My journalist brother once reminded me of the adage: “If you’re going to tell the truth, you better have a fast horse outside the door.”
Liz Cheney, the third ranking Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives did not have a fast-enough horse to out-run the majority of GOP congressmen, including all five from Wisconsin, who wanted to shut her up as she consistently challenged former President Trump and his Big Lie that the November election was stolen from him.
Trump operates on the communication principle that if you say something over and over, people will eventually believe it, even if it is pure kaka. So what is an American leader to do? Sit there and let him get away with the stream of lies that undercut our electoral process — or refute him? Cheney used his tactic against him. She repeatedly and loudly called him out for making up stories.
She never parked a horse outside the door.
Wisconsin plays a central role in this “Truth-versus-BS” drama. Trump never stops citing our state as one where the vote was rigged. The hundreds of poll workers here vigorously deny any irregularities, except for an infinitesimal number of slip-ups. They are rightly insulted.
Two audits of the votes in Milwaukee and Dane Counties revealed minimal defective ballots.
Only 219 total votes changed – to Biden, not Trump. Quality experts who rate the effectiveness of processes would call the Wisconsin election exceptionally fair and robust.
In short, there is no way it could have been rigged, even with some screw-ups, like letting Zuckerberg money into allegedly help with the voting process in Green Bay.
In fairness, it should be noted that Rep. Glenn Grothman objected to the attempt by 16 Wisconsin GOP legislators to decertify the Wisconsin presidential vote because of alleged irregularities. Imagine, they wanted to throw out the votes of their own constituents. They wanted to default the Wisconsin election into the Republican-controlled legislature.
Four months later congressional Republicans ran down Cheney and removed her from leadership. They should be labeled as members of the new “Trump Party,” not the GOP, the Grand Old Party. They are not one and the same.
When is the last time you heard an innovative GOP position on major issues, other than tax and debt reduction? We often know what the Trump Party opposes – all things Biden or Obama – but not what they propose.
The Trumpians doubled down on its suppression of the truth this past week when its members voted against the bill to create a bipartisan commission to investigate the June 6 attack of the U.S. Capital.
Grothman spoke for the Wisconsin Trumpian quintet when he said, “I am voting no today because I think there should have been more bipartisan provisions.” That’s called a dodge.
Democrats have offered equal staffing, subpoena power and testimony time.
Unlike the Wisconsin quintuplets, 37 other GOP lawmakers voted with the Democrats and passed the bill.
Republican Senator Ron Johnson will surely oppose the bill when it goes to the Senate. He is super-glued to the former President, the biggest liar in the history of the country who now faces criminal investigation for untruths about his taxes.
He doesn’t want to see a Trump-backed opponent in 2022 primary when he breaks his word to not run for a third term. In his mind, the truth and one’s word matters not, as it does with Liz Cheney.
