Eric and Eliot inaugurate the first video episode of Shield of the Republic by welcoming former Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) to discuss her New York Times best-selling book Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning (New York: Little, Brown, 2023). They discuss her assessment of the impact on public discourse and public perceptions of the hearings and final report of the Congressional committee to investigate the January 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol. They discuss the domestic and international consequences of a potential second Donald Trump Presidency, particularly its impact on the ability of the US to exercise international leadership in a world beset by aggressive, authoritarian regimes in Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. They talk about the intellectual corruption on display at CPAC where would-be dictators were welcomed and the prospective end of democracy in America was cheered by the participants. Finally they consider the future of conservative internationalism and the Republican Party and whether or not the GOP is salvageable or whether a new conservative party needs to arise.
Folks, please do something to fix the sound on the podcast. It's much lower than any other Bulwark podcast, and at times is hard to hear even at max volume.
Ms. Cheney, I believe equating Biden and Trump in terms of US posture of strength is poor equivocation. You wonder how our allies view us as a partner with Biden administration approach to Afghanistan and Iran. Sorry, but most of our allies probably agree more with Biden than you. I'm not sure Biden is entirely correct. I am sure that you are not
In the State of the Union, President Biden should focus, and perhaps limit his remarks to the *two* bipartisan bills that came out of the Senate, one that included many items directed at the border that were predominantly Conservative goals, that enjoys overwhelming support in the House but that is being held up by a small minority of the Republican caucus for political gain. He should call on that body to take these bills up immediately, and on the voters to exhort their representatives to do that. He should say he could talk about what he has done, and what he would like to do, but frankly if we cannot do these simple things there's no point in doing that now, the campaign will take care of it.
All well and good, Liz. But, when calling out the enablers, it's the entire R party for the past 4 decades that has introduced hyper partisanship fueled by gerrymandered congressional districts at the state and federal level, and voter suppression laws. If the R party wants a clean slate, and try to govern, then it will have to accept that it has to let go of the tools that it used to obtain power as a minority party. This also means letting go of the 'republic' AND NOT necessarily a democracy distinction that you continue to use in your language. The R party has been doing this for a long time and it's extremely grating. We are either a democracy or not, and calling ourselves a republic doesn't make that distinction that you're trying to make any less anti-democratic and how we got to the MAGA world we have today.
I also noticed that you did not reference 'christian nationalism' at all. This is a bigger idea than MAGA and is counter to the 'rule of law' that you discussed at length in connection with a possible second Trump term. MAGA is using christian nationalism to rationalize just about all of its agenda. Failure to recognize and to call this out is a mistake IMO.
Sign me up, Liz. You are the de facto leader of the opposition against Trump. Trump has sullied the Republican party beyond redemption. As Eliot pointed out, they are not conservative. There needs to be clean slate. There needs to be a means for Republicans to repent and be cleansed of MAGA. But don't call it a third party. It shall be a party to restore the two-party system. My politics are more center to center-right, but I understand there must be a functioning conservative party. I can advocate the conservative agenda. Sign me up. I will volunteer whatever time and do whatever retail politics is required to get it off the ground.
Cheney continues to call out the chant "from the river to the sea" as anti-Semitic.
I would like to hear her acknowledge that Netanyahu's Likud formally incorporates the Movement for Greater Israel; It has the goal of a single nation from the river to the sea ruled by Jews.
We need to be even more careful with the term anti-Semitic when describing objections to the current slaughter of civilians, including thousands of children, in Gaza. The problem is not that death is being inflicted by Jews; The problem is that death is being inflicted on children and other people who has nothing to do with October 7.
Folks, please do something to fix the sound on the podcast. It's much lower than any other Bulwark podcast, and at times is hard to hear even at max volume.
looking forward to more from the Shield
Ms. Cheney, I believe equating Biden and Trump in terms of US posture of strength is poor equivocation. You wonder how our allies view us as a partner with Biden administration approach to Afghanistan and Iran. Sorry, but most of our allies probably agree more with Biden than you. I'm not sure Biden is entirely correct. I am sure that you are not
In the State of the Union, President Biden should focus, and perhaps limit his remarks to the *two* bipartisan bills that came out of the Senate, one that included many items directed at the border that were predominantly Conservative goals, that enjoys overwhelming support in the House but that is being held up by a small minority of the Republican caucus for political gain. He should call on that body to take these bills up immediately, and on the voters to exhort their representatives to do that. He should say he could talk about what he has done, and what he would like to do, but frankly if we cannot do these simple things there's no point in doing that now, the campaign will take care of it.
Then he should walk out.
All well and good, Liz. But, when calling out the enablers, it's the entire R party for the past 4 decades that has introduced hyper partisanship fueled by gerrymandered congressional districts at the state and federal level, and voter suppression laws. If the R party wants a clean slate, and try to govern, then it will have to accept that it has to let go of the tools that it used to obtain power as a minority party. This also means letting go of the 'republic' AND NOT necessarily a democracy distinction that you continue to use in your language. The R party has been doing this for a long time and it's extremely grating. We are either a democracy or not, and calling ourselves a republic doesn't make that distinction that you're trying to make any less anti-democratic and how we got to the MAGA world we have today.
I also noticed that you did not reference 'christian nationalism' at all. This is a bigger idea than MAGA and is counter to the 'rule of law' that you discussed at length in connection with a possible second Trump term. MAGA is using christian nationalism to rationalize just about all of its agenda. Failure to recognize and to call this out is a mistake IMO.
Sign me up, Liz. You are the de facto leader of the opposition against Trump. Trump has sullied the Republican party beyond redemption. As Eliot pointed out, they are not conservative. There needs to be clean slate. There needs to be a means for Republicans to repent and be cleansed of MAGA. But don't call it a third party. It shall be a party to restore the two-party system. My politics are more center to center-right, but I understand there must be a functioning conservative party. I can advocate the conservative agenda. Sign me up. I will volunteer whatever time and do whatever retail politics is required to get it off the ground.
Cheney continues to call out the chant "from the river to the sea" as anti-Semitic.
I would like to hear her acknowledge that Netanyahu's Likud formally incorporates the Movement for Greater Israel; It has the goal of a single nation from the river to the sea ruled by Jews.
We need to be even more careful with the term anti-Semitic when describing objections to the current slaughter of civilians, including thousands of children, in Gaza. The problem is not that death is being inflicted by Jews; The problem is that death is being inflicted on children and other people who has nothing to do with October 7.