Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

A Traditional Conservative Issues Warning

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by

Dick Hall-Sizemore
in

Liz Cheney Photo credit: Richmond Forum

by Dick Hall-Sizemore

Liz Cheney was in Richmond Saturday night delivering her warning about Donald Trump.

Cheney represented Wyoming in the U.S House of Representatives and held the No. 3 leadership position in the Republican caucus.  She served on the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.

Her speech was this month’s offering of The Richmond Forum, a long-running public subscription lecture series.  According to the president of The Forum, Cheney was booked about a year ago, before her high-profile role in the 2024 Presidential election campaign could have been known.

Cheney’s message was simple:  if elected President this year, Donald Trump will destroy constitutional democracy in the United States.

Another takeaway:  congressional Republicans have been infected by a “plague of cowardice.”

For her Virginia audience, Cheney had effusive praise for U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger.  She said that Spanberger was only the second Democrat she had ever endorsed.

Apparently, all the media outlets in the Richmond area were asleep.

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206 responses to “A Traditional Conservative Issues Warning”

  1. vicnicholls Avatar
    vicnicholls

    She’s not a Republican, not a conservative.

    1. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
      Dick Hall-Sizemore

      How could she have risen to the upper ranks of leadership in the Republican party in the U.S. House of Representatives?

      1. walter smith Avatar
        walter smith

        Her last name and membership in the Uniparty.

      2. LesGabriel Avatar
        LesGabriel

        The upper ranks of the GOP in the House are not exclusively traditional conservatives.

      3. Marty Chapman Avatar
        Marty Chapman

        Dick, really? Like Pelosi she was very good at fundraising.

        1. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
          Dick Hall-Sizemore

          How does that disqualify her from being a Republican? After all, Kevin McCarthy was a prodigious fundraiser, as is Trump.

          1. Marty Chapman Avatar
            Marty Chapman

            You asked how she climbed the ranks of the party and had a position in the leadership. This does not disqualify her from being a Republican. I suppose actively opposing the nominee of the GOP might disqualify her. So her actions not her views are what caused the folks in WY to give her the boot. She is all but endorsing the likely Dem nominee for Gov without even knowing who the GOP will put forward.

          2. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            not fundraising for Trump?

    2. Teddy007 Avatar
      Teddy007

      Her ranting while in Congress was much more conservative than most other Republicans including Trump and his staffers. What one wants to say is that in 2024, being a conservative or a Republican means being a Trumpist who just goes along with whatever BS Trump is saying today.

      1. LesGabriel Avatar
        LesGabriel

        “in 2024, being a conservative or a Republican means being a Trumpist who just goes along with whatever BS Trump is saying today.” I don’t think that there is any evidence for that statement. The vast, vast majority of Republicans are motivated by principles, principles that go back long before Trump became a Republican.

        1. LarrytheG Avatar
          LarrytheG

          but somehow not like Romney, Cheney, McDonnell, etc?

          please explain.

          1. LesGabriel Avatar
            LesGabriel

            I don’t understand the question. I don’t think I implied that the examples you gave are traditional conservatives.

          2. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            You did not. I DID and all of them have, in the past, be acclaimed as “traditional” conservatives. You can’t undo history. So these guys have been for years , considered to be “traditional” conservatives by most GOP and other conservatives. But after years of being classified as such, they are now, no longer?

        2. Teddy007 Avatar
          Teddy007

          The Republicans have no principles. If the Republicans did, then the House would be in session holding hearings and debating on border security and foreign aid.

          1. LesGabriel Avatar
            LesGabriel

            The House has held MANY hearings on border security, including some in the area of the border. I suspect there have been as many on foreign aid.

          2. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            and did NOTHING about it!

          3. LesGabriel Avatar
            LesGabriel

            They passed HR2 a long time ago.

          4. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            and that did nothing about it. They CHOSE to not work to get a bill after TRump told
            them to stop. That’s the kind of people who say they want to govern the country.
            No Thanks.

          5. LesGabriel Avatar
            LesGabriel

            You could say the same thing about the Democrat-run Senate, which did nothing to send HR2 to the President’s desk. They didn’t need to have Trump to tell them that the “border security” provisions in the Senate Bill were worse than no bill at all.

          6. Teddy007 Avatar
            Teddy007

            The House had zero hearings on the Langford proposal. They immediately rejected it.

          7. LesGabriel Avatar
            LesGabriel

            That doesn’t mean that they didn’t read it or know what was in it. How many hearings did the Senate have on HR2?

          8. Teddy007 Avatar
            Teddy007

            https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/118/hr2
            Introduced on May 2, 2023
            Passed House (Senate next) on May 11, 2023
            This bill passed in the House on May 11, 2023 and goes to the Senate next for consideration.

            I would assume almost no hearings were held and no discussion with opponents was done. So much for wanting to go back to normal rules.

          9. LesGabriel Avatar
            LesGabriel

            Teddy007: “So much for wanting to go back to normal rules.” Not sure what this has to do with normal rules. Nothing has changed to my knowledge regarding each House being able to ignore Bills received from the other House. Where the matter of “Regular Order” comes into play is in the matter of Appropriations Bills, the timing of which are set in law and the failure to adhere to this timing (I.e. completion of the process by bot Houses and the President) leads to the inability of those Agencies which have not been funded to continue to spend money.

          10. Teddy007 Avatar
            Teddy007

            The current House seems to run everything through the Speakers office. The Committee chairmen do not have a chance to have hearings or amend legislation. In addition, floor debate is limited and there is no chance to amend. That is why so many House reps are bored. They have nothing to do but constituent services and the media.

          11. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            and instructions on how to vote…. from the party……

          12. Teddy007 Avatar
            Teddy007

            As the joke goes, the U.S. currently has a parliament of pundits.

          13. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            oh.. and Hunter “investigations” and meaningless impeachments of Federal officials.

          14. LesGabriel Avatar
            LesGabriel

            And how is that different in the Senate?

          15. Teddy007 Avatar
            Teddy007

            The Senators do not do exactly the same as the House. The problem in the Senate is the need to get 60 votes to end debate.

  2. Jesse Avatar
    Jesse

    Does anyone care what she says? Republicans aren’t going to vote for her. Democrats aren’t going to vote for her. Maybe she can get the independents?

    1. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
      Dick Hall-Sizemore

      She is not running for anything. Her goal is for Trump to be defeated. And, yes, she is aiming at the independents, as well as at Republicans who are not hard core Trump supporters.

      1. Jesse Avatar
        Jesse

        The only people who will listen to her are people who already agree with her. She’s not going change anyone’s mind.

        1. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
          Dick Hall-Sizemore

          That is one of the primary problems with this country now–people will listen only to those they think they agree with.

        2. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
          Dick Hall-Sizemore

          That is one of the primary problems with this country now–people will listen only to those they think they agree with.

          1. walter smith Avatar
            walter smith

            I listen to everybody. My problem is they are often wrong, and won’T listen to me, and insist on continuing to vote for people who support policies that don’T work, despite mountains of contrary evidence.

          2. Jesse Avatar
            Jesse

            I agree

          3. Marty Chapman Avatar
            Marty Chapman

            I read your columns so it appears there is at least one exception to your generalization

          4. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
            Dick Hall-Sizemore

            I read lots of conservative comments on this blog. Some of it causes me to modify my opinions. I also subscribe to the Wall Street Journal and read the output of conservative columnists.

          5. Marty Chapman Avatar
            Marty Chapman

            So perhaps you should say many people choose to only listen to opinions with which they agree?

          6. Chip Gibson Avatar
            Chip Gibson

            Make that 2. Dick writes fine articles and makes great points. Well worth the reading and “listening”. I just don’t agree with most of his positions.

    2. Chip Gibson Avatar
      Chip Gibson

      I care about what she says because she is divisive and destructive. Someone/something has bought her out.

