Senator McCain, has called Senator Ted Cruz and his ilk in Congress "wacko birds." Ted Cruz's reply?

WASHINGTON - Slammed by Sen. John McCain as one of his party's "wacko birds," Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is embracing the epithet.

"It is wonderful to be among friends or, as some might say, fellow wacko birds," Cruz said Wednesday night at Coalitions for America's Weyrich Awards Dinner, named for the late conservative icon Paul Weyrich.

McCain's slur seems to have backfired. The epithet "wacko bird" has now become honorific among those in Congress who honor the Constitution -- especially the 1^st Amendment (free speech) and the 4^th Amendment (privacy, unlawful searches and seizures). Leading wacko birds include Cruz, Ron Paul, Mike Lee, and Justin Amash.

Elected over the past three years, Republican Sens. Rand Paul, Mike Lee and Ted Cruz have had a meteoric impact in Washington, soaring to grassroots stardom, crashing into the Democratic majority and raining down on the old bulls of the Republican Party.

Dubbed "Wacko Birds" by top Republican John McCain, these three wear the senior Arizona senator's scorn as a badge of honor.

The wacko birds are crazy like a fox. Bad news for the dumb bunnies.

How do you get something bad passed in Washington? You do it fast, you do it under cover of night, you do it when no one can look at it, and you force it through. What they do not want is scrutiny. - Sen. Ted Cruz, April 26, 2013.