Well written piece in the Business Insider saying Ted Cruz has no dignity... because he officially gave it away to Donald Trump. And I agree, but interested to read what others think? Link and most of the opinion piece down below in the quote box... but here is the author's argument in a nutshell:
What is dignity?
Dignity is "bearing, conduct or speech indicative of self-respect."
So, for example, if a man tweets side-by-side photos of your wife and his wife intending to show that his wife is hot and yours isn't, and then that man beats you in an election, and then he leaves the tweet up for two years, and then you praise him for having "disoriented and distressed members of the media and political establishment" such as yourself, then your speech has failed to indicate self-respect, and you lack dignity.
What is dignity?
Dignity is "bearing, conduct or speech indicative of self-respect."
So, for example, if a man tweets side-by-side photos of your wife and his wife intending to show that his wife is hot and yours isn't, and then that man beats you in an election, and then he leaves the tweet up for two years, and then you praise him for having "disoriented and distressed members of the media and political establishment" such as yourself, then your speech has failed to indicate self-respect, and you lack dignity.
Donald Trump stole Ted Cruz's dignity — but some Republicans have held on to theirs
http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-ted-cruz-time-blurb-republicans-dignity-2018-4
Nearly two years ago, I wrote a note of warning to House Speaker Paul Ryan: Trump can beat you, but he can only take away your dignity if you surrender it to him voluntarily (or if you are Jeb Bush).
Ryan didn't listen.
But on the occasion of Ted Cruz's florid Time 100 tribute to the man who accused his dad of being involved in the JFK assassination and threatened to "spill the beans" on his wife, I thought it was time to take stock of the overall state of Republican dignity: Who's offered it up to Trump on a plate, who's preserved it, and has anyone besides Jeb had it taken away involuntarily?
The results are a mixed bag — not as grim as you might expect.
What is dignity?
Dignity is "bearing, conduct or speech indicative of self-respect."
So, for example, if a man tweets side-by-side photos of your wife and his wife intending to show that his wife is hot and yours isn't, and then that man beats you in an election, and then he leaves the tweet up for two years, and then you praise him for having "disoriented and distressed members of the media and political establishment" such as yourself, then your speech has failed to indicate self-respect, and you lack dignity.
I should be clear about what dignity is not. To be dignified, a Republican officeholder does not have to be a liberal. They don't have to abandon long-held positions on issues like taxes and healthcare just because Donald Trump agrees with them. They don't have to criticize the president at every turn.
They just have to show that they're their own people, making choices of their own volition rather than because Trump has put them in the position of feeling they must do something.
Mostly, they have to avoid doing things that are obviously ridiculous. It's a low bar. And a handful of Republican officeholders have even managed to clear it.
These Republicans have kept their dignity
Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski sit beside President Donald Trump.
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
The most obvious dignity-retainers are Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski. They have been mindful of their power as the most moderate Republicans in a closely divided body, and they've leveraged that power to shape policy.
They've felt free to speak candidly about the president, who does not appear to live rent-free inside their heads.
I don't think it's a coincidence that Collins and Murkowski are women. But what's set them apart in terms of their ability to wield independent power is the fact they both possess independent political profiles in their home states (Maine and Alaska, respectively), which means they are not held at the mercy of the Republican base.
Murkowski has already once lost a Republican primary for renomination and gotten herself reelected by running as a write-in candidate. Collins beat a credible Democratic challenger by 23 points in 2008, not an easy year for Republicans nationally, due to her enormous crossover appeal.
Unlike most Republican officeholders, Collins and Murkowski have reason to believe they could take on Trump and win, and that confidence has shone through as self-respect. (I'll talk a little later about another Republican senator — Jeff Flake — who does not have reason for such confidence.)
A number of blue-state Republican governors have similarly demonstrated their independence from Trump: Massachusetts' Charlie Baker, Maryland's Larry Hogan, and Vermont's Phil Scott, to name a few. That's laudable, but easier and less impressive than what Collins and Murkowski have done, since they don't have to share a legislative process with him.
But the most impressive dignity-retainer is Nikki Haley, the UN ambassador, since she's held onto her dignity while serving in the federal executive branch. Not only has she spared herself the usual dignity-squandering chores like defending the president's reaction to the Charlottesville riot. She has also managed to break publicly with the administration, burnish her own political profile, and not get fired.
I actually don't understand how she manages it.
A subjective case: Is Lindsey Graham dignified?
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
The senator from South Carolina has been all over the map. During the campaign, he called Trump "a race-baiting, xenophobic religious bigot." He said if Republicans nominated Trump, they would get destroyed and deserve it. He said Trump was a "nut job" and "a loser as a person" (which, incidentally, sounds like something Trump would say).
And now? Well, now Trump and Graham are friends, it seems.
Graham has praised the president's handling of foreign-policy issues — especially when Trump disagrees with Graham's Senate nemesis, Rand Paul — and...
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