      1. LarrytheG Avatar
        LarrytheG

        How about the others like Mitt Romney or
        Mitch McConnell and others?

        She was number 3 in the House GOP before Trump came along. Was that “divisive and destructive”?

        1. Chip Gibson Avatar
          Chip Gibson

          Mitt Romney is a colorful barge, adrift upon the sea of calamity. Micht is long overdue for retirement, but currently too busy getting rich off the office.

          1. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            not “traditional” GOP conservatives?

          2. Chip Gibson Avatar
            Chip Gibson

            They is what they is. Clinton can explain that. I would say that “traditional GOP” became too political…too establishment.

  3. LesGabriel Avatar
    LesGabriel

    No Republican, even a RINO, certainly not a “traditional Conservative” could endorse a radical Democrat like Abigail Spanberger. I know that Spanberger’s supporters like to pass her off as a “centrist” or “moderate”. Freedomworks.org, which makes the effort to look at the votes of all 435 Congressmen and to score them, shows a different story. 84 of her 92 scored votes were against the preferred position of Freedomworks.
    Conservative Review gives Spanberger a lifetime rating of 7 (out of 100). This ranks her below all 6 members of the “Squad”, who scored between 17 and 22. She also is beaten by such well-known moderates as Jerry Nadler (10) and Eric Swalwell (9) and she is tied with Nancy Pelosi.
    These Ratings were not “outliers”. Mrs Spanberger was also rated a Zero by the Eagle Forum and by Heritage Action for America.

    1. Chip Gibson Avatar
      Chip Gibson

      A case well stated. Thanks for the data points.

    2. LarrytheG Avatar
      LarrytheG

      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5dd99e7a5252da5c267db7a024092fc891ca19ce5ae3e612a67bb0652d14d4a8.png

      1. LesGabriel Avatar
        LesGabriel

        LarrytheG I don’t know where you got your graphic. When I go to Heritage Action’s web site and look at their scorecard, it shows for the 118th Congress a score of “0” and a lifetime score of 3. Perhaps some other readers could check and see who got the right information.

        1. LarrytheG Avatar
          LarrytheG

          Lifetime scores… based on their prior actions as Conservatives.

          https://heritageaction.com/scorecard/members/C001109/117

          got that link now? same graphic right? want real data or something else?

          1. LesGabriel Avatar
            LesGabriel

            Sorry. I was confused. I was thinking we were still talking about Spanberger. Cheney is not really relevant. Spanberger thinks she can win a governorship by concealing her voting record.

          2. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            Naw. Do you think the folks in NoVa and other urban Va will be appalled at her voting record and not want her?

            😉

          3. LesGabriel Avatar
            LesGabriel

            Some of them might be informed before 2025. Fortunately, there are a lot of non-NOVA Virginians.

          4. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            26% live in rural Va. Youngkin won with suburban votes. It’s not only about Spanburger but who the GOP will run and that’s where the REAL issue will be. I don’t think another Youngkin GOP could win, sorta along the lines of “fool me once”! As soon as they say 15 week abortions, they’re done!

  4. Turbocohen Avatar
    Turbocohen

    You so funny. Liberal Liz is neither traditional nor conservative unless you are a fake blogger.

    1. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
      Dick Hall-Sizemore

      Cheney voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020. https://www.npr.org/2023/12/05/1217282237/liz-cheney-oath-and-honor-memoir

      She voted with Trump 93 percent of the time while he was President. https://www.newsweek.com/liz-cheney-voted-donald-trump-93-percent-congress-1734186

      Doesn’t sound very liberal to me.

  5. Randy Huffman Avatar
    Randy Huffman

    The January 6 commission represented nothing other than a pure partisan presentation after Pelosi rejected Jordan and Banks and Republicans had no choice but to abandon involvement. It morphed into a hate fest, certainly not an investigation. So with Cheney deciding to maintain a lead role, she lost credibility with many level headed people.

    1. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
      Dick Hall-Sizemore

      Why did Republicans have “no choice but to abandon involvement.”? Pelosi accepted three of the Republican nominees and invited McCarthy to nominate two others to replace Jordan and Banks. McCarthy made the choice to withdraw all five nominees and not participate in the investigation. He had other another option. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/pelosi-blocks-house-republicans-jordan-banks-serving-jan-6-panel-2021-07-21/

      By the way, have you read the report of the Select Committee?

    2. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
      Dick Hall-Sizemore

      Why did Republicans have “no choice but to abandon involvement.”? Pelosi accepted three of the Republican nominees and invited McCarthy to nominate two others to replace Jordan and Banks. McCarthy made the choice to withdraw all five nominees and not participate in the investigation. He had other another option. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/pelosi-blocks-house-republicans-jordan-banks-serving-jan-6-panel-2021-07-21/

      By the way, have you read the report of the Select Committee?

      1. Randy Huffman Avatar
        Randy Huffman

        She had no right to reject Jordan and Banks. Since when does a prosecutor choose defense council? Did McCarthy have the opportunity to reject any Democrats?

        No I didn’t read it because it was a one sided presentation. So congratulations to Liz and the Democrats, they lost the opportunity for a credible investigation. Sorry but that is how a whole lot of people feel.

        1. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
          Dick Hall-Sizemore

          If you did not read it, what is your basis for saying it was a “one-sided presentation” and a “sham presentation.”

          The resolution creating the Select Committee said that the Speaker would appoint five members of the Select Committee “in consultation” with the Minority Leader. In effect, that gave her the authority to reject anyone nominated by McCarthy. https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-resolution/503

          The Republicans had the chance for the creation of a an investigation similar to the 9/11 Commission, but they filibustered the bill in the Senate.

          1. Randy Huffman Avatar
            Randy Huffman

            I watched some of the hearings and presentations, granted on Fox. I read articles about it in the WSJ and other publications. I saw enough. I did not say it was a sham, I said it was one sided.

            Are you going to suggest it was not one sided? That is the whole point of my rebuttal, and the that McCarthy did name participants. When Pelosi and the Democrats rejected participants that was the end of any form of fair hearing.

          2. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
            Dick Hall-Sizemore

            I apologize for the “sham” comment; I must have confused you with someone else.

            I can understand your discomfort from what you saw on Fox. If you had watched the full hearings on one of the other channels, you probably would have experienced even more discomfort from seeing and hearing all those Republican witnesses describing Trump’s actions. Who do you think should have been included among the witnesses to make it less one-sided from your perspective? After all, Jim Jordan had his chance to present his viewpoint and refused. In fact, he was subpoened and still refused.

        2. Nancy Naive Avatar
          Nancy Naive

          Every witness was a Republican.

      2. walter smith Avatar
        walter smith

        Seriously, you’re better than that. An illegally constituted committee without minority counsel and cross examination, that altered videotape and put on a propaganda show, that then destroyed the evidence.
        Lawfare and congressional lawfare is not how you “save our democracy.”
        Prior to Trump and TDS, an insurrection required guns and an attempt to overthrow the government. Prior to Trump and TDS, the Dems objected to the electoral certification in 2000 and 2004 and 2016. JFK actually flipped Hawaii in 1960 with that approach. Oh, and then there is the apparent cheating which no one is allowed to investigate, and you and all the Dems know there is cheating which is why you do everything to fight any kind of honest investigation, which also costs millions of dollars – “save our democracy.”
        If the Left cared about anything other than power, it would want to ensure that people trusted elections. They don’t. And part is because they also know they have gamed the system. Mark Elias and his machine fight every year to cut corners here and cut corners there and sue for gerrymanders.
        Part of why TDS is so bad is the Dems were lazy in 2016 – they thought they had it won when Trump was the nominee and didn’t arrange the cheat. That’s why we had to wait until 4 in the morning for the race to be called – they were caught flat-footed. They did a great job of cheating in 2020, and will be at their best cheating for 2024 – mailing ballots like crazy, harvesting, voting the vacant ballots, the illegal ballots, maybe even rigging machines – who knows. Biden did not get 81 million votes. He did not get 8 million more votes than Obama. No statistical way any of those many anomalies happened without cheating.
        Liz like Romney and the Uniparty and McCarthy just played to lose less quickly while making bank, pretending to care about the things the actual voters wanted. How long have we operated under a continuing resolution, just printing money? It’s a joke. How about no pay for no budget, with no make up pay? The system is broken. Trump threatens the system for both parties and that’s why they hate him.

