From CNN on Wednesday, May 5, 2021 (read article here):
“In a new op-ed for The Washington Post, Rep. Liz Cheney says the Republican Party is at a ‘turning point’ and must decide whether to accept or reject Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 election, which she says provoked the violence on January 6 and could provoke violence again.
“‘Trump is seeking to unravel critical elements of our constitutional structure that make democracy work — confidence in the result of elections and the rule of law. No other American president has ever done this,’ Cheney writes. ‘The Republican Party is at a turning point, and Republicans must decide whether we are going to choose truth and fidelity to the Constitution.’ …
“She also repeats her view that Republicans should ‘steer away from the dangerous and anti-democratic Trump cult of personality’ if it hopes to win national elections in the future. ‘History is watching. Our children are watching,’ Cheney writes. ‘We must be brave enough to defend the basic principles that underpin and protect our freedom and our democratic process.'”
Now Cheney is very conservative (she represents Wyoming), and I don’t agree with her policy stances on most issues. But she’s right about Trump, the GOP, and her party’s future.
Trump is the most successful, and most dangerous, demagogue in American history. He is to democracy and rule of law what Mao was to China and Kim Il-Sung to North Korea.
Which means as long as the GOP remains in thrall to Trump, and stands behind his election lies, no one who values democracy and rule of law can vote for Republicans, no matter how much they disagree with Democrats or dislike their policies. We already see big business moving away from the GOP, moderate Republicans leaving Congress, and people who’ve stopped talking to their Republican friends. This doesn’t mean they’ll become Democrats. They won’t. But they may conclude they have no other choice when they vote. That’s what Cheney is trying to get across to her party. But they’re not listening.
Related Stories:
- President Biden says he doesn’t understand today’s Republican Party.
- Republicans are poised to purge Liz Cheney.
- Facebook kicks the can on Trump ban.
She is out in the Wilderness so she can say things that may be true but unpalatable to Republicans. Leadership in a party has to do that which the party needs to go forward and that is to take the house, the Senate, The Presidency. [Edited comment.]
Continuing to embrace Trump, lies, and wacky conspiracy theories after being rejected at the polls and by donors isn’t what I’d call “going forward.”