LIZ CHENEY’S 2 QUESTIONS FOR ALL OF US

Up until Chairman Bennie Thompson gavelled last night’s session of the Special Committee to Investigate the January 6, 2021 Attack on the U.S. Capitol to order, pundits had speculated that it would not make compelling television, that it was going to be some slickly-produced misfire.

But they could not have been more wrong.

Faux Snooze, where “we actually cater to our viewers” as the execrable Laura Ingraham put it in defending their refusal to air the session, managed to (inadvertently) prove exactly how powerful the hearing was by running Tucker Carlson’s bullshitorama without commercial breaks; they were terrified that if any of their sheep was to channel surf he might be drawn in by the hearing on other channels.

I have long thought ill of Liz Cheney, that she truly was “her father’s daughter.” But after tonight, whatever she has done before or will do after doesn’t matter.

“Doing the right thing” is always good, but when it is done with the full knowledge by the actor that what they will do will result in their being cut off from the people they have known as friends, cut off from the world where they were well-thought-of and rewarded for being who they were, when they know that the price of doing that is Loss of Everything others might think matters, then it is not only Good, it becomes a Standard of Measurement for the rest of us who witness it to determine what kind of person we are.

It no longer matters that Liz Cheney will most likely lose her congressional primary. There are 535 Members of Congress - several of whom I like and respect for their integrity - and none of them will have so forcefully and single-handedly bent the historical record toward justice as she did last night.

Her fellow committee members made the right decision, to place her in the role of Chief Prosecutor. Had it been any Democrat, the other side could dismiss it as partisan baloney. But with the country seeing her, Liz Cheney, the daughter of Dick Cheney, Prince of Darkness, making the presentation to We The Jury, the people of whom she said, “Your dishonor will live on,” will only demonstrate their dishonor the more they attempt to dismiss her and what she has done.

The truth is, the committee would not exist as it does without her. There would be no hearings like last night’s, no future report, and no future recommendations on how to stop another coup. There would not be the least accountability for what the traitor Trump, the Republican cowards, the fascist street gangs, the Fox News propagandists, did on January 6, 2021.

Let that sink in.

Cheney as Chief prosecutor laid out for We The Jury a seven-part conspiracy on behalf of the president to overthrow an election and put all the elements of a multi-pronged conspiracy on Attorney General Merrick Garland’s plate. She did it.

With her opening statement , Cheney outlined the conspiracy:

President Donald Trump’s misinformation campaign provoked the violence on January 6th.

President Donald Trump corruptly planned to replace the Attorney General of the United States so the U.S. Justice Department would spread his false stolen election claims.

President Donald Trump pressured Vice President Mike Pence to refuse to count electoral votes on January 6th.

President Donald Trump corruptly pressured state legislators and election officials to change the results.

President Donald Trump’ campaign, and other Trump associates following his orders, instructed Republican officials in multiple states to create intentionally false electoral slates, and transmit those slates to Congress, to the Vice President, and the National Archives, falsely certifying that Trump won states he actually lost.

President Donald Trump summoned a violent mob and directed them, illegally, to march on the U.S. Capitol and then to assault the seat of democratic government.

President Donald Trump failed to take immediate action to stop the violence and instruct his supporters to leave the Capitol.

President Donald Trump did this. President Donald Trump did this. President Donald Trump did this. President Donald Trump did this. President Donald Trump did this. President Donald Trump did this. President Donald Trump did this.

Her devastating indictment of Donald Trump was worthy of the finest trial lawyer. She walked through the evidence, and confronted the stakes without flinching.

The Republicans cannot avoid the fact that the reality is that the 45th president they so slavishly devote the destruction of their personal reputations to, is a sociopath who, when told that his mob was chanting “Hang Mike Pence” responded with “Maybe Pence deserves it.” While Pence was kept safe for those three hours in an underground facility, Trump never once inquired as to his welfare or attempted to contact him.

Trump spent those hours reveling in what “his mob” was doing for him. He is so sick, so far gone, so worthless, that he called what he saw happening “love.” He rewound it to look again at particularly violent acts. He smiled and even laughed as he watched what Officer Edwards described as “combat.”

As Chairman Thompson noted, after more than 200 years of the peaceful transfer of power, beginning with George Washington tendering his commission as commander of the Army, when he could have been declared king, after every single president after him accepted the will of the voters, even when Abraham Lincoln believed in 1864 that his opponent would allow the destruction of the country if he took office and still directed his cabinet to accept the outcome of the election whatever it was, Donald Trump did not.

Donald Trump did not. This is his singular treason to the country, to the Constitution he swore to defend and protect against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

Like Bill Kristol, I have no idea whether the hearing changed any minds, or even opened some to considering changing their minds. I cannot see what effect these hearings will have on American politics between now and November, and between now and 2024, or in the years ahead. Like him, I wish I were more confident of the outcome, and I am open to the possibility they may have little to no practical effect. We cannot guarantee an effect or control whether or not it makes a difference.

The only thing anyone can do is act in the right as they have the ability to see that right, in a way that makes those who know us and see us, proud to know us.

The members of the committee did that tonight. And Liz Cheney’s willingness to channel the thoughts and words of her fellow committee members did so in particular.

Whatever one has thought of Liz Cheney over the years (and my thoughts have not been charitable in the least), one has to recognize that last night she spoke to the ages, and when this time is remembered in the future - if there is a future that includes this country as a democratic republic - she is going to be among those who are recognized since the beginning of the experiment as one of the Great Defenders. The rest of the small criminals and traitors in that party will have their names recorded on the List of Infamy. Forever. They're even worse than the Confederacy, whose members at least had the courage to declare themselves independent and not act like back alley assassins in the night.

I have no empathy for Liz Cheney's political views and except for her role in defending our constitution, I anticipate never supporting her in anything. But I will always respect her for understanding that self-governance is really hard work that we all must do together and being willing to act in support of that, regardless.

Speaking at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston this past April, on the occasion of being presented a Profile In Courage award for her work since January 6, 2021, Liz cheney ended her acceptance speech with a pair of questions:

The question for every one of us is, in this time of testing, will we do our duty?

Or will we look away from danger, ignore the threat, embrace the lies?

That is the choice that confronts all of us.

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