Just one more event which shows the schism that we have in politics in this country in the era of Trump. Dick Cheney’s funeral was today and it turned out to be an all-star cast of Trump’s enemies. Trump himself was not invited, even though he is the titular GOP standard bearer. That begs the issue of who really is the GOP standard bearer, because Trump is the MAGA cult leader and yes, he has an R behind his name but that’s where the resemblance to Republicans, living and dead, basically stops — at least that’s what old school Republicans will argue.
Good for Liz Cheney for not being a hypocrite. And I’m sure Melania is relieved that she didn’t have to put on a costume and attempt to act like a compassionate person at a funeral. So on that level it worked out all around. The people who did attend were prominent Democrats and old school Republicans, which is a different breed of cat than Trump. Daily Beast:
Attendees included a slew of Democratic politicians, like Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi, as well as anti-Trump network hosts Rachel Maddow and John Bolton, and GOP never-Trumpers like Adam Kinzinger and Sen. Bill Cassidy.
They all convened in Washington, where there was no sign of the president. Trump, 79, was not invited to the service by the late VP’s daughter, Liz Cheney, making him the odd man out among top White House officials of the 21st century.
Also absent were Barack and Michelle Obama. However, the former first couple were not snubbed of an invite; they just opted not to show. Michelle, 61, also skipped the funeral for former President Jimmy Carter earlier this year.
Below is a look at Trump’s nightmare of a guest list at the Washington National Cathedral.
Mark Milley topped the list. The hostility that has been leveled at Milley would make you believe he must be a Democrat but Milley has not publicly declared an affiliation so let’s call him an Independent. Mike Pence was invited to something that Trump was not. Put that in your crack pipe and smoke it.
Anthony Fauci was there, again proving that in real Washington, D.C. people like Dr. Fauci who worked for both Democrats and Republicans in his long tenure as a leading epidemiologist, do not serve along party lines. They are simply there to do the job and they are bipartisan or nonpartisan. Such lines do not exist in the childish world of MAGA.
Mitch McConnell and Elaine Chao were also there, again being GOP elite as was Dick Cheney. It is remarkable that Cheney’s funeral should provide the showcase for how in fact there are three parties in this country right now, Democrats, Republicans and MAGA. The old school Republicans were not coming out in favor of MAGA today, they were honoring one of their own and neither of the Cheneys has anything to do with MAGA. Trump may be in the White House as a Republican president but today’s funeral shows that while Trump’s the GOP’s useful idiot, he is not welcome as they mourn one of their own highly placed comrades.
It is perhaps not surprising that Thursday’s service, for an anti-Trump Republican, was attended by scores of GOP members who openly oppose the president. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, whom Trump unsuccessfully tried to primary in 2022 after she voted to convict him during his impeachment trial, was joined by Sen. Bill Cassidy, of Louisiana, who also voted to remove Trump from office.
Also present were the former GOP Reps Adam Kinzinger and John Boehner—a pair of staunch Trump critics the president has labeled as “RINOs,” or Republicans In Name Only. Karl Rove, a former Bush administration official who Trump called a “total loser” in May, also attended.
John Brennan, Obama’s CIA director, is among Trump’s longest-running political foes, going back to his probe of the Trump campaign in 2016. Brennan has had his security clearance revoked, which prompted him to call Trump “very sensitive and insecure.” Trump has not let his past grudges pass. Instead, he has repeatedly accused Brennan of treason and has encouraged his administration to probe him.
There was no shortage of Democrats at Thursday’s service, including some who are particularly good at getting under Trump’s skin. Joe Biden attended with the former first lady, Jill Biden. Kamala Harris attended without her spouse, as did Rep. Jamie Raskin, who has recently parodied Trump’s all-caps rants. Also in attendance was Rep. Bennie Thompson, who is actively suing the president, and Sen. Adam Schiff, who Trump has called “pencil neck,” “watermelon head,” and, most famously, “Shifty Schiff.”
What is interesting about funerals like this one, or John McCain’s, or Jimmy Carter’s, is that Americans gather to honor another American. The party lines are not what is important, the government service is. Dick Cheney, love him or hate him (and yes, I did have a Cheney/Satan bumper sticker at one point) was an American statesman. As such other American statesmen and stateswomen gather to see him pass to his eternal rest.
It’s civilized. It’s bipartisan. It’s the American way of doing things. And Donald Trump is neither civilized nor American. He’s a barbarian. And he was excluded. I see this as a significant cultural statement. And I also see it as the beginning of more cultural statements along the same lines as lame-duck Trump gets crazier and more irrational still. Republicans who are forward looking are going to be excluding Trump from more and more things, I predict.
And if I was a MAGA politician right now, I would be wondering if I wanted to continue to throw in my lot with Trump or maybe look to see what the old school Republicans are or were about. Politics is a pendulum and at some point in the not too distant future, it will swing away from MAGA. Again. And just like musical chairs some MAGAs are going to be standing when Trump and his music end.
