I had planned to join my friend Randy Roth in a trip to the Reagan Library for Liz Cheney’s address at the Library on June 29. As it turned out, I was unable to attend and watched it on C-SPAN. But I thought that Randy’s impressions from having witnessed the address in person, would be of interest.
Simi Valley.(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Liz Cheney at the Reagan Library
On June 29, Liz Cheney gave a memorable, and perhaps historic, address at the Reagan Library. Both what she said and how she said it commanded our attention: she called Donald Trump a danger to our Republic, and made it clear that citizens, especially Republican citizens, have to choose between supporting Trump or defending the constitution. There is no middle ground, it is either/or.
Her tone was equally remarkable: She dispensed with the usual niceties and rituals at the beginning of an address. She spoke with a cold and controlled fury and with absolute conviction. No compromise, no subtle distinctions, no extenuating circumstances: Trump is an existential threat to democracy in America. Although the speech was scheduled to last for an hour, she spoke for only 30 minutes or so, but that 30 minutes was enough to bring the audience to its feet, shouting and crying, multiple times. She laid out the issue with blazing simplicity, framing it as a death struggle for our country: we must banish Trump from our public life or face ruination. The audience roared its approval and agreement.
Cheney specifically grounded her position in her religious faith, a belief so strong that it makes her fearless in calling out the forces of powerful evil. While she spoke, I was reminded of Martin Luther and Oliver Cromwell, men who were driven by their religious convictions to take on powerful opponents. To casual observers in their day, Luther and Cromwell must have seemed like quixotic complainers, but the strength of their convictions and the clarity of their accusations were enough to win fervent followers and to eventually prevail. Liz Cheney deserves a place with Luther and Cromwell.
Randy Roth studied at Harvard and London School of Economics. He was consulted by governments for over 20 years. Among his clients were: the US Government, 23 State governments, the United Nations, and the former USSR.
I suspect that her address at the Reagan Center is a carrying of coals to Newcastle. That it was broadcast over C-SPAN probably means that those who should be hearing her were, in fact, not. Did Fox carry in address in toto? I guess not but am open to being corrected.
It should have read “not remembered as the equivalent of the Beer Hall Putsch.” My error.
Doug,
It is not “a failure to grasp [Cheney’s] essential point.” It’s grasped, in all its insufficiency. More importantly, It is recognition that without acknowledging how we got here, and what needs to be done to rectify how we got here, even the defeat of Trump will not be enough to save our democracy. Trump did not arise like an evil deus ex machina – from nowhere.The R party enabled his coming over a period of decades. There are many eager to (indeed, already have) pick up his torch. Many of those are in the Senate, the House, dare I say SCOTUS, state legislatures, governorships, etc., and of course the 20+% of Americans who say they are ready to take up their arms against our government. One man can be dangerous. A sustained movement even more so. And lest we forget, many have military style weapons. Where is Saint Cheney on any of that? Still facilitating! Let’s hope January 6th is remembered in history as the equivalent of the Beer Hall Putsch. Better yet, let’s press Cheney and other supposedly sensible R’s to take effective action to reform election laws & procedures, reinvigorate voting rights, etc., etc., etc. Patting Cheney on the shoulder may make us feel good, but it does nothing to change the course of authoritarian takeover we are on.
Thanks very much for your comments which I fully support. It is troubling that many republicans still do not see how important this matter is.
Dear Doug (& Mr. Roth), I saw only a couple clips from Liz Cheney’s speech, as aired on MSNBC, but was greatly heartened by her standing-O reception (I didn’t see the audience crying, which wd have been even more heartening). As a moderate Dem, I may not agree with her on some issues…but I disagree with lots of people, left & right, on lots of issues, so doesn’t matter…the integrity of our country’s foundations is at stake. Ms. Cheney has demonstrated that some women have more you-know-what than most men…so comparisons to men like MLK & Oliver Cromwell aren’t necessary. In contemporary parlance, I want to tell LIz Cheney “YOU GO GIRL! YOU ROCK!”
Monica
When Dick Cheney heard that his daugher Liz was running for the House, he advised “Don’t screw it up.” I guess he knows his daughter all too well. She is now counting on Dems to keep her office.
If Liz Cheney requires Democratic support to remain in office, it is not she who has has screwed up, but the Republican Party in Wyoming.
Well everyone requires democratic support to stay in office but the point being that she needed Democrats to one place her on the Jan 6th committee and two to keep her in office says little about her Republican credentials regardless of how little you think of the Republicans.
I can’t get enthusiastic about Rep. Cheney even after parts of this speech. She remains a right-wing extremist, whose votes in Congress and political philosophy, like that of the vast majority of elected R officials, paved the way for Trump. I applaud parts of the speech. I simply will not canonize a politician who has supported virtually ever reactionary policy of the radical right. She’s correct on Trump and democracy. But, if President, she would pursue virtually every policy he espoused. I suggest everyone google “Liz Cheney’s voting record when trump president,” or some such. How courageous is it really to deplore the results of your and your party’s long-term extremism, while failing to acknowledge your own responsibility for what you yourself and your ilk have wrought. For these and other reasons, Oliver Cromwell is an entirely apt comparison. On gay marriage, she finally acknowledged “I was wrong.” When will she and other R’s acknowledge their role in the rise of Trump and Trumpism, and take concrete actions to rectify their past governing malpractice.
I don’t think Liz Cheney would expect you, or others holding your views, to be enthusiastic about her voting record. I believe, however, that she would be disappointed at your failure to grasp the essential point: that the fundamental danger of Donald Trump is not a matter of his “policies,” however strongly you may disagree with them. Rather it is a matter of his unique character and obsessive quest to retain power. It is the latter that poses an ongoing threat to democracy in America that transcends disagreements over policy.
Agreed (surprisingly)
I share the enthusiasm for Ms. Cheney of all straight-thinking people. She had made an historic contribution to the hoped-for eradication of Donald Trump from American politics. But I do think it does this courageous person no credit to compare her to Oliver Cromwell, a man with both great accomplishments and much to be censured for. His religious extremism is part of an ugly history of using sectarianism to create division, much like today’s politically-engaged Evangelicals have done.
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