Be More Like Liz Cheney

🤓 Bite-Sized Knurd: The January 6th Committee has released damning evidence that the President, his staff, and members of Congress planned and executed a failed coup to take over the United States Government. If we are going to hang onto democracy, we need more Liz Cheney’s to hold enemies of democracy accountable. Read on for more...

“Someone is going to get killed.”

“POTUS needs to calm this sh*t down.”

“This is hurting all of us.”

The January 6th House Select Committee trickle has turned into a firehose of damning evidence about the President and his inner circle’s actions leading up to and during the January 6th insurrection. Spoiler alert: we can definitely call it an attempted coup.

This week, the Committee unanimously voted to hold former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena. In the process, they released new evidence that Meadows had previously shared with the Committee.

• A PowerPoint presentation (a poorly designed PPT if you ask me) was circulated that outlined all necessary steps to overturn the election on January 6th
• Part of the plan was to declare a state of emergency to “protect Trump loyalists against Antifa,” (a boogeyman for the right more than an actual organization or political movement) as a pretext to take control.
• When the counter-protestors failed to materialize, the former guy waited 187 minutes before calling in backup.
• Lawmakers and Fox News personalities (including Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity) texted Mark Meadows pleading for the outgoing president to intervene during the attack.
• Members of Congress texted Meadows to apologize for their failure to steal the election, “Yesterday was a terrible day. We tried everything we could in our objection to the 6 states. I’m sorry nothing worked.”
• Mark Meadows used his personal cell phone, email accounts, and an encrypted Signal account to conduct business

As Committee member Liz Cheney (R-WI) says, “These texts leave no doubt: the White House knew exactly what was happening at the Capitol.”

I know we as a society are numb to these insane abuses of power, but let’s stop for a second to reflect.

The President of the United States and members of Congress knowingly attempted to overthrow the United States government after losing an election by over 7 million votes.

And yet, the news was not widely covered in the press or cable shows the way another infamous email scandal was covered in 2016. At any other time in our nation’s history, there would be wall-to-wall coverage and calls to prosecute anyone involved.

Where Are All the Cheneys At?

So if the media is not going to tell the American public the truth that one of our political parties actively attempted to overthrow the government, then who is?

It appears like it will be the Liz Cheney’s of the world.

I think it’s fairly clear that I do not share many views with Liz Cheney. She’s been in Republican leadership since the George W. Bush era. But what I can agree with Liz Cheney is that it’s our responsibility to stand up and call out abuses of power when we see them.

Liz Cheney is a perfect voice for the January 6 Committee. She has a calm and steady, but authoritative demeanor. She is clearly a Republican based on her voting record. And she’s going to tell it to you straight without complicating the message.

The Democratic Party could learn a thing or two about messaging from Liz Cheney. While the both-sidesism of the press has scared Democrats from saying what is clearly in front of their eyes, Liz Cheney has no problem doing this.

And we need more Liz Cheney’s in all aspects of our society to stand up and raise the alarm. The evidence is only piling up more and more.

He Got Away With It…Until He Didn’t

It’s easy to feel discouraged that no consequences will ever come, but we collectively have the power to hold insurrectionists accountable for attempting to dismantle democracy for a failed reality star.

To put this news in context, we can turn to Richard Nixon’s resignation. Richard Nixon got away with his crimes…until he didn’t.

The Watergate Scandal occurred on May 28, 1972. Richard Nixon did not resign until August 8, 1974, over two years after the incident. Is every US scandal like this? Of course not. A few examples of not holding government officials to account are the Iran-Contra Scandal, Ted Kennedy in Chappaquiddick, and the “weapons of mass destruction” in Iraq. But that’s not every story.

We are weeks away from celebrating January 6th’s anniversary and less than three years away from the next Presidential Election where the former guy is very likely to be the Republican nominee. That means, we have three years to hold people accountable before we allow insurrectionists to steal our democracy.

What do you choose? To remain silent or call out what is in front of your eyes.