Recently, a slew of articles came out as Liz Cheney is expected to be ousted from House GOP leadership, as a result of her defiance from refusing to vote from Donald Trump.
Donald Trump is not someone to root for. He’s an out-of-the-closet authoritarian who hopes to grasp power as long as humanly possible. His primary goal is to have personal loyalty of his lackeys so that he can continue to exercise power. The fact that he is trying to scrub the Republican party of other strands of thought seems to be a way of further consolidating power. This unfortunately means that the Republican party is increasingly casting its fortunes on President Trump as an individual. Not a good idea. Since one is not bound by ideology, it becomes increasingly challenging to hold a “strongman” accountable. After all, if one can’t justify one’s group membership through ideas, they’ll likely focus on personality and conspiracy, building blocks of chaos. As a result, this creates further polarization because it is not clear how to compromise with “personality,” and may well spiral downward into chaos and despair.
Fundamentally, the power necessary to change “the system” is also enough to undermine the constraints of limited government. Unfortunately, as the limits on power go away, more competent authoritarians may seize this power and once limits are eroded, it’s hard to reverse the pattern. It’s not simply the choice between the policies of Trump versus Cheney’s but also the institutions that limit powers broadly and what that means.
At the same time, Cheney’s brand of neoconservatism is nothing to relish either. Dick Cheney, Liz’s father and former vice president to Bush was a consistent architect of destruction and war. Cheney was former head of Halliburton, a weapons company and received a $36 million dollar severance package prior to becoming vice-president. Following his inauguration, he encouraged an invasion of Iraq, and lied about whether Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. His daughter helped. Liz Cheney was secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs at the time and has defended the war ever since. Similarly, Liz Cheney identifies as a neoconservative, and her hawkish approach on foreign policy, and enthusiastic support for torture betrays a disregard for human life. Finally, Cheney is also in favor of government surveillance.
In normal times, Cheney’s warmongering should be more than enough to remove her leadership. However, normal times are long gone. It might be delightful in the abstract to watch mob boss and warmonger battle, but when one realizes both these people have a chance at power, somber reflection should take over. Toying with barren power politics is dangerous, and one should punish everyone involved.
If Trump and Cheney are the best the GOP has to offer, perhaps one should look elsewhere for leaders.
Isadore Johnson's Website 
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