In a refreshing display of resoluteness, a defiant Rep Liz Cheney (R-WY), fresh from a censure by her own party, and an effort to knock her off her House leadership position, today doubled down on Fox News Sunday, slamming former president Trump for the Jan 6th DC insurrection saying, “We’ve never seen that kind of assault by a president of the United States on another branch of government” adding, “That can never happen again.” Rep Cheney made it clear that she will not waver from her principled stance against the unfortunate events of January 6th, despite attacks from Trump and his allies.
This is especially refreshing given the fact that several prominent Republicans, who rightly expressed outrage after the events of January 6th, lately appear to be changing their stances out of fear of attacks by former president Trump and his allies. Rather than confronting the Jan 6th issue directly, and putting the blame squarely where it belongs–on Trump and his election fraud lies, prominent Republicans have resorted to deflecting the blame on Antifa and other leftist groups, on “liberal media bias”, or side-stepping the issue altogether by using the procedural argument that the impeachment of an ex-president is unconstitutional. It is very clear that even though Trump is no longer president, there is still great fear by prominent Republicans, many of whom tout their strong belief in freedom of speech, to criticize him, or his actions in public.
Rep Liz Cheney has remained steady in her denunciation of former president Trump for DC insurrection, despite taking a lot of heat from Trump himself, and his sycophants in the House, who moved to remove her from her leadership position. One of Trump’s biggest sycophants, Rep Matt Gaetz (R-FL) even travelled to Rep Cheney’s Congressional district in Wyoming to whip up the Wyoming state GOP against Rep Cheney. You rarely see a sitting member of Congress travelling out of state, to go and campaign against a fellow member of Congress(same party) in their home district, because the two disagree on a political issue. The kind of outrageous conduct we witnessed from Trump sycophant Rep Gaetz, is what you’d expect in third-world dictatorships, where personality cults are prevalent, and not in an advanced democracy like the United States.
Also very importantly, Rep Liz Cheney reiterated on her Fox News Sunday appearance, that the events of January 6th were based on lies perpetrated by Trump and his allies, and that the public should not assume that the outcome of Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate will be the end of accountability. She said, “I would also point out though Chris, that the Senate trial is a snapshot. There is a massive criminal investigation underway…..There will be many many criminal investigations looking at every aspect of this [DC insurrection], and everyone who was involved.” This is a key point which is lost to many in the mainstream media, who look at Trump’s upcoming Senate trial as the be-all and end-all of the DC insurrection saga. As Rep Cheney correctly pointed out, it’s only beginning.
Bottom line folks, even though my political views don’t quite align with Rep Cheney’s, I will readily admit that I find her kind of political courage highly refreshing, especially in today’s polarized Washington. If our democracy is to survive Trumpism and it’s attendant QAnon nonsense, it will be because Republicans like Liz Cheney, who know better, looked Trump in the eye and told him, “Enough already. Knock it off!” The fence-straddling we’re witnessing from Ambassador Nikki Haley, Governor Kristi Noem, Senator Marco Rubio, and other leading Republicans rumored to be running for president in 2024, is appalling and quite frankly, makes them unfit to lead the United States, a beacon of democracy worldwide. Maybe Cheney2024 is the Party of Lincoln’s last hope for survival!!
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