Ted Cruz Abandons Millions of Freezing Texans and His Poodle, Snowflake  —  After jaunting off to Cancún with his family Wednesday night, Senator Ted Cruz explained that he was merely escorting his teenage girls on a vacation trip with their friends.  In an apparent bid for sympathy …

Top Texas Republicans on the ropes after tone-deaf storm response  —  The brutal winter storm that turned Texas roads to ice, burst pipes across the state and left millions of residents shivering and without power has also damaged the reputations of three of the state's leading Republicans.

Ted Cruz has repeatedly slammed politicians for vacationing during crisis  —  (CNN)Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who is facing backlash for traveling to Mexico as a winter disaster ravages his home state, has repeatedly criticized politicians who vacationed or took part in leisure activities during times of crisis, a CNN KFile review finds.

POLITICO Playbook: Reince reemerges as Cruz crashes  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  SCOOP: REINCE PRIEBUS has been calling key GOP officials and operatives in Wisconsin the past week and signaling he's seriously exploring a bid for governor of his home state in 2022, two sources with knowledge of the calls told Playbook.

Nation's top governors under fire as three big states reckon with deadly crises  —  Keilar fact-checks Texas governor's slam of Green New Deal  —  (CNN)The multiple crises gripping the US — from a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic to a deadly winter storm that left millions of Texans without heat …

Rush Limbaugh's Complicated Legacy  —  He was a gifted entertainer and advocate, but in his later years certain flaws became more evident.  —  I meant to talk about something else this week, but my thoughts keep circling back to Rush Limbaugh.  His obituaries in the mainstream press were mostly judgment, no mercy.