STATESIDE: We may be entering one of the most discouraging epochs in American political history

With CHARLIE HARPER

Liz Cheney is an improbable saviour-martyr.

But as the overblown drama of her dismissal as the third-ranking Republican in the party’s House of Representatives leadership table has played out in the mass print media and on television news and opinion shows during the past week, Cheney was increasingly being portrayed as just that – a saviour-martyr.

In fairness to the Republican Party, it’s helpful to examine the position from which she was sacked yesterday morning. The number three spot in the House GOP hierarchy is titled the House Conference Chair, and its principal responsibility is messaging.

That means first and foremost the incumbent must relentlessly push the current Republican Party line. Under House minority leader Kevin McCarthy of California and his deputy, Steve Scalise of Louisiana, that course includes overall fealty to ex-President Donald Trump.

To observe that Cheney is out of step with her party’s House leadership is a colossal understatement. Consider some of the things she has said in the past several days:

“Today we face a threat America has never seen before. A former President, who provoked a violent attack on this Capitol in an effort to steal the election, has resumed his aggressive effort to convince Americans that the election was stolen from him. He risks inciting further violence.

“Millions of Americans have been misled by the former President,” Cheney continued. “They have heard only his words but not the truth, as he continues to undermine our democratic process, sowing seeds of doubt about whether democracy really works at all.”

It is entirely plausible to surmise Cheney was booted out of her party’s House leadership because she did almost nothing to avert such a fate.

Many observers feel this is part of an evolving strategic political plan whereby she assumes a leading role in returning to power the Republican apparatus of her ex-Vice President father and his allies.

Even as she denounces Trump in stark, unambiguous terms, Cheney reminds those paying attention that “I am a conservative Republican and the most conservative of conservative principles is reverence for the rule of law. The Electoral College has voted,” Cheney said.

“More than 60 state and federal courts, including multiple judges the former President appointed, have rejected his claims. The Trump Department of Justice investigated the former President’s claims of widespread fraud and found no evidence to support them.

“Those who refuse to accept the rulings of our courts are at war with the Constitution,” Cheney said, adding, “Remaining silent and ignoring the lie emboldens the liar. I will not participate in that. 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.”

Liz Cheney has become almost a household name in the US overnight. News shows on both sides of the political spectrum have seized on her defiance of Trump and her skilful oratory to showcase this lone congressperson from the remote, largely forgotten state of Wyoming that has historically played virtually no role in national politics.

She is being portrayed as an underdog, battling gamely for principle against a tyrannical demagogue of almost mythical proportions.

Among other things, what we are watching in America is convincing evidence that the mass media has learned virtually nothing from its many mistakes over the past half-dozen years.

During that period, all while proclaiming their role as the last bastion of defence against the “anti-democratic” Trump, the media continued to amplify and magnify a megalomaniac and shower him with more free publicity than even he could have ever afforded to pay for.

Now we’re seeing that behaviour begin to be repeated in the media treatment of Cheney. Commentators and pundits across the major TV networks and liberal cable outlets are starting to celebrate her as the last, best hope for the restoration of a responsible Republican Party.

Say what?

Liz Cheney, it turns out, voted for Trump policies and initiatives 93 percent of the time while he was President. Few can recall any of her principled defiance while Trump was riding high atop a booming economy and a wave of indulgent support from half or more of the American electorate.

But now, with Trump effectively muzzled for at least six more months from his favoured free public platforms and with some evidence that his popularity with Republicans is starting to sag a bit, Cheney has stepped forward to lead the way to the promised land for Republicans.

She has cleverly managed to become the newest bright shiny media thing. Cheney is a skilful politician. She’s smart, committed, passionate and clever enough to see a path forward to a different GOP than the one we see at present.

But where is she leading?

Most Americans, like most voters in many places around the world, have very short memories. They won’t likely recall many events from less than 20 years ago, after the stunning terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington on 9/11/2001.

After that unspeakable national trauma, a group of dedicated, focused conservatives led by Liz’s father Dick, then Vice-President, set about to enlarge presidential power in the name of national security, engage in terribly costly, misdirected overseas wars and adventurism and generally eroding American constitutional norms under the banner of the national security interest.

