Cheney thinks that questioning the election arises from a mindless, dangerous loyalty. It is great and fine that she is a conservative. But when she voted for his policies, didn’t she note how often they devolved power and now, she gives comfort to those who would nationalize elections, police, and lives? If he affected the Georgia senate race, is she healing the party or leading thoughtful discussions on the election given that the Democrat’s bill is now facing them? It is bad enough Democrats want to get in our heads to make our eyes and hearts and minds conform. But that leadership in Congress does is irritating and apparently that is how Congress sees it. Thank God.
Sure Biden (or at least the Obama/Biden/Socialist swamp) is president. Still as Byron York put it, the election remains quite “fishy” and little that has been discovered (Hunter Biden’s follies and laptop, militarization of the capitol, nationalization of voting) has diminished that smell. The Democrats want me to say 2 + 2 = 5; I sure as hell don’t need a Republican demanding the same.
She doesn’t need to think it is fishy to at least acknowledge a sentient person might, even with no prodding from Trump. Her position is what 50% of the nation apparently believes and that 50% has most of the channels and most of the pop culture and most of the ink and apparently most of big business. To agree with them is not cowardly it is not the way I look at it or January 6, but I can see that some might. But she seems to have accepted a perspective like Pelosi’s: Orange Man Bad. Why else the all caps? (Was Hillary’s contention that the election was stolen only worth initial caps or was it a reasonable response?) Declaring doubts as verboten breeds resistance and paranoia. It is neither brave nor mature nor, well, American.
There’s been talk here of Civil War. Wasn’t one contributing factor the rigid cultural Mason/Dixon divide? The South stopped books and plays, newspapers and journals. This was not true in the fertile days of the founding, but the South remained feudal and slavery was only a part of it. (As Villani points out in his thoughtful post, a smaller part than is often thought of today.) The north was open – it was building schools and factories, bustling and productive. We now have a red/blue line and much is verboten in the blue world. Randi Weingarten sees her role as binding the minds of students to reach some tortured dogma/aesthetic, smothering another useful analogy. But traditionally the Cheneys didn’t have Weingarten’s perspective – is that what old line conservatism, like the old line churches, have come to?
The problem I have with Liz Cheney is less that she doesn’t like Trump than she won’t shut up about him. He’s a cult leader? BS. He’s gone and few people are paying any attention to him. Pure projection of their own obsession with him.
The problem runs a bit deeper. Count on the mass media to interject themselves in their eternal quest to keep the Trump story line going.
Forget what the media are telling you. While ideology and grievance play a large part in Cheney’s actions, that is the bright shiny object being put out for you to obsess upon.
Basically, removing her is an internal -management- decision. To paraphrase an old sage, “It’s not personal, (and not ideological), it’s just -management.” She is either misunderstanding or abusing her responsibility as the nr. 3 in the leadership team and, by doing so, making realignment and reunification of the party for the 2022/2024 cycles much more difficult. Joe/Jane Average have been so saturated with media narrative that, to the extent they previously -may- have known, they no longer have any clue about how party leadership roles function. Are there grievances and arguments within the various caucus factions? Of course, wouldn’t be politics if there weren’t. But the role of party leadership is to herd cats and resolve (or at least balance) these concerns -privately- within the caucus and build a unified campaign image (and reality) -publicly-. And, once having won a spot on the leadership team, you are expected to be a team player and put the team first. Not by airing intracaucus disputes in public surrounded by hostile and destructive media. Constantly ripping the BandAid off the scars of 2020 distracts from moving the focus to the future – i.e removing the current feckless management of the House in 2022 and replacing it, as opposed to giving them the out by relitigating 2020 and sustaining their case of TDS.
(Note: I’m leaving aside the question of how best to address questions regarding election process and the distinctions between Trump the past and future person and the populist agenda he represents. Serious questions but the question is how best to resolve them .)
