Tag Archives: Liz Cheney

national news

Hey, Liz … what happened?

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Just when I thought a conservative Republican member of Congress was rising above the partisan fray …

She votes to keep a QAnon believer in her House committee seats.

Rep. Liz Cheney, you disappointed me. Cheney, who voted to impeach Donald Trump on Jan. 13, on Thursday cast a vote against tossing Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene off the Education and Budget committees.

Dang it! I thought she was capable of standing up against the Trumpkins among the House GOP caucus and fight for principle. She’s been getting political threats already for voting to impeach Trump. She won a key GOP caucus vote to retain her leadership post within the GOP House ranks.

She sided with the QAnon/crackpot wing of her party by voting to keep Greene on those key panels. Remember that Greene once said that school massacres were phony stories and that 9/11 didn’t happen.

Oh, did I mention that Rep. Cheney’s father, Dick Cheney, was vice president of the United States when the terrorists hit us on 9/11? There. I just did.

Still, her vote to keep Marjorie Taylor Greene on those panels is a disappointment. I am so glad to see that most of the House saw fit to silence this lunatic within the halls of Congress.

national news

Liz Cheney: a new hero?

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Donald Trump’s time in public office has resulted in many seemingly impossible events.

Such as turning me — an unabashed center/lefty — into a fan of a right-wing politician who, in this instance, is Liz Cheney.

Cheney is a Republican House member from Wyoming. She’s No. 3 on the GOP congressional leadership chart. She voted on Jan. 13 to impeach Donald Trump, deciding that Trump’s incitement of an insurrection was too much for her … and for the nation.

Rep. Cheney is right. Trump was as wrong as wrong can be to bellow his encouragement for the riotous mob to march on Jan. 6 on Capitol Hill to “take back our country.”

Cheney is now the target of Trumpkin Corps members among her colleagues in the House. They want to remove Cheney from her leadership post. The House GOP caucus, though, decided overwhelmingly to keep her in that position. Good for them.

Good also for Liz Cheney for standing up for the Constitution.

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Welcome to the pit, Rep. Kinzinger

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By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Adam Kinzinger has joined Liz Cheney in the purgatory pit of the once-Grand Old Party.

What did the two Republican members of Congress do to qualify for the roles as political pariahs? All they did was stand by the Constitution and vote to impeach Donald J. Trump while Trump was still president of the United States.

They aren’t the only lawmakers headed to the Trump cultists’ version of hell. Eight others also voted with their Democratic colleagues on Jan. 13 to impeach Trump for the second time in his term as president.

Cheney’s tenure as the No. 3 ranking member of the GOP caucus is now being threatened by the Trump suck-ups within Congress. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida ventured to Wyoming to drum up support for someone to mount a primary challenge against Rep. Cheney in 2022.

We are witnessing in real time the cratering of a once-great political party. Adam Kinzinger is looking to create a new conservative political action committee dedicated to what he calls real conservative values.

Politico reported: “Look it’s really difficult. I mean, all of a sudden imagine everybody that supported you, or so it seems that way, your friends, your family, has turned against you. They think you’re selling out,” the Illinois congressman said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Rep. Kinzinger: They claim ‘I’m possessed by the devil’ – POLITICO

The visible and conscious anger being expressed by many Republicans against those who dared to challenge their guy in the White House has drawn some fierce push back in the media … from some surprising sources, I should add.

Chris Wallace, the Fox News Channel stalwart, over the weekend suggested that Republicans should devote more of their energy toward condemning the spewage that comes from QAnon conspiracist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and less time criticizing those who followed their conscience and the Constitution in impeaching Donald Trump.

Adam Kinzinger’s family and friends accuse of him being “possessed by the devil.” That kind of idiocy tells me all I need to know about what has infected the GOP.

national news

Pipe down, Rep. Jordan!

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan needs to stuff a sock in his yapper.

You see, the Ohio Republican is so damn angry with his GOP colleague Liz Cheney — Wyoming’s sole House member — that he wants the House Republican caucus to replace her as caucus chair. Why is that? Because she had the guts, the courage and stood tall on principle in voting to impeach Donald J. Trump.

That ain’t flying in Jordan’s chicken coop.

Cheney was one of 10 GOP House members to vote to impeach Trump on an article alleging “incitement of insurrection.” You know the drill, right? Trump exhorted the mob in front of him Jan. 6 to march down the street to the Capitol Building and “take back” the government from unknown or unseen forces.

The rest, as they say, is history. The mob ransacked the Capitol, killed five people — including a police officer — and proceeded to attempt what is looking more each day like a coup against the government. And why do that? Because Congress was gathering to ratify that Joe Biden beat their guy, Trump, in a free and fair election.

Cheney couldn’t abide by what she saw. So she did the right thing and declared her intention to impeach the president. Which she did.

House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, I am happy to learn, is standing behind Cheney. He ought to take his rowdy colleague Jordan to  the proverbial woodshed.