        1. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
          Dick Hall-Sizemore

          I will address just the first part of your complaints. Please tell me how a committe created under the authority of a resolution passed by a majority of the House of Representatives was “illegally constituted.”

          1. Randy Huffman Avatar
            Randy Huffman

            I have no idea if it was legal or not, but you cannot argue it was a fair hearing.

          2. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            Whether or not the hearing itself was “fair” might be arguable but do you also disavow the voluminous record of what happened both from witnesses and video?

            Do you think, as some have said, that j6 was “staged”?

          3. Randy Huffman Avatar
            Randy Huffman

            Staged? Of course not. A terrible violent riot that got of hand by many (but not all), yes. An insurrection, of course not. Preventable, yes. Opportunist by Democrats, yes.

          4. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            Nothing to do with Trump?

          5. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
            Dick Hall-Sizemore

            The U.S. House of Representatives adopted a resolution establishing a Select Committee. You can’t get much more legal than that.

          6. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            It’s sorta like saying that since the hearing was not “fair” – everything that happened on J6 (and everything after) becomes invalid, moot, like it never happened.

            From then on, Trump can do and say anything because he was unfairly treated.

            All the other things that Trump has said and done are now treated as not relevant because he’s received unfair treatment.

            Pretty much his own never-ending grievance philosophy that he shares over and over at his rallies.

            I’m starting to “get it”! ;-(

          7. Randy Huffman Avatar
            Randy Huffman

            Dick, I am going to step away from this dialogue after responding to one other post by Nancy N, but while I disagree with you on a number of things including this topic, I do enjoy reading your articles, commentary and differing points of view.

          8. walter smith Avatar
            walter smith

            A proper committee has appointments approved by the minority leader, minority counsel, cross examination. This propaganda committee did not. But it did hire a Hollywood producer. Edit tape. Hide exculpatory evidence. And then destroy evidence. You’re good with show trials?
            It is beyond outrageous.
            She and Kinzinger were hardly “conservative.” When push came to shove on things that mattered, they’d cave in the interests of perpetuating the Uniparty grift.

          9. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            Plenty of other ways for information to make itself into the public realm besides one hearing – and it actually has and Trump has no trouble owning much of it and then some.

          10. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
            Dick Hall-Sizemore

            The Republicans had their chance for a committee such as you describe–ten commissioners, five appointed by each party. That body would have had subpoena power and a staff. The proposal passed in the House, with some Republican support, but was filibustered in the Senate and failed. https://www.npr.org/2021/05/28/1000524897/senate-republicans-block-plan-for-independent-commission-on-jan-6-capitol-riot
            I have no sympathy with complaints about a “one-sided” House investigation when Republicans killed an independen investigation and refused to participate in the House investigation.

          11. Marty Chapman Avatar
            Marty Chapman

            I do not recall then Rep Cheney calling for release of Speaker Pelosi’s texts, emails etc concerning Jan 6. I do not recall her calling out the fraudulent claims that a USCPD officer was fatally bludgeoned with a fire extinguisher.

          12. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            Dick – how nasty of you to actually bring up facts and actual history.

            what are you trying to do, show up these guys slanted ideas of facts and realities?

            Geeze guy! Shame!

          13. walter smith Avatar
            walter smith

            So, if the House passes a resolution to kill the leader of the other party, is that lawful?
            How about the destruction of the evidence? The withholding of exculpatory material? The edited tapes?
            Which is greater – the partisan House resolution or the Constitution? Anything coming out of this Committee fails for violating basic Constitutional principles. And there are rules of Congress that in a time before TDS would have stopped this travesty. But what does the Constitution matter to the people so busy “saving our democracy?”
            Tish James ran on Get Trump – essentially a Bill of Attainder, and then the corrupt Judge made up a ridiculous fine and penalty. You’re good with that? And then the ridiculous rape claim and defamation case – both cases were railroads with no evidence and corrupt judges.
            I am disgusted with the legal “profession.”
            I am disgusted with our “leaders” who refuse to stand up because they hate Trump. And they don’t hate Trump out of principle, they hate him because he may end their grift and the actual needs of the country come in after the grifters.
            Shall we go onto the government censorship during Covid and the election? How many agent provocateurs were there on J6? Why did Nancy Pelosi and the Mayor of DC deny the Guard? Why was Nancy’s filmmaker daughter there?
            How come the officer who shot Ashli Babbitt was not charged? The people who killed Roseanne Boylan? How does Ray Epps get a slap on the wrist and people not even there get 20 years? Are the prisoners in the DC jail being mistreated? Why no speedy trial? Why no release on bail?
            If you support things like this, you can’t pretend to be a “good” person. And that is without bringing up crazed support for baby-killing. (And the “you” means the people who support those things, not necessarily YOU)

          14. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            The GOP could gen up their own J6 hearings now, right?

            They could bring in all the “hostages” to talk about their victimization.

  6. James Wyatt Whitehead Avatar
    James Wyatt Whitehead

    Cheney. In Wyoming she is known as a carpetbagger having grown up in McLean, VA as a beltway brat. Trying to think of one thing she did in her political life on her own two feet. Can’t come up with one. Voted with Trump 93% of the time while in Congress. The Wyoming GOP kicked her out, the RNC censured her, the people of Wyoming voted her out. Her career in politics is as over as Nikki Haley’s. One less Bushy to kick around.

    1. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
      Dick Hall-Sizemore

      You don’t call voting to impeach Trump after the attack on the Capitol as doing something “on her own two feet”?

      1. James Wyatt Whitehead Avatar
        James Wyatt Whitehead

        And look where she is now. A politician without an office, a party, or a platform. If I were Spanbarger I would run to the hills away from Cheney. Noted pattern of things falling apart when around her.

        1. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
          Dick Hall-Sizemore

          People on this blog always are criticizing politicians as being “corrupt”. Well, here is one that is not corrupt, who stood up for principles she believed in while knowing what taking that stand would cost her. Yet, she is being criticized. It seems that some folks believe a politician is not corrupt only if he/she espouses positions those folks believe in.

          By the way, Cheney endorsed Spanberger in the 2022 Congressional election. It didn’t seem to hurt her. https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/05/liz-cheney-endorse-spanberger-virginia/

          1. kls Avatar
            kls

            Her beltway friends convinced her she would be taken in by the other side moderates for backing Shiftless and his cabal.. it didn’t work out very well for her, according to a long-time Cheney family friend.

          2. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
            Dick Hall-Sizemore

            I can’t respond to that. I don’t have access to long-time Cheney family friends.

          3. James Wyatt Whitehead Avatar
            James Wyatt Whitehead

            Never said she was corrupt. Simply stated that she was out of a job and a party. A corrupt politician would have found a way around that. I do think her career would rise no higher than just another lawyer without her powerful father’s influence.

          4. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
            Dick Hall-Sizemore

            You may be right. Of course, one could say the same about Trump.

          5. Jesse Avatar
            Jesse

            Another problem in the U.S. is when a politician does something that one agrees with, they are “courageous” and “brave” and “stand up for principles.” If a politician does something one disagrees with they are “cowards” and “RINOs ” or “DINOs.” She knew that many would agree with her and that many would disagree with her. She considered running for President, which indicates how out of touch with reality she is (or at least was). I suppose she found out that she had zero support for President. She probably blames Trump for that, too.