Imagine the following scene in -corporate- life. Company has gone through a difficult/turbulent time with questions about earnings, direction, loss of competitive momentum etc (A fundamentally strong brand suffering a short-term setback.). Management starts realigning company strategy and messaging to fit the new context/reality in the market. Initial progress has been made (i.e. picking up seats in 2020 would be the political analogy – the core brand is still strong) and the firm is regaining momentum. Comes the quarterly earnings call and analyst presentation, with CEO, CFO and CTO presenting. CEO gives his spiel (positive impact of the strategy, the strategic road forward), followed by CFO (earnings up, increasing sales and profit momentum recorded, estimates raised) and then CTO takes the stage and goes totally rogue. You can guess how this ends up – a week or so later, the board has met, search firms have been retained, exCTO is herded by security to her new digs at an outplacement facility. Because she abused her public role by placing her personal agenda above the team agenda and undercut her teammates and the firm.
In olden times, if the grievance were so deep, so irreconcilable, then Cheney would face the choice of staying in her lane in leadership or stepping down and moving to the back bench where she is free to express herself…..and would have moved to the backbench.
This is the same old same old from the gop. Cheney is just doing what the establishment has always lately done, attempting to force the base to accept nonsense while demanding dissenters leave the party. I expect at some point these people will threaten to hold their breath until every Trump supporter signs an affidavit renouncing their prior support. I expect most of the GOPes in Congress agree with Cheney, but aren’t willing to end their political careers over it like she is doing.
I will repeat something I wrote here months ago, that the present regime has destroyed its political legitimacy. I think the regime knows it, hence the continual efforts to demonize Trump supporters and the pathetic flailing efforts to pretend the election wasn’t stolen. They can’t win arguments on public policy so they can only attempt to shut them down, like the Antebellum South shut down arguments over slavery in the South.
I just don’t think it will work. Trump is not gone. He is out endorsing candidates and I expect he will continue to do so. This has been a frequent topic of conversation among Trump supporters I know. The unhinged ravings of a woman who won office because of her famous name don’t concern me a bit.
In fact, I bet the real reason why she’s out making a fool of herself right now is because the GOP establishment somehow imagines the Cheney name will magically convince the rubes that the election was real by saying so, loudly and repeatedly.
Of course, I have no doubt she’s been promised a lucrative future for this, even more lucrative than her congressional career would have been.
Not a fan.
@MidwestObserver: “…nr. 3 in the leadership team…”
I have always sort of laughed at this and I see/hear it all the time. I run a business an am the president. Who is my “number 3”? I have absolutely no idea. What do they do? Who cares?
Especially number 3 in the minority. To me, the whole thing is inside baseball and a Republican party own goal. Just either get her out, or not, and get on with poking holes in this next massive spending bill and start winning elections. The rest, at least to me, is all noise.
Xennady:
Wait to hear the vote totals later today. I’m assuming that it will either be a recorded vote or a secret ballot with only the total released. Either way, you are likely to discover that Ms. Liz has alienated a large chunk of the -establishment- constituency with her actions…it won’t be close. It goes deeper than personal opinions regarding DJT. The caucus wants to move -forward- and they feel that relitigating 2020 IN THE MANNER THAT CHEY PUT FORWARD is -not- beneficial. (see further below).
Similar will ultimately befall Kinzinger. The Hill reported that Kinzinger tried to organize a run at McCarthy immediately after 6 Jan. It failed miserably as, essentially, -no one- was willing to sign on. Two points: (a) If the Nevers had actual numbers, they weren’t showing up for Kinzinger’s party and (b) Under McCarthy’s leadership, the party -gained- seats against the usual trend. Whatever remorse we have about losing the White House, we -gained- seats in the House, which pleases the caucus entire….they are not unhappy with either McCarty or Scalise .
