See, I assumed that when Comrade Trump lost the election, a lot of Republicans in Congress would be secretly relieved to be rid of him. I thought they’d be glad to see the back of an ignorant, petulant, vindictive, corrupt, serial liar who was completely lacking in self-discipline, decency, and honesty, and who had absolutely no sense of loyalty to others.
That was before the January 6 insurrection. After Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol, eager to disrupt the Electoral College vote, and apparently willing to assassinate Trump’s vice president, I believed a lot of Republicans would be openly relieved to be rid of him.
Lawdy, was I ever wrong. I mean, sure, I knew there’d be some weasels–unprincipled hacks like Gym Jordan and Matt Gaetz and…what’s the name of that Republican weasel from California? (Okay, I google ‘Republican weasel from California and Devin Nunes was the third result.) But I guess I believed that even the worst Republicans would still support the concept of the peaceful transition of power.
And hey, I was right about that. Sorta kinda. I mean, Liz Cheney IS one of the worst Republicans. She’s awful on just about any political metric you could name. Despite the fact that her sister Mary is a married lesbian, Liz opposed marriage equality. Like her daddy, the former vice president, Liz DOES support torture (yeah, okay, she calls it ‘enhanced interrogation’ but that shit is torture). She’s opposed to expanding voting rights, and supports most of the new state GOP anti-voting legislation. She voted to end the protection of grey wolves in the Endangered Species Act. She suggested the texts between FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page were evidence of a coup and they should be investigated for treason. She voted WITH Trump 93% of the time. She is completely fucking awful.
And yet, Liz Cheney is being hailed as something of a hero. Why? Because she’s one of the few principled conservatives left in public office. Yes, her principles are appalling and backward and short-sighted–but she’s consistent with them. She did, after all, publicly condemn Trump when he abandoned our Kurdish allies when it was politically convenient for him (and for Russia). But at the same time, she suggested Trump’s decision was possible influenced by the Democrat’s attempt to impeach Trump (you know…that first time he was impeached).
This is the state of the modern Republican Party. One of the most horrible GOP politicians is also one of the few who holds consistent principles, and is the only real hope they have of remaining a viable (if selfish and amoral) political party rather than a loosely-affiliated collective of white nationalists, conspiracy theorists, religious bigots, and rabid fucking whackos (or is it ‘whackoes’?).
Next week the House Republicans will likely vote Liz Cheney out of any position of power. The week after that, there’s a better than average chance they’ll toss her in a stream to see if she floats (while chanting ‘Burn the witch!’). In the meantime, Republicans in Arizona are re-re-recounting presidential ballots, only this time they’re looking for evidence of bamboo, because somebody somewhere said it was possible that forty thousand fraudulent ballots were flown into Arizona from China, and that’s where bamboo grows. Jesus suffering fuck I am NOT MAKING THAT UP.
Help us, Cheney-wan Kenobi, you’re the GOP’s only hope.
gregfallis.com 
Reblogged this on It Is What It Is and commented:
I did too – I saw so wrong!! … “I assumed that when Comrade Trump lost the election, a lot of Republicans in Congress would be secretly relieved to be rid of him. I thought they’d be glad to see the back of an ignorant, petulant, vindictive, corrupt, serial liar who was completely lacking in self-discipline, decency, and honesty, and who had absolutely no sense of loyalty to others.”
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Great article. I’m a Wyoming resident and the anti-Liz sentiment here is strong – simply because she criticized the T. I guess that’s not allowed in the Republican Cult.
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Liz Cheney is proof that truly awful people can sometimes do something unexpectedly decent — while still remaining fundamentally awful.
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Let’s see the comments that you described president Trump with, I guess none of them apply to Joe Biden or Kamala Harris or are you that politically ignorant, and are you enjoying the droves of people that are crossing the Rio grande bringing in crime disease and taking more money out of our pockets, maybe you need medication or something but you’re dead wrong, comrade.
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Let’s see the comments that you described president Trump with, I guess none of them apply to Joe Biden or Kamala Harris
Let’s see. I described Comrade Trump as “an ignorant, petulant, vindictive, corrupt, serial liar…completely lacking in self-discipline, decency, and honesty, and who had absolutely no sense of loyalty to others.” Does any of that apply to Uncle Joe or Kamala?
Nope.
are you enjoying the droves of people that are crossing the Rio grande bringing in crime disease and taking more money out of our pockets
Now that’s a valid question. And the answer is no, I’m not enjoying it. But they’re NOT taking any money out of my pocket…and probably not your pocket either. Did you ever consider WHY these people are taking such a long, desperate journey to the US border? They’re fleeing living conditions that are worse than they face here. They’re not coming here to take anything from you; they’re hoping for a better life for themselves and their children–and they’re willing to risk their lives for that chance.
I wish they didn’t have to do that, but I kind of admire the tenacity it takes to walk hundreds of miles for a better life. I know people here who wouldn’t walk a quarter of a mile to buy a quart of milk. I hear conservatives complain about people not wanting to work at minimum wage jobs, and I see immigrants willing to walk hundreds of miles in order to take those jobs. Guess which group I think deserves more respect.
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I agree that Liz Cheney is awful, but I do applaud her for taking a principled stand against a man who worked overtime to overturn the election results and incited an insurrection.
I suspect her time in Washington is just about over. Like you, I was wrong about the Republican party wanting to distance itself from Trump. Alas, they continue to double down on Trump and will cast aside anyone who isn’t on the MAGAT bandwagon. They’ve lost their minds.
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I used to agree with your statement — They’ve lost their minds. I still think it’s true for some modern Republicans, but more and more I’m inclined to believe they’ve just abandoned the concept of representative democracy.
I used to think they’d bought into the conspiracy theories and convinced themselves the election was stolen from Trump, but more and more I’m inclined to believe they know it’s bullshit but are happy to use bullshit if it allows them to remain in power.
I don’t think they’ve lost their minds; I think a LOT of them know exactly what they’re doing and are perfectly okay with an authoritarian government so long as they get to be the authoritarians.
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I should qualify that the ones who have lost their minds are the white evangelical Protestants. These people make up over 30% of the Republican’s support, and their worldview is completely insane. These are the people that believe the world is 6000 years old. that there was a literal worldwide flood, and that Jesus is just about to come back – he just needs some help from Trump. Everything they do seems to be about bringing forth the rapture.
I don’t think the rest of the Republican voters are so divorced from reality. I tend to think they simply want a slice of the pie and see the Republican party as the ones who might give them some.
Power – no matter the consequences – as you say.
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