Righteous Republicans 3

Michael Steele MichaelSteele | 7:41 AM · Aug 10, 2020:

After a weekend of hearing folks wrestle with voting for Trump,
I could not help but recall the words of @TheRickWilson

“When that person, who is Trump skeptical, says to you “I don’t know what to do”
that pain you see on their face is their soul trying to re-enter their body.”

Ex-lifelong Republican and former GOP strategist, Stuart Stevens, has written an unflinching exposé of the Republican Party, a delusion from which he finally awakened after building a career as one of the most successful Party operatives.

Read It Was All a Lie and get woke from the very dark nightmare that is Trumpism.

Republican: Condemn the 'birther' attack on Kamala Harris
Opinion by Douglas Heye* | August 14, 2020

...For a Panamanian-born John McCain, the son of a Mexican-born father Mitt Romney and the Canadian-born Ted Cruz -- no problem. But for the first Black President (Obama), and now for the first Black nominee for vice president, the signal is clear: they're not "one of us." They don't belong here. It's been a time-tested refrain, one my first political boss, Jesse Helms, used successfully. But those days should be long gone.

...like animals scurrying before an earthquake, Republicans are making plans for a post-Trump party. That's smart, but the party may still be defined by Trump and many may view all Republicans as eager to pick at every scab that divides us as a country and the Trump era as a stain on the party's soul. Minority voters may be lost to Republican voters for yet another generation -- something that as states like Texas potentially become battlegrounds, Republicans up and down the ballot can ill afford.

If Trump and Republicans choose to go after Harris instead of Biden, there is plenty of substance to go after -- her outspoken support of the Green New Deal and Medicare for All, for starters. Just as there was plenty of substance to go after Obama.
Republicans, stick to that, and stay far away from the "birther," 9/11 truther and other conspiracy nonsense -- except to condemn it. It hasn't helped the party in recent years -- and it won't now.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/14/opinions/gop-condemn-birther-conspiracy-nonsense-...

*Douglas Heye is the ex-deputy chief of staff to former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, a GOP strategist and a CNN political commentator.

Republican Voters Against Trump @RVAT2020 | 2:31 PM · Aug 17, 2020:
NEW: Testimonial ad from Trump's Former DHS Chief of Staff @MilesTaylorUSA,
declaring his support for Joe Biden and
describing Trump's presidency as "terrifying" and "actively doing damage to our security."

2:11 ( https://twitter.com/RVAT2020/status/1295428130170195968 )

WATCH & go to http://RVAT.org for more.

Remember and do not forgive, distrust and verify. But. . .

Ex-Trump official hints he’s just the first of many White House vets who will spill dirt on the president

Miles Taylor, a former chief of staff for the Department of Homeland Security under President Donald Trump, hinted to ABC News on Tuesday that ,b>he will be just the first of many former Trump officials who will publicly condemn the president in the weeks to come.
(SNIP)
“The president can expect that in the coming weeks and months leading up to the election, he is going to hear from more people that served in his administration, and he’s going to hear more of them give the same testimonies I gave which is that he’s ill-equipped to hold the office that he has and that a second term would be more dangerous than a first term,” Taylor said.

Miles Taylor @MilesTaylorUSA | 3:20 PM · Aug 18, 2020:
Hearing @DHSgov White House Liaison has been tasked with “digging up dirt” on me.
No worries—I can take it! But another possible case of WH using DHS and taxpayer $$ for political purposes.
Cc: @DHSOIG

According to Trump, his entire administration has been a continuous parade of disgruntled employees, exiting. Of, course it never occurs to the world's sole stable genius that maybe he should stop "disgruntling" them.

Nobody can really stand working for a sociopath unless he is also a sociopath.

McCollister endorses Biden, invites other Nebraska Republicans to join
DON WALTON Lincoln Journal Star | Aug 21, 2020

(State) Sen. John McCollister of Omaha said Friday he's joining a number of fellow Republicans in deciding to formally endorse Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in his bid to unseat Republican President Donald Trump.