There is also an immediate and tactical dimension: HR1/S1. HR1 goes through under a Pelosi whip, S1 will be razor tight in the Senate – I’d expect the margin to be 1 or 2 votes short of passage. Which means that the Dems will bloody-shirt this in the 2022 campaign as yet another bright shiny distraction from their failures elsewhere.(I doubt that this will work, mind, but that is a different question). One of the biggest problems I face in talking with independents and establishmentarians (not frothing progressives) is their inability to separate their -policy- positions from their overreaction to DJP -personally-. (i.e. TDS). Given a choice, it will almost always be TDS. It is nearly impossible to separate the question of electoral integrity from their passive-aggressive distaste for DJT. And the Dems will play the DJT theme all day (watch Schumer’s argumentation in the Senate markup and on the floor). Cheney just fed that D-meme with her outburst which weakens the messaging for 2022 where DJT is not -directly- on the ballot and, while the House is well positioned, the Senate is at serious risk simply because of the imbalance of seats to be contested. (D20 – almost all safe, R14 – with at least 4 open due to incumbents stepping down). Winning the House is peachy, -losing- the Senate is -existentially bad-.
With Liz, there is probably a longer game. In the short term, she’ll work the swamp, book deals, whatever. Barasso’s Senate seat comes up in 2024 and the Cheney clan is not without resources. Right now, this would be a suicide run – but three years is an eternity in politics.
Dan:
As someone with a bias toward small and entrepreneurial business, I heartily concur. Unfortunately, up the line in the usual large cap business ( a place where I spent most of my career – trying to work with/past/around legions of Men in Gray Flannel Suits and power ties), things run differently. In party organization – at the national level – that nr. 3 position is a reluctant necessity.
But your last sentence makes the point – there is no “I” in team. And because of this, she needs to go-. It is a pure -management- decision. Now. As expeditiously as possible. So we can get on with the -rest- of that sentence. Relitigating DJT’s -personality- does not advance that goal, it retards it.
And, at sidebar, in speculative mode: One could always wonder how the caucus would operate under Elon Musk. Note: Even Tesla and SpaceX, notoriously lean ops, have nr. 3’s.
Cheney was one of the leaders of the move in Congress last year to prevent the president from withdrawing from Afghanistan, a move that has overwhelming public support. Have you heard a peep out her about Biden doing the same? She has to go. The Bush/Cheney “wing” of the party nearly destroyed it. They can either accept that they have to sit to the side for a while, or they have to go.
As an aside, can anyone name the number 3 Dem in the House without looking? I assume it goes Pelosi, and then Hoyer, and then…? I don’t necessarily keep up on the news probably as much as I could/should, but that’s a pretty obscure fact for the vast majority of non political junkies. I wouldn’t have ever known that Cheney was the number 3 for the R side if not for this kerfuffle/own goal.
Dan
The Dems are organized slightly differently, because the nominal leader – Pelosi- is also Speaker – so one additional seat required. Hoyer as Majority Leader is equivalent to McCarthy Next would be Whip – who is James Clyburn (SC-6) – highest ranking African-American in the caucus, the power behind the Black caucus and the man who rehabilitated Biden’s failing campaign. He offsets Scalise (nr 2 in the R- hierarchy). The D’s also have a Deputy Whip, the R’s don’t. (Our organization doesn’t bloat….)
What Cheney does as Conference Chair (and nr 3 in the hierarchy) is done by the Caucus Chair – technically nr 5 in the hierarchy – Hakeem Jeffries (NY-8), a hardcore progressive, one of the impeachment organizers and very important in moving the progressive agenda through the caucus.
Clyburn is extremely powerful, far more so than Hoyer. If Pelosi were ever to fall, Clyburn (even at the age of 81) would be the overwhelming replacement because (a) there is no established counter or challenger to Pelosi from the younger generation and (b) he’s a civil rights icon. Jeffries should be viewed as his protoge. The other D to watch is in a stealth position – Jamie Raskin (MD-8) who is, effectively, Pelosi’s gatekeeper and expediter. He runs the Expedited Procedures Subcommitee of House Rules. Consider the implications of that position – it’s rather like Deng TsuPeng running the CCP from his position running a bridge club. Raskin is ultra-progressive, one of the impeachment managers and is basically protected by Pelosi, Hoyer (who is MD adjacent) and (the late) Elijah Cummings (also MD adjacent).
Know your adversary.
