To paraphrase Peter Finch’s character in the movie “Network,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is mad as hell and he’s not going to take it anymore.

During a Wednesday night segment of “Hannity,” Cruz went off on the “crazies” in the Democrat Party, saying that they’re “going nuts”  because “they hate America.” And that’s just for starters.

Cruz began by revisiting the Left’s insane call to defund the police.

Imagine if 30 days ago, Sean, I’d come on your show, and I would’ve said, you know, the Democrats are going to come out for abolishing the police. You would’ve said look, Ted, that’s a little much. Let’s not get crazy about it. And that’s exactly what they’re doing.

I mean, NYPD, cutting a billion dollars from their police department. And AOC says it’s not enough? That is crazy. And, you know, the consequence of their attacking, demonizing, defunding the police?

The consequence will be a lot more black lives will be lost and a lot more white lives and Hispanic lives. You pull the police back, and those, especially those who live in low income neighborhoods, are going to find themselves victims of much more violent crime.

And this is wrong. I ‘ll tell you, I stand with the NYPD. I stand with the men and women of law enforcement across this country and I’ve got to say, you know, I have talked to a lot of cops in the last several weeks and they are they’re, they’re down, they are demoralized. You’re seeing senior officers leaving the force.

Young people, what young person in his right mind would say I’m going to be a cop? And you think that’s good for America, that people are scared to be a police officer and keep us safe?

Cruz’s “AOC says that’s not enough” comment was in reference to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s disgust with New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s decision to “only” cut $1.5 billion from the NYPD budget.

As we reported yesterday, AOC was not a happy camper:

Defunding police means defunding police. It does not mean budget tricks or funny math. It does not mean moving school police officers from the NYPD budget to the Department of Education’s budget so the exact same police remain in schools.

It does not mean counting cuts in overtime as cuts, even as NYPD ignores every attempt by City Council to curb overtime spending and overspends on overtime anyways. The fight to defund policing continues.

If these reports are accurate, then these proposed “cuts” to the NYPD budget are a disingenuous illusion. This is not a victory. The fight to defund policing continues.

Cruz told Hannity the Left’s attack against the nation’s police officers is only part of the crazies’ broader plan against America, as we know it, including the destruction of historical monuments.

What the far-left is doing, they hate America. This is not about social justice. This is not about equality. Every one of us agrees that everyone’s rights should be protected, regardless of race. That’s what the Constitution and Bill of Rights do.

But you look at these vandals that are tearing monuments down. They’re trying to tear down George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. That ain’t about the Confederacy. Last I checked, George Washington wasn’t part of the Civil War.

They hate America, and we need leaders, Sean, to stand up and defend America unapologetically as the greatest nation in the history of the world dedicated to equal justice.

Speaking of monuments, as we reported earlier today, a statue of Christopher Columbus was taken down in… wait for it… Columbus, Ohio, Wednesday — after the mayor last month ordered its removal.

A 22-foot-tall statue of Christopher Columbus was removed from outside the Columbus, Ohio, city hall after the city's mayor called for it to come down. https://t.co/KXOxAPIUUf pic.twitter.com/F63b0OpXVD

— ABC News (@ABC) July 1, 2020

As has been the Left’s usual argument for the dismantling of historical monuments throughout the country, Mayor Andrew Glintner explained (justified, rationalized, pandered, etc.) the removal of the statue of the Spanish explorer — Ohio’s capital city namesake — this way:

For many people in our community, the statue represents patriarchy, oppression, and divisiveness. That does not represent our great city, and we will no longer live in the shadow of our ugly past. Now is the right time to replace this statue with artwork that demonstrates our enduring fight to end racism and celebrate the themes of diversity and inclusion.

Back to Ted Cruz, the Texas senator made the point that all Americans have the right to speak out — “peaceably.” “Peaceably,” he said, “is right there in the Constitution.” He then ticked through “rights” the Left doesn’t have, blaming Antifa for much of the murder and violence.

But what you don’t have a right to do is commit violence. You don’t have a right to assault people. You don’t have a right to burn shops to the ground, you don’t have a right to firebomb churches or police cars. You don’t have a right to murder police officers or to murder teenage boys, as happened in Seattle.

And we are seeing violent rioters. Antifa is behind much of it, and they are domestic terrorists, and we need law enforcement to stand together to stop this terrorism, to enforce the rule of law and to protect American citizens.

Here’s the bottom line.

Crazies gonna crazy. And they will continue “crazying” as long as they are allowed to continue crazying. It’s what they do.

To Cruz’s point, we need leaders who are strong enough to stand up to both the Left-wing of the Democrat Party and the Antifa mobs hellbent on destroying America as we know it, and say “enough is enough.”

And by “say ‘enough is enough,'” I mean STOP IT.