Dick Cheney

Two Profiles In Courage: Liz Cheney And Adam Kinzinger Voting To Censure Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar!

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This author and blogger is not a fan of conservatism, and definitely not a fan of former Vice President Dick Cheney, or his daughter, Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming.

He is also not a big fan of Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger, whose conservative views are not his idea of leadership.

But both of them, Cheney and Kinzinger, have shown they have principle and are true profiles in courage, who someday will have an historian write a book on their willingness to stand up to extremist Fascist rhetoric and the danger of Donald Trump!

Both are on the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 US Capitol Insurrection, and both voted to impeach Trump after that event.

And both now have condemned Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar, just about the most extreme member of the Republican Party, who put a anime cartoon on Twitter which portrayed the assassination of New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and a sword combat of Gosar with President Joe Biden.

This advocacy and portrayal of violence is not a laughing matter, and led to the censure of Gosar in the House of Representatives, with only Cheney and Kinzinger, of all Republicans, joining the Democratic majority to take such action, which has only occurred 23 previous times in the history of the lower chamber since 1789!

Gosar should be expelled from the House of Representatives, but that cannot happen unless there was a bipartisan vote of two thirds of the chamber, which will not happen.

But for Republicans to defend the advocacy of violence, and for Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to refuse to condemn Gosar’s action is an outrage that will cause much grief in the future, and particularly if the Republicans, due to gerrymandering, are able to regain control of the House of Representatives in the midterm Congressional Elections of 2022!

This whole situation reminds historians of the Congressional violence and advocacy of violence in the pre Civil War period, particularly in the decade of the 1850s!

Terrifying to think that Congress itself is becoming a battleground of extremism and violence, due to the extremism and danger of Donald Trump!

Wyoming And Liz Cheney: Very Important House Race For 2022!

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Who would think that the state of Wyoming, the smallest state in population (less than 600,000), and least densely populated state (although it is 10th largest in land area), would become the center of attention in the upcoming midterm Congressional elections?

There is only one statewide At Large House district, with the seat being held by Liz Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney.

Liz Cheney is reliably conservative in voting record on every imaginable issue, and no Democrat is likely to be able to take that seat in the upcoming elections. But it is a Trumpite Republican mindset which is the bigger threat, as Liz Cheney has shown principle by voting to impeach Donald Trump, and has become Vice Chair of the House Select January 6 Committee to investigate the Insurrection that took place, the first time since the War of 1812 that the US Capitol and Washington DC came under attack.

Liz Cheney has lost her third ranking position as the House Republican Conference Chair as of May 2021, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and other Congressional Republicans have constantly denounced her. The Wyoming Republican Party has voted to censure her for supporting impeachment of Trump and agreeing to be Vice Chair of the investigation of the January 6 Insurrection, and wants her to resign or be defeated in the 2022 state primary.

There are at least six Republicans planning to challenge Cheney in the primary, but Cheney has gained the backing of a number of sitting members of both houses of Congress, as well as some former such individuals.

So the odds are very favorable that Liz Cheney will keep her House seat, and she has hinted at mounting a campaign for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2024!

Supposed Unpopularity Of Vice President Kamala Harris According To Conservatives: Preposterous!

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It is laughable how conservative websites and Republicans are promoting the view that Vice President Kamala Harris is the most unpopular Vice President since Spiro Agnew in the 1970s.

Think about the Vice Presidents since who are seen as positive forces—Gerald Ford, Nelson Rockefeller, Walter Mondale, George H. W. Bush, Al Gore, Joe Biden.

Two of these–Ford and Bush became President, while Mondale and Gore lost Presidential races, and Biden has now become President.

Who has been left out?—-Dan Quayle, Dick Cheney, Mike Pence.

Dick Cheney was certainly competent in a basic sense, but evil in his abuse of the office, promoting torture in the War on Terror, making money through Haliburton, and being a basic nasty individual, who many thought was really President instead of George W. Bush in the latter’s first term, until Bush finally asserted his authority over Cheney, and their relationship deteriorated.

Dan Quayle was a basically not too bright VP, who scared people at the thought that he might become President, when George H. W. Bush had some health scares.

But compared to Cheney and Quayle, the absolutely worst Vice President in modern times since Spiro Agnew was Mike Pence, who fawned all over Donald Trump, never spoke up when it was appropriate and necessary to do so, and now we learn, he was considering NOT keeping his oath that required him as Vice President to announce the Electoral College vote on January 6, 2021!

Of all people, it was Dan Quayle who convinced Pence he had no choice. And Pence was under threat caused by his own boss, Donald Trump, and yet refuses to condemn him and speak out on the January 6, 2021 US Capitol Insurrection!