I think what we are seeing is the war between the Establishment, which has always been content to be minority, and the Trump wing. Trump has wisely decided, or been convinced, to let the Biden gang show its talents and plans for 6 months. Pelosi knows they are in real danger of another 1994 or, at least, 2010. The HR1 thing is the priority but the Senate has a couple of people, Kelly and the Georgia guy, who have to run again next year, and may be reluctant to fall on their swords.
The 2022 election, like 1860, might be an election before a Civil War begins. I don’t see a violent scene, at least at first. I could see, if the election is lost, some states becoming “sanctuary states” with federal over reach resisted. Then it would depend on the military and agencies like the FBI. I remember how Obama militarized such agencies as the EPA.
Cheney is a representative of what’s wrong with the Republican Party “Old Line” types–They see Trump as a threat to their rice bowls, so they did all they could to marginalize him and drive him out of politics. Their go-along-to-get-along shtick wherein they grift to tell the public that they’re doing all they can to “fight the power” of the Democrats while at the same time, enabling them? That ploy is on its last legs, and the majority of those aligned with the Republican Party today aren’t going to accept that.
The actual reason that Cheney is so vehement against Trump is that he represents a threat to that clique’s power, the one represented by the “old guard” types who’ve been cooperating with the rapists of the Republic for at least the last century.
What they don’t realize, or don’t want to accept, is that if they keep on the way they are, they’re going to augur into the ground along with the Democrats–If only because they’ve become completely indistinguishable from them. I’ve reached a point where I’m telling my local Republican Party shitweasels to either get their act together and start resisting effectively, or kiss my ass goodbye as a voter. We just had the spectacle of that carpetbagging freak Inslee institutionalizing Critical Race Theory, and not a goddamn word from our Republicans. None.
So, I ask you… What good are they? They’re the Vichy or Quisling regime of national politics, and would keep on keeping on with that course under creatures like Cheney. I’ve got no use for any of them, and if the Republic survives, it’s going to do so with a vastly reduced Republican Party and some sort of new thing that’ll actually do what the Republicans have been telling us they’re doing for the last hundred years…
I think you can analyze a lot of Republican behavior, at the upper echelons, as a sort of collective Stockholm Syndrome. They’ve come to identify with the hostage-takers instead of their constituents, and it ain’t going to work out well for them.
Somebody please explain to me what this accomplishes for the GOP.
“I will not sit back and watch in silence while others lead our party down a path that abandons the rule of law and joins the former president’s crusade to undermine our democracy,” Cheney said.
I guess questioning vote fraud undermines democracy ? This is crazy stuff.
They’re the Vichy or Quisling regime of national politics, and would keep on keeping on with that course under creatures like Cheney.
I might add that I was banned at Ricochet for using the term
“Vichy Republicans” for creatures like Romney. The Vichy Republicans still control some aspects of the party. I must get 50 text messages a day asking me to donate. Nope.
Well, the next generation of the Bush dynasty sees which way the wind is blowing:
https://twitter.com/PatrickSvitek/status/1392480060863549440
.@georgepbush tells @MarkDavis it’s a “good thing” Cheney was ousted. “Instead of training fire on [Trump], she really should’ve been training fire on Biden & that agenda”¦I think that that’s what you want out of your leadership, & unfortunately”¦she didn’t rise to the challenge”
Still, he should be kept far, far away from high elected office. No reason to risk it.
Democratic Congressional representatives are all lockstep partisans. Big-media people are almost all lockstep Dem partisans. Anyone who dissents is out. That’s how partisan politics generally works. But members of the Republican leadership who undermine their party for personal benefit have often gotten away with it.
Liz Cheney isn’t important as an individual pol. She’s just another opportunist. What’s notable and positive is that the R leadership moved decisively this time to expel her. The Dems and media are bitching about the expulsion, but it will play well with R voters and strengthen the party.
I have been a fan of Dick Cheney and have read his biography with pleasure. He was a good influence for many years although he was a key supporter of Ford, a weak President. He actually planned to make a career in the House and was reluctantly willing to join the Administration of Bush I. Whether Halliburton corrupted him is a mystery. His daughter has always been a lightweight, in my opinion. Remember, Reagan was a radical in the Establishment’s view. They much preferred Ford in 1976 and forced Reagan to accept a GOPe “moderate” if he would be considered in 1976. His decision to accept Bush in 1980 was his worst mistake.