Biden would be "a real president," McCollister said, "not the disaster" that occupies the White House today.

"Principled Republicans are jumping ship," the two-term state senator said, and he's disappointed that "Republican officeholders in Nebraska have not spoken up against this president and his dreadful policies."

McCollister pointed to former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, former Secretary of State Colin Powell and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich as Republican leaders who made the case against Trump at this week's Democratic National Convention.

"I think I'm in good company," he said during a telephone interview.

Nebraska state senator creates website urging GOP to restore its values

McCollister, who serves in the nonpartisan Legislature, often makes the case for the Republican Party to return to its traditional values on his Twitter account, @SenMcCollister, which has attracted 52,000 followers.

His most recent tweet suggests that "every Republican officeholder in Nebraska should be calling out this dangerous QAnon conspiracy nonsense," a pro-Trump movement that sees an approaching conflict with Satan-worshiping pedophile Democrats...

https://www.kpvi.com/news/national_news/mccollister-endorses-biden-invites-other...

Epic Rant from Michael Steele

Ex-RNC head drops the mic on Trump voters in epic rant: ‘You’re stupid — you’re getting played’

“I’ve been a Republican for over 40 years, since 1976,” he continued. “I’ll be damned if I’m going to cede that ground to Donald Trump who is not now nor has he ever been a Republican. Who is not now nor ever been a conservative.”

“Y’all want to play this game that Donald Trump is like you? You’re stupid. You’re being played. You’re getting punked,” he continued. “What’s so bad about it is you’re complicit in your own punking. And those who have said I’m not doing that because that’s not me, understand why: we refuse to collaborate.”

Jeff Flake, dozens of former GOP congressmen joining 'Republicans for Biden'
By Zack Budryk - 08/24/20

Former Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), a frequent critic of President Trump's, is endorsing Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden along with several other former Republican lawmakers.

The Biden campaign announced the endorsements, first reported by Fox News, on Monday morning. The list includes other former members of Congress who had previously announced their support for Biden, including former Sens. John Warner (R-Va.) and Gordon Humphrey (R-N.H.), who is now an independent, and Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.).

Other former lawmakers on the list include former Reps. Steve Bartlett (R-Texas), Tom Coleman (R-Mo.), Bob Inglis (R-S.C.), Chris Shays (R-Conn.), Alan Steelman (R-Texas) and Jim Walsh (R-N.Y.).

“These former members of Congress cited Trump’s corruption, destruction of democracy, blatant disregard for moral decency, and urgent need to get the country back on course as a reason why they support Biden,” an official with the Biden campaign told Fox News. “These former Members of Congress are supporting Joe Biden because they know what’s at stake in this election and that Trump’s failures as President have superseded partisanship.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/513327-jeff-flake-dozens-of-former-gop-con...

Maine Republican Bill Cohen endorses Democrat Joe Biden for president
He had endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016
Michael Ruiz | 8/26/2020

Bill Cohen, a Republican who spent more than three decades representing Maine in Congress before becoming secretary of defense during former President Bill Clinton’s second term, has endorsed Democrat Joe Biden for president.

“We have a choice in November,” Cohen said in a statement released by the Biden campaign Wednesday. “Whether to go back to our dark past or reach for who we aspire to be -- a country where it doesn't matter where you came from, how you worship or who you love, a country where everyone matters.”

Cohen, 79, served in the House of Representatives from 1973 to 1979 before being elected to the Senate three times...

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/maine-republican-bill-cohen-endorses-democrat-j...

Not a Republican but a British Tory, now dead, known for his opposition to the hard right Margaret Thatcher (who, one must add, almost looks like a moderate herself compared to the modern hard right). When was the last time one could hear an active right wing politician described as "socially liberal, urbane and moderate"?

Lord Renton of Mount Harry obituary (Guardian)

Former Michigan governor Rick Snyder: I am a Republican vote for Biden
Donald Trump is a bully who lacks a moral compass. Joe Biden would bring back civility.
Rick Snyder | Sept 3, 2020

...I will continue to support and stand up for Republican policies and values, and support Republican candidates, but I will not support Donald Trump for reelection.

