he needed to do even more.

Excuse me, but that seems absurd to me.

You pick one small and rather innocuous phrase out of an entire interview where he’s fairly clear about what he was saying both before and after it, and you read his mind on that?

The phrase “of course you would”? That’s supposed to mislead, when he has already said in the statement just prior to that that ” We should triple the border patrol and Federal Law requires that anyone here illegally that is apprehended should be deported”? He has made it clear what he’s talking about, and he assumes that O’Reilly is asking a follow-up question.

And then, right after the phrase “of course you would” (and by “right after,” I mean the next sentences) Cruz says, “…of course you would. That is what ICE exists for. We have law enforcement that looks for people, who are violating the law that apprehends them and deports them.”

He is again referring back to people who are already apprehended—he is describing enforcing the current system, and enforcing it on people who are apprehended.

That seems to be the meaning of the words there. I don’t see any reversal, or any intent to mislead.

What I’m saying is that I believe Cruz deliberately tried to leave the impression he’s more like Trump than Trumpsters give him credit for — it’s that short “Bill, of course you would” that was meant to do that. I read all the rest and I really do get all the nuances in his position, but with that short bit he meant to deceive.

Did you read the transcript I already linked and told you to look at? Did you read anything I already wrote you in my earlier comment

Here it is [emphasis mine]:

CRUZ: Listen. We should enforce the law. How do we enforce the law. Yes, we should deport them. We should build the wall. We should triple the border patrol and Federal Law requires that anyone here illegally that is apprehended should be deported. It is the greatest difference, Bill.

O’REILLY: Mr. Trump would look for them to get them out. Would you do that if you everywhere President?

CRUZ: Look. Bill, of course you would. That is what ICE exists for. We have law enforcement that looks for people, who are violating the law that apprehends them and deports them.[here, he is saying law enforcement looking for people who violate the law in general, not immigration law only—he means illegals who are picked up for other violations should be deported, whereas at present they are not]

O’REILLY: Just let me get this straight.

CRUZ: But, Bill —

O’REILLY: Wait, wait. Just let me get this straight, because this is important, very important. So, I use the same example. So, Tommy O’Malley from County Cork in Ireland is over here and he overstays his visa and he has got a couple of kids and he settled into Long Island. And, you, President Cruz are going to send the Feds to his house, take him out and put him on a plane back to Ireland? [now O’Reilly, who is not a lawyer, has mixed apples and oranges and introduced a whole other topic, visa violations, on which all the candidates have already said the rules should be tightened and visa overstays should not be allowed]

CRUZ: You better believe that right now we actually cannot do that, because we do not have a biometric exit-entry system. [he is clearly talking about visas here, you see] So, we do not know what in your example Tommy gets home.

O’REILLY: Right, you cannot find them, but you require that. But, then the court would probably block you. Look, I am sorry to cut you off, but I want to get to the meat of this. The federal courts would probably block you from doing that, taking Mr. O’Malley and put him on a plane —

CRUZ: Why would they do that?

O’REILLY: Because due process.

CRUZ: Why would they do that?

O’REILLY: Due process.

CRUZ: No. No. Listen, I have spent my entire process as a constitutional lawyer. So, federal law requires a biometric entry-exit system on visas. [you see, they are continuing to talk about visas here] The Obama Administration refuses to enforce federal law. As President, I will put that in place, so we will know the day someone overstays their visa, we will be able to send law enforcement to apprehend them and send them home…

He is saying anyone here who is apprehended should be deported. In other words (and I already explained this), like virtually all the other candidates, he says that if someone is picked up by the police for some sort of offense, they should be deported. He is NOT advocating a special “round em all up” program. In the context of the interview that should be clear to the listener.

And then they segue to visas.

CRUZ: Look. Bill, of course you would. That is what ICE exists for. We have law enforcement that looks for people, who are violating the law that apprehends them and deports them.

That “Bill, of course you would” in response to O’Reilly’s “Trump would look for them to get them out. Would you do that if your were President?” is Cruz trying to appeal to the Trumpsters by making it sound as if he, too, like Trump would go looking for illegals in an aggressive way. Talk about spin.

ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz……

You pay attention to sound bits. I will refrain from speculating on why beyond your Rubio agenda. BTW, I am in Reno after 3 days campaigning for Cruz. Where are you?

You are right that a majority (I don’t know if it’s a great majority, but it’s certainly a majority) of Americans are not loyal to the Constitution. But how the hell is that the fault of the “GOP Establishment,” whoever they may be? I’d say it’s an inherent aspect of human nature — a republic, and the Constitution, are just too hard for most people to understand and follow. They want to be told what to do by a strongman and be taken care of cradle to grave. But if you want to blame somebody, blame the leftists who seized control of our schools and our media 40 or 50 years ago. How did the “GOP Establishment” cause that?