BONUS: Liz Cheney Lost Her Election But Actually Won

Hi, I’m Rick Barron, your host, and welcome to That’s Life, I Swear

About two months ago, against the back drop of the Wyoming skyline, Liz Cheney, conceded her loss to her opponent in the state’s U.S. representative Republican primary. The overwhelming defeat for Liz Cheney was more than a refusal of values and a reshaping of the GOP. For me it was watching voters who have this knuckle head denial of reality. 

Let’s jump into this 

I need to get this off my chest so bear with me. To the thick-headed deniers of reality that bear allegiance to Trump and MAGAland, please follow the bouncing ball. Mr. Trump lost in a fair and non-rigged election. Donald has been lying, scheming and denying the truth that is hard for him to swallow. 

On Jan. 6, 2021, Trump went so far as to sacrifice the security and stability of the United States on the altar of his infinite ego. One has to wonder about the ‘what if’. Knowing he’s still out there a free man, getting his presidential retirement, secret service protection and more. Can someone explain that one to me? 

As I watch Liz Cheney deliver her concession speech that night, I couldn’t help but think what the GOP once was. Names such as Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Regan, John McCain, and others.

As the mid-term elections across the board unfold, it’s become clear that Liz Cheney and other Republicans who believe in the Constitution, are going their separate ways. The GOP is slowly shredding its Grand Old Party veneer, and moving towards nationalism and populist activists empowered by Trump.

And you know what, they’re not going away.

When Liz Cheney was elected to the House of Representatives, she took an oath to the Constitution and not to Trump, Mr. El Duce. For her to have done otherwise would have required her to go along with Trump’s lie. She sees him for what he is and wants no part of it.

With Liz Cheney being part of the Jan. 6th Committee, many Republicans felt she had an axe to grind. 

Hardly. During Trumps time in office, the reports show that Cheney voted in line with him 93 percent of the time. That doesn’t sound like someone who had selfish reasons.

For some reason Republicans of late can’t do simple math.

For too long Trump has escaped what should’ve been the end of his presidency. Two impeachments, fighting legal cases in New York, Georgia, the Jan. 6th Committee, and now being caught red handed with government documents stored in a closet at his Mar-a-Lago country club, secured with nothing but a typical hardware store lock. 

Many of these documents were classified, some forty plus folders were empty, 16 folders marked SECRET and 17 marked TOP SECRET. Worse yet, they found documents revealing a foreign nation’s nuclear capabilities. But why worry, what could go wrong?

For Liz Cheney, as she waited for the primary results to come in that evening, she knew the deck was stacked against her winning, and she knew that. The Republican party she deals with today have gone off the cliff. 

It’s a party that’s invented a new way to win with conspiracy thinking, theories or just a gut feeling their loss was rigged. The GOP doesn’t stop to think of the road they’re going down today. They have become a party of high emotions, and revenge. In short, they’ve lost their minds.

As Liz Cheney and members of the Jan. 6th committee presented their facts behind what took place with the assault on the U.S. Capitol, one would’ve thought this would be a turning point for Republicans and their idiotic loyalty to Trump. Instead, it only enhanced the division in this country. 

As we can see in other primary elections, those who opposed Trump and stood with their principles, are the ones who have suffered in not winning their primary.

Ms. Cheney was crystal clear when she said she was willing to lose her House seat, rather than fall under Trump’s grip. 

Looking at Liz Cheney’s defeat, seeing the potential Trump endorsed candidates running for public office this coming November, I no longer see a Republican party that once was. To be a Republican today means being loyal to your tribe, whatever Trump says it is, regardless of any and all of its absurdities. 

The former president’s most ardent fans fail to grasp the depths of his unpopularity. Some seem to live in a fantasy island, still believing Trump won the 2020 election in a landslide. Many Republicans who should know better continue to indulge these delusions to the detriment of their party and yes, to the country.

