August 22

THE ENEMY OF MY ENEMY IS STILL MY ENEMY

Liz Cheney has now crossed the line into political martyrdom by messing with the MAGAts to investigate former president Trump and his involvement in the January 6 Insurrection. Her courageous and honorable stand to take the path against the lies and dishonesty of the new Republican party and losing her congressional seat to a relatively unknown, Harriet Hageman, a Big Lie stalwart, means that her term will end on January 3, curtailing her preeminence in the House investigation of the attempt to overturn Biden‘s election. With this chapter of her life ending, a further indication of the long reach The Don still has in the GOP political sphere, she vows to fight on, promising “to do whatever it takes to ensure Donald Trump is never again anywhere near the Oval Office.”

She maintained that winning reelection “would have required that I go along with President Trump’s lie” in her concession speech, and, “It would have required that I enable his ongoing efforts to unravel our democratic system and attack the foundations of our republic. That was a path I could not and would not take.” Those who have followed her career will know what a dramatic turn this was for Liz to embark upon, a complete about-face, having supported the Trump agenda with 93% of her votes early on. As a Tea Party follower, she was viewed as unprincipled, a ruthless politician who fought the same people as the MAGATs, while parroting the lines of those in that bailiwick. Her father, former VP Dick Cheney, tried to bolster her campaign, by calling Trump the greatest threat to our republic in the nation’s 246-year history. Sort of like the pot calling the kettle black, with Charles Pierce of Esquire naming Dick “the poster boy for the Unaccountable Executive and Unitary Executive Theory,”  as he attempted to cover up the Iran-Contra fiasco, by deceptively leading us into a disastrous foreign war in Iraq, and turning this nation into waterboarding torturers. Those post-9/11 days were pretty heady times for the Cheney/Rumsfeld/Rice coalition as they pursued leftover dreams from the Daddy Bush presidency. For Liz, Pierce says, “It’s a choice between the seditious conspiracy of the bear spray and the mob, and the seditious conspiracy of the black site and the waterboard. The enemy of my enemy is still my enemy.”

Prior to the 2016 election, Liz Cheney told Rush Limbaugh that the future of American democracy, and the nation’s place as a symbol of freedom to the world, was on the ballot, and the next president “would be the most corrupt individual ever to sit in the oval office” should Hillary Clinton succeed. With her father’s blessing, and the support of the Wyoming GOP which had great respect for the Cheney name, she easily won a seat in Congress, becoming a mouthpiece and apologist for the Bush Gang who had been largely ignored by the GOP once they left office; and, later with regular appearances on Fox News, she tore at the Obama presidency. She hyped her father’s career and his politics, and became chair of the House Republican Conference, some cohorts floating her as presidential material, even as she offered Trump her endorsement for his run at a second term. She formed a dark-money group called Keep America Safe, as she smeared Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder as weak on security – particularly after they hired attorneys to defend Guantanamo detainees. But, being dead-wrong on Obama and suddenly awakened about Trump doesn’t wash the filth from her falling star, nor does it warrant forgiveness for the breakdown in the guardrails engendered by the Bush years.

Mother Jones magazine’s word to the wise: Don’t overlook the work she has done with the House J6 Committee. She’ll be able to work things out both professionally and financially, but “her fate should be a lesson to aspiring public servants – that the movement you cynically stoke might someday come for you, too.” Her defeat, and that of Jeb Bush‘s son, George P. in his Texas run for attorney general, might be taken as an indication that voters are closing off that era of our nation’s history.

Sadly, however, it signals to the GOP, that being loyal to your tribe is what counts – not issues or governance, but what Donald Trump says it is. For this would-be-despot it is about attention to his presence, his grifting, and revenge upon those who would ignore or criticize him; and if his endorsed vendetta-minded candidates continue to win, with old-school politicians such as Cheney continuing to fall, a bleak future may await after the midterm elections. Should Trump choose not to run, or be disqualified in some way, Republicans are still seeking candidates who will carry forward with his policies and lawless style of governing. Liz Cheney phrased it well in her concession speech by saying, “This primary election is over, but now the real work begins.”

Speculation is that the Orange Menace will declare his candidacy to simply, somehow, escape prosecution, but skepticism does exist within the ranks that he might be unable to win the nomination should he run. The embarrassments in his conduct leading up to the Capitol attacks, as revealed by the House Select Committee, may have seriously damaged his political viability, with many hoping that he declines to run – very surreptitiously, of course. One Republican senator says, “I could count on one hand the number of colleagues who want Donald Trump to be our nominee,” adding, “I could count it on one finger.” Now, now – be civil, senator!

