The GOP civil war is going hot and heavy right now. As you know, Donald Trump lashed out yet again at Liz Cheney. He said through his Save America PAC that Cheney is a “warmongering fool who has no business in Republican Party Leadership,” and said
“We want leaders who believe in the Make America Great Again movement, and prioritize the values of America First. Stefanik is a far superior choice, and she has my COMPLETE and TOTAL Endorsement for GOP Conference Chair. Elise is a tough and smart communicator!”
This is the coup d’etat that Kevin McCarthy has put together and Trump is co-signing on. But there’s more riding on this than the fate of one politician. The direction that the GOP is going to go right now is riding on this vote, to take place in the House probably as soon as a week from today.
Liz Cheney penned an op/ed in the Washington Post. It is well worth reading in its entirety. The history books may print this in its entirety. There is only one issue here: to embrace the Big Lie, or not to embrace it. That is the question.
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.
The rest of the editorial is background that you know, or a critique of the Democrats — and that’s okay. No one here is asking for perfect comity, only not for the Cult of Trump to destroy democracy and all that we stand for. One thing at a time.
This is the call to arms. If there is any Republican party left, they should hear this. If they don’t or can’t hear this — then the Republican party as we once knew it is entirely gone and Trumpism cum fascism is here to stay. This is the face of who we are now in America, one way or the other. We are either Democrats and Republicans or we are Americans and Trumpites. It is that black and white.
Interesting that a Republican woman would be the one to take a stand to save the party from self-immolation. Mitch McConnell, Mike Pence, Kevin McCarthy and the rest of them don’t have a pair of balls between them. Mitt Romney has earned exemption from this censure. I wish his compatriots could follow his example, as well.
By splitting itself in two, the Republican Party makes itself politically irrelevant. Neither the Trumpists or the traditionalists can put up with each other, so the split seems inevitable. One of those two schisms will try and take over what is left. Will it be the personality cult or the others?
Either way, for the moment, a divided house can not stand, and won’t provide an effective opposition to a, now, much more unified and united Democratic Party.
There seem to be a lot more Trmpistas than traditionalists, at least among the elected party members.
I look for that number of elected officials to drop when charges relating to the insurrection do.
Even among the rank and file. Where they come from, almost everyone they know is a Trump supporter. Furthermore, since only Trump supporters count, they are convinced that the false assertion that the majority of Americans are Trump supporters is true. It is difficult to break through that.
It’s odd, considering that Stefanik has been less reliably conservative than Cheney. But you promise loyalty to the former guy, and they’ll let you into the clubhouse and promise you goodies
Club For Growth (AKA Money Boy Mouthpiece) pointed up that very fact of Stefanik’s record in a tweet this evening. I take that to mean that they’re siding with Liz…and anyone who wants in 2022 might not want to piss them off too much.
Honestly, it sounds like they no longer care. It’s as if they no longer need to win elections so why would they need to finance them.
And we’re off. Liz Cheney is making her move. I wouldn’t want to be Kevin McCarthy right now.
Or any other time.
My only thought/question is this: where is her father in all this? I cannot believe for one second he supports the current direction of the republican party and I’m pretty damned sure he doesn’t support Trump. He is someone who has, off and on, been in government and as someone on Politizoom said previously “knows where the bodies are buried”. Why in the hell isn’t he un-burying them? The man was addicted to control and power and I don’t see that addiction every waning. So, where’s Dick?