Ted Cruz is a heckuva smart guy.

He managed to convince the entire House to push him into the limelight. The House, as you know, did not overwhelmingly want to support his plan. He managed to rally them around it.

He delivered a technically-not-a-filibuster speech for almost a day, delaying the Senate so badly that Harry Reid, who thinks anarchists have leaders, generously granted him time so that Cruz could waste all of it in another one of those comments only Harry Reid seems to understand.

Spot polling shows that more people know Ted Cruz than Rand Paul right now, which is great news for a Senator looking to attract attention and donors.

Cruz’s epic rant was carefully crafted so that the media could not cover the story without hitting the highlights of Obamacare’s many problems. Those mainstream outlets that elected to cover his Green Eggs and Ham recitation did so to ridicule him—but followup stories show it had the opposte effect: Americans either thought it was cute or disregarded the story entirely. This means, of course, that he suffered no blowback from it.

Even in a rambling critique like CNN’s, there is acknowledgment that Cruz made an impression on voters. Most of the negative press—which is to say the mainstream media—is having a tough time either understanding the speech or focusing on what he said. This also helps Cruz understand where the media are planning to go with him if he runs.

Of course they are going to try to stop Cruz; but right now, this far into his political ascent, they don’t seem to have much to say about him that would turn voters off. But they better find something soon—Cruz has a way of connecting with people, and Chris Christie proved that Americans gush over a guy who can beat a liberal over the head with his own mistaken beliefs.

Heck, he proved he can unify Republicans to do something not immediately in their own interest. Everything else ought to be easy.

The Czar of Muscovy

Божію Поспѣшествующею Милостію Мы, Дима Грозный Императоръ и Самодержецъ Всероссiйскiй, цѣсарь Московскiй. The Czar was born in the steppes of Russia in 1267, and was cheated out of total control of all Russia upon the death of Boris Mikhailovich, who replaced Alexander Yaroslav Nevsky in 1263. However, in 1283, our Czar was passed over due to a clerical error and the rule of all Russia went to his second cousin Daniil (Даниил Александрович), whom Czar still resents. As a half-hearted apology, the Czar was awarded control over Muscovy, inconveniently located 5,000 miles away just outside Chicago. He now spends his time seething about this and writing about other stuff that bothers him.