Here at the Alligator, we’re often accused of being a bastion of frightful liberal bias. We like to think we’re just empathetic to the less fortunate and are willing to call current events and public figures as we see them, but hey, to each their own.
We’re also aware that some believe we let liberal politicians in the U.S. — if such a thing, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Ma., excepted, even truly exists — off the hook for their transgressions, reserving our vitriol solely for conservative politicians and persons of importance. Although this isn’t necessarily true — we are more than happy to praise individuals such as Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota, who spoke out against the reclassification of Florida’s manatee population — we will concede that, more often than not, individuals who make blanketly racist statements try to curb civil liberties in the name of religious freedom and deny climate change tend to rouse our ire.
For those of you who belong to the aforementioned school of thought, don’t worry, we’ll be getting around to refuting Hillary Clinton’s political history and undue influence over the Democratic Party soon enough. In the meantime, although we hate to disappoint, we’d like to talk about a different politician who can teach us all a valuable lesson: Sen. Ted Cruz.
With the Trump Train seemingly slowing down, Cruz’s victory in Iowa has propelled him into the national spotlight. As is customary, several articles, reports and think pieces have been drafted on the man’s history, politics and persona.
Last Friday, Jezebel — the BuzzFeed of feminist journalism — published a piece titled, “Here’s What Happens When You Try and Track Down a Ted Cruz College Rumor.” Over the course of nearly 2,600 words, comprising primarily of quotes from several of Cruz’s undergraduate classmates at Princeton University, a particularly… interesting — we’re being generous here — picture emerges. Rather than tell you about them, we’d rather just show you:
“Everyone in my class that I’ve talked to is horrified that he’s a candidate,” said an alumnus named Leonard Nalencz.
“I tried not to know him,” said an anonymous woman who lived in Cruz’s dorm.
Speaking on attending a public policy conference and law course with Cruz, where he was apparently one to speak over professors and peers in order to dominate the dialogue, one anonymous alumnus noted he “had a complete allergy towards the (law) profession when it was over.”
Other anecdotes alternatively refer to Cruz as “creepy” and an “odious figure.” One particularly revealing story tells of Cruz reducing a peer to tears after telling her that her mother “was going to hell and was a whore” for having had an abortion.
For the sake of space and focus, we’re not really going to touch on how hated Cruz is among the Republican Party, how avowed progressive and fellow evangelical Jimmy Carter said he’d rather see Donald Trump as president or how his own daughter seems reluctant to be on the receiving end of his affections. Instead, we’d like for you, our fellow Gators, to take note of Cruz’s reputation among his Princeton colleagues and interpret it as a foreboding fable: Be careful not to become “that guy” or “that girl.”
When in the pursuit of attaining gratifying achievement and success, it is easy to become insular and self-serving: But who among us wants to graduate from UF with few who would speak to our positive qualities and traits? College presents a rare opportunity to hone one’s social skills and learn about people or ways of life different from your own; we’re not sure if calling a classmate’s mother “a whore” is the best utilization of that opportunity. Want to learn how to win friends and influence people? Don’t be a Ted Cruz.