We may be entering what may be one of the most discouraging epochs in American political history, during which the continuing menace of a brazen buffoon may lead the country to turn for redemption to a cynical conspiratorial cabal that drove the US into a political and military ditch less than two decades ago with the misbegotten Iraq war.

New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, still widely read and highly regarded after decades in the public eye, wrote over the weekend that “shockingly, the Republicans who eroded America’s moral authority — selling us the Iraq war, torture, a prolonged Afghanistan occupation and Sarah Palin — have somehow become the new guardians of America’s moral authority.

“Trump built a movement based on lies. But the Cheneys had showed him how it’s done.”

There are times when it’s difficult to find reasons for optimism when considering America’s political future. This is looking like one of them.

Messages from Mount Trump

While the US continues its search for a respectable path out of the mire left behind by Trump, what of the master showman himself?

How is he doing as he leaves the summer heat and humidity of Palm Beach for the cooler climate at his suburban New Jersey golf club outside New York City?

According to numerous reports, he often delivers rambling, disjointed, untruthful but nonetheless classic extemporaneous diatribes to dinner guests from the platform of his Mar a Lago resort in Palm Beach.

Apparently, edited versions of these sermons from Mount Trump are then promulgated for the enlightenment of the masses through devices such as a blog entitled “From the Desk of President Donald Trump.”

It’s no surprise to discover Trump is up to his old tricks on this blog – attacking Republicans who refuse to obey him, continuing to insist that he actually won the November election, and finally, getting around to attacking the policies of the administration of President Joe Biden, who actually won in November.

According to widely quoted expert analysts on the subject, Trump’s new blog has drawn a very much smaller audience than he once attracted on mainstream social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

The reach and flexibility of Trump’s new blog is relatively limited, since users can’t comment or engage with the actual posts beyond sharing them to other platforms.

Before the ban on him imposed by outlets such as Facebook and Twitter in the wake of the January 6 assault on the US Capitol, a single Trump tweet was typically liked and retweeted hundreds of thousands of times, sometimes in a single day.

Trump continues to brood. Liz Cheney seems to be ascending, despite a partisan fall from grace. A new group of veteran conservatives yesterday threatened to form a new, spinoff party “true to traditional Republican values” if the current version of the GOP doesn’t come to its senses soon and reform itself.

Where will it all lead? It’s fascinating, but also profoundly scary, to consider the future.

Comments

proudloudandfnm says...

Republicans keep saying democrats are communists but if you don't kneel to trump they throw you out. Even if you are an ultra conservative like Cheney, who voted with the dumbest president in history 96% of the time. Heil trump or get your head cut off....

The fascist republican party is the biggest threat to the US and the world today. Gonna be interesting to see just how bad they get as time moves on....
Seig Heil!

The world better be ready, one day they're going to have to deal with the fascist US...

Posted 13 May 2021, 7:12 p.m. Suggest removal

GodSpeed says...

Liz Cheney repeats the "insurrection" lies of the mainstream leftist media and democrat party. Trump never encouraged violence, the whole narrative is as fake and made up as WMDs in Iraq. The republican party can not be led by someone like that. Not to mention she's warmongering, war profiteering neocon filth. Since when are liberals so pro war? Fascists are people that shut down free speech, much like how Trump has been silenced from every social media platform. Those doing the censoring and encouraging it are the fascists.

Posted 14 May 2021, 8:55 a.m. Suggest removal

proudloudandfnm says...

The capital riots were a direct result of trump's lie about the election being stolen ergo trump is most definitely responsible for the riots. Period. End of discussion...

Posted 14 May 2021, 10:20 a.m. Suggest removal

GodSpeed says...

Trump never encouraged anyone to commit acts of violence, he always endorsed law and order. Meanwhile throughout the whole of 2020 the leftist media and Democrats encouraged BLM and Antfia terrorists to burn down cities, loot and murder to the tune of Billions of dollars and many lost lives. They praised the violent rioters and called it all "fiery but mostly peaceful".

Posted 14 May 2021, 4:33 p.m. Suggest removal

proudloudandfnm says...

Fascist also use chemical spray to clear a park so their leader can get a picture taken. Fascist also lie about opponents stealing elections. Fascist also steal from their followers. Fascists also cut off important data from needed services in order to allow the dear leader to lie about current events.

Sorry buddy but the GOP is in fact fascist. Period. End of discussion...