The 2000 election set up the fiasco that was 2020.
Liz Cheney isn’t important as an individual pol. She’s just another opportunist.
Another good column by Conrad Black.
Cheney, the Democrats, and NeverTrumpers all say the Big Lie is the contention that 2020 was not a fair election. They argue further that Donald Trump tried to promote the violent overthrow of the government on January 6 at the Capitol. They support Joe Biden’s claim in his address to Congress last month, that his (unnamed) predecessor had left the country “staring into the abyss of insurrection and autocracy.”
Trump supporters and many independents say this series of false and defamatory allegations is the actual Big Lie. It is already clear that Cheney, deservedly, will be thrown out of her leadership and presumably defeated in her bid to remain the representative from Wyoming. She voted with the former president on most occasions; their differences are not primarily over public policy. For her own reasons, she has not only come out of the Trump-hate closet, but declined even to bother testing the air as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and some others did, by squealing with joy that Trump was gone and then noting that perhaps he had not gone and abruptly returning to the closet of ambiguity.
No one outside of Wyoming, except Peggy Noonan, cares a whit about Liz Cheney.
Worth reading the whole thing.
Trump and those who hate him remind me of Joe Peschi as novice attorney Vinny Gambini facing off with Fred Gwynne as veteran Judge Chamberlain Haller.
Just to get into the room, Gambini lies like a rug. He violates “norms” left and right. He mispronounces words. He “gaslights” the facts whenever challenged on his
backstory.
Haller is patient and fair. And he puts up with a lot of the shenanigans in the interests of the unfortunate and deplorable fools that (in his opinion) Gambini has schnoookered. They chose this idiot, but even criminals have rights and the Judge will tolerate Gambini, a little bit, for the sake of the “yutes”. But he won’t ever EVER accept him.
It just turns out that Cousin Vinny is correct about the case and the “deep state” or system has mistakenly arrested, restricted, imposed upon and blighted the lives of innocent people; allowing murderous dangerous guilty thugs to run free.
What will it take to look past Cousin Vinny’s New York attitude and see the discernment, wit, and work ethic that brought him to this critical moment?
First: Leadership in both houses has nothing to do with leadership. It is 100% based on the ability to raise money for the next election. Leading consists of using that money as a bludgeon to keep the other members in line. I understand that this is where Liz fell behind.
In some ways the loony left is more principled than all but a few repubs. They, at least, have positions and some sort of agenda however delusional. The GOP is strictly about reelection. When they’re in the minority they can’t do anything and when they’re in the majority they don’t do anything.
First: Leadership in both houses has nothing to do with leadership. It is 100% based on the ability to raise money for the next election. Leading consists of using that money as a bludgeon to keep the other members in line. I understand that this is where Liz fell behind.
This, of course, is the legacy of John McCain and the McCain-Finegold Law which limits fundraising and has placed all legislation in the hands of the staff while the Member spends all his/her time fundraising. This is why Nancy Pelosi survives in spite of her corruption/China ties. She has control of the Silicon Valley money. Zuckerberg dumped $400 million into the 2020 election.
I would credit McCain with a large share of the Administrative State and its power.
As a non-native Wyomingite (we are refuges from the Soviet Socialist State of Minnesota) I can tell you that literally EVERYONE with whom I speak has the same opinion of Liz Cheney:
– She has betrayed the people of the State of Wyoming.
Bear in mind that this state, for good or bad, voted for Trump to the tune of 70% to 75% (depending on the county). She was not elected to the Senate, where she could be a “cooler, wiser head”; she was elected to the House for the sole purpose of representing the wishes of her constituency. Even if she violently disagrees with those wishes that is her job in the House.
But not only has she betrayed the trust that the people of Wyoming placed in her, by disregarding the clear and obvious fact that Trump never incited any violence (please find the violent incitement in “peaceably and patriotically marching down Pennsylvania Avenue”) she has betrayed her oath to the Constitution of the United States and the principles it espouses. She has betrayed the basic premise underlying any criminal case, that of innocent until proven guilty.
