A Woman Of Principles

Posted on by under 9/11, Election 2020, History, Law and justice, Political commentary, Social commentary

There aren’t too many congressional Republicans for whom I have even a modicum of respect these days.  Liz Cheney is at the top of the list of those I respect.  I don’t agree with her political positions, and quite often detested her father, but … Ms. Cheney has proven herself to be a woman of conscience, a woman who is not afraid to stand by the courage of her convictions.  She has what so many … almost all … Republicans lack these days:  integrity.

And it is because of her conscience, her integrity, her refusal to support the lies being told by the former guy and his minions, that she is almost certain to lose her leadership position as the third highest ranking Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives.  Think about that one … because she is honest, she is to be punished by dishonest people like Kevin McCarthy, who knows damn well that the election results were fair and aboveboard, but for his own political purposes has tied himself to the former guy’s train.

Ms. Cheney has written an OpEd for The Washington Post that I think deserves to be widely read.  I don’t agree with everything she says toward the end of her column, but that doesn’t diminish my respect for her for being one of only a handful of people in her party who put country before self.  I expect to have ideological differences with those on the right … I just don’t expect to be lied to, deceived, and threatened as we all have been by today’s Republican Party. This is what sets Liz Cheney apart from the rest of the party … her honesty.

Liz Cheney: The GOP is at a turning point. History is watching us.

Opinion by Liz Cheney

May 5, 2021 at 5:05 p.m. EDT

In public statements again this week, former president Donald Trump has repeated his claims that the 2020 election was a fraud and was stolen. His message: I am still the rightful president, and President Biden is illegitimate. Trump repeats these words now with full knowledge that exactly this type of language provoked violence on Jan. 6. And, as the Justice Department and multiple federal judges have suggested, there is good reason to believe that Trump’s language can provoke violence again. Trump is seeking to unravel critical elements of our constitutional structure that make democracy work — confidence in the result of elections and the rule of law. No other American president has ever done this.

The Republican Party is at a turning point, and Republicans must decide whether we are going to choose truth and fidelity to the Constitution. In the immediate wake of the violence of Jan. 6, almost all of us knew the gravity and the cause of what had just happened — we had witnessed it firsthand.

House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) left no doubt in his public remarks. On the floor of the House on Jan. 13, McCarthy said: “The president bears responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on Congress by mob rioters. He should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding.” Now, McCarthy has changed his story.

I am a conservative Republican, and the most conservative of conservative values is reverence for the rule of law. Each of us swears an oath before God to uphold our Constitution. The electoral college has spoken. More than 60 state and federal courts, including multiple Trump-appointed judges, have rejected the former president’s arguments, and refused to overturn election results. That is the rule of law; that is our constitutional system for resolving claims of election fraud.

The question before us now is whether we will join Trump’s crusade to delegitimize and undo the legal outcome of the 2020 election, with all the consequences that might have. I have worked overseas in nations where changes in leadership come only with violence, where democracy takes hold only until the next violent upheaval. America is exceptional because our constitutional system guards against that. At the heart of our republic is a commitment to the peaceful transfer of power among political rivals in accordance with law. President Ronald Reagan described this as our American “miracle.”

While embracing or ignoring Trump’s statements might seem attractive to some for fundraising and political purposes, that approach will do profound long-term damage to our party and our country. Trump has never expressed remorse or regret for the attack of Jan. 6 and now suggests that our elections, and our legal and constitutional system, cannot be trusted to do the will of the people. This is immensely harmful, especially as we now compete on the world stage against Communist China and its claims that democracy is a failed system.

For Republicans, the path forward is clear.

First, support the ongoing Justice Department criminal investigations of the Jan. 6 attack. Those investigations must be comprehensive and objective; neither the White House nor any member of Congress should interfere.

Second, we must support a parallel bipartisan review by a commission with subpoena power to seek and find facts; it will describe for all Americans what happened. This is critical to defeat the misinformation and nonsense circulating in the press and on social media. No currently serving member of Congress — with an eye to the upcoming election cycle — should participate. We should appoint former officials, members of the judiciary and other prominent Americans who can be objective, just as we did after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The commission should be focused on the Jan. 6 attacks. The Black Lives Matter and antifa violence of last summer was illegal and reprehensible, but it is a different problem with a different solution.

Finally, we Republicans need to stand for genuinely conservative principles, and steer away from the dangerous and anti-democratic Trump cult of personality. In our hearts, we are devoted to the American miracle. We believe in the rule of law, in limited government, in a strong national defense, and in prosperity and opportunity brought by low taxes and fiscally conservative policies.