Oh yeah. And fascists also need morons to buy their lies and support their idiocy...

Posted 14 May 2021, 10:24 a.m. Suggest removal

proudloudandfnm says...

Fascists also declare an election the most secure in history then two months later pass restrictive voting laws to appease their dear leader...

Posted 14 May 2021, 10:30 a.m. Suggest removal

GodSpeed says...

I don't know who was calling the election "the most secure in history" except RINOs and Democrats, it definitely wasn't Trump or his supporters. We all knew it was going to be rigged and warned of the mail-in ballot scam since at least April 2020.

Posted 14 May 2021, 4:36 p.m. Suggest removal

proudloudandfnm says...

Yet nobody can seem to find any hint of evidence it was stolen the only thing you morons have is the word of a pathological liar. Lol. The same liar that claimed the Iowa primary was rigged for ted cruz. The same liar that said he lost the popular vote in 2016 because it was rigged. He even had 2016 investigated and guess what his team found? Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada...

Nothing on earth dumber than a trumpie...

Posted 15 May 2021, 2:04 p.m. Suggest removal

GodSpeed says...

Just a week ago you wrote a piece entitled:

> "Stateside: Trump Just Won’t Go Away
> And It May Be Liz Cheney Is The One To
> Stop Him Trying Again For The White
> House"

Now, do you see how out of touch you are with conservatives? As I said in the comments on that article, Trump is the Republican party right now. Nobody wants neocon, warmongering filth like Liz Cheney except MSNBC, CNN, ABC etc. She has about as much of a chance that Jeb Bush had to lead the Republican Party.

Your perspective is formed from mainstream fake news that was trying to engineer Liz Cheney as some kind of leader for the Republican party, that much is obvious. The establishment fears the return of America First more than anything. They started to push this narrative on their fake news that Liz Cheney is the new face of the GOP and then you assumed it was reality. Well, just a week later conservatives have ejected that RINO. But you still don't see how the talking heads on TV manipulated your reality. Afterwards they couldn't help themselves spreading her image and disparaging words about Trump all over their fake news media.

The Republican party will not be led by someone that attacks Trump repeatedly because most conservatives know that Trump did nothing wrong and that "insurrection" and "inciting violence" are lies of the Democrat party and their mainstream fake news propaganda. Any conservative fervently and repeatedly attacking Trump by repeating those Democrat lies exposes themselves as a RINO and mainstream media consuming Muppet with no chance of leading conservatives.

I will give you a real rising star of Conservatives before the lying leftist media has to tell you. That person is Ron DeSantis.

Posted 14 May 2021, 9:08 a.m. Suggest removal

proudloudandfnm says...

Lol. Ron the dumbest governor Desantis... Oh yeah. Ok.. lol..

Posted 14 May 2021, 10:25 a.m. Suggest removal

GodSpeed says...

> "Ron the dumbest governor"

Is that why liberals are fleeing in droves from the Democrat ran rat hole of New York to Florida? Florida is booming, Dem ran cities are a dump as usual, it would just be nice if they stayed in the bed they made instead of fleeing to Conservative ran states once their insane polices start ruining everything. "Defund the Police" 😂😂 man are liberals stupid.

Posted 14 May 2021, 4:38 p.m. Suggest removal

milesair says...

New Yorkers have been moving to Florida for the last 70 years even when Florida was being led by Democrats! They are moving to Florida because of the weather, not the politics!

Posted 15 May 2021, 8:58 a.m. Suggest removal

GodSpeed says...

no, they're moving because NY is becoming a rat hole. And of course they have been moving "for 70 years" or more even, the point is the rate at which they're moving has increased dramatically since the BLM rioting mess in NY and pandemic craziness.

Posted 15 May 2021, 10:35 p.m. Suggest removal

Bobsyeruncle says...

Never heard Republicans complain about Cheney, until she went against Trump. As far as I'm aware she was very well liked and respected by most in the party, until she did this. Then the Turncoats realized their political futures were at risk if they sided with her. Just goes to show how much power Trump has over his flock of sheep. Baa-Baa-Baa

Posted 14 May 2021, 5:47 p.m. Suggest removal

GodSpeed says...

