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Liz Cheney is the Real Threat to our Republic
I write in response to a post today by Gary Robbins, “The Great Task”: Liz Cheney’s Closing Campaign Ad. I think that I have something to say about this that should be addressed in a post, not a comment. I hope you won’t mind.
In the comments to his post, Gary challenged us to take the time to listen to this 141 second campaign ad. Gary, my friend, I did so. I am actually appalled by what Cheney said. Here is the full text of her comments (from this transcription at Cheney’s campaign website). The highlights are mine:
As Election Day nears, I want to talk to citizens across our great state and all across our country.
America cannot remain free if we abandon the truth. The lie that 2020 presidential election was stolen is insidious. It preys on those who love their country. It is a door Donald Trump opened to manipulate Americans to abandon their principles, to sacrifice their freedom, to justify violence, to ignore the rulings of our courts and the rule of law.
This is Donald Trump’s legacy, but it cannot be the future of our nation. History has shown us over and over again how these types of poisonous lies destroy free nations.
Like many candidates across this country, my opponents in Wyoming have said that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen. No one who understands our nation’s laws, no one with an honest, honorable, genuine commitment to our Constitution would say that. It is a cancer that threatens our great Republic.
If we do not condemn these lies, if we do not hold those responsible to account, we will be excusing this conduct and it will become a feature of all elections. America will never be the same.
Nothing in our public life is more important than the preservation of the miracle given to us by God and our Founding Fathers. Nothing.
Here’s my pledge to you: I will work everyday to ensure that our exceptional nation long endures. My children and your children must grow up in an America where we have honorable and peaceful transitions of power. Not violent confrontations, intimidation, and thuggery. Where we are governed by laws and not by men. Where we are led by people who love this country more than themselves.
No matter how long we must fight, this is a battle we will win. Millions of Americans across our nation – Republicans, Democrats, Independents – stand united in the cause of freedom. We are stronger, more dedicated, and more determined than those trying to destroy our Republic.
This is our great task and we will prevail. I hope you will join me in this fight.
I don’t think that the claim that the 2020 election was “rigged” or “stolen” is a lie. It is a difference of opinion. I’ve looked into this issue in some detail, as have others. Our own Mark Boone (@saintaugustine) has done several detailed posts on the issue. I did some myself, digging into details from the county-by-county votes in Pennsylvania to legal analyses of some of the many court cases. Vince Guerra has provided helpful links. Mollie Hemingway wrote a book on the subject, and Dinesh D’Souza made a movie. (I do have to confess that I haven’t yet read the book or seen the movie, but I’ve seen summaries.)
At the moment, my conclusion is that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen. I don’t accept all of the allegations. My own impression is that the claims regarding voting machines haven’t been proven, and the claims of massive ballot-box stuffing haven’t been proven, at least in my view. My own impression is that other claims, relating to illegal votes in a variety of ways such as the use of drop boxes, ignoring address requirements, some votes by people who died or lived out of state or had moved in-state, are sufficient to call the overall result into question. I think that reasonable people may disagree with me about either of these conclusions — some may be convinced of wrongful conduct when I am not yet convinced, and some may not be convinced of other irregularities when I am.
I look at what Cheney said about me: “Like many candidates across this country, my opponents in Wyoming have said that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen. No one who understands our nation’s laws, no one with an honest, honorable, genuine commitment to our Constitution would say that.”
So, according to Cheney, I don’t understand our nation’s laws, and I don’t have an honest, honorable, genuine commitment to our Constitution.” Well, I think that I do have such an understanding and commitment. How am I to respond?
Cheney is the one demonizing everyone who disagrees with her. I do think that, sometimes, this is appropriate. I don’t mind someone demonizing a person who supports, say, child rape and cannibalism. But this is a disagreement about facts, relating to an election, and I don’t think that the facts are clear at all. I think that reasonable people can disagree about the 2020 election.
The claim that Cheney makes — and Gary makes — and the Left-wing media and the Never Trumpers have made, from the start — is that Trump’s claims about election irregularities are a “lie.” I don’t think that it is a a lie. Trump may be mistaken, or he may not.
I am troubled by Cheney’s comment that this so-called “lie” has led people to “justify violence” and “ignore the rulings of our courts.” Perhaps a few people have argued that violence was justified, but I never have, and I don’t recall such a reaction among any substantial number of people. I immediately condemned both the violence of the January 6 riot, and the hysterical overreaction of those calling it an “insurrection” and calling for another impeachment of President Trump.
The part about “the rulings of our courts” strikes me as quite careless. This has been a Left-wing and NeverTrump narrative from very shortly after the election — that all of the court cases were decided against Trump’s allegations. There are a bewildering number of such cases, and as far as I’ve seen, none of them reached an adjudication on the merits. Some were dismissed on technical grounds such as standing or laches. Some, as I recall, were dismissed as moot when the court didn’t act before the relevant deadline (such as certification of a state’s electoral votes).