There is much at stake now, including the ridiculous wokeness of our political rivals, the irrational policies at the border and runaway spending that threatens a return to the catastrophic inflation of the 1970s. Reagan formed a broad coalition from across the political spectrum to return America to sanity, and we need to do the same now. We know how. But this will not happen if Republicans choose to abandon the rule of law and join Trump’s crusade to undermine the foundation of our democracy and reverse the legal outcome of the last election.

History is watching. Our children are watching. We must be brave enough to defend the basic principles that underpin and protect our freedom and our democratic process. I am committed to doing that, no matter what the short-term political consequences might be.

27 thoughts on “A Woman Of Principles”

  1. Hello Jill. I think she understands that tRump is old, he is got every comorbidity for bad health, clearly has shown mental decline, so may not be around in a few years. He really is not looking well in photos. I think she is also planning for a much higher stature / position once tRump is no longer around to prop up the people like McCarthy. Plus the polls do show a large dip in tRump’s support while he has been off social media. I think it is clear that his ability to be on twitter and the others made him the star that his followers wanted. They are belligerent bigoted people looking for an arrogant belligerent bigoted person to follow. tRump gave them that person. With them denied an easy into him, he loses their support. Out of sight, out of mind. Hugs

    Liked by 1 person

    • All you say is right, Scottie. I hadn’t thought about it until both David and Clive mentioned that she sounded as if she might be laying the groundwork for a future presidential bid. While I’d love to see a woman president, though, Liz Cheney is NOT it! Though I admire her standing up to the numbnuts in the GOP, my admiration stops there, for she is about as far right ideologically as it is possible to get and would NOT be the president we long for. I can only hope you are right about Trump. I am not often cruel, and have never wished death on another, but frankly if he died tomorrow, I would be doing a Snoopy Happy Dance! The GOP has become the party of conspiracy theories, lies, and bigotry in all its many forms … they lack honesty and integrity and I don’t see how they can possibly survive much longer if they don’t turn themselves around. But, as you’ll see from my a.m. post, Thomas Friedman, a man much smarter and more experienced than I, believes they might be around long enough to finish what Trump started — destroying the nation. Hugs!

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Thank you for sharing!!… I am a independent and I will have to give Ms. Cheney credit for one thing, she is standing up to Trump… thanks to technology, Trump has managed to gather like thinkers, creating his own little realm, and Donald Trump and his followers are self-centered and only interested in themselves… they will strike out against any ideology or thinking that may appear their comfort zone… and most Republican politicians are catering to the wishes of Trump and his minions in order to keep their job.. “It’s a saying they have, that a man has a false heart in his mouth for the world to see, another in his breast to show to his special friends and his family, and the real one, the true one, the secret one, which is never known to anyone except to himself alone…” ( James Clavell)… 🙂

    Until we meet again..
    May your day be touched
    by a bit of Irish luck,
    Brightened by a song
    in your heart,
    And warmed by the smiles
    of people you love.
    (Irish Saying)

    Liked by 3 people

    • Yes, the sycophants keep fawning, lying, and spreading the hate in order to “fit in” with the party. Sadly, the party decided to elevate Trump when he should have been allowed to fade into obscurity. Why? Because he still has a large base, though I believe it has shrunk as a result of his role in the January 6th attack on Congress. Sadly, the GOP seems to feel that staying on the good side of the former guy is more important than honesty and integrity. Many thanks for the Irish Saying, Dutch … it fits perfectly!

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  4. well she’s right about the border crisis, the ridiculous wokeness of the left and the incomprehensibly insane spending of both republicans and democrats.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Hello Scott. Hope you are well. Mind telling me what she is correct about on the border? By all reports the back log has been cleared out, minor child waiting times are down to just a day on average to be process and moved to a proper care facility where they are now found a home within the court approved time. ICE deportations are at the lowest levels in many decades, the huge bottlenecked of slum camps in Mexico caused by not processing the asylum seekers has been cleared out, those camps are almost entirely gone so no more kidnaping, sexual trafficking, and extortions of the people stuck in them, and all because Biden used the government to get enough judges and processors to the areas needed and FEMA to handle the logistics of the needed care and facilities. The crisis never needed to happen but if you dam a river up long enough with no way to release the pressure being built up, it will become a dangerous situation. Biden sent the power of the US government to release the pressure rather than reenforce the blockage. In this case there is no doubt the process is working to clear the massive back log, get families reunited, keep families together, and get unaccompanied minors back into the homes of relatives. Hugs

      Liked by 2 people

    • Well … for starters, define “wokeness” for me, in your own words. You know it’s a made-up term that, as best I can tell, only means a person who has a social conscience. And the border crisis? Nothing near what it was a year ago. I guess it depends on who you listen to, but I really am tired of made-up terms like “own the libs”, “wokeness”, and others. Let’s all try to speak the English we learned in school so we can at least understand each other.