And for what? All because Trump was not an authorized part of the UniParty (the DemoPublican party), and as a genetically-driven NeverTrumper was apparently incapable of looking at facts and data and drawing an accurate conclusion. Insurrection? With no weapons, and little old ladies wandering around the Capitol? We see more insurrection on a daily basis from the Dem-wing-run cities that are occasionally burning in flames.
If the sentiments that I see here in my new small home-town are any indication, Liz Cheney (D – Wyoming) will go down in flames in the primary. Even if she (as I’ve seen suggested) runs as an independent and draws almost half of the Rep-wing vote, Wyoming will still send either a Republican or a RINO to the house, since half of 70% is 35%, and the best socialist, err, Democrat, only drew 30% of the vote.
As far as Wyoming goes she is finished in politics. She may be able to carpetbag her way in some other, squishy-red or blue state, but it is my opinion that her arrogance and betrayal have finished her here.
I will state — Trump is far from gone from the political scene. Whether he ever holds office again, or just remains a Soros-like figure for/of the Right is another question. Not sure if he learned enough from being the Big Target In The Crosshairs to decide he was much better pulling strings and unravelling the Left or not, but that is certainly his role at the moment. I do think that, as healthy as he has appeared, he’s going to be well past 75 when 2024 rolls around, and that alone is a big strike against him.
This assumes the whole election process does manage to get cleaned up, and not left in the BS state it’s currently in… And whether or not the Left does the power grab, stuffs the SCotUS, kills the filibuster, and just goes Hog Wild like the trepanned pigs we already know them to be…
}}} We see more insurrection on a daily basis from the Dem-wing-run cities that are occasionally burning in flames.
Seriously, am I the only person who remembers the insanity of Lefties running around the halls of Congress haranguing any and ever person they encountered, during the Kavanaugh hearings?
You want something that was threatening members of Congress with direct personal bodily harm, THAT qualifies far more than anything that happened with the Right on 1/6/21.
I’m assuming that it will either be a recorded vote or a secret ballot with only the total released.
I have read that it was a voice vote, not recorded so far as I know. Thus, the GOPes can claim to their angry constituents that of course they voted to dump Cheney while assuring the Cheney-loving donors that they voted to keep her.
Two points: (a) If the Nevers had actual numbers, they weren’t showing up for Kinzinger’s party and (b) Under McCarthy’s leadership, the party -gained- seats against the usual trend.
Kinzinger is quite likely to be redistricted out of office soon, so he has no reason to hold back- and likely million$ of reason$ not to. McCarthy is every bit an establishment tool. For God’s sake, he lives in Frank Luntz’s luxury apartment.
One of the biggest problems I face in talking with independents and establishmentarians (not frothing progressives) is their inability to separate their -policy- positions from their overreaction to DJP -personally-. (i.e. TDS).
No doubt. Gosh, if only the GOP had spent time defending Trump and attacking the left, instead of conniving against Trump his entire time in office. But no, Trump threatened their rice bowl, so nope. I will note Trump made an issue about vote fraud early on and the establishment fought against any action till he dropped it. What I take away from that now is that they were in on the fraud and were seeking to keep it going. This does not inspire warm feelings from me, aimed at the gop.
It is nearly impossible to separate the question of electoral integrity from their passive-aggressive distaste for DJT.
I sympathize if you have to talk to these sort of people a lot. I don’t, but I’ve found them to be amazingly ignorant of actual political reality- one of them told me they voted for Biden to get a secure border (!!!!!)- no matter what other human accomplishments they have, and often even if we agree on a lot of preferred policies. I place blame for this squarely on the GOP establishment and people like Liz Cheney, thanks to the party’s complete unwillingness to make arguments against the left. I’ve had enough, as has the GOP base.
With Liz, there is probably a longer game. In the short term, she’ll work the swamp, book deals, whatever. Barasso’s Senate seat comes up in 2024 and the Cheney clan is not without resources. Right now, this would be a suicide run – but three years is an eternity in politics.
