Most Ridiculous Moment - May 1, 2016

Title: "Mocked"

It was a fun day on the Sunday talk shows. Ted Cruz demonstrated, forcefully, why no one likes him; Lindsey Graham reminded us why most people hate Donald Trump; and the pundits treated viewers to their fan fiction of a fantasy world where Republicans and Democrats in Washington are non-partisan and get things done because Barack Obama and John Boehner have a weekly round of golf.

Ted Cruz was on all three shows, where he insisted “the support we're seeing is surging,” and “Republicans are uniting behind our campaign.”

He claimed that “Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton and John Boehner are all the Washington cartel. It is the corruption of Washington.”

He said “Hillary is a very smart, committed liberal.” And said of Trump, “he yells, he screams, he curses, or he insults”

Cruz said Trump, of all people, was soft on illegal immigration and is weak and naive for supporting the Iran deal. Martha Raddatz asked, “If you rip it to shreds, then what do you do?”

Cruz answered, “Then what you do is you make absolutely clear to the Ayatollah Khamenei he will not acquire nuclear weapons.”

He showed off his well-known people skills by managing to insult and visibly annoy Meet The Press host Chuck Todd. Cruz spun a conspiracy theory that the media are entirely run by Democrats, and could make millions airing GOP debates, but are leaving money on the table so they can ensure Trump is the nominee. Then as soon as wins, they will turn on him, so Hillary Clinton will win the election.

He said “Even though the media stands to make millions of dollars off of the debate, you hear radio silence from the media about no debates. They're giving up millions of dollars. And the reason is your network's executives are partisan Democrats.”

And, “Suddenly you're gonna hear every day about Donald Trump's tax returns.”

On CBS, host Jon Dickerson asked Cruz if was trying to overthrow the will of the people, asking, “In a situation where delegates over people, won't that lead to riots?”

Cruz answered, “No, it won't, although Donald may do everything he can to encourage riots.”

On the same show, Lindsey Graham endorsed for electing Ted Cruz, saying “I believe Donald Trump's foreign policy is isolationism. It will lead to another 9/11,” unquote He argued for more U.S. force in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Libya, and expressed fear that Trump will hurt all Republicans, noting “Women and Hispanics hate his guts, for good reason.”

On ABC, Raddatz went to the Clinton e-mail well again, asking Bob Gates, Secretary of Defense under Bush and Obama, if he would know, just by looking a document, that it should be Top Secret. He said no, so the unsatisfied host asked again.

Chuck Todd spoke with CIA director John Brennan about travel to the dangerous land of Europe, asking “How safe will Americans be in places like Germany this summer?” Brennan pointed out authorities have stopped many attacks, prompting Todd to respond, “But there are a lot of plans.”

But the most absurd moments came in the Meet The Press panel. Tom Friedman said of foreign affairs, “This is a Waylon Jennings moment,” and observed quote “one of the things that's deeply behind it is the mood in the country for the last eight, ten years has been where the children of permanently divorcing parents.” unquote, to which Todd said, “I don't know if I've heard anybody put it any better than that.”

The entire panel was in agreement in reaction to John Boehner and President Obama appearing in a skit together at the White House Correspondent's Dinner.

Todd said “And all of a sudden I'm thinking, "That's great." And I'm thinking, "Wait a minute. Where was that when America needed it?" and “We all wondered, what if they golfed together all the time?” And “What if they did share a smoke,” with Kristen Welker adding “What would that be like, if they could have actually done that?”

Todd also anticipated possible public reaction, saying “But that kind of comment gets mocked by the partisans on both sides.” and quote “we're going to get mocked right now. 'Oh, there you go. Fournier, Todd, Friedman, all you guys."

Ron Fournier agreed, saying “the fact of the matter, that's what leaders do – is you set an example and you set a tone”, and “again, and again, and again, and again.”

So, Ted Cruz mathematically cannot win the nomination until a second ballot at a convention, so the party should unite around him; the media is conspiring to deny him the nomination by not broadcasting yet another debate; Germany is too dangerous visit because of terrorism, while in America this year toddlers have shot 23 people; and although it's well-known Republicans planned to obstruct the President from the start, and were rewarded with articles asking why Obama won't lead, and even now won't consider the current Supreme Court nominee, if only Obama and Boehner smoked together, there would be cooperation in Washington.

And that's the most ridiculous thing that happened this Sunday.