      Liked by 2 people

    • By the way, Scott … I was trying to message you on Twitter last night, but your messages seem to have all disappeared and I couldn’t find you at all. Have you left Twitter?

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  5. I think she’s playing the long game, waiting for the Republicans to finally dump Trump and try to regain what they have lost in trust with the American people. Maybe 2024 will be too soon for her, but I wouldn’t rule out her making a bid for the Presidency in 2028.

    Liked by 2 people

    • David mentioned the same, and while I hadn’t thought about it … I think you’re right. It does sound rather like she’s laying the groundwork for bigger things in the future. I’m likely to do a follow up post, for after reading a number of things, including comments on this post, I’m not so sure Ms. Cheney deserved my kudos. One right cannot wash away all the wrongs of the past.

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        • Mainly because they do. We must be attuned to the long term political play but she’s got a long way to go to get anyone to like her enough for that and I doubt the Democrats ever will.
          Hugs

          Liked by 3 people

          • Maybe she has, but she has more than six years to do it if she’s aiming that far ahead. It’s less than that since Trump threw his wig into the ring, so there’s time for much to happen. It’s going to be a roller coaster, just like the past five years!

            Liked by 3 people

          • Yep, these days it seems they do. I rather doubt Cheney can ever get to the point of being popular enough to win an election … BUT … I said the same about you-know-who in 2016 and look what happened. Cheney, though, has voted against anything and everything that would help people, and she has the baggage handed down by her father, who left the vice presidency as THE LEAST favourite vice president in the history of the nation.
            Cwtch

            Liked by 1 person

        • Hah! You are an astute observer, my friend, and while I didn’t ‘take it on your say so’, you made me think, go back and re-read her words with a bit of a different perspective. Then later today, I read a couple of opinion columns that mentioned the same thing. After I thought about it, I think you are right. No, not for 2024, which is going to be a messy venture on the Republican side, but more likely in 2028. Time will tell, but I doubt being around to see it, luckily!

          Liked by 2 people

  6. Whilst I appreciate Ms.Cheney’s principles on this issue< I can'T help but remember just how much support Trump got from her which allowed him to get where he did. At least she didn't do a KEVIn McCarthy and change from shaming and blaming Trump for Jan 6TH to supportIng him. i thought half this speech sounded like a run for the Presidential nomination.
    Cwtch

    Liked by 2 people

    • I’m likely going to do a follow-up, using a column by Charles Blow, for based on his column and the comments of a number of readers, I’ve been somewhat re-thinking my praise of Ms. Cheney, and you’re right … one right does not erase all the mistakes of the past, and as she states, she hasn’t changed her views, is still against policies to help people. You aren’t the only one who thought she sounded like she was laying the groundwork for a presidential run … Clive said the same. I hadn’t thought about it, but I think you may well be right.
      Cwtch

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      • Jill, we can still support the courage of Cheney on this issue, while disagreeing with her on others. Her wanting to run for president does not make her wrong, that just makes her politician. I have never met a perfect person or politician, including the ones I agree with more than I do not. Yet, Cheney stood up and put her neck on the chopping block which takes courage. This is beyond politics – Trump and his zealots are a threat to our democracy. In my calls to reps and senators, I have been emphasizing my concerns that they let Trump’s lie fester way too long for which I blame Mitch McConnell the most. They let this lie convince people Trump was wronged. He was not. He ego just won’t let him take losing, which he did. Just think of how he naysayed COVID and how that still impact vaccine usage. So, we should admire Cheney and others courage for standing up when they knew they would be vilified and threatened. And, courage is not a top of mind word I would use to define the person she is pushing back on. Keith

        Liked by 3 people

        • Oh, I fully agree with you on that! I still applaud her refusal to give in to the pressure to support The Big Lie. 100%. But, for a while there I think I was willing to forget some of her past policies and votes, but was reminded that one good move doesn’t erase her past. And I do think, after reading both David’s and Clive’s comments, as well as a couple of opinion pieces elsewhere, that she may well be laying the groundwork for a future presidential run.

          What the GOP has done … is doing … to this nation is to try to finish the destruction that Trump started by removing any democratic principles from our government. Voter suppression, demanding that party members go forth and spread the lies, the conspiracy theories, and their feigned outrage every time a Democrat so much as opens his/her mouth.

          I do give Cheney a thumbs-up for her integrity and her courage. I would not vote for her in an election, however.

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