The Cruz Cancun Conundrum

Ted Cruz wasn’t going to shovel your driveway.

Senator Cruz (R., Texas) is the subject of this week’s ritual denunciation for the grievous sin of taking his daughters to Cancun, rather than stay in Texas and endure the snow and blackouts with the shivering little people.

Cruz’s stock is not trading at an all-time high on my personal exchange these days, but the senator’s critics are, in this case, off-base. People who can take care of themselves and their families in an emergency should take care of themselves and their families in an emergency, if only to remove the possibility of their having to be taken care of by the public. Of course, Senator Cruz probably will be more comfortable in Cancun than he would be in River Oaks, but it is no less the case that by absenting himself from the scene, he has given Houston — including its utility providers and its emergency services — one fewer person to worry about. From that point of view, Senator Cruz has a positive moral obligation to be in Cancun.