An open letter to U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney

Submitted by Jim McEvoy
Posted 8/22/19

Dear Liz:

You were elected to the House of Representatives in 2016 with 64 percent of the vote. Congratulations. I’ve studied your biography and am impressed with your education and …

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An open letter to U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney

Posted

Dear Liz:

You were elected to the House of Representatives in 2016 with 64 percent of the vote. Congratulations. I’ve studied your biography and am impressed with your education and experience. You are intelligent and, along with our senators, very determined to fight for “Wyoming values” and American “exceptionalism.”

There is particular hostility between Republicans, including yourself, and the four freshmen congresswomen known as “The Squad.” They are U.S. Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), D-N.Y. They are women of color, U.S. citizens duly elected by the voters in their districts and advocates of a bold, progressive agenda to solve the serious problems facing the nation. They are the face of America and represent its strength and diversity.

In April 2018, the Trump Administration formally announced a zero-tolerance action to deter “illegal” border crossings using the infamous child separation policy, with cruelty a main, well-documented feature. The public has been outraged. AOC visited one detention facility and referred to it as a “concentration camp.” Instead of speaking out against the inhumane conditions, you accused her of anti-Semitism: “Please @AOC do us all a favor and spend just a few minutes learning some actual history: 6 million Jews were exterminated in the Holocaust. You demean their memory and disgrace yourself with comments like this.”

Your tweet is a fallacious attempt to distract voters away from AOC’s legitimate criticism to the common right-wing trope of “anti-Semitism.” It does not absolve you from enabling the immorality of Trump’s immigration policy. 

In May, you criticized Rep. Tlaib’s prior comments describing a type of “calming feeling” when considering the Holocaust and its aftermath, where her Palestinian ancestors gave up their land, lives and dignity to create a safe haven after the “horrific” persecution of the Jews.

You incorrectly quoted her out of context by claiming that she felt “calm” about the Holocaust. That is not what she said and if you bothered to read the full statement, you would know what she meant. That is inexcusable for someone at your level.

In July, Trump complained that, “The Democratic Congresswomen have been spewing some of the most vile, hateful, and disgusting things ever said by a politician in the House or Senate. [B]ased on their actions, [they] hate our Country.” Later he called them “hate-filled extremists” and that if they didn’t like it, “Let ’em leave,” to which the crowd chanted its approval.

On July 21, you sat down with Margaret Brennan of CBS News for an interview. She asked you about Trump’s racist remarks and why the president doesn’t state unequivocally that non-white Americans are just as American as anyone else.

Your response was pure gaslighting: “Well, I think you’ve heard him say that the chant was inappropriate. I think the news media really wants to make this about race. These members of the House of Representatives believe in policies that are dangerous for this nation.”

You ignored Ms. Brennan’s inquiry regarding the “go back where you came from” remark and jumped into a diatribe about Democratic policies like “socialism” and other issues: “We’re not going to stand for policies that take freedom away from the American people.”

How are lack of affordable healthcare, income inequality and environmental destruction freedom?

Ms. Brennan then asked about the increasing death threats against the four representatives. She noted a specific incident where a New York man threatened to put a bullet through Ms. Omar’s skull. You repeatedly cut her off, talked over her and accused the media of not focusing on the substantive policy differences between the two parties. Thus, you adroitly dodged a tough question for which you have no rational answer.

It is painfully obvious that you are in complete agreement with President Trump and his policies and are complicit in the racism, cruelty, rampant corruption and greed of his administration. You lack the moral courage to stand up to continuing injustices and, in fact, agree with them. Concentration camps of refugee children, death threats against congresswomen, the destruction of our environment for increased profits, cutting important social programs, taking healthcare away from millions, tax cuts that mostly benefit the wealthy, allowing an enemy foreign power to interfere in our elections are all fine with you.

When confronted with facts conflicting with your baseless ideology, you dodge, redirect, obfuscate, and mislead. Is this what you mean by “American exceptionalism?” Are these Wyoming values? As far as I am concerned, they are not.

Congresswoman Cheney, you have a sworn duty to act in the best interest of all Americans, not just your Republican cronies. Read the Constitution and your oath of office. While you’re at it, see if you can find an ounce of compassion within yourself.

 

Jim McEvoy

Powell

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