What's that I hear? Could it be a dogwhistle from deep in the heart of Texas? Why yes, I think that's it!

Huffington Post has the money quote:

"When you're in a fight, people just don't like the fight, so they're going to respond negatively," DeLay said on CNN. "It's who wins and comes out of the fight that has long-lasting effects. And I got to tell you right now, out here in the real world, outside of New York and Washington, D.C., these people think Ted Cruz is a hero. They think that those Republicans in the House are heroes. And they think that Obama is destroying this country."

So much fail, so little time. You'd think this was a reality show where Ted Cruz is vying for the title of "Amurkan of the Year" instead of That Guy Who Threatened To Blow Up The Global Economy. DeLay's "Real Americans" watch Fox News and believe the crap they get served without question, too. That doesn't make them any more American than President Obama, just dumber.

That indictment goes for Tom DeLay, too, who ought to be behind bars rather than spewing nonsense all over the airwaves. Because this is fact: Ted Cruz is popular inside the wingnut faction of the Republican party and nowhere else. What DeLay fails to notice is that the Tea Party CrazyPants faction of the GOP is less popular now than they have ever been.

For the sake of Fox viewers everywhere, let's break down those numbers:

The poll found that Ted Cruz, one of the most prominent tea party faces in the recent government shutdown, has seen his favorability soar among tea party supporters -- from 47 percent in July to 74 percent today. Among non-tea party Republicans, however, he's at just 25 percent. House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell saw their unfavorability ratings rise among tea party and non-tea party Republicans alike, according to the poll.

So among the one-quarter of self-identified Republicans, Ted Cruz has 74 percent approval. The rest of those self-identified Republicans disapprove of him by a 3 to 1 margin.

And what percentage of the country identifies themselves as Republicans right now? 38 percent if you include GOP-leaning independents. 20 percent if you don't, but I will use the higher number for this calculation. Only 27 percent of those self-identified Republicans approve of the Tea Party.

That means that Republicans who support the tea party and approve of Ted Cruz represent about 10 percent of Republican voters. Republicans who don't support the tea party and disapprove of Ted Cruz represent about 55 percent of Republican voters.

But at least we know who the 'real' Americans are, right?