The way you feel about former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming is directly tied to how you feel about truth.
President Joe Biden, for example, has one view, which is why on Thursday he presented Cheney with the Presidential Citizens Medal, the nation’s second highest civilian award.
President-elect Donald Trump, on the other hand, wants to put Cheney in jail.
Seeking the truth, as Cheney did, can make a person a hero to some. A villain to others.
I’d guess it surprised Cheney when she became a pariah within the Republican Party for doing something she grew up believing the Republican Party stood for: Protecting the Constitution.
She believed it was the responsibility of everyone in Congress – and of all Americans – to thoroughly investigate and understand what happened when the U.S. Capitol was attacked on Jan. 6, 2021.
It seemed like the moral and the practical thing to do. After all, Republicans in Congress quickly and forcefully condemned Trump for his role.
U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, for instance, said, “There’s no question, none, that President Trump is practically, and morally, responsible for provoking the events of the day.”
Other Republicans joined in.
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Cheney became the co-chair of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack.
For this, she and Republican Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who also served on the committee, were censured by the Republican National Committee.
The censure reads in part (I am not making this up): “WHEREAS, Representatives Cheney and Kinzinger are participating in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse …”
Truth?
Would you consider using bear spray on law enforcement officers legitimate political discourse? Because that happened on Jan. 6.
Is defecating in the Capitol and spreading feces in the hallways legitimate political discourse? Because that happened as well.
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Is doing $1.5 million in damage or stealing government property legitimate political discourse?
Is pressuring then-Vice President Mike Pence to, as he said, “essentially overturn the election” legitimate political discourse?
It depends upon how you feel about the truth, I suppose, or if you believe truth matters.
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Cheney posted on X in 2022: “This moment is a moral test for the Republican Party because of the mortal threat we face – and right now, there are too many in my party who are failing it.”
We probably should have seen this coming. One of the Founding Fathers, John Adams, who understood our sometimes foolish and capricious nature, predicted it.
Adams said, “I fear that in every elected office, members will obtain an influence by noise, not sense. By meanness, not greatness. By ignorance, not learning. By contracted hearts, not large souls.”
Truth.
Very hard truth.
EJ Montini is a columnist at The Arizona Republic, where this column originally appeared. Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Should Liz Cheney go to jail? Trump thinks so, Biden doesn’t | Opinion
