Stop Deriding Liz Cheney
Stop Deriding Liz Cheney
Demanding ideological purity among those who stand up to Trump is not a viable way to protect American democracy.
By Shay Khatiri
Every Ramadan my father would remind me before dropping me at school, “Don’t tell anybody we had breakfast.” A classmate of mine who was our neighbor once ratted my dad out for smoking during Ramadan. Before saying anything remotely political in public, I had to literally look over my shoulder. That is Iran, where I spent two-thirds of my life.
That is not the United States. America is a liberal regime, pluralistic and accepting of people with different views. Americans have always believed that diversity is our greatest strength—diversity in all forms, but especially in thought. That is the genius of the American project, and why I love this country so much—why I consider myself as patriotic an American as they come.
Some Americans, though, seem to have given up on this liberal ideal. For many partisans, nothing short of complete uniformity from their compatriots is tolerable. The most recent example is the purge of Liz Cheney from the House Republican leadership. Cheney was ousted as conference chair, the third-highest Republican role in the House of Representatives, not because she lacks conservative credentials, but because she failed the most important test of the modern GOP: complete and total loyalty to Donald Trump. Cheney’s sin—standing up to the former president’s clear and blatant lies about the 2020 election—was an untenable breach of protocol among Republicans.
Cheney deserves commendation for breaking with Trump and the GOP. The Republican Party’s refusal to accept the results of a free and fair election is an existential threat to our democracy. Defenders of liberal democracy of all political stripes should be applauding her honesty, courage, and refusal to bend the knee.
But in the pages of The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and progressive publications besides, journalists have been attacking Cheney. They say that it’s too little too late, label her a warmonger, or complain that she’s just too conservative.
These critiques might be fair to level in a different circumstance, but raising them now as a reason not to applaud Cheney for standing up to her party is foolish. For five years, progressives asked for conservatives to come out and condemn Trump. Yet when they do, these same voices condemn conservatives within the Republican Party’s ranks for the sin of remaining conservative. It is ludicrous, if not reckless, to claim that the threat to the republic is imminent, and then rebuff potential allies who don’t come from the same ideological club.
Cheney could have gone along with Trump’s lie and stayed in Republican leadership. By fighting back, she is potentially sacrificing a powerful future in the party. Her quick rise up the party ranks shows that she is savvy enough to have had a clear shot at becoming speaker of the House. She was a State Department official and a viable future candidate for secretary of state or defense. She may have even had a chance at winning the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 and becoming the first female president of the United States.
Instead, she chose to be cast into the political wilderness. This might have been why she waited so long to come out against Trump. To many of us, January 6 was the climax of Trump’s attacks on democracy. For Cheney, it was a wake-up call. But she finally woke up, and now she is sacrificing a potentially great future. That is worthy of admiration and praise, not scorn.
That is not to say that any progressive should become a Cheney superfan. Nor does it mean that Democrats should start agreeing with her on policy. It only means that they should welcome her efforts to preserve our liberal democracy and admire her courage.
As much as some progressives would like to do away with conservatism, America is going to have a conservative political faction with significant influence over a major party. We cannot afford to apply an ideological purity test, especially one that bans all conservatives, in our efforts to save liberalism in America. One can object to Cheney’s views on foreign policy, or even oppose conservatism altogether, and still see Cheney as a welcome addition to the fight against illiberalism.
I say this from experience. In 2009, in Iran, there was a massive uprising against the regime. People were yearning for a free life, which is why nobody cared to ask a fellow protester whether they were conservative or progressive, whether they were religious or atheist, traditionalist or gay. So long as someone had a commitment to a free Iran, we were all in the same camp.
Defenders of liberal democracy in America, on both the left and the right, should take the same approach. The main political divide is no longer between conservatives and progressives, but between liberals and illiberals. Demanding ideological purity among our liberal allies is not a viable way to protect American democracy.
Shay Khatiri is an editor at Persuasion.
The left leaning media has distorted this story greatly. It is not an example of "cancel culture," but rather a party taking over its own leadership. This would be happening to the Democrats if Biden had not become a full throated progressive in his policies. AOC and others would be challenging Democratic leadership. Moreover, if a single democrat ever ONCE spoke out against Critical Race Theory or cancel culture or the debate over biology and trans rights and if they then went on Fox News and spoke to Tucker Carlson about it - do you think the Democrats would stand for that? Not a chance. Moreover, they seem to only care about "cancel culture" when it applies to Liz Cheney - then suddenly they care. Well, which is it? Liz Cheney was not doing what they want her to do - and is instead helping Democrats stay powerful. If it were "cancel culture" they would have forced her to resign as the Democrats did with Al Franken. They have every right to vote out the leadership they don't want. The left - and especially the left press - continue to be obsessed with Trump even though he isn't even on social media or anywhere in their line of sight. They can't let go. Not to mention, that THIS is the obsession during a week of devastating violence in the Middle East, gas lines, ongoing unemployment and growing fear -- tells you everything about the current state of the Democratic Party and the the massive media machine that does its bidding.
The second paragraph of this article is dangerously naive, and perfectly encapsulates why this whole article is just ridiculous. “Americans have always agreed that diversity is our greatest strength,” is a demonstrably false statement, and Liz Cheney’s refusal to recognize her own sister’s humanity is just one example of it. You only need to watch one night of Fox News’s prime time shows to understand how untrue that is. They’ll inform you that democracy is in danger, not because of Trump, but because of the increase in America’s black and brown populations (otherwise known as diversity). But don’t stop there, take an good look at the history of the United States and start being honest with yourself. The ruling class has resisted democracy and diversity very strongly since its founding. John Jay said, “those who own the country should govern it,” and his was the popular opinion amongst the political elite at the time. The book The Founder’s Coup by Harvard Law professor Michael Klarman documents this very well, I suggest you read it. I suggest you read some slave memoirs, Incidents in the Life Of A Slave Girl is a good one; or some James Baldwin, or The Autobiography of Malcolm X and start to come to terms with the fact that America is not what it purports to be. If you think this is in our past, consider the fact that Ahmaud Arbery’s Murders are currently citing a citizens arrest law passed in the middle of the civil war in defense of the modern day lynching they took part in. The law was passed so white citizens could legally arrest black people escaping from slavery, and it wasn’t repealed until this week. If you want more recent history and how intolerant America is of diversity - not just racial, but of political thought - I recommend you read about America’s maniacal and extremely violent global war against leftist political ideology. The Jakarta Method by Vincent Bevins is very eye opening. Read Kissinger’s Shadow by Greg Grandin. Talk to a leftist from Guatamala, El Salvador, Honduras, Brazil, Chile, Vietnam, Indonesia, and ask them if America values diversity. Asking progressives to stand in solidarity with Liz Cheney is not just delusional, it’s ignorant, because Liz Cheney is no friend to progress.