          6. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            She was on State of the Union yesterday and she knows, is well aware that she is neither fish nor fowl.

            She just believes that Trump is a mortal threat to the way the Country was designed by the Founding Fathers to operate, i.e. not fealty to one guy who, himself, actually “runs” the country and dictates to Congress what to do or not and personally threatens judges and other public officials who disagrees with him.

          7. Chip Gibson Avatar
            Chip Gibson

            Replace “Trump” with “Biden” and your statement has merit.

          8. Chip Gibson Avatar
            Chip Gibson

            The J6 committee was clear and abundant evidence of political corruption. Cheney was selected to serve upon that one because of her established alignments within Congress – she served that corruption well. She got her arrogant little feelings hurt and has chosen to retaliate since.

          9. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            Many others in the GOP including McCarthy, Lindsey Graham stood side by side with Liz Cheney the day after the attack:

            ““This is truly a tragic day for America,” Stefanik said in the statement on Jan. 6, 2021. “I fully condemn the dangerous violence and destruction that occurred today at the United States Capitol. Americans have a Constitutional right to protest and freedom of speech, but violence in any form is absolutely unacceptable and anti-American. The perpetrators of this un-American violence and destruction must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

            Stefanik has since changed the way she describes those who stormed the Capitol.

            During an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” in early January, she stated she had “concerns about the treatment of Jan. 6 hostages.”

            “The day after the Capitol was stormed, Cruz issued a written statement in which he said, “The attack at the Capitol was a despicable act of terrorism and a shocking assault on our democratic system. The Department of Justice should vigorously prosecute everyone who was involved in these brazen acts of violence.” “

    2. Chip Gibson Avatar
      Chip Gibson

      Pretty much sums it all up, Sir.

  7. Nancy Naive Avatar
    Nancy Naive

    Trump is good drama; he’s The Great American Reality Show. Trying to reason is a lost cause, Dick.

    Cheney is a traitor to them. She’s labeled a liberal. On the other hand, democracy is a liberal form of government, so they’re right.

    In just 10 short years, conservatives have become autocratic. If SCOTUS rejects “absolute immunity” there will be a howl. If not?

    We weren’t there at the start, but I think we’re going to see the end, Dick.

    1. Randy Huffman Avatar
      Randy Huffman

      Democrats like to say the other side is or will be autocratic, while ignoring that they act in autocratic ways all the time. I’m not saying its right for either side to act that way, but that is what is happening.

      1. Nancy Naive Avatar
        Nancy Naive

        Really? Can you provide examples? I can.

        1. Randy Huffman Avatar
          Randy Huffman

          So the higher profile things I can think of include (i) Biden’s workplace vaccine mandates, (ii) the Administrations efforts to push companies to censor certain online postings with the guise they are misinformation, (iii) Forgiveness of student loans, and (iv) EPA planned greenhouse gas emission standards for cars. Legality of each is debatable and of course has been ruled on by Supreme court in a couple instances, but I was trying to think of situations where Biden and the Administration work to impose their will and standards on others (or the taxpayers for student loans) to fulfill their agenda.

          1. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            DO you mean like when Congress and/or the courts won’t go along with him ?

            He just ignores them and goes ahead anyhow?

          2. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            Is the Federalist Society a “traditional” conservative group?

            Washington Post: Federalist Society Lawyers Are Conflicted About Working for a Second Trump Administration Amidst Demands for Greater Personal Loyalty
            February 17, 2024, 6:41 am
            authoritarian threats in US
            RICK HASEN
            WaPo:

            Now the dominant front-runner for his party’s presidential nomination, Trump has broken with many of the leaders and allies of the Federalist Society, a powerful conservative legal organization that boosted his campaign eight years ago and helped him stock the federal bench with their preferred picks. It is unclear how he would seek to fill judicial vacancies and make other related decisions should he win a second term, and he has not offered such a potential list of potential judicial nominees as he did eight years ago.

            Trump has complained publicly and privately that his first-term Justice Department leaders were too weak, that his Supreme Court picks have tried to come across as too “independent” and that the court system has broadly been biased against him, as he faces 91 felony charges. Trump told donors in meetings in late 2023 that one of his only mistakes as president was that he did not pick the right people to lead the Justice Department, according to people who attended, and he regularly discusses plans for the department in a second term. In some ways, the handshake agreement he once held with the traditional conservative legal movement has evaporated…

            Trump has more broadly gravitated away from the GOP establishment he has long derided but learned to work with in his term as president. The implications of his shift could be significant — from potentially imperiling a long-observed firewall between the White House and the Justice Department, to appointing lawyers in his administration willing to approve novel approaches to the law and dare courts to stop them, to shifting the nation’s courts further to the right.

            The former president will be looking forappointees“who are talented and strong and — here’s the key ingredient — truly committed to helping him accomplish his agenda,” said Mark Paoletta, former general counsel of the Office of Management and Budget under Trump….

            Trump now rails against the Federalist Society privately, according to advisers. He no longer speaks to many lawyers who were once instrumental, including former Federalist Society leader Leonard Leo, former White House counsel and Federalist Society board member Donald McGahn, or Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) — the triumvirate who propelled much of his judicial record in the first term….

            https://electionlawblog.org/?p=141495

          3. Nancy Naive Avatar
            Nancy Naive

            Those are part of the job description, and when ruled by the SCOTUS, or stopped by Congress, they were ended. That’s checks and balances.

            Contrast with Nixon with Watergate, and Reagan, who continued to fund the Contras illegally.

          4. Randy Huffman Avatar
            Randy Huffman

            Hmm, vaccine mandates an infringement of personal choice, censorship an infringement of First Amendment, student loan forgiveness and arbitrarily mandating greenhouse gas emissions from cars an abusement of power. All in a days work for Democrats in power pushing the limits. But now lets talk about Trump…or Nixon. I see.

          5. Nancy Naive Avatar
            Nancy Naive

            Every soldier, sailor airman, and Marine was inoculated with anthrax vaccine as a condition of continuing employment. Bush and torture. Muslim bans, yada, yada, yada. Life goes on.

            Oh, and for our history buffs, Lincoln and suspension of habeas corpus.

          6. Randy Huffman Avatar
            Randy Huffman

            I gave workplace vaccine mandates as an example, but thank you for adding one.

            Go back to what I said starting this exchange: “Democrats like to say the other side is or will be autocratic, while ignoring that they act in autocratic ways all the time”. This is my point and why I will ignore rants about what Trump did or might do if he wins election.

          7. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            Confusion here are comparing Biden “autocracy” with Trump’s version.

            Ain’t no comparison.

            Biden pretty much stands down when the courts or Congress overrule him.

            Trump just ignores all of that and keeps going no matter what the courts or Congress says.

            In fact, that’s what Trump supporters want in him. To ignore the Courts and Congress, the “deep state” and do what “needs to be done” to MAGA!

            They ding Biden for far less!

          8. Nancy Naive Avatar
            Nancy Naive

            On the other hand, Trump literally SAID, “A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.”

            Democrats have yet to say it explicitly.

          9. Randy Huffman Avatar
            Randy Huffman

            For whatever its worth, he denied he meant he would try and terminate the constitution. But your not going to get pushback from me that Trump goes out and says stupid crap all the time.

          10. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            that his supporters want to hear and expect him to do.

          11. Nancy Naive Avatar
            Nancy Naive

            Okay, he said it was misconstrued, but combined with a plea claiming “absolute lifetime immunity” it’s difficult to see it as having been anything but what it says.

