Politics
/
September 6, 2024
Fifteen years in the past, she informed me we had no frequent floor. I disagreed. This week she endorsed Kamala Harris, and she or he has my gratitude.
Liz Cheney, former US consultant from Wyoming, speaks in Atlanta at an occasion honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
(Paras Griffin / Getty Photographs)
As soon as upon a time, Liz Cheney informed me we had no frequent floor. None. We have been showing on CNN with Campbell Brown in June 2009, in a section then known as “The Nice Debate.” (It was not.) I used to be there to defend President Obama’s determination to shut the Guantánamo jail; Cheney was in opposition to it. (Spoiler alert: It’s nonetheless open.)
I acquired the higher of it, as a result of I informed the reality: Former president George W. Bush had himself promised to shut it. Cheney insisted I used to be incorrect.
“Liz, the highest army leaders of our nation need Guantánamo closed. President Bush…gave a speech the place he stated he would shut it, and he would convey individuals house and check out them right here,” I tried.
“No, I’m sorry,” Cheney got here again. “He didn’t say he would convey terrorists onto the homeland. Joan, no, he didn’t say that.”
However he did. Bush stated in June 2006: “I’d like to finish Guantánamo. I’d prefer it to be over with. One of many issues we’ll do is we’ll ship individuals again to their house international locations.… There are some who have to be tried in US courts. They’re cold-blooded killers.… And but, we consider there should be a means ahead in a courtroom of legislation.”
Present Situation
Earlier than a business break, Brown requested us to consider whether or not we may discover frequent floor, an everyday characteristic of “The Nice Debate.”
“Campbell, I simply don’t assume there’s,” Cheney replied. As an approval-seeking weirdo, I disagreed. “Initially, we each love and admire our fathers. Second of all, I consider we each actually and really wish to preserve America protected.”
It was one of many strangest TV segments I’ve ever been a part of, and I debated Invoice O’Reilly.
Fifteen years later, Liz Cheney proved me proper, when she endorsed Kamala Harris for president on Wednesday evening.
I discovered her endorsement surprisingly shifting. I strive to not hate anybody—as I informed a onetime political adversary who claimed I hated her candidate, “I don’t hate him. I don’t hate anybody—properly, besides Hitler.” However I might need hated Liz Cheney a bit. She stood for a lot of issues I don’t consider in. Particularly her father, Dick Cheney’s protection of torture. (However possibly I’m fortunate my beloved father didn’t consider in torture, or else I’d too.)
However I’ve to say: Liz Cheney has sacrificed extra, personally, than I’ve to advance the reality about Donald Trump, as soon as she acquired it. Sure, she voted for him twice, and she or he voted in opposition to his first impeachment. However January 6 broke her. And whereas it appeared to interrupt different Republicans, like Home minority chief Mitch McConnell and the cowardly Kevin McCarthy (ultimately to be a really ephemeral Home speaker), they swerved again into their Trump-obedient lanes and ignored the injury he did, and continues to do, to our democracy. She voted for his second impeachment, associated to January 6. She joined the bipartisan January 6 fee.
And she or he paid for all of that together with her Wyoming Home seat, which was a longtime purpose of hers, and of her father. Folks stated she may very well be the primary feminine president (many individuals have thought that must be a Republican). Now she’s placing her muscle behind Kamala Harris’s being the particular person to interrupt that cup ceiling.
I wrote earlier this week that essentially the most cowardly Republicans are these allegedly “whispering” that they hope Trump loses, whereas publicly endorsing him. The following most timid are those that say they gained’t vote for him, however gained’t vote for Harris both. (I see you, former Pennsylvania senator Pat Toomey. Why?)
In style
“swipe left under to view extra authors”Swipe →
I love all of the By no means Trumpers who’ve come over to our aspect, whether or not they’ve left the Republican Occasion or merely endorsed Harris. However at this second, I particularly admire Liz Cheney. Her endorsement was conservative, and properly thought by:
“I don’t consider that we’ve the posh of writing in candidates’ names, significantly in swing states,” Cheney stated Wednesday at Duke College. “As a conservative, as somebody who believes in and cares in regards to the Structure, I’ve thought deeply about this. And due to the hazard that Donald Trump poses, not solely am I not voting for Donald Trump, however I shall be voting for Kamala Harris.”
So many individuals, during the last two presidential election cycles, have made write-in votes. Bush says he left the presidential poll clean in 2016, and he wrote in former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice in 2020. Yeah, that basically helped, dude. Let’s hope Liz Cheney helps him do the precise proper factor this time round.
I consider that Liz Cheney is the type of no-bullshit Republican who can create a permission construction for different Republicans to make this alternative: not simply to not vote for Trump however to vote for Harris, which issues extra. I’d like to consider that her political odyssey has led her to agree with me/us greater than I do know, however I don’t want that. I respect her braveness for doing this. I’ll be attempting to trace her down on the marketing campaign path, the place she says she’ll be.
Liz, I informed you we may discover frequent floor. Let’s have a cup of espresso. Or perhaps a beer?
We want your help
What’s at stake this November is the way forward for our democracy. But Nation readers know the combat for justice, fairness, and peace doesn’t cease in November. Change doesn’t occur in a single day. We want sustained, fearless journalism to advocate for daring concepts, expose corruption, defend our democracy, safe our bodily rights, promote peace, and shield the surroundings.
This month, we’re calling on you to offer a month-to-month donation to help The Nation’s unbiased journalism. In case you’ve learn this far, I do know you worth our journalism that speaks fact to energy in a means corporate-owned media by no means can. The best option to help The Nation is by changing into a month-to-month donor; this may present us with a dependable funding base.
Within the coming months, our writers shall be working to convey you what it is advisable know—from John Nichols on the election, Elie Mystal on justice and injustice, Chris Lehmann’s reporting from contained in the beltway, Joan Walsh with insightful political evaluation, Jeet Heer’s crackling wit, and Amy Littlefield on the entrance traces of the combat for abortion entry. For as little as $10 a month, you may empower our devoted writers, editors, and truth checkers to report deeply on essentially the most vital problems with our day.
Arrange a month-to-month recurring donation as we speak and be part of the dedicated group of readers who make our journalism potential for the lengthy haul. For practically 160 years, The Nation has stood for fact and justice—are you able to assist us thrive for 160 extra?
Onwards,
Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Writer, The Nation
Extra from The Nation
There’s nearly no option to “win” a debate in opposition to a serially unserious liar like Trump, but when Harris can knock him off his vibe, she may stand an opportunity.
Elie Mystal
The August partisan major marked the second time since 1996 that voters within the state rejected a constitutional modification.
StudentNation
/
Liam Beran
The documentary ought to function a wake-up name to those that assume January 6, 2021, couldn’t occur once more.
Sasha Abramsky