Instead, his rabid desire to be President, which will never happen, makes him live in an alternative world, and to think his so called “good Christian” image will propel him to the White House in 2024!

No sane or decent person would call Mike Pence someone who would be “popular” or “decent”, but delusional Republicans and conservatives instead lie about history of Pence, and also, Cheney and Quayle!

The fact is that the “best” Vice Presidents since the 1970s are Walter Mondale, Al Gore, and Joe Biden! And Al Gore won the national popular vote over George W. Bush, but as we all know, lost the Electoral College!

Kamala Harris, the first woman, first biracial, first African American and Asian American Vice President, will survive the vicious attacks on her character and capability, and will join the list of outstanding Vice Presidents!

Her background as District Attorney of San Francisco; California Attorney General; and US Senator makes her perfectly capable and qualified, and her character, empathy, decency, and compassion match that of President Joe Biden!

And if fate has it that Harris might become President in this term or in a future term by election, the nation will be in good hands!

Joe Biden Explains The Absolute Truth About The Now Ended Afghanistan War!

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President Joe Biden, a very decent, humane, empathetic, compassionate man, told us yesterday in his speech to the nation the absolute truth about the end of the Afghanistan War, our longest war at 20 years.

Biden made clear we had lost 2,461 men and women, including 13 last Thursday; 20,561 wounded with many still disabled by physical injuries, and untold others by emotional and mental injuries; and had spent $2.3 trillion over 20 years, about $300 million for every day of the past 7,300 days since the war began. Also, 18 veterans a day on the average commit suicide, many of them due to their involvement in Afghanistan, or the even more heinous Iraq War!

We had two generations killed and wounded, and the money spent on the war could have been utilized to deal with poverty, discrimination, health care, education, infrastructure, the environment, and so much else.

So we need to spend $700 billion a year on defense spending?

Do we need to spend on all kinds of weapons that enrich politicians through bribes paid to promote production of them as part of the defense budget annually?

Do we need to have more than 800 military and naval bases in dozens of nations around the world, and lots of corruption going on in the process?

And of course, many wealthy industrialists and others became super wealthy and benefited financially from the war, most noticeably former Vice President Dick Cheney, who had connections with the corrupt organization, Halliburton, so no wonder that his daughter, Congresswoman Liz Cheney, would be super critical of the war that benefits her and her family members. And these are people who resist the thought of any payment of taxes personally or through their corporations, despite the massive tax cuts under George W. Bush and Donald Trump!

Republicans Are Responsible For Afghanistan, NOT Joe Biden Nor Barack Obama!

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Republicans are trying to make “Political Hay” on the withdrawal from Afghanistan, blaming Joe Biden and Barack Obama, but the evidence shows that it is THEIR party that is responsible for the debacle!

It was George W. Bush who authorized the invasion of Afghanistan, pushed by Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld.

It was Cheney and Rumsfeld who promoted taking attention off Afghanistan, by going to war with Iraq, which made the Afghanistan War a lost cause years ago.

It was Donald Trump, who made a deal with the Taliban to withdraw, and considered seriously inviting them to Camp David for a summit. This was the reason why National Security Adviser John Bolton was fired by Donald Trump in 2019!

It was constant Republican pressure in Congress, controlled in the House of Representatives in 2011 and after, and in the Senate after 2015, that prevented total withdrawal under Obama, although Joe Biden had been a clear dissenter on that issue.

It is now Republicans who are ready to abandon our Afghan allies, who helped US troops, as they promote Islamophobia, and have no concern about the danger to women and girls under Taliban rule.

One must realize that Republicans have been misogynists for a long time, and show little concern or regard for women’s rights!

Liz Cheney Appointed By Nancy Pelosi To January 6 House Committee

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Wyoming Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, a major critic of Donald Trump and the US Capitol January 6 Insurrection, has agreed to be part of the House Committee being organized by the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives.

A strong conservative, nevertheless, Cheney voted to impeach Donald Trump in the second impeachment, and also supported a January 6 Commission to investigate the treason and sedition of Trump supporters who attacked the US Capitol, caused the deaths of five people, including Brian Sicknick, and injured overall more than 140 Capitol Police on that disgraceful day.

But the Republicans refused to cooperate in the investigation, so Pelosi has gone ahead and formed a Select Committee instead, and Cheney courageously decided to join by appointment of her ideological opponent, the Speaker of the House, because she knows that a full investigation of the tragedy is essential.

Cheney emphasized allegiance to the Constitution and rule of law, and the importance of a peaceful transfer of power between Presidencies, which has been the hallmark of American democracy for nearly 250 years!

With July 4 coming in two days, patriotism is more important than loyalty to a corrupt, authoritarian oriented leader, who wishes to establish a dictatorship, and destroy the American political tradition!