Should you even show a hint of doubting the Big Lie deniers, they slam you for not staying obedient to the Don, whom they see as their rightful ruler, now in exile in MAGAland.

To show just how far the Republican party has fallen victim to Trump’s lunacy, they went so far as to invite Hungary’s autocratic leader, Viktor Orban to a CPAC event in Dallas, Texas recently, to deliver the kickoff address.  In his speech Viktor called for U.S. conservatives to join his culture war. 

I ought to mention, that on his way to Dallas, Mr. Orban made a stop over to visit Trump at his golf course in New Jersey.  Hmmm, wonder if Trump shared any of those classified folders. Nah, doubt he would do that. 

Ok, enough of my whining. Let’s get back to Liz Cheney. 

Her loss for re-election was very decisive, but she didn’t lose. Unlike her other Republican collogues, she took a different road that those who are too afraid of the Don, won’t go. That road is named ‘truth’. Rather than capitulate to Trumps underworld of deceit and lies, she held her ground. She won in so many ways, and so did our country.

One way of looking at her defeat is that one cannot question the accuracy regarding her convictions on Trump, and her party’s allegiance to him on the danger he poses to the future of American democracy. 

In an interview a few days later, Liz Cheney, said she was going to be concentrating on working to ensure that election deniers are stopped in their tracks from getting into state government positions, such as Governors, the U.S. Senate, state secretary of state, state election commissioners and other.

When asked who else might she see as other targets to focus on, the list included Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Josh Hawley of Missouri, as well as Florida governor, Ron DeSantis.

You go girl.

As Cheney closed out her concession speech, she said words that hinted she wasn’t done. She expressed that while the primary election was over, the real work begins. She went on to say, and I quote, “I will do whatever it takes to ensure Donald Trump is never again anywhere near the Oval Office”. End quote

Call me crazy, but think that sounds like a future ‘I’m a candidate for the Presidency of the United States’, announcement.

A few hours after her speech, Liz Cheney filed with the Federal Election Commission, to transfer the remaining funds from her federal campaign account to a new political-action committee, called The Great Task. 

To those who aspire to seeing the return of their king, be careful what you wish for. Should the nightmare unfold, Trump will come back prepared this time with a vendetta, ready to smash down those who dared to oppose his wacky methods of being a leader. 

Correction, a dictator.

There's a saying that sometimes one has to find out the hard way to learn a lesson. Maybe that’s what it will take before all of these deniers to wake up from the Trump trance and realize what they’ve done to their country.

If Cheney and others cannot stop Trump, with all of the court cases happening, from what he did and will do if elected again, please stop saying we are a nation of laws and that no one is above the law.

What can we learn from this story? What’s the take away?

Well, suffice it to say Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, lost and lost badly in her GOP primary, falling to a rival backed by the former president in a rout that reinforced his grip on the party’s base.

When you look at the number of Trump endorsed primary candidates, 159 in total, the results, sadly don’t lie. One hundred and twenty-seven won their primary. Sixteen have lost with sixteen more to come. 

What does the math tell us? Cheney’s defeat means Americans must 'fight for their democracy'. Who would’ve thought we would be talking about that notion today.

I didn’t always agree with Congresswoman Cheney’s issues in American politics. But what I do agree with is her respect and enormous commitment to democracy. She took an oath of office to the Constitution and stood behind that oath, instead of her commitment to one man’s deceitful lie.

Cheney is among handful of GOP lawmakers who have publicly denounced Trump and his claims. One day we’ll look back and thank Cheney and the others, for doing what was right and their re-elections and the government perks be damned.

Liz Cheney framed it best when she said, “America cannot remain free if we abandon the truth.”

Well, there you go. That's life, I swear.

For further information regarding the material covered in this episode, I invite you to visit my website, that you can find on either Apple Podcasts/iTunes or Google Podcasts, for show notes calling out key pieces of content mentioned and the episode transcript.

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