          12. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            He sure convinced Milley that it was more than that:

            “Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, chose not to resign after growing increasingly disillusioned with then-President Trump in 2020, according to an upcoming book, instead vowing to “fight from the inside” against what he perceived as an erratic and dangerous commander in chief.

            The revelations were revealed in an excerpt of “The Divider: Trump in The White House” from New York Times writer Peter Baker and The New Yorker’s Susan Glasser.

            The excerpt, published in The New Yorker, details Milley’s ascent to chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, noting he was warned against taking the position by former Defense Secretary James Mattis and former White House chief of staff John Kelley.

            Milley reportedly came to the realization Trump was “doing great and irreparable harm,” as he wrote in a draft resignation letter in June of 2020.

            But after the events at Lafayette Square, when Milley was seen with Trump posing for a photo-op at a church near the square after police tear-gassed those protesting against police brutality and racial injustice, Milley decided he would rather “fight him” than quit, Baker and Glasser write.”

            https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/3592300-milley-vowed-to-fight-trump-from-the-inside-book-excerpt/

            Milley was not the only one by a long shot:

            “In his new book “A Sacred Oath,” released earlier this week, Mark T. Esper, the former defense secretary, revealed that President Donald J. Trump in 2020 had floated the idea of launching missiles into Mexico to “destroy the drug labs” and asked why the military could not “just shoot” racial justice protesters in Washington in the legs.

            Mr. Esper also described his concerns that Mr. Trump might misuse the military during the 2020 election, for example by asking soldiers to seize ballot boxes.

            On Monday, when a Fox News host asked if he thought President Trump “was a threat to democracy,” Mr. Esper was blunt.

            “I think that given the events of Jan. 6, given how he has undermined the election results, he incited people to come to D.C., stirred them up that morning and failed to call them off, to me that threatens our democracy,” he said.

            “So, yes?” asked the host, Bret Baier.

            Mr. Esper replied: “What else can you conclude, Bret?””

            https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/12/us/democracy-trump.html

          13. Randy Huffman Avatar
            Randy Huffman

            Larry, I have to say I bet every single person on the blog has a view he/she is going to vote for, and barring major events it will not change between now and November. But I’ll come back with another (BTW, I cannot open NY Times or W Post as I don’t subscribe and do not plan to):

            Bill Barr:
            “Voting for Trump is playing Russian roulette with the country. Voting for Biden is outright national suicide.”

            https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2024/02/16/liberals-are-going-to-steam-over-who-bill-barr-will-vote-for-in-the-2024-election-n2635373

            As of today I am still not 100% convinced Biden and/or Trump will be the nominee, but time will tell.

          14. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            Randy – you are polite and do not make personal attacks. Good on you!
            re: Bill Bar – in other words, he’s voting for Trump, right?

            “With Trump, Barr is admitting a level of chaos he’s willing to accept since there’s a chance of a revival; with Biden, it is certain death, a sentiment Democrats are ignoring in their little bubbles along the Acela Corridor. The New York Times’ independent voter focus group delivered a brutal grade for Biden, with many noting that they don’t have a president. Trump, for all his faults, never elicited those types of reactions. As for the character issues, voters appear more willing to swallow them if it means getting the country back on track.

            They’re willing to play Russian roulette with Trump. ”

            certain death? of what Biden himself or the country with him in charge. Neither has happened so far.

            But you’re not voting for “chaos” with Trump. He’s a known quantity, has a substantial record of how he governed before and he is not at all shy about what he plans to do if re-elected.

            And his supporters want him to be autocratic and to root out the “deep state”, etc…

            They want in him something that far exceeds what Biden is doing or for that matter ANY prior POTUS , even Nixon IMO.

            Ya’ll seem to think that the “balance of power” will rein him in if he gets too wild.

            There is a long list of people who worked in his administration and except for Barr, the vast
            majority of them say that Trump is a dire threat to the country and unfit to be POTUS.

            Show me anyone who says that about BIden.

          15. Randy Huffman Avatar
            Randy Huffman

            If what you say is true about that long list, Trump would not have gotten so much support and a clear path to nomination.

            I would also like to point out Trump has a record, and other than his disgraceful actions post election, and in my opinion a lack of focus on the deficit, he really presided over a strong economy and the country was run well, until COVID. What bad happened to this country due to his actions? Nothing. Compare that to Biden, Russia invaded Ukraine, the borders opened up, our cities are a mess, deficits are out of control, and overdose deaths skyrocketed. People don’t like Trump (including me) and somewhat of a revolving door. Not so much with Biden as he is not running the county, his staff are.

          16. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            you’re blaming BIden for Putin invading Ukraine? Trump would hand over Ukraine to Putin and leave NATO and Europe. He’s said as much,

            He closed the border over a COVID rule that expired when Biden was also using it and the Courts
            ruled that Biden could not longer use that to restrict entry and the GOP has refused to do anything
            to help along with Trump telling them not to.

            Biden has no control over the US cities and they’re not all a “mess” at all.
            Biden did not create the deficit – the Trump tax cuts did that. They cut taxes too low to pay
            for existing things in the budget. Overdoses are Biden’s fault?

            Geeze Randy… this is what Biden is “terrible” at? Mostly things he has no control over to start with?

            Trump clearly attempted a coup, no question about it , fake electors and interfering with elections and talking with his advisors about declaring martial law and sending the military to take over the elections.

            He claims he has absolute immunity and that he cannot be held accountable for anything.

            He says he will pardon himself if convicted.

            He says he will fire thousands of Federal Employees and replace them with people who promise to be loyal to him alone, not Congress, not the law or constitution, just to him.

            He is not fit to lead the country. Biden might be too old but I’ll take whoever comes after him because we know that person will follow the Law without firing thousands of Federal employees or appointing Cabinet leaders without being confirmed by Congress.

            Trump has essentially promised to rule like a dictator. Believe him when he says this. It’s not crazy
            talk… it’s exactly how he governed the first time around IMO.

          17. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            Confusion here are comparing Biden “autocracy” with Trump’s version.

            Ain’t no comparison.

            Biden pretty much stands down when the courts or Congress overrule him.

            Trump just ignores all of that and keeps going no matter what the courts or Congress says.

            In fact, that’s what Trump supporters want in him. To ignore the Courts and Congress, the “deep state” and do what “needs to be done” to MAGA!

            They ding Biden for far less!

          18. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            Biden gets dinged for behavior that Trump supporters LIKE in Trump and Biden is “weak” because he stops when overruled by Courts or Congress while Trump promises to not let either stop him.

            double standard out the wazoo!

  8. Acbar Avatar
    Acbar

    I’m fascinated by the contrast between those who sputter and fume and trash-mouth your post, here, and your factual, measured icy-calm replies. That’s your point, I suppose: there is no real exchange of ideas when people merely posture or talk past one another and care only about the audience (or readership) that already agrees with them. No exchange of ideas, no attempt to establish a common set of facts, equals no possibility of convergence or compromise. Add to that a political party dominated by those who unabashedly give a higher priority to posturing than to governance: we have a cult reveling in its own dysfunction.

    My question, as surely it is Liz Cheney’s: can this thrall be broken? There is serious work to be done; this governance business is hard work. So when the Cheneys of our national legislature are censured and shunned for their efforts to call out the cult for what it is, why is anyone surprised that more than a few folks (even those of a conservative bent) are ready to vote for people who actually believe in governing — including [gasp!] Democrats, when the only alternative on the ballot is someone openly committed to expand the cult’s stranglehold on our ‘body politic.’

    Our founding fathers got so much right. To see the edifice they built assaulted, indeed undermined, by a cult leader motivated solely by his craving for vindication and vengeance is sickening. Liz Cheney came to Richmond to say, this is not a cult that can be bargained-with by those ultimately intent on public service.

    1. Chip Gibson Avatar
      Chip Gibson

      Fully concur that the Biden Administration is a cult.