Mike Pence Stands Up For His Role In Presidential Election Of 2020 At Reagan Library: A Moment To Be Praised!

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This blogger and scholar is no fan of former Vice President Mike Pence.

Pence’s hardline right wing Christianity is distasteful to the extreme, and the thought that he, after being a total sycophant to Donald Trump, might become President, is a monstrous nightmare.

But on January 6, 2021, Pence did his duty to uphold the Electoral College vote that clearly demonstrated that Joe Biden had won the Presidential Election of 2020.

He did the same thing as Richard Nixon did in 1961; Hubert Humphrey did in 1969; and Al Gore did in 2001; and also what Nelson Rockefeller did in 1977, Walter Mondale did in 1981; Dan Quayle did in 1993; Dick Cheney did in 2009; and Joe Biden did in 2017.

Pence defended his role in a speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum last night, and he faced the threat of being lynched by the Capital Insurrectionists, with his own boss, Donald Trump, unwilling to intervene or care about the health and safety of his loyal lieutenant.

Donald Trump deserves life in prison for his treason and sedition, and lack of concern for human life on that day, and in many other cases over his destructive four years in the Oval Office.

So while not supportive of any future for Pence, he should be saluted for doing his constitutional duty, as other Vice Presidents have done throughout American history!

“War” Between House Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy And Congresswoman Liz Cheney

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The split in the House Republican minority after the January 6 Capitol Insurrection is widening, as a small band of House Republicans, led by Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, continues to denounce Donald Trump and criticize House Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California for refusing to separate himself and the majority of the Republican House Caucus from continued support of the former President.

One must realize that 139 of the 212 Republicans in the House of Representatives refused to support the Electoral College vote of January 6, certifying the victory of Joe Biden over Donald Trump, and they are still remaining loyal to Trump, as he ponders running again for President in 2024.

They are traitors, seditionists, white supremacists, and domestic terrorists, who try to make what happened with the Capitol Insurrection seemingly nothing much at all, and Liz Cheney and about ten others have defied McCarthy, and Cheney is raising the ante, and McCarthy is working to undermine her third ranking position as Republican Conference Chairperson.

The future of the Republican Party and its reputation is at state, and it looks likely that the party as we know it is doomed in its future!

Mike Pence Is A Disgrace To The Vice Presidency, And Assuredly, Has No Future!

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Mike Pence will go down in Vice Presidential history as a total disgrace to the office!

Pence demonstrated no guts, no courage, ever to oppose the abuse of Presidential power by Donald Trump!

Pence was a lackey, servile, a sycophant, totally obsequious, even though he claims to be a devout Christian, or better said, “a good Christian”!

But if one was truly, he would show his ethics and morality on the way Donald Trump handled his office, but instead he kowtowed to the point of behavior that would embarrass any man who has a conscience!

Even when he was directly threatened by Donald Trump supporters on January 6, 2021, he just fled, kept quiet for two months, and now defends Donald Trump’s false claims of a fixed election, all for his naked ambition to be President!

But Mike Pence will never gain the backing of Donald Trump, who refused even to call Pence for five days after his close shave with possible harm and death!

Mike Pence is pitiful, a coward, a man who cannot control his own behavior around women and calls his wife “Mother”, indicating deep seated psychological issues!

We have had horrific Vice Presidents come to us from the Republican Party, including Dan Quayle under George H. W. Bush; Spiro Agnew under Richard Nixon; and Dick Cheney under George W. Bush, but with all of their faults, none of them would be perceived as lacking in manhood as Mike Pence displayed in office, and now as a former Vice President who desperately wants to be President, but will, thankfully, never reach that office!

Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, and Eight Other Republicans In House Of Representatives Buck The Trump Tide

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Ten Republican members of the House of Representatives have been pilloried for having principles, and voting to impeach Donald Trump in the second impeachment he has faced, with the trial coming up next week.

The two best known members of this group are Liz Cheney of Wyoming, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, and third ranking in the Republican House leadership as the House Republican Conference Chair; and Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger, who has been a regular critic of Donald Trump over a period of time.

But the others who have also become part of this select group of principled Republicans also face anger and threats from other Republicans and from portions of their voting populations.

These include:

Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio
Peter Mejier of Michigan
Dan Newhouse of Washington
Fred Upton of Michigan
John Katko of New York
Tom Rice of South Carolina
Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washingto
David Valadao of Washington

Meanwhile, seditious Congressmen and Congresswomen, such as Jim Jordan of Ohio, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Andy Harris of Maryland, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina, and most notably Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and innumerable others, have committed and been involved in promoting criminal acts, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California has made clear his goal is to take action against the ten principled members, and support the traitors instead!