When even the supervillain won’t endorse Trump
Originally published on my Patreon
Former Republican vice president Dick Cheney has said that he will vote for Kamala Harris in November rather than Trump. This is monumental, earth-shattering news. Maybe you don’t think so, because you aren’t seeing a lot of big-name Republicans currently in power adding their names to the growing list of Republicans endorsing Harris. Truth is, those Republicans are desperate to hold on to power. And no, Cheney’s endorsement of Harris doesn’t mean that Republican voters at large will abandon Trump. But still, it says a lot and it means a lot and if you don’t know why you didn’t pay attention to Cheney when he was in power or don’t understand Cheney.
He was vice president for George W. Bush over two terms. Now, while Dubya may be called many things and has certain skills and talents—including apparently being an excellent enforcer in the West Wing of the White House during his daddy’s (the first president Bush) presidential term—brains have never been listed as one of the second Bush’s strong suits. By all indications, Cheney was the intelligence working quietly to move things under Bush II’s presidency. That included getting us involved in long-running wars in the Middle East that directly profited companies in which Cheney had friends or a direct stake in their success. This is a man who survived multiple heart attacks during that time and not only survived but is still kicking around. This is a man who shot his friend in the face during a hunting trip—which may have been an accident but sounds awfully suspicious—and faced no repercussions.
Basically, Cheney is a James Bond nemesis made real. He had no hesitation plunging soldiers into war and otherwise plotting to sink this country further into debt for personal profit and the unfettered power of the United States. And he thinks—after seeing one Trump presidency and now being offered the chance to vote for a competent, young-ish presidential candidate—that Trump is poison and having a Democrat in the Oval Office is the best path for this country.
Cheney may be many things, and evil is probably one of them, but whatever he did, he never seemed to compromise American security. He may be opportunistic and willing to line his friends’ pockets and his own no matter what harm it does the U.S. economy, but he was not willing to compromise United States power or influence.
Trump, on the other hand, gives away concessions to foreign powers while weakening the U.S. position in the world and steals top-secret information to apparently make a few bucks.
When someone as calculating as Cheney says “don’t vote for Trump” and even Cheney himself accuses Trump of trying to steal the last election, you should realize just how toxic and dangerous to us another Trump presidency would be. You should know why keeping him out of power for the rest of his life is so important.
Yes, there are many evil conservatives in power and gunning for power who will do terrible things (or additional terrible things on top of what they’ve already done for a number of years now) but Trump is the most chaos-bringing, self-centered, autocratic being among them and has zero ability to actually make America great in any way, shape, or form.
Now, one could say that Cheney’s willingness to vote for Harris is a sign that we can’t trust her. That she’s too Republican-leaning to be trusted in office. That’s certainly an arguable point. And I don’t expect Harris to be super-progressive as a president. But I do expect and predict she’ll turn back the clock on plenty of the racist, transphobic, homophobic, xenophobic, and other crap Republicans currently are trying to cement into place. Cheney is smart enough to know that too, and he doesn’t care.
When the supervillain tells you someone is too dangerous to be trusted with power, believe them.