By Edwin Cooney
I've always liked people of opinion and principle even though they can be hard to get along with! For much of my young adulthood, I was a principled and opinionated Republican. Richard Nixon, Barry Goldwater, Ike, John Foster Dulles, Tom Dewey, Douglas MacArthur, J. Edgar Hoover, and Paul Harvey were among my favorite tellers of absolute truths. (Note: journalist Westbrook Pegler and radio broadcaster Fulton Lewis Jr were both before my time as was Walter Winchell, along with radio commentator H. V. Kaltenborn.) Hearing people speak their principled truths has always been exciting to me!
As arrogant and off-putting and even ignorant as these folks can often be, there's usually a star guiding them!
Conservatism was once my guiding star as it apparently is Liz Cheney’s. What's admirable to me about conservatives is their willingness to hold on to an idea or concept even as such ideas and concepts challenge their sense of well-being and comfort from time to time. Barry Goldwater wouldn't let conservatives get away with doing something that he criticized liberals for doing!
When Senator Goldwater learned that the Reagan Administration was mining the harbors of Nicaragua in late 1983 or early 1984, he blew his top, declaring in a letter to CIA Director William Casey: "This is no way to run a railroad...this is a violation of international law....it is an act of war... I am pissed off...I don't like it, I don't like it one bit from the president or from you! I don't need a lot of lengthy explanations about it. The deed has been done. In the future if this continues I'm going to raise one hell of a fuss about it in public!" (Note: This quote comes from Godfrey Hodgson's book "The Gentleman from New York," a biography of Daniel Patrick Moynihan.)
Insofar as I know, Barry Goldwater was sufficiently powerful to be beyond any reprisals the Reagan Administration might be in the mood to inflict upon him. However, as I see it, Goldwater's letter of defiance was a courageous act if for no other reason than the reality that criticizing the actions of people we love is never easy. Just ask any parent if they enjoy scolding their children!
One of the more incredible realities of GOP House members depriving Ms. Cheney of her leadership position in their party is their willingness to punish her act of defiance while encouraging Donald Trump's violation of both the laws and the Constitution of the United States. By taking this act, they demonstrate for all to see the partisanship of their citizenship!
As for Elizabeth Cheney, the question is both simple and measurable. Did she risk her prominence within the party? Of course she did. Is such a risk heroic? If, as some suggest, she's merely manipulating herself politically to take command of a political movement against Donald Trump, that's pretty risky, is it not? However, this hardly makes Ms. Cheney unique. I can think of at least three brave politicians who've risked their political necks while seeking high office.
In June of 1964, Barry Goldwater risked both his good character and political fortune when he voted against the 1964 Civil Rights Bill. Back in July of 1964, civil rights legislation was more than merely tolerable. It was, in addition to being good for Blacks, a popular tribute to the martyred John Fitzgerald Kennedy. "I'll pray for you, Barry," Everett Dirksen is said to have told Goldwater!
In September of 1976, presidential candidate Jimmy Carter had the nerve to tell the American Legion at their meeting in Denver that he would grant amnesty to Vietnam draft dodgers if he were elected president that November. Eight years later, former Vice President Walter Mondale, while accepting his party's presidential nomination in San Francisco, said that he would raise taxes should he be elected. (Note: To many, Fritz Mondale was foolish rather than honest!)
Of course, one doesn't have to be brave in order to be heroic! Both Dr. Jonas Salk who created the vaccine that overwhelmed polio and Dr. Louis Pasteur, the chemist who discovered the method of purifying milk, were certainly heroes despite little personal risk. Chemist Alexander Fleming, the inventor of penicillin, is still another example of heroic creativity.
As far as I'm concerned, as the enemy of my enemy is my friend, Elizabeth Cheney is at this time and on this occasion a hero of mine!
What say you?
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
EDWIN COONEY
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