Well Worth Watching!

PBS Newshour's Judy Woodruff interviewed Liz Cheney and representative Cheney told it like it is!

Judy Woodruff:

How did we get to this place? We know the number of threats on lawmakers has more than doubled since 2017. Why?

Liz Cheney:

And I want to say a word about Speaker Pelosi. I did not really know her before I began work on the January 6 Committee. I'm not sure if I had ever spoken to her, actually. But since I have been on the committee — and I say this. Everyone knows she is a liberal from San Francisco. I am a conservative from Wyoming.

There are many issues, maybe most issues, on which we disagree. But I think she is a tremendous leader. I have watched her up close. She is a leader of historic consequence. She has put this committee together and demonstrated her commitment to the truth.

And I think that the demonization that goes on, on both sides — certainly, Republicans have through the years demonized Speaker Pelosi. Democrats have demonized Republicans, including my dad. And it all has to stop.

I think that, when you see what is happening in our country, when you watch the extent to which political violence — or violence has become part of political discourse, that is a — that's a road we just can't go down.

And the fact that, while Paul Pelosi was in ICU, had been brutally attacked, had a skull fracture and numerous other injuries, that there were members of my party mocking him, that there were members of President Trump's family mocking him, that's not who we are in this country. And that is disgraceful.

And, as Americans, we have to reject it. The violence at the Capitol on January 6 was a direct result of Donald Trump's claims that the 2020 election was stolen. And those claims — he continues to make those claims to this day. Others continue to make those claims to this day. And we know — it's entirely foreseeable that those will lead to violence.

Then later in the interview...

Judy Woodruff:

Do you think the odds are that he will testify or not?

Rep. Liz Cheney:

I think that he has a legal obligation to testify, but that doesn't always carry weight with Donald Trump.

Judy Woodruff:

If you take them together, former President Trump, the people who deny that President Biden won the election, the people who are defending what happened on January the 6th, what do they all mean for American democracy?

Rep. Liz Cheney:

I differentiate between elected Republicans and Republican voters.

I think that there are millions of Republican voters across the country who have been betrayed by Donald Trump. If you look at our elected officials, on the Republican side, you certainly have some who believe the lies. I think that's a very small number. But you have a significant number who know that the lies aren't true, but who are accommodating them.

And that is that's really dangerous, because it leads to this question around the country of people saying, well, if these really are lies, why aren't there more Republicans saying so? And if this really is a dangerous moment, why are people campaigning with some of the most dangerous election deniers?

And they're doing it for their own political purposes. And I think that's — that is a dangerous moment for the country.

Judy Woodruff:

Dangerous for our democracy.

Rep. Liz Cheney:

Yes.

In interviews on CBS news I heard other Republicans say the same thing that the Republican party has changed, to something that they don't like and they are voting for Democratic candidates.

Judy Woodruff:

You have said of Republican House Leader Kevin McCarthy that — quote — "He's willing to sacrifice everything for his own political gain. He's been unfaithful to the Constitution."

You clearly would not be supporting him for speaker or for leader if you were voting on that. Who would be the right leader for Republicans in the House?

[...]

Rep. Liz Cheney:

But Kevin McCarthy, the — he's very consistent.

Every single time he has had to make a choice between what's right or his political future, he chooses his political future. And so the speaker of the House is second in line to the presidency. It is a — we need somebody much better to be speaker of the House.

Judy Woodruff:

Are you worried, I mean, in just a few words, that there — we will see a number of candidates next Tuesday who don't concede?

Rep. Liz Cheney:

Yes, I am.

And I'm worried that we could see a number of candidates elected in really important positions, as secretaries of state, as governors, who could decide that they are not going to certify results in 2024.

And I think that that really ought to drive people as you go — as you go vote, to think about that. Think about, what does it mean? You can disagree with somebody's policies. But once you give power to somebody who won't respect an election, you have to ask whether we're going to get any other future elections.

[...]

Judy Woodruff:

Didn't you hear that? OK.

And, finally, next Tuesday, is it better for the country if Republicans take control of the House?

Rep. Liz Cheney:

When you look at the people who — when you look at a number of the people who are in the Republican Conference today, people whose views were fringe two years ago, but who now have got tremendous power, I think that the American people need to understand these are not serious people, people like Paul Gosar, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, who have appeared at white supremacist conferences, who've said things that are clearly antisemitic.

Those kinds — those people will have tremendous power in a Republican majority. And you're already seeing what that means, in terms of Kevin McCarthy being willing to placate them.

And so I think that people just need to understand what it will mean to have a Republican majority in the House of Representatives. The people who will be running the House of Representatives in a Republican majority will give authority and power to some of the most radical members of the conference.

And I don't think that that's good for the country.

You can watch the interview here...

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Then we have a gubernatorial candidate in Wisconsin who promised that if he wins there will never be a Democratic governor again!

“Candidate promises Republicans can take permanent control of Wisconsin”

Election Law Blog

By Rick Hasen

November 1, 2022

Hinting at his plans to overhaul how elections are run, the Republican running for governor of Wisconsin this week said his party would permanently control the state if he wins.

“Republicans will never lose another election in Wisconsin after I’m elected governor,” construction executive Tim Michels told supporters Monday at a campaign stop.

Michels is seeking to unseat Gov. Tony Evers (D), who over his four years vetoed a string of Republican-backed bills that would have changed voting rules in a battleground state that Donald Trump narrowly won in 2016 and narrowly lost in 2020.

This is what Republicans dream off... a one party system like Russia and China.

Think about that!