It has happened.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), praised President Barack Obama on Wednesday for bringing the Syria strike to Congress, saying that the move gave the chance for the voices of Americans to be heard.

Well, that’s kinda nice.  Giving credit where credit is due.  Kinda makes me think that maybe Cruz ain’t all that nuts after all, making a statement lik … Oops.  Too soon.

In the same speech …

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Wednesday that the country would be better off if the Senate was full of people like Jesse Helms, the late senator who was ardently opposed to all kinds of civil rights measures …

But, he wasn’t finished.

Cruz told a story of Helms receiving a $5,000 political donation from actor John Wayne, who apparently later told Helms he liked him because “you’re that guy saying all those crazy things” and that there needed to be 100 more of him.

“It’s every bit as true now as it was then,” Cruz said. “We need 100 more like Jesse Helms in the U.S. Senate.”

Oh Sweet Jesus weeping loudly, Cruz wants a United States Senate with the intellect of John Wayne.

And get this stuff —

Cruz said the first political donation he ever made was to Helms — $10 — and praised the late senator for his outspokenness. If Helms were alive, Cruz said, he would be taking a more aggressive stance against “radical Islamist terrorism” than President Barack Obama has been taking.

Okay, first of all, Cruz is lying about the $10 donation.  I know that mainly because (1) Cruz just makes crap up as a hobby, and (2) Jess Helms would never have taken money from somebody named Cruz.

Jesse Helms would have sent you back to Cuba, Boy.

Perhaps Ted wasn’t listening on June 23rd, 1986 when Helms said, “All Latins are volatile people,” during protests of U.S. Senate hearings on Mexican corruption.  And maybe Helms was right, because volatile Ted sent him ten bucks.

Thanks to Llana (who was first) for the heads up and John for the graphic.