Ross: What would you do to preserve democracy?
May 12, 2021, 6:30 AM | Updated: 11:48 am
Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Today I will step aside for a guest commentator: Republican Liz Cheney of Wyoming – who gave a six-minute speech on the floor of the House last night about the importance of telling the truth.
“Today we face a threat America has never seen before,” she said.
She talked about witnessing courageous voters in West Kenya who refused to be intimidated by the soldiers sent to scare them off; about meeting a local Russian mayor who campaigned for democracy – and was assassinated.
She talked about “rule of law” as the heart of conservatism, and what the example of American democracy has meant to the dreams of freedom in so many parts of the world.
“I will not sit back and watch in silence while others lead our party down a path that abandons the rule of law, and join our former president’s crusade to undermine democracy,” Cheney said.
She said Trump’s attack on the Democratic process feeds the Chinese and Russian propaganda machines that want to convince the world that democracy is a failure:
“We must speak the truth — our election was not stolen, and America has not failed,” she continued.
And so, the real issue is whether you love America enough to stand up for the truth:
“We must love America so much, that we will never yield in her defense — that is our duty,” she concluded.
Liz Cheney – declaring that to love America, Republicans must reject Donald Trump.
Now, to summarize the response of the House Republican leadership — I think Meat Loaf put it best, when he said he “would do anything for love … but I won’t do that.”
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