Yesterday, I published an article about how the GOP was about to throw one of their leaders, Liz Cheney, under the bus and officially out of her leadership position, because she had dared to criticize her very legitimate concerns over Trump's cult of personality, which seems to have taken over the Republican party.
Well now, it is a fait accompli. They went ahead and did it. Cheney lost her leadership role, and now, there is one less moderate voice - if Liz Cheney can even really be called a moderate, because it is difficult to suggest, truth be told - left in the Republican party. Another way of putting it, then, is this: there is one less critical voice of Donald Trump in what has, for all intents and purposes, become the Trump party.
This move to get rid of Cheney seems to represent a little bit of integrity (again, I kind of cringe when saying this) left in an increasingly blind, narrow, and cultish cult of personality political movement now posing as the Republican party. It feels like we are witnessing a hostile takeover, which is something that Trump knows a little something about, I guess. Those may work in business, but frankly, they feel outrageously antidemocratic. The whole Trump political movement in this country feels antidemocratic, frankly. They literally seem willing to erode what is left of what we now know to be a fragile democracy in order to get what they want, and let their beloved leader have his way.
Cheney said as much herself. Vowing to keep fighting against this antidemocratic movement that Trump and his growing entourage represents, she said explicitly:
"I intend to be the leader, one of the leaders, in a fight to help to restore our party."
She gave a warning about how far former President Donald Trump is willing to go to get his way and obtain his White House position once again:
"He's going to unravel the democracy to come back into power."
Recently, I heard someone - I think it was late night comedian Seth Meyer - suggest that what we are witnessing is highly unusual. Normally, when a candidate loses big and causes his political party as much as damage as Trump did, they cannot get rid of him soon enough. Think about it: he lost them the White House and both the House and the Senate, and they slid and lost ground in state governments since 2018, as well.
Yet, here they are, going full steam, pushing his agenda, or what passes for his agenda, harder than ever.
American politics, frankly, grows dumber and dumber, while also somehow managing to be even more polarizing. And we wonder why the rest of the world is laughing at us?
Cheney on Trump: 'He's going to unravel the democracy to come back into power' By Kristin Wilson and Daniella Diaz, CNN, May 13, 2021:
https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/13/politics/cheney-trump-mccarthy-nbc-interview/index.html
The Real Reason Republicans Want to Oust Liz Cheney by Eliana Johnson, May 5, 2021:
The problem isn’t her views on Donald Trump. It’s her relationships with fellow Republicans. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/05/05/the-real-reason-republicans-want-to-oust-liz-cheney-485470
Liz Cheney secretly organized key move to block Trump from using military to overturn election: report by Bob Brigham, May 06, 2021:
https://www.rawstory.com/liz-cheney-trump-military-coup/?fbclid=IwAR3ZoYZs12JUdkVNAepIw6fIWeM6P90K2xYRY1XIsqazy5HwJD41Wf8duO8
When Trump’s Next Coup Happens, the Republican Party Will Fully Support It by Jonathan Chait, May 6, 2021:
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trumps-next-coup-cheney-purge-riot-insurrection-democracy.html?fbclid=IwAR2TTmHf16LZHr1l1j4YOCV_AIOLC5f6JHW6AZYLsjdm7bezhoOesTKbQ1s
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