Trump has not unified the nation

...he is a bully.

...President Trump lacks a moral compass. He ignores the truth.

Facts and science matter. Good decisions should be based on facts and supported by sound scientific theory whenever possible.

President Trump also has demonstrated that he does not fully appreciate public policy matters, including public health, the economy and foreign relations, nor does he seem to want to learn.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/09/03/rick-snyder-why-im-voting-joe-...

Republicans have insufficient evidence to call elections ‘rigged’ and ‘fraudulent’
Opinion by Benjamin L. Ginsberg | September 8, 2020

...Before retiring from law practice last month, I spent 38 years in the GOP’s legal trenches. I was part of the 1990s redistricting that ended 40 years of Democratic control and brought 30 years of GOP successes in Congress and state legislatures. I played a central role in the 2000 Florida recount and several dozen Senate, House and state contests. I served as counsel to all three Republican national party committees and represented four of the past six Republican presidential nominees (including, through my law firm, Trump 2020).

Each Election Day since 1984, I’ve been in precincts looking for voting violations, or in Washington helping run the nationwide GOP Election Day operations, overseeing the thousands of Republican lawyers and operatives each election on alert for voting fraud. In every election, Republicans have been in polling places and vote tabulation centers. Republican lawyers in every state have been able to examine mail-in/absentee ballot programs.

The president has said that “the only way we can lose … is if cheating goes on.” He has asserted that mail-in voting is “very dangerous” and that “there is tremendous fraud involved and tremendous illegality.”

The lack of evidence renders these claims unsustainable. The truth is that after decades of looking for illegal voting, there’s no proof of widespread fraud. At most, there are isolated incidents — by both Democrats and Republicans. Elections are not rigged. Absentee ballots use the same process as mail-in ballots — different states use different labels for the same process...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/09/08/republicans-have-insufficient...

John Dean, Micheal Waldman, Michael Hayden issue grave warning if Trump given 4 more years."

Dean: “I worked for the last authoritarian president, and he was dangerous enough. Trump makes Nixon look like a choirboy. If we get four more years of him, then our democracy will be gone.”

Waldman (president of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School): . . .Trump’s efforts to make Americans distrust the country’s democratic institutions are characteristic of an authoritarian.

“That’s what a dictator does,” Waldman told the Times. “It’s utterly foreign to the entire 244-year history of the country. There’s been ugliness. There’s been racism. But to have a leader try to undermine the vote, as a part of his core strategy, is something that’s never happened. That is a sign of a shaky democracy.”

Hayden (former CIA Director): . . .is highly critical of Trump’s threat to use the U.S. military against civilian George Floyd protestors, and he told the Times that if Trump is reelected, “I don’t know what will happen to the American republic.”

(These) “grave warnings” from Dean and Hayden “are notable because they don’t just emanate from Trump’s detractors on the left, but in many cases from within conservative ranks — and from people who served in Republican administrations.”

The Republican Party has been the Party of Racism since Nixon's "Southern Strategy". And recall that Reagan, who spent his entire adult life in Hollywood, California, declared for president in Mississippi, where three voting rights activists had been murdered: "states' rights" = "Jim Crow" segregation.

What freaks many Republicans is that Trump tore the mask off the Party and exposed its racist core.

Heath Mayo (TX conservative) @HeathMayo | 1:07 AM · Sep 22, 2020:

From a GOP friend: “Heath, I don’t get it. Why not just stay silent? Why publicly vote Joe? You might’ve ruined any future in the GOP.”

Easy. Cowardly silence is why so many Rs bent the knee to Trump to start. Plus, the Party has no future if it sticks w/ Trumpism. I’ll own it.

The Lincoln Project @ProjectLincoln | 7:49 PM · Sep 21, 2020:
Conservatism used to mean controlled power, now it's power at all costs.

