I'm sure many of you have probably heard about the allegations against Cruz that were flying around last week, but if not, here's a quick rehash.
Last Tuesday, a cover story published by the National Enquirer (a pro-Trump tabloid) came to attention after Trump brought up the issue in a talk. The story, entitled "Ted Cruz Father Linked to JFK Assassination!", basically used one piece of evidence -- a photograph of a man standing next to Oswald as he passed out "Fair Play for Cuba" leaflets in New Orleans -- to draw a connection between Ted Cruz's father, Rafael Cruz, and the infamous JFK assassination. While the man in the photograph was never identified by the Warren report, some "photo experts" claimed, "There’s more similarity than dissimilarity [between Rafael Cruz and the man in question in the photograph]... it looks to be the same person and I can say as much with a high degree of confidence."
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| Photo used by the National Enquirer to link Rafael Cruz and Lee H. Oswald. Oswald here is the man in the white shirt on the left end. Rafael Cruz is supposedly the man in the white shirt standing next to Oswald. |
Other than a physical resemblance between Rafael Cruz and the man in the photo, there are some facts of Cruz's life that could have made his being in the photo possible. First off, there are records showing that Cruz lived in New Orleans in 1967, and lived in Austin, Texas in 1961. Even if Cruz didn't live in New Orleans at the time the photo was taken (1963), Austin wouldn't have been too far a drive to make his presence in the city impossible. Another fact that news-reporters continue to bring up is that Rafael Cruz's political philosophy lines up with the topic of Oswald's pamphlets. Apparently, Ted Cruz admitted last year that his father was pro-Castro and tried to join Castro's guerrilla army in the 1950's.
When the story broke out last week, Ted Cruz denied the entire thing, saying it was a lie "planted by Donald Trump's henchmen." While this may just be Cruz being politically defensive, there are some clues that point away from the man in the photo being related to Ted's father. For example, the Warren Commission questioned one of the other men in the same photograph, and found that the other man in white (Charles Steele) remembered the 'Rafael-in-question' to be taller than the real Rafael. Also, while Ted's father may have been pro-Castro in the 1950's, he was disillusioned when the dictator came to power in 1959. By 1960, Rafael was speaking on the 'evils' of the system he once supported.
We'll probably never know if the man in the photo with Lee Harvey Oswald is actually Rafael Cruz. In my opinion, it seems like an accusation typical of a mud-slinging political nomination process, but the coincidence of this issue coming up right as we've been reading Libra in class struck me. It reminded me of this weekend's reading, where Lee feels connected to everything he is seeing in the movies and in the newspaper. Coincidences after coincidences. But to quote David Ferrie, "There's no such thing as coincidence. We don't know what to call it, so we say it's coincidence."
I'm pretty sure this whole thing is part of a CIA conspiracy with Trump at its center. A guy like that couldn't have _seriously_ been voted the Republican candidate, yeah? He must be an agency plant. It's a CIA plot to take down the GOP from the inside.
ReplyDeleteBesides, we all know Ted Cruz _is_ Lee Harvey Oswald. They have the same smile and everything.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tnJGujMuv1s/UOkqVcrU9dI/AAAAAAAAAjk/-8IqEp2USck/s1600/lee+oswald+lho+retouched+with+smirk.jpg
http://www.ifyouonlynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Ted-Cruz-smile.jpg
The truth is out there!
I thought this was a nice summary of that strange rumor, which I hadn't heard of until it was brought up in class. The whole notion of Cruz' father being connected to Oswald came across as pretty dumb and I think a single photograph is way too flimsy to base such a connection on. However I liked how you brought up the coincidence thing at the end--who knew that Oswald's name would be in the news again while we were reading Libra. What if this all really did mean something?
ReplyDeleteI'm going to try really hard not to let my feelings towards Trump affect my response in any way....
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I think that you have done a really great job throughout this post at laying out the accusation clearly. To be honest, I look at the picture and question which white shirt is supposed to be Cruz. :P Personally, I like Kari's idea that this is another conspiracy set up by the CIA. Emma's right, the whole notion that Cruz's father is connected to Oswald is ridiculous and obviously another one of Trump's many moves to shift the focus of political conversation away from the actual issues that need to be presented.
Oops, I guess I couldn't help myself.
By the way, isn't it a coincidence that Trump brought this up just as we were getting to 22 November? Like you said, coincidences after coincidences; but like Ferrie said, there is no such thing as coincidence.
You never now...
ReplyDeleteDonald Trump is a legitimate businessman and a good citizen, asking all of the right questions!!!
ReplyDeleteBut let's say Cruz's father really was the man in the picture. I wonder how the public opinion would warp around Cruz if the fact was proven. Obviously it'd be an interesting mudcake in the "mud-slinging political nomination process," but is the JFK assassination still pervasive enough in the American psyche to do considerable damage to Cruz? Idk, it'd be interesting to see what would happen.
ReplyDeleteIt would be really interesting if Ted Cruz's father was actually there, but even if he was, I don't think that would particularly tie into Ted Cruz's campaign at all. It's just Trump trying to dig up dirt on Cruz. Start rumors and stuff
ReplyDeleteNicholas Branch would have loved this coincidence. It's just one more example of how many seemingly random ties to Oswald can be found, which potentially point to larger conspiracies. But the accusations against Cruz's father seem comically overblown--akin to the theory that he's the Zodiac killer, it's hard to tell how seriously anyone is taking them. Just because he happened to be in the same place as Lee Oswald in New Orleans on that particular day doesn't link him in any substantial way to the assassination of the president. And yet, so much is made of the supposed David Ferrie link, even though the evidence there is just as circumstantial. It does place Cruz's family story in historical context, to place his father amid the throng of anti-Castro Cubans in Florida and New Orleans at the time. But that's hardly incriminating in and of itself.
ReplyDeleteMainly it just seems like on more way to troll Ted Cruz. Which, in my view, is a thoroughly worthwhile endeavor!
This entire semester, but especially Libra, has made us hyper-aware of any coincidences turned conspiracies in the media. Donald Trump is an especially interesting figure in the world of conspiracies because with the amount of accusations he makes, perhaps one day he might finally hit on one. Now that would certainly be interesting. Would like to see DeLillo write a novel on him.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, the Enquirer. The most credible news source on the planet! I recall in Men in Black, a great conspiracy action movie, that those very tabloids are actually a communications method between agents through outrageous titles. So obviously, Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones will back us up on this theory. I'm excited to see you made a blog post out of this though, it's too funny to ignore. Especially with Cruz dropping out immediately after this was announced, ILLUMINATI CONFIRMED!
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