If anything, the House GOP leadership can use more politicians who are willing to be faithful to their oath of office, to the Constitution and to our government than to one man who has hijacked the party and turned it into a cult of personality.

Jim Jordan is a member of that cult. He should be ashamed of himself and stop trying to shame Rep. Cheney because she acted out of conscience and principle.

DC riot, national news

Cheney feeling heat for voting her conscience

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Liz Cheney listened to her conscience today when she cast a vote to impeach Donald J. Trump.

The Wyoming Republican joined nine other GOP House members to align with House Democrats in impeaching Trump for inciting an insurrection. He exhorted the riotous mob into storming the Capitol Building a week ago, putting every member of Congress — as well as Vice President Mike Pence — in dire jeopardy.

Yep, it’s an impeachable offense.

But now her fellow Republican, Jim Jordan, wants to strip her of her leadership role in the GOP congressional caucus. Jordan is a fervent Trumpkin, figuring that fealty for the man is more valuable than adhering to the oath they all take to defend the Constitution.

Jordan, one of the House’s more nauseating blowhards, has misplaced his priorities. He should be ashamed of himself rather than seeking to shame a colleague who saw fit to punish a lame-duck president for an egregious breach of the sacred oath he took.

How in the world can that be a bad thing? Well, in Jordan’s perverted view, Rep. Cheney should have remained loyal to the president, to the bulk of the GOP caucus and said to hell with the Constitution and the rule of law.

I happen to believe Rep. Liz Cheney and the other Republicans who joined her deserve to be saluted, not scorned.

As for Jim Jordan … he is a bum.

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Liz Cheney: Profile in courage

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By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Stand tall, Liz Cheney.

The third-term Wyoming member of Congress today cast a vote that well could cost Cheney her seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

She voted to impeach Donald Trump on an allegation of “incitement of insurrection.” Why is this courageous? Consider the following …

She represents an entire state that has just a single House seat apportioned to it. Wyoming, moreover, cast just a shade less than 70 percent of its votes for Trump in the 2020 presidential election. That means that Cheney’s “congressional district” is one of the most pro-Trump districts in the nation.

This vote today well could put Cheney’s political career in jeopardy if it angers enough of the Trumpsters out there who stand by their guy no matter what. Not only that, GOP hardliners in the House are considering how to respond to their colleague’s decision to break ranks with the Trump base of supporters in Congress.

I salute Rep. Cheney for standing on the principle of standing for the Constitution and forgoing allegiance to an individual politician.

Read Liz Cheney’s full statement in support of Trump’s impeachment – POLITICO

I hasten to add that Liz Cheney comes from rock-ribbed Republican political tradition. She is the daughter of Dick Cheney who served, in order, as a congressman from Wyoming, White House chief of staff for President Ford, secretary of defense in the Bush 41 administration and vice president of the United States in the Bush 43 administration.

Whatever political threat she might face — from her House colleagues or from the voters at home — for standing up for the rule of law apparently didn’t faze Liz Cheney.

I applaud her courage.

national news

Wyoming: where few folks live, where U.S. rep wields huge clout

RAWLINS, Wyo. — This is a charming town in the south-central region of a sprawling state. It sits somewhere between two fictitious towns to which I refer when I’m trying to illustrate sparse population: Resume Speed, Wyo., and Bumfu*, Egypt.

Here’s the deal with Rawlins, and with Wyoming: The state shares the rare distinction of having three statewide representatives in Congress; by that I mean two U.S. senators and one U.S. House of Representatives member. The other states are North and South Dakota, Alaska and Montana.

But let’s talk about Wyoming.

Its lone U.S. rep is a young woman named Liz Cheney. You might have heard of her. Her parents are Dick and Lynn Cheney. Dad Cheney has considerable political credential: former vice president, former secretary of defense, former congressman — from Wyoming, no less, former White House chief of staff. The dude’s been around, you know?

He passed his political interest on to his daughter, Liz, who recently moved to Wyoming so she could run for Congress from the state that ranks No. 10 in geographical area among all 50 states.

She faced down carpetbagger accusations, given that she grew up Back East, while Dad was serving as congressman, defense secretary during the Bush 41 administration and WH chief of staff for President Ford.

I don’t know how well Liz Cheney has acquainted herself with Wyoming’s unique issues. The state has a couple of impressive national parks, it is teeming with spectacular beauty; they mine a lot of coal in Wyoming; driving across the magnificent landscape one sees a lot of wind farms as well. They all require federal attention.

Given that Rep. Cheney represents the same constituencies as Sens. John Barraso and Mike Enzi, Wyoming gets a three-fer in political clout. Cheney is not bashful, either, about wielding her power, as the second-term House member already is chairing the House Republican Caucus.

Oh, and gerrymandering, the task that allows state legislators to carve up their states according to population trends? Not an issue in Wyoming. No such thing as “gerrymandered congressional districts” here.

There might come a day when the state gets a second House member. For now, all the state’s 580,000 residents should appreciate having a U.S. representative who answers to them.

national news

Let’s quit tossing ‘treason’ around so cavalierly

U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, the Wyoming Republican and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, is the latest politician to toss around the word “treason.”

