Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) on Monday doubled down on her defense of Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) by taking aim at fellow Republicans for pushing the “cancel culture” they cry foul about onto the third-ranking Republican, days before the House GOP conference is set to vote on whether to oust Cheney as its chair amid the third-ranking Republican continuing to call out former President Trump for his election fraud falsehoods.
The Big Lie is official Republican policy and Cheney was not playing ball. Full stop.
Ernst knows this of course so the rest is Kabuki.
ETA: Kerry Eleveld writes an article addressing a key issue that Ernst (and Cheney) are probably really concerned about; e.g.,
Not only are House GOP leaders ousting their No. 3, Rep. Liz of Cheney of Wyoming, for refusing to peddle Trump’s Big Lie about rampant voter fraud, they are attempting to deprive their own members of the extent to which Trump could sink them in critical districts. During the caucus’ April retreat, the Post reports that staffers from the National Republican Congressional Committee refused to disclose key elements of their own internal polling on Trump.
"Trump’s unfavorable ratings were 15 points higher than his favorable ones ...
So, aside from fear of being primaried from the right and losing funding, maybe Republican leaders figure they can lock down enough states to establish minority rule nationally and the Big Lie is the ultimate loyalty test to firm up commitment of the troops for the putsch, or maybe it’s the final spiral down into mass psychosis, but their own polling shows Trump is electoral poison even in districts they must win so their calculations must mean, what, that even suppressing the vote of their own voters is on the menu?
Wha-at? A gooper suggests being consistent in, well, any way at all? Like what’s bad for thee is also bad for me? Huh. And it’s Ernst? I guess you just never know.
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) on Monday doubled down on her defense of Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) by taking aim at fellow Republicans for pushing the “cancel culture” they cry foul about onto the third-ranking Republican…
So, if I understand correctly, Senator Ernst is trying to cancel her own party’s culture of employing “cancel culture” tactics?
This is one of my famous vague, intuitive perceptions but I don’t think their hearts are in this self-cannibalization, Reign of Terror-style. They seem more like they’re going through the motions to keep the crazy guy in Florida off their particular backs.
I am getting a distinct sensation there’s a significant probability the vote to oust Cheney could fail narrowly. Especially if it’s done by secret ballot, as I would kind of expect.
And the egg on Dipshit McCarthy’s face, along with Jordan and all the rest of the chuckle fucks would be a thing of beauty.
Again just guessing but I think a lot of them are crude, simplistic thinkers who overlearn any lesson, and they’ve imbibed the idea that OMG YOU NEVER OPPOSE TRUMP. If he says you should cut off your left foot JUST DO IT. Some of the bolder Republicans have figured out that Trump is a three-quarters-nuts old man private citizen wandering around his stupid resorts like a pinhead Phantom of the Opera. You do notice they barely ever trot him out in public these days. Don Jr. is making appearances but Daddy Dearest is not GO FIGURE. People don’t want, for whatever reason, to accept it, but Trump’s influence is rapidly shrinking.
“I think it’s important that we not all be typecast as, you know, this opinion is OK to express, but this is not,” Ernst said, according to a Hill pool report.
Because there are certainly opinions that are NOT OK to express, not by elected and trusted leaders, if they’re so crazy, divorced from reality, dishonest, offensive and/or dangerous, that they risk doing harm to society and individuals, kind of the yelling fire in a theater version of public speech. Like, claiming that a properly conducted and lawfully won election was stolen. Or denying that a certain foreign adversary actually did try to steal at least two elections and arguably succeeded in one. Or claiming that members of certain ethnic groups are inherently inferior to others. Or accusing people of crimes they did not commit. Or denying basic and established science. That is NOT to be allowed.
Baby steps, baby, baby steps. Better slightly woke than not woke at all.
Depends, if Trump catches wind of it, and proclaims “off with her head”, she will be toast as well. Anyway, Joni doesn’t face elections for another five years, so she feels she can take a bit of short term heat.
Now if those objecting to the Republican turn to teenage clique behavior would decide to form a revised Republican party that stands outside the current one. Sure, they will get toasted but they will likely spin a a chunk of Republican voters off enough to let the Democrats do the hard lifting. Then the Revised party can bitch and moan about the liberals yet have their house put back in order.
Well, I didn’t expect Ernst to be an independent voice. But she’s a Senator, so she’s out of the direct line of circular fire in the House GOP delegation.
“I feel it’s OK to go ahead and express what you feel is right to express and, you know, cancel culture is cancel culture, no matter how you look at it,” Ernst said, according to a Hill pool report. “And unfortunately I think there are those that are trying to silence others in the party.”