Many, including Senator Moscow Mitch, believe stiff competition awaits Trump in the GOP primaries, with heavy support being shown for Florida Dictator, Ron DeSantis. Even with enthusiastic support of some Republicans, Trump or any nominee will need to appeal to independent and swing voters to win back the White House, with poll results changing weekly. The GOP has crowed about Biden‘s slipping poll rating numbers, but with his recent legislative successes, that slump may be reversing. Regardless, it’s still too early to make any predictions for either party, with the fluctuations in the daily news. Heavily watched morning show, ‘Fox and Friends’ recently disclosed how DeSantis is leading Trump in some demographics, and is showing strength in several states. That resulted in an explosion from the former Commander-In-Tweet on his Truth Social platform, claiming that Fox botched his poll numbers on purpose. “That show has been terrible – gone to the ‘dark side’,” he raged.

Former Vice President Pence is still quietly making the rounds with speeches, and endorsements of candidates – some in opposition to DJT endorsements, while not openly declaring his intentions. By showing his character and bravery during the January 6 Insurrection, he has gained some standing within the GOP ranks by passing this test, while Trump failed his. Even Ted ‘Cancun’ Cruz is viewed as a potential entrant into the melee, but like the others is keeping an eye on Trump’s moves. When asked if he thought Trump has been damaged by the House Committee investigation, Cruz said, “I think the J6 hearings have been a political circus and a transparent campaign ad by the Democrats. I don’t think they move public opinion. I think they’re preaching to the choir.”

Beyond the J6 investigation, Trump is now being impacted by the FBI‘s removal of another set of boxes containing classified documents. As expected, the MAGATs immediately were ready to take the streets in defense of their idol, but a January 6 repeat failed to materialize, with only a few protests. Armed supporters showed up at some FBI offices, one of which was taken down in a pursuit after firing a weapon, but for the most part, the media personnel covering the story outnumbered the flag-waving weapon-bearing disgruntled. While the courts have wrestled with the requests and demands to release all documents pertaining to the ‘raid’, the big question remains – why were these boxes taken to Mar-A-Lago in the first place, and then placed in such  low-security storage? Trump, even as president, showed such utter disdain in his handling of secret documents by leaving them splayed on his desk for anyone to see, or during his hosting of South Koreans at Mar-A-Lago as alerts of North Korea‘s newly-launched test rockets mingled with the chocolate cake and the McDonald’s french fries in the dining room – guest’s cellphones capturing the newsworthy event as it unfolded. Benedict Donald didn’t comprehend the seriousness then, and he doesn’t get it now. Rudy Giuliani defended the purloined boxes as being as safe there as they were in Washington, D.C. So, Rudy knew they had been taken, and he’s telling us they were secure? Rudy doesn’t get it, either, and he just drove another nail into Trump’s political coffin. Of course, whiner/victim/thief Trump drove several nails when he was quoted as saying earlier, “They can’t have them…they belong to me!” Uh-oh, and have some documents already made their way to new owners by now? All together…WHY WERE THE BOXES REMOVED TO MAR-A-LAGO? Can somebody please ask that question?

Some simply ask, “Hasn’t Trump learned enough from his failures to get onto the right path?” And the answer is that he has learned enough from his failures to be even more dangerous. According to Charles Blow in the New York Times, he has learned that the political system is incapable of holding him accountable – neither his party nor our governmental system. He has tried to extort a foreign nation for political gain and was not removed from office. He has attempted a coup and was not removed from office with his party’s support. He has learned that many supporters have almost complete contempt for women, so he has been able to brush away all of the charges against him. With the involvement in the Insurrection to overturn the election, he is learning that demanding loyalty must be severe and that a power grab must come at the beginning of a presidency, not at the end…he is learning to break the political system.

According to Axios, “Trump’s top allies are preparing to radically reshape the federal government if he is reelected, purging potentially thousands of civil servants and filling career posts with loyalists to him and his ‘America First’ ideology.”

Blow goes on to say, “Most dangerous of all, Trump will have learned that although presidents aren’t too big to fail, they are too big to jail. A Trump free of prosecution is a Trump free to rampage.” We CANNOT fail to prosecute and bring this demon to justice!