Ladies and gentlemen introducing first, from the red corner, he hails from the great state of Texas and was given a 100% rating by the American Conservative Union, with a Senate election record of 1-0 and voted the best pound-for-pound Dr. Seuss reader in the Senate: Ted Cruuuuuz!
In the blue corner, hailing from the windy city of Chicago Illinois, selected by the Supreme Leader of Iran as his favorite infidel to out-negotiate, picked by ISIS as the most likely to cause deaths in his country by inviting in terrorists, he is the two-time winner of presidential election and holder of the record for adding more to the national debt than any any other president in history, ladies and gentleman, the President of the United States of America: Baaaarak Oooobama!
Perhaps that's a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much. Holding a press conference in the Philippines Wednesday morning, without mentioning him by name, President Obama slammed Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-Texas) stance on Syrian refugees, saying it was a "potent recruitment tool" for ISIL.
When asked about Obama's words, Cruz responded: "Insult me to my face."
Speaking in Manila, President Obama immediately stepped into the role he is most comfortable in: Divider-in-Chief. For the second time in three days, instead of trying to calm an American population justifiably concerned that bringing in Syrian refugees will invite terrorists to strike here next, the President took the opportunity to rebuke the people with whom he disagrees.
Obama said the Syrian refugee women and children frightened the Republicans, and that's why GOP leaders don't want to allow them in. Furthermore, he added.
“I cannot think of a more potent recruitment tool for ISIL, than some of the rhetoric that’s been coming out of here during the course of this debate. ISIL seeks to exploit the idea that there is a war between Islam and the West. And when you start seeing individuals in positions of responsibility suggesting that Christians are more worthy of protection than Muslims are, in a war-torn land, that feeds the ISIL narrative."
That was a direct slam to Senator Cruz's position. But Cruz's reason for allowing Syrian Christians into the United States is that, as infidels, Christians are in much greater danger from ISIL than Muslims. And since most of the countries surrounding Syria are Muslim nations, the Christians have nowhere else to go, while those who follow Islam have many other places to go.
When Cruz was asked about the president's comments, he answered Obama with "fighting words" -- but, as you can see by the video below, they were given in a pleasant tone:
"It is utterly un-befitting of a President to be engaging in those kinds of personal insults, attacks," Cruz said, charging that Obama was "belittling the Republican field."
"I would encourage you, Mr. President, if you want to insult me, come back and insult me to my face," Cruz said of Obama, who is in the Philippines.
"Let's have a debate on Syrian refugees right now," he added. "We can do it anywhere you want. I'd prefer it in the United States and not overseas where you're making the insults. It's easy to toss a cheap insult when no one can respond."
Enjoy the video of Cruz's response below. As for me, I'm going out to buy an extra-large bag of popcorn and look for a front-row seat to watch the fight (I bet it will be on C-Span).