Liz Cheney Warns That the GOP May Become Known as 'The Party of White Supremacy'

Liz Cheney is a prominent member of the House of Representatives for Wyoming, and the daughter of former Vice-President Dick Cheney. Up until recently, one of the seeming up and coming leaders of the Republican party,  

Then came the whole storming of the Capitol building episode, which seems to have polarized an already divided Republican party even further than it had already been. One of the fault lines, if you will, to this major party shakeup has been right around Liz Cheney. 

Why? 

Because to her credit, she did not hesitate to hold Trump responsible and accountable for his obvious role in that insurrection last month. 

The blowback of her strong stand - relatively unusual among prominent Republicans - came almost immediately. There was talk of getting rid of those elements of the party who refused to stay loyal to Donald Trump, despite his no longer being in the Oval Office. She was one of the main names seen as a target for the extremist element of the GOP who spoke of a cleansing, of getting rid of those party members who did not fall in line, lock and step, to defend Trump no matter what he said or did. 

Now, I will admit that it is strange for me almost admiring the courage of Liz Cheney, who again, is the daughter of a controversial former Vice-President who many felt almost embodied evil with his corporate ties as the seeming driving force behind an unjustifiable and rankly immoral invasion of Iraq that led to an ill-fated war. Millions of Americans were led to believe that the war was indeed not only justifiable, but urgently needed in order to avoid a terrorist catastrophe in the mold of September 11th. There were certainly other aspects about Dick Cheney that I would criticize, including his environmental policies and stated beliefs, but the war is the one thing that immediately comes to mind. 

Frankly, I do not know what Liz Cheney thought about it at the time although I would tend to think that she would have been in support of what turned out to be a disastrous war. And indeed, I also feel that most Americans should have frankly had more common sense about the so-called justifications regarding the Iraq invasion. After all, it seemed to me an obvious contradiction that they could be deemed such an immediate threat to world peace with their vast arsenal of "Weapons of Mass Destruction" (WMD's), yet simultaneously, the same people who were arguing this also boldly stated their confidence that the war would end quickly and decisively, and that the war would end not in months, but in days or, at most weeks.

Long story short, the war stretched on and on, because the Republicans in particular who pushed for it - and Dick Cheney was often seen as the major political figure who was pushing most aggressively for it - clearly had no exit strategy. True, Saddam Hussein's regime toppled within weeks, but the war stretched on and on. We were still in Iraq well over a decade later. Somehow, it seems, those who supported the war, or who lent wishy-washy opposition/support and who, frankly, actually empowered the war effort, seemed to have largely gotten away with it. And that is why I approach Liz Cheney with some measure of caution. She is, after all, a prominent Republican leader who clearly rose to the highest echelons of her party as a result of her famous last name and family ties. That is why it feels bizarre to me to defend her now.

Yet, defend her I must, because again, we saw a major political happening that showed people's true colors. The Iraq war was a disaster and, again, as already mentioned, I felt then, and still feel now, that there was no justification for it. Zero. True, we had seen a huge terrorist attack on our home during the September 11th attacks. But there was absolutely no serious evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved, or that he even supported terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda. In fact, it seems very likely that he would view them as a threat to his own power, and they certainly did not appear to be big fans of his. The disinformation campaign here in the United States won out back then, when it should have been a bit easier for most Americans to put two and two together, and figure out that this was was not the right course of action for the country. 

That, however, was over a decade and a half ago. Since then, we saw another political episode that, frankly, was even easier to see through. Or at least should have been.

The rise of Trump was the closest and most obvious episode when the United States began to flirt with fascism. At least, that is, if we understand the root of what fascism really is, which is basically this: subscribing to the mentality that might makes right.

To that end, we saw the rise of xenophobia and white supremacy on a level that we had not seen in in half a century. And it seems that, much like those wishy-washy Democrats who officially remained critical of the war, yet seemed to do everything in their power not to take too strong a stand against it lest it cost them politically, we now see many Republicans taking that same kind of approach to this unfortunate, even tragic, Trump episode which, truth be told, is clearly wrong and evil. Yes, I suggest evil, and I do not state that lightly. Trump embodies evil, embodies the worst that this country has to offer.

Which is why I have to give credit where credit is due. Because Liz Cheney could have simply opted for the cowards way out, to preserve her own political prominence at a divided time, and hope to still remain storng and relevant after this storm blows itself out, as it surely will. But to her credit, she took a stand that, frankly, far more Republicans should have had the spine to take, and to stand up to the excesses of Trump and all that he stands for. She recently suggested that her Republican party, if it is not careful, will come to be known as "the party of white supremacy." Truth be told, I am not sure that they are not already identified as such by many people. But sometimes, you need someone to state this outright, and kudos to her courage for being able to state the obvious, even though it will likely cost her politically in the not so distant future.

This is an example of political profiles in courage. I am not a Republican, and certainly not usually an admirer of any political figure named Cheney. But I think that it is safe to say that John F. Kennedy would have been proud in this instance, in particular.

Liz Cheney says the GOP risks becoming known as 'the party of white supremacy' by Thomas Colson, Feb 24, 2021:

https://www.businessinsider.com/liz-cheney-says-gop-risks-being-party-of-white-supremacy-2021-2?fbclid=IwAR3Y4dJVXCnQaxkLgWda2Mu-bXPDYwgv4QfEgfY7ZE6DdaEByYbLgsD_JgQ