She said on ABC News’ “This Week” that those who are going after Donald Trump are seeking what amounts to a coup against the duly elected president and, therefore, might be guilty of a treasonous act.

Hold . . . the . . . phone, Ms. Cheney!

For that matter, the same admonition goes out to those who are tossing the accusation at Donald Trump and his allies, too.

I hate the word “treason,” especially when it’s being used for immediate-term political gain.

My handy-dandy American Heritage dictionary defines “treason” as “the betrayal of one’s country.” The maximum penalty for treason is death. Yes, men and women have died for committing acts of treason. They’ve been caught spying for enemy states, or for joining the other side in a time of war.

Liz Cheney’s use of the word “treason” is quite troubling. She told ABC News: “We had people that are at the highest levels of our law enforcement . . . saying that they were going to stop a duly elected president of the United States.”

“That sounds an awful lot like a coup and it could well be treason.”

C’mon, congresswoman. Settle down. These folks at the “highest levels of our law enforcement” are seeking answers to troubling questions. It is not treasonous to search for them, even if it puts the president into some political jeopardy.

I just am weary of hearing the term being tossed around the way we toss around verbiage of much less dire significance.

The only way to assert anything of the sort is for there to be a full-blown investigation into specific charges of such activity. Absent any of that, all we have is political posturing.

“Treason” is the quintessential condemnation that mustn’t be used as political bait.

national news

Wyoming: stranger political climate than Texas?

CASPER, Wyo. — I love this state. It’s spacious, gorgeous and virtually uninhabited.

It’s the 10th-largest state in the union in terms of area; but it ranks No. 50 in terms of population, with about 580,000 residents scattered across 97,000 square miles.

It also has a single U.S. House of Representatives member representing it, along with two U.S. senators, Republicans John Barrasso and Mike Enzi.

And what about that member of Congress? She is Liz Cheney, who happens to be the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney.

Here’s where the strangeness of Wyoming politics comes into play. Our friend Tom — a longtime journalist of some standing here — was showing us around Casper and he told me that Wyoming isn’t too keen on carpetbaggers, the politician who barely knows a region he or she wants to represent in government.

Why, then, did Wyoming elect Liz Cheney, who grew up in Washington, D.C., while her dad was serving in the Defense Department, Congress and as President Ford’s chief of staff before being elected VP in 2000?

Tom’s answer: “Because she has an ‘R’ next to her name and her dad happens to be the former vice president of the United States.”

I don’t have a particular problem with carpetbaggers. Indeed, my first political hero — the late Robert F. Kennedy — carried that title when he was elected to the U.S. Senate from New York in 1964. So did Hillary Rodham Clinton when she ran for RFK’s old seat in 2000 after serving eight years as first lady of the United States. Indeed, Mitt Romney — the former Massachusetts governor — is facing down the carpetbagger demon as he runs for the Senate in Utah.

I do find it cool, too, that a U.S. House member can represent the same constituency as two U.S. senators. Indeed, senators tend at times to lord it over House members that they represent entire states while their House colleagues have to settle for representing a measly House district.

Not so in Wyoming, where equality between the “upper” and “lower” congressional chambers is alive and well.

national news, political news

Still a carpetbagger

CHEYENNE, WY - JULY 17: Wyoming Senate candidate Liz Cheney holds a news conference at the Little America Hotel and Resort in Cheyenne, Wyoming on July 17, 2013. Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, will run against longtime incumbent Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY). Cheney launched her campaign yesterday following Enzi's announcement that he will run for a fourth term. (Photo by Marc Piscotty/Getty Images)

Liz Cheney didn’t get it. She didn’t learn her lesson.

Cheney is the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney. She once thought about running for the U.S. Senate from Wyoming, which her dad once represented while serving in the U.S. House of Representatives until he was named defense secretary during the administration of President George H.W. Bush.

She ran into this problem, though. Actual residents of Wyoming accused Liz Cheney of being a carpetbagger, someone who had not lived in the state since she was a little girl.

She has lived in Virginia her entire adult life.

Liz Cheney dropped out of the race for the Senate.

Now, though, she wants back in as a Wyoming politician. She has declared her intention to run for the state’s only House seat.

Cheney posted her announcement on her Facebook page.

Oops! She forgot to delete a reference on the Facebook post that revealed a tiny detail. It contained the place from where she issued the post: Alexandria, Va.

Check it out.

She still lives there. Cheney, though, did remove the reference to Alexandria.

Will this bring about more carpetbagger accusations? It might.

I know what you’re thinking. What’s the big deal? Other “carpetbaggers” have been elected to public office. Hillary Clinton moved to New York and then got elected to the Senate from that state in 2000. My favorite carpetbagger was the late Robert F. Kennedy, who also got elected to the Senate from New York in 1964; he, too, faced the same accusation.

Still, Liz Cheney needs to prepare to answer the questions about where she lives and whether she really knows much about the state she wants to represent on Capitol Hill.