Activism

COMMENTARY: Earthquake Would Say No To Liz Cheney

Earthquake is not a California peril, but the name of one of Dave Chappelle’s favorite comic mentors. Earthquake or Mr. Quake, as the New York Times might call him on second reference, gets political in his current Netflix special.

Published

4 years ago

August 27, 2022

Oakland Post

Emil Guillermo is a veteran journalist and commentator. He is at www.amok.com

Emil Guillermo,

What’s up with Liz Cheney and her one-woman crusade to save democracy? Is she really speaking to us in the BIPOC community?

I got some guidance from a legendary Black comedian.

“You can’t say no, you can’t tell a Trump supporter nothing about Trump; they love Trump,” says Earthquake in the appropriate key of urban Southeast DC. “People ask me all the time, ‘Quake, what kind of woman are you looking for in your life, and I say, (n word expletive) I’m looking for a woman like a Trump supporter. No matter what she hears about me that woman don’t believe in nothing. She say, ‘You got another woman, you say ‘Baby, that’s fake news.’”

Of course, Earthquake says it with more flair in a live setting where the crowd howls, but you get the point. We all know how belief in Trump is cult-like, and a threat to our democracy.

Which brings us back to Liz Cheney. She’s like a new Uncle Sam pointing her finger at us. But not like a “Karen” wagging her finger saying she wants to speak to the manager. She wants to make sure Trump is never the manager of us again.

It’s just if she’s serious, she’ll need a lot more BIPOC support than anyone thinks.

Cheney lost big recently in Wyoming when her own Republican Party acted as if under a spell cast on them by a man known in Florida search warrants as FPOTUS.

That, of course, stands for the defeated “Former President of the United States.”

But how can we assure he stays defeated? Perhaps if we answer Cheney’s call.

In the Wyoming primary, Cheney lost to her opponent by 37 points, 66% to 29%. That’s some rebuke for someone from a legacy Republican family. It was a public betrayal.

But you have to admire Cheney’s willingness to pay the price — the loss of her job, her seat in Congress. And all because of an ultra-principled belief in the Constitution and her unwillingness to join in the zombie chorus of Republican election deniers who stand by their FPOTUS.

So I’m open to Cheney when she pitched herself to America during her concession speech.

There’s at least one thing we agree on. The defeated FPOTUS must stay out of government. As a single issue that may be enough to join her American pro-democracy movement.

“Freedom must not, cannot, and will not die here,” Cheney said in Wyoming.

“This is a fight for all of us together,” she said. “I’m a conservative Republican.”

Then came the pitch.

“But I love my country more,” she said. “So I ask you tonight to join me. As we leave here, let us resolve that we will stand together, Republicans, Democrats, and independents, against those who would destroy our Republic.”

BIPOC members who have an independent, even a slightly conservative streak, may find her message attractive.

But I’m not so sure. Cheney didn’t vote for the Inflation Reduction Act which includes more than $750 billion for climate change, Obamacare extensions, prescription cost limits in Medicare, plus a 15% automatic tax on wealthy corporations.

During the FPOTUS administration, Cheney’s votes favored rich, white, and corporate special interests 100% of the time.

She voted against restoring the Voting Rights Act, LGBTQ issues, and all but the most obvious civil rights issues. For example, she voted for the Juneteenth holiday. Was it because rich whites got the day off too?

Newsweek reported Cheney voted with Trump 93% of the time.

That puts her at 7% soul. Not enough to get me to switch parties and vote Republican to help Cheney defeat Trump in 2024. Better idea: just make sure you vote and support the party that got us this far. That would be quite enough to beat Trump. It was the last time.

As for Cheney? Support in spirit, but she’s not for us.

And I think Mr. Quake would concur.

Emil Guillermo is a veteran journalist and commentator. He is at www.amok.com