It's not about Trump, it's about America First. That is the ideology conservatives want, it's just that Trump was the one to put it forth. If Trump was a warmongering neocon then nobody would want him either.

It's hilarious for the leftist media and liberals to fawn over Liz Cheney and attack Trump as some evil authoritarian when Liz's father is literally a war criminal who should be in jail. The media sure has you folks brainwashed.

Posted 14 May 2021, 6:12 p.m. Suggest removal

Bobsyeruncle says...

Exactly right, makes me want to throw up. But it's not just the leftist media who fawn over any political martyr, the 'rightist' media do the same when they have the opportunity. They have us all brainwashed.

Posted 14 May 2021, 7:16 p.m. Suggest removal

milesair says...

More fake news from the idiot who gets his news from Faux or some other right-wing fake news outlet! Provide proof that the election was 'rigged!' Every court in the U.S. denied that there was any fraud in the U.S. election. You are just another conspiracy theorist spreading fake news because it suits your right-wing fascist ideas. People will be going to jail in the U.S. for spreading this treasonous nonsense. Too bad you can't be one of them. Prove there was fraud or STFU!!

Posted 15 May 2021, 8:49 a.m. Suggest removal

sweptaway says...

i bet your sitting at your keyboard with two mask on ! When you have to cuss about something you obviously know nothing about ,it's shows the whole audience what an ignorant fool you are !Keep up the good work

Posted 14 May 2021, 11:29 a.m. Suggest removal

Bobsyeruncle says...

At least he can spell - lol.

Posted 14 May 2021, 5:48 p.m. Suggest removal

proudloudandfnm says...

I see what kind you are... Lolololol!!!!

Posted 15 May 2021, 1:43 p.m. Suggest removal

JohnQ says...

As has become the norm for Charlie, his deeply held bias is out in the open. Once again Charlie, please post a video of your now famous yoga pose known as "head inside of rear end". Better yet, post one of you "pulling head out of rear end".

Posted 14 May 2021, 1:32 p.m. Suggest removal

ScullyUFO says...

Ein volk. Ein Reich. Ein Fuhrer.

The only policy the Republican party has today is to punish those who are not them.

Posted 15 May 2021, 10:09 a.m. Suggest removal

proudloudandfnm says...

Seig heil you moron trumpies...

Posted 15 May 2021, 2:06 p.m. Suggest removal

GodSpeed says...

You nutjobs that compare Trump to Hitler are really something else. I know you get it from the talking heads on TV and 🐑 on social media but do you actually know anything about Hitler and Nazi Germany? I can't see how anyone that knows history could compare Hitler to Trump, they're nothing alike. Obama built the cages btw.

Posted 15 May 2021, 10:39 p.m. Suggest removal

milesair says...

What is amazing is the fact that although there are only a few Bahamians who apparently 'love' Trump on this site (none of the major publications in the Bahamas have anything good to say about Trump (The Tribune, Nassau Guardian, Bahamas Uncensored, Bahama Journal) I would like to know, what do these people get for their support of Trump? He once owned what is now Atlantis, but as usual failed to make a go of it and sold it at a loss. He has filed bankruptcy numerous times and this is supposed to be a "good" businessman? Trump is too cheap to be bribing you people, so what are you getting for your support? Wind pudding and air sauce? I am an American who once lived on Grand Bahama in the 1950's and 60's. While I have an opinion about Bahamian politics, I don't express that opinion since I am not a Bahamian. Trump is the most racist, divisive and authoritarian President that the U.S. has ever had in my lifetime. He stands for everything that the U.S. is not supposed to be about and is a danger to the very existence of the U.S. as a DEMOCRACY! Thank God 82 million people also thought this way but that still leaves 72 million who voted for him which is very scary in and of itself! Contrary to some people, the election was NOT fixed and even judges who were appointed by Trump failed to find any fraud in the election. Trump predicted that should he not win, than the election is fixed which is perhaps the most arrogant statement that he ever made and he has made many such statements. All that I can say is for all of you Trump lovers, lets see if your 'love' of Trump pays your bills or gives you ANYTHING in return. Nada, nothing, zilch is the answer but if Trump ever makes a comeback, I wouldn't want to be living in the Bahamas with a giant fascist state right next door. That would be as scary as hell among other things!

Posted 18 May 2021, 3:29 p.m. Suggest removal

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