Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) came to the Senate floor packed with a number of colorful metaphors on Tuesday, as he prepared to speak against Obamacare until he is "no longer able to stand."
It didn't take long for Cruz to bring up a children's book during his argument that the Democratic-controlled Senate is a place where legislation, like the GOP effort to defund Obamacare or shut down the government, goes to die.
"That little engine can't," Cruz added, speaking to the apparent futility of his effort to keep Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) from removing the anti-Obamacare provision out of the CR with a simple majority vote.
The Senate is also like professional wrestling, Cruz claimed.
"It's wrestling matches where it's all rigged," he said. "The outcome is predetermined, and it's all for show."
Cruz followed up by critiquing pundits who have accused him of waging a pointless battle against Obamacare. Around 25 minutes into the speech, he accused them of being the type that would have appeased the Nazis in the lead-up to World War II
"If you go to the 1940s, Nazi Germany," Cruz said. "Look, we saw in Britain, Neville Chamberlain, who told the British people, 'Accept the Nazis. Yes, they'll dominate the continent of Europe but that's not our problem. Let's appease them. Why? Because it can't be done. We can't possibly stand against them.'"
Then out came the moon.
Cruz was comparing the task of defunding the Affordable Care Act to the mission to send a man to the moon. They two were equally daunting, he concluded.
Cruz's speech is not technically a filibuster, because it won't delay any votes. He has a 30-hour limit, when his time will run out and cloture will be invoked.
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