    2. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
      Dick Hall-Sizemore

      Acbar! Welcome back! We’ve missed you!

    3. DJRippert Avatar
      DJRippert

      Our founding fathers would vomit into their powdered wigs if they ever came back and saw what our Federal government has become.

      1. LarrytheG Avatar
        LarrytheG

        They purposely designed a govt with checks and balances and would roll
        in their grave at the prospect of one person ruling the country with people loyal only to him not the country.

        The supposed “antidote” being offered is poison to Democracy.

      2. James Wyatt Whitehead Avatar
        James Wyatt Whitehead

        On this President’s Day let it be known to the world that George Washington never wore a powdered wig. Having been blessed with a thick frock of hair he never needed a powdered wig to hide baldness. Washington did powder his natural hair white to keep up with the fashion of those times. Men often would shave their heads to combat lice. Easier to spot the slippery devils, pick them off your head, and then squish them between your fingernails. John Adams, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe wore powdered wigs however. To his credit, the very bald John Quincy Adams, never wore a powdered wig as President. Out of fashion by 1824.

        1. DJRippert Avatar
          DJRippert

          Very interesting. Thanks for the history lesson.

          I’ve often thought a good book would be an account of what the founding fathers would actually say and do if they were somehow to appear again in modern America.

          1. James Wyatt Whitehead Avatar
            James Wyatt Whitehead

            Resurrected Nathan Hale 2024: “I regret I gave my one and only life for my country. Jeesuz what was I thinking!”

      3. LarrytheG Avatar
        LarrytheG

        They purposely designed a govt with checks and balances and would roll
        in their grave at the prospect of one person ruling the country with people loyal only to him not the country.

        The supposed “antidote” being offered is poison to Democracy.

  9. Marty Chapman Avatar
    Marty Chapman

    I think the people of Wyoming have said all that needs to be said about former Rep Cheney!

    1. LarrytheG Avatar
      LarrytheG

      The people of Wyoming he went from being GOP to Trumpsters have spoken, yes.

      1. Marty Chapman Avatar
        Marty Chapman

        Larry, she lost in a primary, Over, done.

  10. LarrytheG Avatar
    LarrytheG

    The Trumpsters focus on Cheney as if she has left the GOP is Alice in Wonderland that the GOP has become. Look around, there are more GOP who see Trump the same way, as a threat to the Country but any GOP that thinks this way is said to be out of touch with the current pro-Trump GOP party and will be treated like Cheney has been.

    As pointed out, Cheney was not a Rockefeller Republican or anything close. She has always been fairly hard right, not a RINO at all.

    Not just Cheney. Cheney has chosen to speak out, while the others less so.

    Cheney did not leave the party. She is the same person she has always been. And she is not alone but clearly the GOP is now owned by Trump and the GOP itself is nothing like it was. If
    you look at past GOP leaders, virtually all of them are now
    called RINOs by the Trumpsters.

    The truth itself is under assault these days.

  11. Nancy Naive Avatar
    Nancy Naive

    Liz just simply reminds the conservatives that they are both guilty and afraid. Two emotions that the human body is incapable of carrying long term and more comfortably replaced with blame and anger.

    1. LarrytheG Avatar
      LarrytheG

      interesting word – “conservative” – these days,

      Is Cheney “conservative”? Do bears do it in the woods? 😉

      How about Trump – is he “conservative”?

      1. Nancy Naive Avatar
        Nancy Naive

        Trump is a criminal.

        1. Stephen Haner Avatar
          Stephen Haner

          Agreed. Sorry, but unlike too many of you folks I have better things to do with a Sunday night than sputter out comments on BR. Get a life, people…

          I loved the line I saw last week about how this election is a choice between the 14th Amendment and the 25th….

          1. Nancy Naive Avatar
            Nancy Naive

            Between a man looking at 80 years of life and one looking at 80 years to life.

          2. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            Not your problem, right?

          3. Nancy Naive Avatar
            Nancy Naive

            Nope, it isn’t. Not voting is the election equivalent of climate change hoax… (fingers in ears) lalalalala….

    2. DJRippert Avatar
      DJRippert

      You need to address “the elephant in the room” – Biden is senile and going further downhill fast.

      No senseless chattering about Republicans being guilty and afraid will change the fact that the presumptive Democratic nominee is senile and fading fast.

      1. Nancy Naive Avatar
        Nancy Naive

        We survived Reagan’s senility.

        Better a senile democrat than a senile autocrat. You need to address Trump’s criminality and his willingness to subjugate the US to Putin and his ilk.

        “Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV.” Yep, he’s all there. Sentencing will be fun when his lawyers seek hospitalization over imprisonment.

      2. Nancy Naive Avatar
        Nancy Naive

        We survived Reagan’s senility.

        Better a senile democrat than a senile autocrat. You need to address Trump’s criminality and his willingness to subjugate the US to Putin and his ilk.

        “Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV.” Yep, he’s all there. Sentencing will be fun when his lawyers seek hospitalization over imprisonment.

        1. Stephen Haner Avatar
          Stephen Haner

          If you think Reagan was senile in his last year you must think Biden already brain dead..no comparison. Put Trump in jail and expect real bloodshed, sir. People…will….die. Let’s just hope he loses or, as you say, age catches up with him, too.

          1. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            people are already dying because of what Trump is saying now… no shock.

          2. Nancy Naive Avatar
            Nancy Naive

            Oh yes. He was certainly high functioning Alzheimer’s. My mother was high functioning Alzheimer’s. It wasn’t until my brother and I attended her last physical and we watch the doctor perform the aforementioned cognitive test that I was really aware of how bad it was.

            She operated in a 5 minute window.

          3. Lefty665 Avatar
            Lefty665

            I’m sorry, that’s tough 🙁

          4. Nancy Naive Avatar
            Nancy Naive

            It’s life. Mom was really lucky. Her doctor saw the signs very early and she was selected for Phase II and III Aricept studies. It stopped progression in her almost completely. She began declining again after 10 years and by 2010 we had to forego fully assisted to lockdown. Again she lucked out because where she was housed was the facility that was an Alzheimer’s study facility with researchers on site. The facility housed the employee nursery, so there were pre-K kids around, cats, birds, and dogs too. It was a zoo, but highly stimulating. She never failed to immediately recognize my brother and me, even if she confused us right up to the week before she died.

            FWIW, she walked 3 miles per day until she was housed at 94 and even then she probably got in a mile a day in the garden for the next 3 years.

            GET UP AND WALK!

          5. Lefty665 Avatar
            Lefty665

            My Dad’s was non Alzheimer’s dementia. Multiple TIAs that his brain did a remarkable job of wiring around, plus other non palsy Parkinson’s. It was no fun. Periods of degeneration followed by short intermissions of cognizance, but there was no mistaking the trend line. I learned to embrace the cognitive time and endure the other.

            Joe’s decline is hauntingly familiar to me, dramatic if you look at him 5+ years ago and now. Let him spend the rest of his days relaxing on the beach telling stories.

            Imposing a tremendously stressful job requiring unremitting profound cognition is elder abuse as well as potentially terminal for our country and the world.

          6. Nancy Naive Avatar
            Nancy Naive

            OTOH, Joe is only two years older than Captain Sherlock.

          7. Lefty665 Avatar
            Lefty665

            As many have noted, the issue is not always chronological age so much as cognitive functioning. That varies. I had a cousin who when she died after a fall at 94 was still doing crossword puzzles and sudoku daily.

            But, age plays a part. As far as I was concerned Trump, Biden and I were all too old to be Prez when they ran in ’20, and we’re all 4 years too older now. The US is looking like the Soviet Union when the series of geriatrics cycled through leadership before the generational change that brought Gorbachev into power.

            Hope the Admiral’s ok. His last series of posts on nursing homes was extraordinary. Perhaps he had a dog in that fight.