Co-founder @reedgalen explains on @CBSNews
1:47 ( https://twitter.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1308191712590798848 )

Cindy McCain rebukes Trump and publicly endorses Joe Biden for president (Guardian)

Cindy McCain has endorsed Joe Biden for president, a stunning rebuke of Donald Trump by the widow of the Republican party’s 2008 nominee.

Cindy McCain tweeted on Tuesday: “My husband John lived by a code: country first. We are Republicans, yes, but Americans foremost. There’s only one candidate in this race who stands up for our values as a nation, and that is Joe Biden”...

>19 John5918:

Too bad her daughter didn't inherent her mother's brains or her father's occasional decency. I haven't heard a peep out of her condemning Trump for his insults to Cindy McCain following her endorsement.

Deplorable.

Mike Birbiglia @birbigs | 10:06 PM · Sep 25, 2020:
A Republican governor* who is as angry as every Republican should be right now who claims to be patriotic.

1:42 ( https://twitter.com/birbigs/status/1309675653462200320 )
From Boston 25 News

* R governor of Massachusetts, Charlie Baker

I was a Republican governor of Pa. I’m voting for Joe Biden. | Opinion
Tom Ridge | September 27, 2020

https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/tom-ridge-trump-biden-election-2020-...

Former Gov. Marc Racicot to vote for Biden
Seaborn Larson | 9/30/2020

Former Montana governor and Republican National Committee Chair Marc Racicot (72) on Tuesday said he would not vote for President Donald Trump, citing Trump's character as fault enough to vote for Democrat challenger Joe Biden on Nov. 3.

..."I regret that I will cause consternation perhaps in some corners, but even as a Republican, I will not be supporting Donald Trump for president, and I will not be voting for him," Racicot said. "That means I will be voting for Joe Biden for president. … I'm not going to march lockstep with him every step of the way or with the administration. I'll have disagreements, I'm certain. But the content of a man's character or a woman's character to serve in that capacity is more important than any other issue"...

https://missoulian.com/news/local/former-gov-marc-racicot-to-vote-for-biden/arti...

_______________________________________________________

Make It Right In Private (0:36)
Eric Muller | Sep 29, 2020

So you got taken. He's good at that. No need to feel ashamed or make any big announcement. Make it right in private.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MIc0idh5ew

Slamming Trump, G.O.P. Senator Warns of a ‘Republican Blood Bath’
Nicholas Fandos | Oct. 15, 2020
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/15/us/politics/ben-sasse-trump.html

_________________________________________________

Too late for Rupert Murdoch, if not son James. Fox's complicity in spreading COVID misinformation that hurt its viewers is unforgivable, IMHO:

Rupert Murdoch Predicts a Landslide Win for Biden
Lachlan Cartwright | Oct. 15, 2020

The Australian mogul is disgusted by Trump’s handling of COVID-19, remarking that the president is his own worst enemy and telling associates “people are ready for Sleepy Joe.”...

https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-owner-rupert-murdoch-predicts-a-landslide...

--------------------------------------------------------

James Murdoch, Rebellious Scion
Maureen Dowd | Oct. 10, 2020

Increasingly uncomfortable with News Corp’s politics and profit motives, Rupert’s younger son chose chickens and sheep over Fox, and insists he doesn’t watch ‘Succession.’

Mr. Murdoch, 47, resigned from the board of News Corp this summer with an elliptical statement, saying he was leaving “due to disagreements over certain editorial content published by the Company’s news outlets and certain other strategic decisions.”

Rupert Murdoch’s youngest child with his second wife, Anna, is loath to get into the epic family drama that found its climax in the 15 months between pushing a deal to sell 21st Century Fox to Disney and ankling the family business he once hoped to lead.

But in his briskly analytical way, over lunch and a subsequent phone call, he tried to explain why he “pulled the rip cord,” as he put it, after deepening estrangement with his father and brother and growing discomfort over the toxicity of Fox News and other conservative News Corp properties.

