All things being equal? I’d rather be in Cleveland Det. John McClane Die Hard
And right about now, I’m starting to think that Kevin McCarthy is wondering if Alexei Novalny needs a new roommate. One of the nice things about writing an article is that once it’s done, and you’re not in the middle of it anymore, you can look at it with a more critical eye, and sometimes gain fresh insight. That’s exactly what happened with my article about McCarthy and Cheney yesterday.
The talk shows made it clear today that McCarthy is boned no matter what happens. Here’s a question for you. What do Kevin McCarthy and Liz Cheney both have in common? They both accused Trump of inciting and directing the January 6th insurrection. Cheney simply took her oath and the constitution more seriously, and refused to back down, while McCarthy immediately changed his Depends, and crawled down to Mar-A-Lago for a penance fluffing of His Lowness.
The problem for McCarthy is that he’s fighting the wrong war. He insists that the power struggle with Cheney is solely over messaging. As he puts it, The critical job of the Caucus Chair is to provide a unified caucus message going forward. And having Cheney spending all her time emphasizing the importance of the caucus scraping Trump off their heels like dog shit just isn’t that unifying when everybody is kissing his ass. For Trump it’s even simpler. He just wants to maintain the illusion of power and control of the caucus to soak the suckers for as long as possible, until the Gravy Train finally flies off of a curve in the Mashed Potato Mountains.
But it’s not about messaging for Liz Cheney, it’s about principle. And she got a huge leg up today when GOP Governor Larry Hogan told a Sunday host that McCarthy forcing any member to swear an oath of loyalty to a leader goes against everything the party stands for. And for people like Cheney, Hogan, Kinzinger et al. that’s the core of it. Saving the party they’ve devoted their lives and careers to from destruction at the hands of a flatulent poltroon.
And the funny thing is that what McCarthy is doing is largely ceremonial. Sure, he can jury rig a kangaroo court election to strip Cheney of her leadership post. But you know what he can’t do? He can’t muzzle her with a ball gag like The Gimp in Pulp Fiction. She is still free to write op-eds for major media outlets. She is still free to speak on any news outlet that will book her. And she is still free to stand in the well of the House and speak on any subject she likes, especially with a Democratic Speaker who would love to hear from her. Liz Cheney ain’t going anywhere, no matter what happens on Wednesday.
But Governor Larry Hogan drew the line in the sand today. If what’s left of traditional conservatism allows McCarthy and Trump to get away Scot free with enforced loyalty pledges, then they’re finished, it is officially the Party of Trump. As I pointed out yesterday, on Thursday a principled conservative group opposing Trump is holding a news conference to announce their charter as an official group. We’ll see how aggressive they are about taking it to Trump right off of the bat. But one thing is certain. Still being on the inside, Liz Cheney is about to become their Joan d’ Arc. Don’t touch that dial.
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Creepy Kevin is indeed boned, as you so delicately put it, no matter what happens, because eventually he will be of no further value to Trumpler and will therefore be cast aside in a suitably humiliating fashion. That’s what Trumpler does. His path through the world is littered with the still-twitching corpses of all those weaklings who outlived their usefulness, no matter how debased they became as grovelling toadies.
That said, to paraphrase Grant Morrison, Former Guy never learned the lesson all conquerors must learn: there’s always someone bigger than you.
McCarthy, Jordan and the other dumbasses think that stripping Cheney of her leadership post and perhaps even committee assignments will reduce her to gadfly status like Margarine Gangrene. The latter IS a gadfly and doesn’t know jack shit about politics, Congress/the workings of government or most importantly the intricate network of people who run the whole machine and more importantly the network of big dollar donors that have funded it for so many decades.
Liz Cheney however knows ALL of that stuff and due to her ole dad (including working for him) knows ALL that stuff and ALL those people. Trump may envision himself as a ruthless player and master counter-puncher. He’s not even a rank amateur compared to Liz Cheney’s dad and if ole Darth Cheney still has some fire left in him (I’m guessing he does which is why Liz is being as forceful as she is) we are about to witness a political “cage match.” Tag-team style. Team Trump’s chances in such a match against Team Cheney are roughly those of an ant on the road against a steamroller.
About time the evil senior Chaney did some good. Let the grudge match begin.
darth cheney has had people killed. he could do it again
Are you suggesting ole Dick might be inclined to invite McCarthy (and maybe a couple of others) to join him at one of those ritzy, “rustic” GGP mega donor owned game preserves for a little “bird hunting?”
Don’t encourage baseless accusations.
Stop spreading such baseless accusations. This is at least the second time I have called you out about sounding like the right wing vis-a-vis the Clintons.