          8. Nancy Naive Avatar
            Nancy Naive

            As Jon Stewart said, “Two of the oldest candidates to run, breaking the record by 4 years that they set just 4 years earlier.”

          9. Lefty665 Avatar
            Lefty665

            They did a pretty good job of shielding Reagan’s decline in his last years.

            There’s a good argument that Congress let the old man finish out his term and retire rather than impeaching him.

            That would probably be the case today too if Biden would announce his decision to retire.

  12. Lefty665 Avatar
    Lefty665

    Being criticized by Liz Cheney is like being called ugly by a toad.

    Virginia Dems, in case you did not have doubts about Spanberger, Cheney’s endorsement is the kiss of death. No self respecting Dem would vote for anyone right wing dingbat Cheney endorsed.

    1. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
      Dick Hall-Sizemore

      Hmm. They elected her to Congress after Cheny endorsed her. https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/05/liz-cheney-endorse-spanberger-virginia/

      1. Lefty665 Avatar
        Lefty665

        I’m still hopeful the Dems have a learning curve.

  13. f/k/a_tmtfairfax Avatar
    f/k/a_tmtfairfax

    If only Donald Trump would “wake up dead” some morning. He’s caused more harm to conservative causes than anyone in American history. And I haven’t voted for a Democrat since 1982.

    1. DJRippert Avatar
      DJRippert

      And yet … Joe Biden is still senile and going downhill at an accelerating rate.

      Even super-liberal Ezra Klein thinks Biden needs to step aside –

      https://thehill.com/homenews/media/4474046-ezra-klein-biden-step-down-2024-democrats/

      It’s going to be an election of the lesser of two evils.

      1. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
        Dick Hall-Sizemore

        You throw around the word “senile” a lot. What do you mean by “senile”? If you are talking about dementia, that takes a medical professional to diagnose. One can slow down physically and not be senile.

        1. Lefty665 Avatar
          Lefty665

          For me it’s being caregiver for my Dad over the 7 years it took for him to go from supremely competent to brain soup. Biden’s public behaviors, and reports of his behind the curtain rages, are tracking Dad’s decline pretty closely. The physical infirmities come under the heading of “and that too”, aka the all too common clustering of disabilities.

          I’m no medical professional, it’s more experience like a bartender diagnosing a drunk. 40 years of working with people with severe disabilities and listening to diagnoses from professionals with psychiatric credentials add a little insight for me.

          We can disagree on policies, but being in denial about Biden’s increasingly severe cognitive decline and the trajectory are not debatable.

          FWIW, my view of Trump’s pathological narcissism and dysfunction is equally uncharitable.

          We’re in a hell of a mess, and the alternatives ain’t so hot either.

          1. Matt Adams Avatar
            Matt Adams

            It’s still humorous to me, all the gnashing of teeth about Hur’s report. POTUS Biden was given the same type of free pass SoS Clinton was. Now they are in such a hurry to disprove the SC’s report, not realizing his determination is the only reason he’s not being impeached and charged.

        2. tomb Avatar
          tomb

          The DOJ just ruled that Biden is not competent. Now DH-S wants us to prove them wrong. It seems that CANDIDATE Biden should be the one proving his competency.

      2. LarrytheG Avatar
        LarrytheG

        Taken as face value that Biden will not finish the term and may leave sooner than later…

        THAT is your “choice”.

        You’d STILL pick Trump under the above scenario”

        1. DJRippert Avatar
          DJRippert

          So, you aren’t really voting for Biden. You admit that he will be controlled by unnamed others until such time as he can be removed?

          A secret group of people actually running the country while they reenact Weekend at Bernie’s with Slow Joe?

          And you say Trump wants to kill democracy?

          1. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            I AM voting for Biden because I have great confidence that whoever follows after him WILL
            follow laws and constitution and we DO KNOW who they are BTW, starting with Harris and the sitting Cabinet as well as National Security advisors UNLIKE what we don’t know with Trump at all , AND
            it wouldn’t matter anyhow because he won’t appoint them unless they do what he tells them to, no matter what the law is.

          2. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            I support following the Laws and Constitution, including who follows you after you leave.

            I DO NOT support flouting Laws and Constitution and the Courts. Nope.

      3. f/k/a_tmtfairfax Avatar
        f/k/a_tmtfairfax

        I also abhor Biden. All he had to do was be different from Trump. But he went so far to the left that the Bolsheviks wouldn’t recognize him. Add his low level of intelligence – his college GPA was 1.9. How many of us would hire someone with a 1.9 GPA for any position of responsibility? And the poor man is certainly suffering from some form of dementia.

        1. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
          Dick Hall-Sizemore

          What is your basis for saying he s suffering from dementia?

          1. Matt Adams Avatar
            Matt Adams

            What’s is your business for defending his decline, other than he’s got D at the end of his name.

      4. Lefty665 Avatar
        Lefty665

        Or the evil of two lessers.:)

    2. Nancy Naive Avatar
      Nancy Naive

      Damage is done. Someone just like him would pick up the ball and run. Elon comes to mind, but thank god, he was born in SA. Well, unless the MAGA can work around that whole Born in the USA deal.

    3. LarrytheG Avatar
      LarrytheG

      People DO have a choice. And it’s pretty simple.
      One where Biden will not finish his term and one where Trump probably will.

      It’s still a choice. It’s not wonderful, no question.

      But it’s STILL a choice.

  14. DJRippert Avatar
    DJRippert

    She can say what she wants about Trump. She can bleat out conspiracy theories about Trump destroying the Constitution. But nothing she says will change the fact that Biden is senile. He’s getting worse by the day. He doesn’t just make gaffes. His brain freezes on the few occasions when he is allowed to speak in public.

    The attempted gaslighting from the left that Biden is energetic and sharp as a tack in private isn’t working. Seeing is believing.

    Biden’s senility is THE issue in the upcoming election.

    The Democratic Party is perpetuating elder abuse by running Biden.

    Nominate somebody like Mark Warner at the Democratic Convention and I will run, not walk, to “pull the Democratic lever”.

    But I can’t vote for Biden.

    1. Teddy007 Avatar
      Teddy007

      But is Biden being old a good enough reason to elect a narcissistic sociopath who tells blatant lies every day? What makes Biden’s mental issue a reason to not elect Biden while Trump’s mental and personality issues are not a major issue regarding the election?

    2. LarrytheG Avatar
      LarrytheG

      You’d choose instead to turn the country over to a narcissistic psychopath who admires dictators like Putin and promises similar governance?

      This is your “solution” to Biden’s “age”?

    3. Lefty665 Avatar
      Lefty665

      No Warner! He is as dumb as Biden was even when he had something that passed for a brain. We need brighter, not more dumb and senile.

      1. DJRippert Avatar
        DJRippert

        C’mon, Lefty. Mark Warner may be many things but stupid is not one of them. Warner was class president of his public high school for three years. He was Phi Beta Kappa at GW graduating with a 4.0 GPA and then attended and graduated from Harvard Law. Given that Warner was the first in his family to graduate from college, I can’t imagine him getting a lot of help being accepted at GW or Harvard.

        1. Lefty665 Avatar
          Lefty665

          As members of the DPVA in the Richmond area early in the millennium we (wife and I) had a lot of opportunities to see Warner in action. Well meaning but dumb as a stump is about as charitable as it gets. That was especially in contrast to Tim Kaine who followed him as Gov and is actually pretty bright.

          A more recent example was Warner’s announcement a few years ago that his preparation for Senate Intelligence Committee hearings on Russian interference in US elections was reading Russian novels. Yeah, that’s the ticket.

          Warner’s laughable campaign for the prez nomination as a “radical centrist” is representative of the brain soup he swims in.

