Only a few months into his first term as Senator, Ted Cruz (R-TX) is catching severe criticism for being arrogant, grim and a bully. An op-ed in Friday’s New York Times called him “an ornery, swaggering piece of work,” and Chris Matthews compared his style of questioning at the Hagel hearing to Senator Joe McCarthy’s. Obviously time for Fox to step in with some damage control. Yesterday on Special Report, Bret Baier’s All Star panel weighed in on the issue, and some thought yes, the liberal media had it in for the new guy from Texas.

Jason Riley of the Wall Street Journal said there was a double standard at work in the media, and wondered why they weren't beating up on Senator Elizabeth Warren in the same way, for her hardball questioning of bankers? But Maria Liasson of NPR and Steve Hayes of the Weekly Standard thought Cruz was doing exactly what he'd come to Washington to do. Hayes: "[Cruz] made a conscious decision that he was going to accept the very public role he was certain to have being an outspoken conservative from Texas and a Hispanic... So to a certain extent you have to expect that he would get greater scrutiny given the fact that he has chosen to accept that role.” But he also thought the scrutiny was “over the top harsh…there has been a systemic effort I think to go after Ted Cruz, to marginalize him, to make him look crazy.”

Does Fox see this ornery Texan as a potential 2016 Presidential candidate? Many in the far right appear to do so, because already they're trying to talk their way around a certain little obstacle that, not long ago, they swore up and down should disqualify Obama for candidacy. But that, gentle reader, is material for a later post, and I'm sure someone on Newshounds will get the chance to write it.