“Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome… Liz Cheney!”
Before the words even left my mouth, the crowd at the Redondo Beach Center for the Performing Arts jumped to their feet and cheered as if Taylor Swift had walked on stage rather than a fiscally and socially conservative former congresswoman from Wyoming whose father is Dick Cheney.
Liz Cheney? A standing O in the 310?
Add this to the list of once inconceivable things that now happen on a regular basis thanks to Donald J. Trump.
I had the honor of hosting Ms. Cheney for the Distinguished Speaker Series of Southern California. At each event (Redondo Beach, Thousand Oaks, Pasadena, and Long Beach) Cheney was greeted like a rock star. Her role as vice chair of the Congressional Select Committee investigating the January 6 insurrection turned her into a favorite in the bluest of blue states where she was previously seen as a knuckle-dragging right-winger.
Meanwhile, her belief that Donald Trump is unfit for elective office turned her from a beloved conservative icon in Wyoming, the reddest of red states, into a traitorous turncoat they couldn’t wait to fire at the ballot box the first chance they got.
Ms. Cheney does not care.
While appreciative of the support she receives, she is as unseduced by adulation as she is unmoved by the hatred directed her way. Cheney’s sole objective post 01/06/21 is defending the United States Constitution and the rule of law, which means doing everything she can to ensure Donald J. Trump is never elected again.
Over the course of her stay in Southern California, Liz Cheney recapped the damning facts uncovered in sworn testimony before Congress, almost entirely from Donald Trump’s closest advisors and appointees, including his Attorney General, White House Council, and even his son-in-law and daughter, Ivanka.
“The facts are all that matter,” says Cheney. And the defining fact of January 6 is this: the president of the United States called a mob to Washington, fired them up with lies about a stolen election, and then exploited their patriotism with the express purpose of stopping the peaceful transfer of power, subverting the very essence of America. This is not an opinion, rather the only conclusion that can possibly be drawn from a fair reading of the facts.
Ms. Cheney tells the entire sordid story in her book, “Oath and Honor: a Memoir and a Warning,” a must read for every American. Sadly, the people who most need the facts will not seek them out. Critics of Cheney and the January 6th committee dismiss the investigation as a “partisan witch hunt” yet proudly boast they didn’t watch it. I’m talking about you, Senator Tom Cotton.
Of course, not everyone in Southern California was thrilled Liz Cheney was in town.
“The economy was better under Trump, the border was secure, there were no major wars. How can you not support him?” asked one gentleman.
Ms. Cheney’s response? “Because I’m not willing to sacrifice the United States Constitution to any man.”
One by one, Liz Cheney parried away with facts all the rumors and outright lies marketed by talk radio hosts, bloggers, and especially the former president himself.
I greatly respect the folks who came to hear Cheney who went in disliking her.
Liz Cheney understood she was likely to lose her seat in congress by standing up for the Constitution. She did so without hesitation. Someday, hopefully, she will be appreciated by all Americans for taking this stand. But the jury is decidedly out.
As Ms. Cheney reminds us, in 1789, at the conclusion of the Constitutional Congress, Benjamin Franklin was asked what kind of government had been created?
“A Republic,” said Franklin. “If you can keep it.”
Doug McIntyre’s column appears Sundays. His novel, “Frank’s Shadow” is available at Amazon.com. Reach him at: Doug@DougMcIntyre.com.