Cheney’s argument gives a false impression that Trump’s allegations were carefully considered, evaluated on the merits, and rejected by the courts. I don’t think that this is true. We do have a structural problem relating to such challenges, as there appears to be insufficient time between Election Day and Inauguration Day to complete such adjudication.
It is Cheney’s final line that bothers me the most. She said: “We are stronger, more dedicated, and more determined than those trying to destroy our Republic.” I infer that she counts me among those who are supposedly trying to destroy our Republic.
This is why I find Cheney to be the real threat to our Republic. When a genuine disagreement about a close election is dismissed as a “lie,” and everyone who disagrees with that conclusion is condemned as something like a traitor trying to “destroy our Republic,” I think that we have a big problem.
Part of this problem is named Liz Cheney, in my view.
I think that this goes for all of those who agree with her. This seems to include just about all of the Democrats, and a number of NeverTrump Republicans. If you’re in this group, I hope that you will reconsider. You don’t have to agree with Trump, or me, or Mollie, or anyone else. You just have to agree that reasonable minds can differ on this issue.
Published in Elections
I’m with you all the way on this one.
You know what’s a bigger threat to the republic than skepticism about the outcome of an election? Hereditary political power.
Change “those trying to destroy our Republic” with “those trying to destroy our Deep State” and it’s more honest.
Have you noticed that none of these people care that Hillary has spent the last six years claiming the 2016 election was stolen from her. That Stacy Abrams has built her entire career on saying that the GA Gubernatorial election was stolen from her?
Are these not also “poisonous lies” that “destroy free nations”?
No? Why not? Because these are Democrats making the claim?
I find it plausible that Trump actually lost, or that fraud provided the margin, and that trickery short of fraud ( such as suppression of Hunter Biden laptop story ) was the margin. Honest investigations have not been done, and we never will know who actually won the 2020 election. I know actual humans who voted for Biden — they actually exist. Gary Robbins is an actual human, not a Bot on the internet.
However, at this point, I don’t care who won. Biden has the power, and he is a malevolent , malicious idiot controlled by other malevolent, malicious idiots.. I really really want to prevent all of this BS in the future — no suppression of news, signatures on the ballots, clean voter rolls, no private funding of government get out the vote efforts in Democrat areas. The Past and the Present are the Past and the Present, no matter how much they suck. It is the future we need to worry about.
Da-n that was a fine post.
Yes of course, rational minds can have discussions and disagreements. Condemnation of opposing rational viewpoints is the type of poisonous lies (that) destroy free nations.
Our nation is on the verge of being destroyed, of being torn asunder, by the elite who want vengeance, not law. These same elites who claim our Republic is in danger, ignore the constitution, or presume they are above it.
Dangerous times indeed.
I am confident the citizens of Wyoming will appropriately show Miss Liz the door tonight.
Let us hope and act accordingly, to show many of the Democrats and RINOs the door this November.
Liz Cheney obviously does not even recognize the deception she is supporting to try and win the Wyoming Congressional seat by calling on Democrats to vote as if they support a Republican candidate. Looks like cheating to me. Or lying. Or deceiving. Regardless of anything one might call it, it lacks integrity.
Thank you.
Short intro, conveniently borrowed from a post draft I was just working on:
Since the week of the election, I’ve been keeping a list of claims made about election cheating. I’ve been trying to sort the claims by category, sort them by whether they’ve been critically scrutinized, and whether they’ve survived critical scrutiny. I’ve been evaluating claims where I can.
Claims that have survived some critical scrutiny and which are, as far as I can tell, more likely than not indicate illegally cast or counted votes numbering more than double the Biden margin of victory in five swing states. Some of the relevant claims have been verified–affecting three swing states. In two of those states, the claims have been verified in court.
Not every category of votes illegally cast or counted is a category of fraudulent votes, and not every one is a category of specifically Biden votes. But some are Biden votes, some are fraudulent, and the non-fraudulent ones tend to enable fraud. It’s far more likely than not that these illegalities flipped most or all of these five swing states, but the mere fact that illegalities occurred at this level is a national disgrace five times over.
So we have a real problem with election integrity in America. And that’s all prior to looking at the fancier allegations about electronic illegality. We’re not ok on the electronic side of things either. Three words will point us in the right direction there: VVSG 2.0 standards.
More info in links below!
“Keeping Track of Election Fraud Allegations” is the foundation of my research into the 2020 election (available off-Ricochet here in a Microsoft Word version).
“Some Evidence that Illegal Actions Flipped Swing States” is a more detailed look at some of the numbers and at the evidence that these illegalities flipped swing states (available off-Ricochet here in a Microsoft Word version).
“G. K. Chesterton’s Take on Electronic Voting Machines,” without even looking at 2020 specifically, introduces the need for better security in election technology (available off-Ricochet here in a Microsoft Word version).
The “Keeping Track” document is big and hard to read–and it’s a work in progress. Until I get it finish it and make it easier to read–inshallah, inshallah–the five posts below are recommend as introductions to a number of the more interesting aspects of 2020.
“Intro to Eight Election Fraud (and Related) Claims”
I can count on the fingers of one maimed hand the number of liberals who have acknowledged to me that Democrats, the academic left, and the Deep State have abused power in any way whatsoever. There is no longer any reasonable conclusion except that many approve of such abuses of power.
Even the Onion, which I gave up when I found the B. Bee, is having fun with this one. “Dick Cheney launches last minute invasion of Wyoming to save daughter’s reelection chances.: Looks like she is toast. But Dems got the word to vote as R’s. With 5% of the vote in 96% of the total votes are in R column. Weird.
Outstanding letter, Jerry. I even gave it to my wife (who follows and remembers politics, political events, and political personalities) to read, and she too was 100% in agreement with it.
We admire its balance, thoroughgoing attention to facts, and integrity. Which is actually no big deal: it is nothing more than I have come to expect from you, whether I agree with you or not on any given issue.
Well done sir.
The threat has been eliminated Sir!
https://www.theblaze.com/news/hageman-defeats-cheney-wyoming-primary
The Supreme Court of Wisconsin has over ruled the election results and said almost all the ballots from the 2020 election that were cast were illegal. Those votes were more than the margin of error by a substantial margin.
Liz Cheney and others deny that. They are going against a ruling of a state Supreme court. They are the ones ignoring the rule of law. And apparently shes getting slaughtered in the state primary.
The people of Wyoming have found her wanting.
You talking about Teigen vs. WEC?
So far, Cheney is losing the primary by more than 2 to 1! Yahoo!
You know what was really fun?
In the recent primary, so many Republican candidates for so many offices talked about the need to disband the WEC.
We might actually see it happen!
(If they don’t break their promises, that is.)
Reform would be better than nothing, and maybe it would have been the right idea some years (or decades) ago.
But I agree: Get rid of it. It’s too messed up. They openly advocated plain illegalities. Reform isn’t enough.
That is not true. That claim has not been adjudicated in a court, which is the only acceptable standard for such a claim.
And almost nobody is voting in the Democrat primary. It is 20:1 R to D. hmmm. It is almost like Dems are voting in the other primary. But it is early.
I’m sure that the Lincoln Project is preparing a place down in the sewer for Cheney and Adam Kinzinger. They all belong there.
Guess there are less D’s in Wyoming than bison.
I support disbanding the WEC. I am convinced that many of those fights are fake. Someone told me they actually rehearse the moves, to ensure that neither person gets injured!
Could it be that the Ds are voting in the R primary, but they’re NOT voting for Liz?
Too good to be true. Will focus on Alaska now. Go Sarah!
The late, great Rush said that these people have to be defeated since it’s impossible to reason with them. I hope we can: 1) defeat them, 2) be gracious in victory. By that I mean just leave them alone. Their own company is punishment enough.
Nohaaj, thanks for the link. I read it, and it includes something that I find very troubling about Rep. Cheney.
The Blaze story includes a tweet from Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN), which states in pertinent part:
Do you see a problem with this? I will assume that Rep. Phillips is telling the truth about this.
If a crime is committed, whose job is it to “hold those responsible to account,” under our laws and our Constitution?
Arguably, maybe, this is the job of a prosecutor, who is an executive official. The prosecutor may zealously present a case, within the bounds of legal ethics. He may not withhold evidence, and may not bring a case that is not supported by the evidence.
It is not the judge’s job to hold anyone to account. The job of the judge is to fairly and impartially conduct the trial, to rule on the admissibility of evidence in accordance with the law and court rules, and to properly instruct the jury about the applicable law.
It is not exactly the jury’s job to hold anyone to account, either, though this may be the result. The job of the jury is to fairly and impartially assess the evidence, and to decide the case in accordance with the law as provided in the judge’s instructions. If the evidence proves guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, then it is the duty of the jury to convict. If not, it is the duty of the jury to acquit. This is how our system of justice works. It’s not that complicated, is it?
So, what is the role of a member of Congress in this process?
Nothing. Zero, zip, nada. It is not the role of a Congressman to “hold those responsible to account.” Though, if Rep. Phillips is telling the truth in his tweet, Rep. Cheney thinks that this is her role.
To quote Rep. Cheney back at herself: “No one who understands our nation’s laws, no one with an honest, honorable, genuine commitment to our Constitution would say that.”
It does get worse, doesn’t it? Because in this case, Rep. Cheney is a victim of the alleged crime about which she apparently wants to act as prosecutor, judge, and jury.
This does explain her willingness to participate in the “kangaroo court” of the January 6 Committee. She either doesn’t understand our system of justice, or doesn’t care, and doesn’t even understand the need for an impartial prosecutor, judge, and jury.
This seems, to me, to be another reason that Rep. Cheney is a threat to our Republic.
I hope Gary has his sack-cloth and ashes ready.
Yes, we must be able to disagree without being cast as liars or deniers.