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Column: 15 signs you've drunk the far-right Kool-Aid

 
Cruz
Cruz
Published Oct. 14, 2013

There has been, to put it mildly, some mass self-delusion going on in right-wing circles. Here's how to tell if you are suffering from the ill effects of the echo chamber:

1. You think Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, nailed it when he told the Values Voter Summit that the Democrats are "feeling the heat" in the shutdown fight.

2. You think the problem is that Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli isn't conservative enough.

3. You think if only the shutdown went on longer, the GOP would win this fight.

4. You think that if the GOP doesn't win the shutdown fight, it will be because of the mainstream media.

5. You think Americans want to shut down the government to get rid of Obamacare.

6. You think the problem is that Cruz didn't talk long enough or that the media didn't cover his 21-hour speech fairly.

7. You think it is better to have 30 "true conservatives" than 51 Republicans in the U.S. Senate.

8. You think Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., had it wrong when he backed immigration reform and right when he went to bat for the shutdown strategy.

9. You think Hispanics will never vote for Republicans so there is no use in pursuing immigration reform. You think it is fine for the GOP to win elections relying almost entirely on white voters.

10. You think Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is a sellout because he thinks repealing Obamacare can only happen by electing a GOP Senate majority and capturing the White House.

11. You think the GOP needs candidates like Cruz to run for Senate in places like Michigan, Virginia and Colorado.

12. You think the GOP would have done better with Newt Gingrich, Herman Cain, Rick Santorum or Ron Paul as its 2012 presidential nominee. You think Santorum blew it when he stopped talking about contraception.

13. You think Republicans should run hard at the national level on a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

14. You think President Ronald Reagan would have decried compromise and supported primarying the Senate minority leader.

15. You think right-wing talk radio hosts are a good barometer of U.S. public opinion.

If you answered "yes" to more than half of these, it's time to rethink your political assumptions.

Jennifer Rubin writes the Right Turn blog, her view from a conservative perspective, for the Washington Post.

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