I disagree. I give her flat zero chance of ever winning election again anywhere, at least as a Republican, and presuming elections retain any meaning at all. She’s done.
Seriously, am I the only person who remembers the insanity of Lefties running around the halls of Congress haranguing any and ever person they encountered, during the Kavanaugh hearings?
I remember. I bet Donald Trump remembers. I bet myriads of the people at the January 6th protest remembered too.
Thus, they thought they’d get treated the same as those leftists rampaging around threatening gop senators.
Oops. If only those protesters had a political party willing to defend them the way the left has defended antifa.
I’m one of the people here people predicting civil war- and the reaction to the January protest is yet one more reason why. Antifa rioters have been let off without charges, endlessly, while the people at the Trump rally languish in solitary confinement.
It takes time and effort to convert people who politely disagree with you into mortal enemies. The left has been spending the time and making the effort.
Interesting times…
Matt Gaetz, in a short interview by Steve Bannon, made an interesting statement. In the last election, Liz “got more donations from PACs than from human beings.” Interesting and probably to the point.
Having said that, I would also like to see Steve Bannon shave and get a hair cut. He seems to go to Jack Dorsey’s barber.
The problem with Cheney wasn’t so much that she couldn’t raise money for herself. As was said above, the job of leadership in Congress today is to raise money for *other* candidates. And she can’t do that. I do remember reading lots of stories about Stefanik doing candidate recruitment, support, etc. I don’t know exactly who she was recruiting, but that’s the sort of thing that that job requires, as far as I can tell.
re: Bannon, it seems like his schtick is being like the slob at the end of the bar, in both attitude, appearance, etc.
The question is not whether Liz cheney will not get 51% of the vote in a primary, its whether she will then run as an independent ala Lisa Murkowski if she loses, or “flood the zone” with “conservatives” that will win her a re-nomination with 35% or 40% of the vote.
This is how the Establishment candidates usually get nominated. The Establishments and moderates coalesce behind one Candidate, while the Center-rights splits its vote among 2,3,4, or 6 other candidates. That’s how we got POTUS candidate McCain in 2008. And Warren Rudmnan (originally) in NH. Its how we were SUPPOSED to get Yeb! in 2016.
Murkowski is setting up to run as an Independent in 2022, since she has zero chance of winning the R vote. That’s why showing part loyalty to Republicans how have no loyalty to their Republican base is dumb.
We see more insurrection on a daily basis from the Dem-wing-run cities that are occasionally burning in flames.
A few years ago, we saw more insurrection on a baseball field in DC … an event that is now being re-labeled as “suicide by cop”, despite the evidence of political motivation for the crime.
thanks to the party’s complete unwillingness to make arguments against the left
I came to the following conclusions several years ago, regarding the GOP wing of the professional/political complex.
> They lack more than willingness – they lack the capability to make such arguments coherently, because like nearly all of us the only societal paradigm they have ever known is what Reagan cautioned us against: that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves. They can’t think far enough outside that box, their rhetoric notwithstanding, to effectively make the case for individual liberty as the primary focus of our governance.
> They are like Wall Street chart men … they think that by focusing on the “numbers” in three precincts in Cincinnati and manipulating perceptions to bring the “numbers” their way, they are doing their job without the risk and mess of focusing on the fundamentals of our governance – particularly respect for those self-evident truths that are the reason they have a government to work within.
> A more recent conclusion that we saw play out last January … they have reached the terminal stage of Pournelle’s Iron Law, and value the “integrity” of their institutions and their status quo more than they value the legitimate objective of governance: “to secure these rights”.
The problem behind these problems is that they are, as I said, are “like nearly all of us” … they are a REFLECTION of what we have been led to want from our government: to embrace that confession Reagan cautioned us against, because we have been led to believe that, compared to these pedestaled nobles, we are unworthy/unqualified to make our own decisions, chart our own courses through life, and help our neighbors.
Until we ordinary folks stop selling ourselves short like this, not even Donald Trump can Make America Great Again.