{"id":7336,"date":"2024-09-06T08:41:51","date_gmt":"2024-09-06T12:41:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=7336"},"modified":"2024-09-06T08:41:53","modified_gmt":"2024-09-06T12:41:53","slug":"courage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2024\/09\/06\/courage\/","title":{"rendered":"Courage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Biden<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It takes courage to sacrifice for a Nation.\u00a0\u00a0We learned a lot about that this year from President Biden.\u00a0\u00a0He\u2019s a man whose whole life aimed at reaching the Presidency.\u00a0\u00a0After three decades in the Senate and two runs for the Presidency, Biden got the ultimate consolation prize, the Vice Presidency.\u00a0\u00a0In what should have been \u201chis time\u201d, his final \u201cshot\u201d at the Presidency:\u00a0\u00a0 his son, the scion of the Biden political tradition, died. It crushed him.\u00a0\u00a0Hillary Clinton got the call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It took a combined Constitutional crisis of the Trump Presidency and the world pandemic to open the door to the White House one more time.\u00a0\u00a0Biden finally earned the top position.\u00a0\u00a0And after three years of one of the most successful Presidency\u2019s in history, he was poised to win a second term.\u00a0\u00a0His campaign was well financed, and developed the best \u201cground game\u201d in American politics.\u00a0\u00a0Then the debate happened.\u00a0\u00a0Joe Biden was betrayed by his own body, showing the wear of forty-five years of political combat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He could have continued.  The nomination was his, as was the hundreds of millions of campaign funds.  Sure, other party leaders wanted him to quit, most notably, Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi.  But he could have defied their Machiavellian efforts.  Instead, he put the future of the Party, and the Nation, ahead of his own ambitions.  It was the most politically courageous act of this century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kinzinger<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

But Biden isn\u2019t the only politician to demonstrate that rare quality this year.  Adam Kinzinger, the former Republican Congressman from Illinois, joined the January 6th<\/sup> Committee against the \u201corders\u201d of his party\u2019s leadership.  He knew the \u201cprice\u201d of his actions:  he faced being \u201cprimaried\u201d from the right.  He didn\u2019t even try to run for re-election.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And when Trump was nominated again by the Republican Party, Kinzinger stood up at the Democratic Convention. He showed other Republicans \u201cthe way\u201d to vote against him.\u00a0\u00a0To use modern psychological parlance, Kinzinger gave doubting Republicans a \u201cpermission structure\u201d to vote Democratic, for the good of the Nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cheney<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

But perhaps the greatest act of political courage of all, is by Liz Chaney.\u00a0\u00a0She is the daughter of Dick Cheney; former Vice President, Secretary of Defense, White House Chief of Staff, and Congressman from Wyoming.\u00a0\u00a0Liz followed in her father\u2019s footsteps, a Congressman herself from Wyoming, and the first woman to Chair the House Republican Caucus.\u00a0\u00a0She was third in line in the Republican power structure, poised to ultimately ascend to the Speakership.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But then Donald Trump came along.  And Liz Cheney made a choice between what was good for her political future, and what was good for the Nation.  She voted to impeach Trump, and along with Kinzinger, accepted appointment (and the Vice-Chairmanship) of the January 6th<\/sup> Committee.  It cost her everything.  She lost her leadership position in the caucus, and then, she was \u201cprimaried\u201d out of her Wyoming Congressional seat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Liz Cheney makes it clear:\u00a0\u00a0a vote for Donald Trump is a vote against the Constitutional Democracy of the United States.\u00a0\u00a0Sure Cheney and Kinzinger have policy differences with Vice President Harris, serious differences about the role of the Federal government.\u00a0\u00a0But those are nothing compared to the existential threat that Donald Trump represents to our Nation.\u00a0\u00a0(I know, Dems aren\u2019t supposed to say that anymore, that\u2019s \u201cold-school speak\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0But it\u2019s still the unspoken truth of the 2024 election \u2013 check out\u00a0Project 2025<\/a>, the playbook for the second Trump Administration).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week Liz Cheney endorsed Kamala Harris for President of the United States.  She\u2019s going on the campaign trail to support her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Timidity <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Over the past decade, I have looked to Republicans for political courage.  From Ohio politicians like Rob Portman and Mike DeWine, to national figures like Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio; again and again they have turned to Party over Country, and their own political careers over national interest.  Some, like Portman (and Speaker Paul Ryan) left the \u201cfield\u201d. DeWine, \u201claid low\u201d when the pressure was on.  Others, like Graham, became Trump sycophants.  But few stood up against the MAGA takeover of their own Party.  Even Vice President Mike Pence, who showed personal courage and stood against the mob on January 6th<\/sup>, tried to have it \u201cboth ways\u201d.  He campaigned against Trump, but still as part of the Trump\/Pence team.  It didn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I lamented that the courage of John McCain was gone.\u00a0\u00a0Instead, in the (supposed) words of retired Senator Lamar Alexander, they supported Trump because, \u201cWho will I eat lunch with at the club if I don\u2019t\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0And I wonder:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0where is George W Bush or Condoleezza Rice, or the Generals who made it clear that Trump is dangerous.\u00a0\u00a0Are they too worried about losing their \u201clunch companions\u201d?\u00a0\u00a0Are they to remain \u201cprofiles in timidity\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there is still courage in American politics today.\u00a0\u00a0If you\u2019re looking for proof, look to Biden and Kinzinger.\u00a0\u00a0And most recently, look to Liz Cheney, a \u201cProfile in Courage\u201d putting country over career and party.\u00a0\u00a0I hope her fellow Republicans listen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Biden It takes courage to sacrifice for a Nation.\u00a0\u00a0We learned a lot about that this year from President Biden.\u00a0\u00a0He\u2019s a man whose whole life aimed at reaching the Presidency.\u00a0\u00a0After three decades in the Senate and two runs for the Presidency, Biden got the ultimate consolation prize, the Vice Presidency.\u00a0\u00a0In what should have been \u201chis time\u201d, … Continue reading “Courage”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nCourage : Our America - 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