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Opinion Cheney imparts 5 critical observations on the eve of the midterms

cigaretteman

HR King
May 29, 2001
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These days, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), like many Republicans of a different era, stands proudly apart from the MAGA movement that has taken over the party she championed her entire life. Some surly critics on the left won’t applaud her because she, after all, supported the Iraq War. (If ever one needed an example of allowing the perfect to be the enemy of the good, this is it.)


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On the right, she is a villain for speaking truth about Jan. 6, holding former president Donald Trump responsible for his actions and supporting the defeat of Republican election deniers. (By the way, if we take her literally, there are nearly 300 Republican candidates whom she urges that voters reject.)
Cheney remains a unique figure in today’s tribal politics who proudly puts principle above political advantage. She imparted five essential points in an appearance on “Meet the Press” on Sunday that all Americans would do well to ponder.
1

Failed Republican leaders​

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First, both Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) failed the country — but especially McCarthy. “At every moment since, frankly, the aftermath of the election in 2020, when Minority Leader McCarthy has had the opportunity to do the right thing or do something that serves his own political purpose, he always chooses to serve his own political purpose,” she said. While McCarthy kissed the ring of the man who led the insurrection and bolsters the worst MAGA crackpots, McConnell’s sins are those of omission.


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“Leader McConnell has thought we can ignore [Trump] and go forward as a party without him continuing to have power and authority,” Cheney said. “That’s clearly not the case. And my view from the beginning has been, you know, we have to, as a party, reject insurrection. … So clearly, you know, Leader McConnell and I do not see eye to eye on this.”
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In the history of the republic, we have rarely seen such spineless leaders atop their party in both the House and the Senate.
2

The fate of Ukraine​

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Second, the fate of Ukraine is at stake. Cheney excoriated McCarthy for suggesting that House Republicans might cut off aid to Ukraine. She declared that “for somebody who has a picture of Ronald Reagan on the wall of his office in the Capitol,” McCarthy’s decision “to make himself the leader of the pro-Putin wing of my party is just a stunning thing.”



She argued that the United States should “be doing more, faster, in terms of what we’re providing to the Ukrainians.” And McCarthy’s hinting that he’ll cut the country off is “incredibly damaging to America’s standing in the world.”
3

Cheney vs. Trump apologists​

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Third, there’s no doubt what separates Cheney from Trump’s apologists. She said bluntly, “I really believed growing up … you know, when the chips were down, people would do the right thing. And it turns out that not very many people do.” No doubt, Cheney couldn’t face her family or herself if she, like the rest of her party, chose dishonor over patriotic duty.
Politicians, the media and even voters have become so cynical they cannot imagine a perspective that treats politics not as a game, a career effort or a partisan sales gambit, but rather as a moral undertaking. In that, Cheney is part of a noble tradition.



Jon Meacham, in a recent interview about his exquisite new book, “And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle,” urges us to follow the “Lincoln example of a humble recognition that no human being has a monopoly on truth, but that there is a moral intuition, there is a conscience and you want to do everything you can to be in accord with this universal law of treating others as you would be treated.”
Lincoln knew one need not and could not be perfect. But like her party’s first president, Cheney has shown that doing the right thing is “a durable political vision.” Cheney asks her fellow Republicans to be better leaders, better citizens, better patriots. Alas, that’s too hard for most — hence their undying hatred and resentment of her.
4

The Justice Department does its job​

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Fourth, the Justice Department is doing its job. Cheney observed, “Look, I think [regarding Trump] that there are multiple criminal offenses. … If the Department of Justice determines that they have the evidence that we believe is there and they make a decision not to prosecute, I think that really calls into question whether we’re a nation of laws.”



However, she appears certain the Justice Department is on the right track both with the Jan. 6 investigation and the Mar-a-Lago document case. “I have confidence in the professionals at the Department of Justice,” she said. “I have confidence in the attorney general, that they are taking very seriously their obligations with respect to every aspect of the potential criminal conduct by the former president.” That is a powerful endorsement of their work.
5

No election deniers​

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Finally, voters must not elect election deniers. “I think no one of any party should be voting for people who are election deniers, and I think we have to be clear what it means to be an election denier,” she said. “It means in the case, for example, of Kari Lake and Mark Finchem in Arizona, they have both said, ‘We’ve looked at all of the facts, we’ve looked at the results of the election in 2020, we’ve looked at the law, we’ve looked at the fact that the courts all ruled against Donald Trump, we’ve looked at the audits and the recounts. We are willing to ignore all of that, and we are saying we would not have certified that election.’”
She added, “They’re telling you that they’ll only certify an election they agree with. And that — there’s not much graver threat to the democracy you can imagine than that.”

 
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