A constitutional republic is fragile — but according to the legacy media, democracy has been hanging on Liz Cheney’s position as chair of the House Republican Conference. To hear hyperventilating talking heads tell it, democracy has now been obliterated.
Some have even presented this morning’s voice vote to oust Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) from her position as the House’s third most powerful Republican as the death knell of democracy, part of the GOP’s “clear agenda” to make sure “the next coup doesn’t fail,” a self-hating act of misogyny by Republican women, and an act of courage that makes Liz Cheney the next Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, and Joan of Arc rolled into one.
Here’s a breakdown of the most absurd reactions.
A plan to steal the 2022 and 2024 elections
Salon scribbler and CNN “expert” Amanda Marcotte gave the most extreme opinion (as usual). “Cheney’s ouster should make it clear to anyone on Capitol Hill that Republicans aren’t kidding about their clear agenda to end democracy as we know it,” she tweeted. “The GOP is coalescing around a plan to steal the 2022 and 2024 elections and purge any party members who dissent. This is a hair-on-fire emergency, but Democrats aren’t even treating it like a priority,” continued Marcotte, who lost her job on John Edwards’ 2008 presidential campaign because of anti-Christian/anti-Catholic comments. “Big picture here: Trump attempted a coup just a few months ago. Now Republicans are lining up their ducks so the next coup doesn’t fail. And Democrats are….not doing anything to stop them. This is super bad. We are super f***ed,” she concluded.
Cheney's ouster should make it clear to anyone on Capitol Hill that Republicans aren't kidding about their clear agenda to end democracy as we know it. So why are the filibuster addicts still burying their heads in the sand? https://t.co/UBJSLNjdqW
— Amanda Marcotte (@AmandaMarcotte) May 12, 2021
An act of sexism, perpetrated by Republican women
NBC News ran an article accusing Rep. Elise Stefanik and her colleagues of committing a “ruthless violation of the Woman Code” for preparing to replace one woman in leadership with another. “This coup against the last honest Republican woman in Congress was engineered by several powerful men (among them Trump, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise),” wrote Sophia A. Nelson in a feature article posted on NBC News’ website. “But it was endorsed and enabled by dozens of compliant women.” (Apparently, only women who vote according to NBC’s party line are rebellious.) As such, “The Republican women of Congress” are denying that “[e]very woman who walks this Earth, no matter her race, religion or politics, has value.”
Sophia A. Nelson: The coup against Rep. Cheney was engineered by several powerful men (among them fmr. President Trump, House Minority Leader McCarthy, and House Minority Whip Scalise). But it was endorsed and enabled by dozens of compliant women.https://t.co/Ks2vb0e1Pu
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) May 12, 2021
Existential for democracy
CNN’s Dana Bash said the 2,500-year-old notion of Athenian democracy itself hangs in the balance after the Cheney vote. “This is existential, not just for the GOP; it is existential for democracy,” said Bash, the network’s chief political correspondent. She added that “[t]his country needs a viable, two-party political system, at least, to exist, and that is on the brink and in danger of collapsing.” Far from being a calculated strategy to become the next Republican media darling, Cheney’s outspoken anti-Trump speech on the House floor “reads to me like someone who is facing a political public execution and wants to be heard before that political execution happens,” said Bash.
Democracy dies in lies
The Daily Beast implied that democracy has already collapsed in the sub-headline to an opinion piece posted shortly after this morning’s vote. “Democracy dies in lies, and so may the minority leader’s dream of ascending to the speakership,” it said. Writers do not usually headline their own stories, but we can credit Margaret Carlson with her own words: Her opening sentence blamed Republicans for “the crime of banishing Liz Cheney” from leadership.
Liz Cheney, the next Ronald Reagan
Joe Scarborough, the morning anchor of ultra-liberal MSNBC’s programming schedule, said that “as a conservative” he recognizes Liz Cheney’s ouster as “a piece of history.” He added that Cheney’s floor speech, in which she said those who question the 2020 election “feed Communist propaganda,” marks her as a conservative leader in the mold of a Reagan or Thatcher:
As a conservative, you look back to those moments where somebody steps into the limelight and leads a movement. I think about Reagan in 1966. I think about Margaret Thatcher in 1975 in Britain, and her address before the Conservative Party; she sort of sweeps away the lectern and shows everybody who’s in control there. Liz Cheney could well be that person in 2021.
Liz Cheney, virgin martyr
Cast members of ABC’s “The View” likened Liz to a literal martyr, the Catholic saint Joan of Arc. Joy Behar canonized Cheney as “the Joan of Arc standing up to the heretics” of “the QAnon party.” Co-host Sara Haines agreed that Cheney has greater spiritual purity than other Republicans, because “they will sell their souls for political gains.” (Surely, that’s a first in politics.)
Ben Johnson is the Media Reporter at The Daily Wire. He previously worked at the Acton Institute, FrontPage Magazine, and LifeSiteNews. He’s the author of three books, including Party of Defeat (2008, with David Horowitz).
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.