          Warner’s position as Chair of the Senate Intelligence committee is an embarrassment to Virginia and a pretty good example of why the Senate is doing so poorly.

          You have repeatedly advocated Warner for prez. I will continue to demur.

    4. LarrytheG Avatar
      LarrytheG

      I can and will VOTE for Biden to include whoever might replace him when the day comes because I KNOW the country will still be led by rational people who care more about the country than themselves and not demand loyalty while they proceed to dismantle American Constitutional govt – Alice in Wonderland style.

      1. DJRippert Avatar
        DJRippert

        A senile person, by definition, is not rational.

        And … just for giggles … please describe how Trump (or any other president for that matter) will “dismantle American Constitutional govt.”

        Dismantle American Constitutional government …. and I thought it was you lefties who claimed Republicans were peddling conspiracy theories.

        1. Nancy Naive Avatar
          Nancy Naive

          January 6 was a good start. Speaking of which, have you been baselined? It’s important, takes 10 minutes and works for catching early onset. Don’t wait. Definitely by age 60; in your 50s is better.

        2. LarrytheG Avatar
          LarrytheG

          He’s pretty much promised to fire most GOvt employees and replace them with people who are loyal to him and will follow his orders, not the law.

          one of MANY articles:

          https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f3944986c2e05dfb3c7478085cfc8e20f0283f0ffeda366f63ee993d6857c615.png

        3. LarrytheG Avatar
          LarrytheG

          if it was JUST ONE ‘senile’ person who did not pay attention to his advisors and just did whatever he wanted, you’d have a point but that’s not the case.

          We KNOW that Biden has a team he does listen to.

          re: ” please describe how Trump (or any other president for that matter) will “dismantle American Constitutional govt.”

          Have you listened at all to what he promises to do?

          Do you listen to his “solution” to the “deep state”, i.e. fire as many as he can and replace only with people who promise loyalty to him and will be fired if not.

          https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-retribution-agenda-government-workers-schedule-f-rcna78785

          1. DJRippert Avatar
            DJRippert

            Where in the US Constitution is the president prohibited from firing senior members of the federal bureaucracy (or from appointing Cabinet members who will do that)?

            I think you’ve actually hit on the reason our entrenched bureaucracy is so incredibly afraid of a second Trump term.

            They are very worried that he will use his Constitutionally granted power to put the federal bureaucracy back where it belongs – servants of the people acting within the laws passed by the people’s representatives in Congress.

          2. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            And confirmation by Congress?

          3. DJRippert Avatar
            DJRippert

            Yes, Larry – at a certain level the bureaucrats have to be confirmed by Congress. So, help me here … how does the Constitution-shredding Trump get around that requirement?

            Unless you seriously believe he co-opts the US military and stages an actual coup, he will have to abide by the Constitution.

          4. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
            Dick Hall-Sizemore

            He can appoint “acting” Cabinet and sub-cabinet members, who are not subject confirmation.

          5. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
            Dick Hall-Sizemore

            He can appoint “acting” Cabinet and sub-cabinet members, who are not subject confirmation.

          6. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            BY not submitting them for confirmation , like he did, and have them operate
            “interim” and after. Do you think he has a history of flouting laws and Constitution in
            general? Like closing the border without any legal authority to do so? Like separating
            families and in such a way, they cannot be “found” to be reunited? You think he does not
            do this and will not do this when he is actually promising to do so? Truly?

          7. DJRippert Avatar
            DJRippert

            Nothing against the Constitution in any of those actions.

            All presidents push the boundaries of presidential power.

            Slow Joe has effectively declared war against the Houthis without Congressional approval.

            Are his actions covered by The War Powers Act?

            A bipartisan group of Congress People don’t think so.

            https://apnews.com/article/yemen-houthi-red-sea-congress-biden-8f83f46a45d0428b5bab78f39cd7abac

          8. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            nothing against the Constitution is NOT having Congress fulfill it’s Constitutional powers and appointing people who promise to do what Trump wants them to without regard to laws and Constitution – like he has done before and promised more of?

            And you sound like you approve of it, right?

          9. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
            Dick Hall-Sizemore

            He can appoint “acting” Cabinet and sub-cabinet members, who are not subject confirmation.

          10. Matt Adams Avatar
            Matt Adams

            You mean like all other POTUS before him and you didn’t make a bleat!

            Ya’ll are completely and utterly irrational. Trump is a turd, but he will on not be the end of Democracy. That’s just standard hyperbole from the partisans, much like it was when the far right was bleating it about FPOTUS Obama.

          11. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            Apparently that is not a “bug” but a “feature” wth DJR and other Trump supporters.

            Ignoring and violating Laws and the Constitution is what is needed to “get this country back on track, MAGA style”.

            So, Laws and Constitution are in the way of what Trump wants to do – and his supporters agree and want it!

          12. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            And appointed Federal Cabinet and employees who refuse to carry out the law and Constitution and instead do what Trump orders?

          13. DJRippert Avatar
            DJRippert

            They will be blocked by the courts.

            The left’s fairy tale of Trump destroying US democracy flies in the face of reality.

            A president’s power is pretty well defined through the checks and balances in the Constitution.

            The left may not like Trump’s beliefs and policies but the conspiracy theory that he will somehow seize total power is pretty absurd.

          14. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            blocked by the Courts he has appointed and attacks personally if they do not rule in his favor and he ignores the order? He had people resign for DOJ because he was ordering them to break the law
            and his response was to find someone who WOULD do what he ordered.

          15. Lefty665 Avatar
            Lefty665

            That certainly was an area where Mueller stalled. He reported that a President exercising his authority (and responsibility) to administer the executive branch (ie things like firing Comey) was a very high barrier to criminal charges. He left that call to the AG and Barr held that Trump was within the boundaries of law.

          16. Matt Adams Avatar
            Matt Adams

            Mueller was than as POTUS Biden is now, a mind of mush. He was SC in name only, the author of all the report and supporting documents is the anti-Trump media legal expert Andrew Weissmann.

          17. Lefty665 Avatar
            Lefty665

            And even he could not make the stretch to criminalize Trump doing what the Constitution says it was his obligation to do.

        4. Teddy007 Avatar
          Teddy007

          Trump will use the pardon power to conduct crimes and then get away with them. Also, the Justice Department will go after any state where the Democrats win most elections.

          1. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            DJR thinks that if Trump said it, promised it, it is a “conspiracy theory” made up by liberals!

            Such is Alice in Wonderland politics these days.

          2. Teddy007 Avatar
            Teddy007

            How can anyone vote for someone who believes that he can declassify any document with his mind but without telling anyone? How can anyone vote for someone says such nonsense?

    5. Nancy Naive Avatar
      Nancy Naive

      Conspiracy theories? He’s SAID he will.

  15. Nancy Naive Avatar
    Nancy Naive

    Speaking of senility, since one of us just goes on and on, this is the single most important IRS Form you can file. Keep one filled out at all times.
    https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f2848.pdf

    1. Lefty665 Avatar
      Lefty665

      Think there’s any truth to the rumors that senile old Joe has named Hunter as his representative to the IRS?

      1. Nancy Naive Avatar
        Nancy Naive

        Now that’s funny. But, he does have contacts.

        1. Lefty665 Avatar
          Lefty665

          Hey, Hunter did a wonderful job of running out the clock on the largest of the failure to pay taxes years, and he’s avoided the FARA violations and RICO charges so far. Old Joe could do worse:)

          1. Matt Adams Avatar
            Matt Adams

            He’s clearly a tax wiz or perhaps his CPA is. I don’t know how he managed to write off ladies of the night and blow as a business expense, but I suppose more power to him.

  16. Matt Adams Avatar
    Matt Adams

    Say what you’d like about Trump but clinging to the words of a NeoCon Warhawk and calling her a “traditional conservative” is laughable.

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