Careful what you wish for, you just might get it. Kevin McCarthy made the decision to oust Liz Cheney from the GOP Conference Chair position and far from being a disgrace, it has elevated Cheney to the position of political martyr and moral leader. That’s called landing on your feet. It’s a far cry from the disgrace of racist Steve King, for example, having his committee assignments removed. Liz Cheney is doing just fine right now, possibly better than ever. Paradoxical, but true.
If you missed her parting words about keeping Donald Trump out of the Oval Office, hear them now.
Liz Cheney immediately after she was ousted from House leadership: "I will do everything I can to ensure that the former president never again gets anywhere near the Oval Office." pic.twitter.com/mxrPHqtRup
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 12, 2021
Kevin McCarthy is not taking a victory lap right now. Au contraire, he’s dodging incoming fire and it’s only going to get heavier. Mike Johnson of Louisiana and Chip Roy of Texas both hate Stefanik, although for slightly different reasons. Roy sent a lengthy bullet point memo which excoriated Cheney and pushed the election fraud narrative. While he doesn’t like Cheney at all, he likes Stefanik a great deal less. He asked his Republican colleagues why they were “rushing to coronate a spokesperson whose voting record embodies much of what led to the 2018 ass-kicking we received by Democrats.” No love lost there.
Then Mike Johnson’s beef with Stefanik is that she’s leapfrogging over him in the party hierarchy. He wants a “deliberative effort” according to Punchbowl News, in considering Stefanik’s candidacy. He has higher political ambitions than his current post of Vice Conference Chair and Stefanik is vaulting over him and that creates a conflict. Putting that with her voting record and the speed at which this replacement is being made is a bridge too far and he’s vocally opposing Stefanik.
Having two members of the Freedom Caucus wanting to slow down and take their time with Stefanik is not a good sign, although on the plus side Stefanik has Jim Jordan on her side, and he cofounded the caucus.
Point being, this is not a slam dunk, hail fellow well met, everybody loves Elise. Far from it. Roy’s memo pretty much rips her up.
I like the phrase “leadership-tapped” because that throws it right in McCarthy’s face. The House GOPers are not happy campers today and this is not going to settle down in a few days into something calm and productive. There is vicious intraparty fighting going on.
Meanwhile, Liz Cheney has vowed to go forward and prevent Trump from getting anywhere near the White House and she’s undoubtedly going to push for the 9/11-style Capitol riot commission, which is near and dear to her heart.
It’s been speculated, of course, that Cheney is trying to focus all this into a 2024 presidential run. It’s way too early to comment on that, but in all events, right now she’s smelling like a rose, representing the high moral ground and preaching the doctrine of moral clarity. She is far from disgraced. She’s just been ousted from a pack of ravenous curs snapping at each other while scrabbling over a few bones and trying to keep their Mango Master happy with them.
This is going to get stranger. Right now is the proverbial calm before the storm.
Where Liz Cheney is concerned to paraphrase The Greatful Dead: What a long, STRANGE trip it will be.
Right now, I’m rereading a favorite graphic novel of mine, Grendel: Devil’s Reign. It’s a story in contrasts between a human leader and a vampire one. You’d think the vampire would have all the advantages but he gradually fritters them on a combination of indulgence, inertia and power-tripping over sycophants. He winds up not mattering while the human leader literally conquers the world with a combo of adaptability, smart politicking and people who challenge him.
In case you missed the analogy, Liz Cheney is the human leader here. Trump is the vampire.
Not too early at all to think of Liz going for the Presidency…my mother has been thinking the same thing. But unlike the rapidly Balkanizing GQP, she can afford to wait. If not in 2024, then 2028 for sure. In the meantime, watch what the Lincoln Project does vis-a-vis the daughter of Darth Cheney. She proves a power player, they’ll fall in line right behind her.
As for Stefanik, her only future is as the correct answer of a trivia question on the subject of politics.
‘Rapidly Balkanising’ is quite correct. ‘There is vicious intraparty fighting going on.’
Matthew 12:22-28
‘Jesus said to them, every city or house divided against itself will not stand.’
How ironic, the party that claims Christianity as a cloak, condemned not just by a biblical quote, but one from Jesus himself.
Try John 42-47, especially verse 44. Jesus is arguing with the Jewish religious authorities, who say they are the chosen people of God. He says, sure, u are the decendents of those who killed the prophets, but let me tell you who you really are: the children of the Devil, a murderer & liar from the beginning. ” the father of all lies.” Seems pretty goddamn clear when u r a disciple of a pathological liar. So trumpers, you are, according to Christ, children of the fucking devil. Plain & fucking simple. Of course, we can see the fruit on your tree with the dead 2y/o floating in the Rio Grande. U better get on ur knees & pray there is no God. Otherwise, UH OH.
As your colleagues often says, “don’t touch that dial.” (We’ll have to explain to our grandkids what that means.) ; )
Some of us may not be around to see which way the walls fall when they begin to crumble, big numbers like 2028, bring to mind why I don’t bother to buy those tubes of caulk that say guaranteed for 50 years … the 35 year variety is way more than I’m concerned about, but we are leaving the house to a younger niece … 🙂
Living through this pandemic with all the problems caused by Trump, was a day-to-day conflict of interests, limits to mobility and projects and materials for hobbies and maintenance …
Trump just needs to SDASTFU …