Thread by @LeonHWolf

Boy, am I seeing a lot of overheated and misguided commentary about the Liz Cheney vote. Here's what the vote does and does not mean. 1/

The vote was not at all a referendum on Trump or Trumpism within the House GOP. Trump already won those votes overwhelmingly when only 10 House members voted to impeach him. 2/

It was won before that when virtually all House Republicans, including Cheney, endorsed and voted for Trump in 2020. The overwhelming majority of the House caucus voted both a) not to impeach Trump and b) not to remove Cheney from leadership for disagreeing, 3/

The cynical explanation is that one of those votes was public and the other was private. This presumes, however, that there is some inconsistency between voting against impeaching Trump and voting not to punish someone who disagrees. 4/

I realize the Trump era has warped almost everyone's perspective, but allow me to state an obvious fact: there is no such inconsistency. Liz Cheney is an elected representative and it used to be a thing that elected representatives were allowed to vote their own opinions. 5/

That's a concept that might be loathsome to people who want a dictator, or people who view Congress as an annoying impediment to whatever Trump wants to do, but it isn't for, you know, members of Congress. Or people who believe in our constitutional government. 6/

That is all the more true when the vote in question had nothing at all to do with any policy whatsoever. Cheney did not vote to abolish private property, or to cede all of Wyoming to Canada, or any such thing. 7/

The vote was not a referendum on Trump or Trumpism, it was a referendum on the right of elected representatives to vote in a way that Donald Trump doesn't want them to. Voting against it was not a vote in favor of Trump or Trumpism, it was a vote in favor of a cult. 8/

If people want to primary Cheney back in her home state over her vote, they should go right ahead (more on that in a second). But removing her from leadership because of her vote about a person - not a policy - would have set a dangerous precedent. 9/

Since Trump took office, Liz Cheney has been easily one of the most reliable 15 or 20 House votes in favor of Trump's agenda. She did not even vote to terminate Trump's national emergency declaration that diverted funding to the border wall.... 10/

Which was a clear encroachment on Congressional prerogatives. Insofar as anyone supports Trump because of any particular policy he has espoused or fought for, Liz Cheney ought to be one of their favorite members of Congress. 11/

Insofar as anyone supports Trump because they think he is the Risen Savior returned to earth and should be above criticism for either his personal or professional behavior, then Liz Cheney has badly let those people down. We will see how the people of Wyoming feel in 2 years. 12/