By Roger L. Simon for The Epoch Times
Hate is a dangerous emotion for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that it interferes with, and often even destroys, your ability to think rationally. It can turn your personality inside out to such a degree that you spend your life regretting what you did.
And it all will have been for nothing.
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo., for now) is an object lesson. She comes from a rich, conservative tradition. Her mother, Lynne, wrote an estimable biography of James Madison. Early in her career, Cheney herself consistently voted for and advocated for conservative causes.
Then, along came Mr. Hate.
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The instigator, Donald Trump, said mean things about her father, blaming him for the Iraq War. I’ll admit that Trump’s statements were a tad excessive, since Dick Cheney, although clearly a key player, was far from alone in supporting that ill-conceived war. An extraordinary percentage did, including most of Washington, the pundit class (yours truly included), and, on occasion, Trump himself.
We were hoping the war would turn Iraq into Denmark. We couldn’t have been more wrong. Trump used that as a lynchpin in his 2016 campaign, attacking Dick Cheney, among others, but Liz Cheney reacted to Trump with a level of hate out of all proportion to the situation.
A political campaign was underway, the likes of which she had participated in since childhood, and, like it or not, insults were part of Trump’s political style. The businessman had insulted all sorts of people, many of whom (like Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz) now play ball with him on a regular basis.
Not Liz Cheney. She made an alliance with people whose views she considered anathema for all of her previous life, just to get Trump. It was hate taken to the nth degree.
As it turns out, those people she made an alliance with—the Jan. 6 Committee of Democratic Reps. Bennie Thompson, Adam Schiff, Jamie Raskin, Zoe Lofgren, and so forth—themselves also permeated with the most obvious hate—have failed miserably at their endeavor and now have abruptly postponed their third “show trial” telecast. The previous telecasts were a ratings disaster and, in some cases, they got caught lying. (“Adam Schiff lie?” Mon Dieu!)
Further, if you believe that eventually the truth comes out, as I do (mostly), sooner or later the supposed “insurrection” of Jan. 6, 2021, will be seen by a majority of our citizens as an FBI put-up job. Many do already.
Cheney, whether she knows it or not, is headed for oblivion after the Wyoming Republican primary. She has no real political friends. Does she think the likes of Raskin will support her after this is over? He’s politically closer to Pol Pot. And, as of this moment, it looks as if Trump will still be the GOP presidential nominee in 2024, with a good chance of victory. Everything Cheney did was for naught.
Still, the politics of hate is hard to resist—it’s hard for people on both sides. I’m often prey to it myself. When I watch MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow or CNN’s Brian Stelter on television, I want to tear out my hair—only I don’t have any.
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But this is no way to create change. The lesson of the Jan. 6 Committee—built on hate—was that it hasn’t moved the needle at all. The public—smarter than the politicians—is inured to this nonsense.
With inflation running at a reported 8.6 percent (probably well in excess of that), the stock market and people’s retirement in free fall, more illegals coming across the border than in our history—bringing with them unheard-of levels of crime, from human trafficking to massive amounts of death-dealing fentanyl—not to mention the appalling violence in all our big cities, who could be interested in the self-serving mouthing of these political hacks?
One other thing about the Jan. 6 Committee. Perhaps it’s wishful thinking, but what I think I saw was fear in their eyes. Somewhere, not so deep down, they all knew they were being fundamentally dishonest. They saw what’s going on in our society, how things are falling apart at a rapid clip under the worst administration of all time. Unless they are extraordinarily willfully blind, it’s hard to miss.
At some point, it’s time to pick up your marbles and go home. Onward to November.
Syndicated with permission from Real Clear Wire.
Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.