The ‘must read’ if you really want to know and understand what Liz Cheney is all about.
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Liz Cheney and Donald Trump—The Two Faces of American Totalitarianism
By Richard Eskow at Common Dreams.org
In part…
Cheney represents another branch of American totalitarianism, one built on institutions, elites, and stability. Hers is the slow totalitarianism of internal spying, voter suppression, dark money elections, and dynastic politics.
Liz Cheney’s electoral defeat is not the fall of an American hero. She’s not going anywhere, and she’s no hero. The good she is doing on the January 6 Committee is almost certainly being done for less than admirable purposes. To ignore that fact is to overlook another front in the war on democracy.
It wasn’t that long ago that Cheney was one of Trump’s fiercest defenders.
Cheney is one face of the creeping totalitarianism that has been eroding American democracy for decades (and it wasn’t in great shape to start). Her bitter feud with Donald Trump is best understood as part of an internal battle currently raging within this country’s anti-democratic forces.
Besides, what exactly did Liz Cheney sacrifice with this latest turn? Her congressional career was over the moment Trump turned against her—which was well before the January 6 Committee began.
The Question
What is the likeliest explanation for [Cheney’s] sudden shift in behavior from a politician who has shown a lifelong antipathy, not only to the public interest, but specifically to democracy and civil liberties? Here are five possibilities:
- She suddenly realized the war on democracy that she, her party, and her family had waged for decades was morally wrong and decided to do the right thing, if only this one time.
- After voting with Trump 93 percent of the time in Congress, something she used to brag about, she and/or her family had a falling out with Trump. That process started her career on a new trajectory, one that meant the end of her House seat but brought new opportunities for fame and influence.
- Cheney is, understandably, very pissed that Trump told the January 6 rioters to ‘get Liz Cheney’ and wants to get even. (Trump’s exact words as he urged the crowd on were, “We got to get rid of the weak congresspeople, the ones that aren’t any good, the Liz Cheneys of the world.” Hey, I’d be pissed too, but it’s not exactly a high-minded motive.)
- Once Trump turned on her, she realized she would never win another primary and decided to go out in a blaze of self-serving and vindictive glory.
- She, her father, and the many others who have labored behind the scenes to undermine democracy and civil liberties see Trump—both the man, and the cult of personality—as a threat to their long-term plans.
My best guess, for reasons I’m about to lay out, is some combination of numbers 3 and 4, with a little of the second option thrown in for good measure. But number 5? That’s the big one.
Option number 1, which Cheney’s liberal admirers have embraced, seems to be the least plausible of the five – by far.
The complete Richard Eskow piece here
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If You Don’t Know Me By Now / Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes