(March 25) Far too many House Republicans have forfeited judgment and decency regarding Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney.
In a move surely unprecedented in the history of Congress, more than 100 GOP congressmen have joined as hosts for a fundraiser against one of their own colleagues. It is rare indeed when even a single sitting member openly helps defeat an incumbent of his own party — and even then, it usually would involve some close bond of family or friendship with the colleague’s challenger or perhaps a severe ethical violation by the colleague being opposed.
Nothing approaching such circumstances applies to Cheney. To have so many of these Republicans take arms against Cheney, who less than 15 months ago was a valued and respected part of their leadership, is astonishing and inexcusable.
Cheney’s sin, in their eyes, is that she insists former President Donald Trump was wrong to try to overturn the 2020 election, that the Capitol riot relating thereto was serious and dangerous, and that Congress needs fact-finding to ascertain who contributed to the conflagration (and how) and, more importantly, how to fix systems so nothing similar can happen again. Her insistence on doing so in conjunction with a Democratic-led investigation, against Republican leadership’s attempts to sweep the investigation under the rug, apparently is seen as unforgivable.
Yet can anyone deny that Cheney is acting on principle rather than political expedience? She has put her entire career at risk and been made a pariah in her party, with no obvious political upside.
Agree with her or not, they will gain nothing by defeating her. They just make her a martyr, while the investigatory committee will produce whatever information it would produce even without her. And, considering her Republican voting record that gives them no philosophical reason to oppose her, their stunning, unprecedented violation of political norms in raising money against her is vindictive and petty.
Yet these solons haven’t exerted even a fraction of their anti-Cheney effort to try bringing to justice rioters who came within a single minute of overtaking Vice President Mike Pence’s family while calling for Pence’s execution…. [The full column is here.]