“I reached the conclusion that you can venerate a contest of ideas, if you will, and we all do and that’s important,” he told me. “But it shouldn’t be in a way that hides agendas. A contest of ideas shouldn’t be used to legitimize disinformation. And I think it’s often taken advantage of. And I think at great news organizations, the mission really should be to introduce fact to disperse doubt — not to sow doubt, to obscure fact, if you will.

“And I just felt increasingly uncomfortable with my position on the board having some disagreements over how certain decisions are being made. So it was actually not that hard a decision to remove myself and have a kind of cleaner slate.”...

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/10/style/james-murdoch-maureen-dowd.html

Revenge of the Vichycons
The Republican civil war is coming.
Jonathan V. Last | 10/16/2020

Here is how the civil war will play out.

(1) In the immediate aftermath of the election you’ll have three poses:

Trump was cheated and was the rightful winner.

election was “rigged.”

evaluate what went wrong and how the party/movement needs to change, but without casting much actual blame and certainly without blaming any of the establishment Republicans who went along with the program.

(2) After the inauguration, all three of these groups will join together to oppose anything and everything the Biden administration does and it will look like comity...At least until the jockeying for 2024 starts.

(3) Once it becomes clear that Trump plans on being the one to choose the 2024 nominee, he’ll have a large base of support and the Republican party will be faced with the same decision matrix it had in mid-2016.

...if the Trumpers win the fight for the heart and soul of the Republican party, the Vichycons will, grudgingly—or not so grudgingly—go along.

Again.

https://thetriad.thebulwark.com/p/revenge-of-the-vichycons

( Discussed at: https://twitter.com/TheRickWilson/status/1317160155373400065 )

Biden Will Make America Lead Again
We need a president with decency and a sense of respect.
William McRaven* | Oct. 19, 2020

...This week I went to the polls in Texas. Truth be told, I am a pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, small-government, strong-defense and a national-anthem-standing conservative. But, I also believe that black lives matter, that the Dreamers deserve a path to citizenship, that diversity and inclusion are essential to our national success, that education is the great equalizer, that climate change is real and that the First Amendment is the cornerstone of our democracy. Most important, I believe that America must lead in the world with courage, conviction and a sense of honor and humility.

If we remain indifferent to our role in the world, if we retreat from our obligation to our citizens and our allies and if we fail to choose the right leader, then we will pay the highest price for our neglect and shortsightedness.

I voted for Joe Biden...

https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-will-make-america-lead-again-11603127677

Mr. McRaven, a retired Navy admiral, was commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, 2011-14.

Lincoln Project--Michael Steele endorses Joe Biden
1:00 ( https://twitter.com/AndrewFeinberg/status/1318526960331534344 )

---------------------------------------------

Morning Joe | Oct. 20, 2020 (5:13)
Former RNC Chair Michael Steele joins Morning Joe to discuss why he's endorsing Joe Biden for president.
https://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/former-rnc-chair-endorses-biden-for-pres...

>28 Earthling1:

Are you of all people really criticising someone for copying and pasting on LT? And I note that margd always cites her sources, unlike your good self.

A Message to Democrats from Your New Ally
Victory is near.
Stuart Stevens* | October 22, 2020

...Today’s Republicans are not worthy of the great legacy they inherited. When grown men and women refuse to denounce a man who boasts he did not rape a woman because “she was not my type,” any semblance of public good has been lost. I can’t direct the Republican party to the lost and found where it might reclaim its soul, but I do know that defeat, while not sufficient, is necessary in order for it to embark on that journey.

It’s a strange feeling to be working on the side of those whom you fought for so long. Often in winning campaigns—and the Democrats are winning this campaign—there comes a giddy sense of satisfaction when you near the end. I feel none of that. For me there’s no joy in working against my former tribe. I think the experience must be a little like having been a member of the First Alabama Cavalry, the soldiers from the deep South who remained loyal to the Union. General Sherman relied on them as his personal escort. I suspect it was because he knew they had made a bitter choice that pitted them against friends and family—and once that line was crossed, they would not flinch seeing the task to completion. So it is with those of us who are, or once were, Republicans now fighting against Trump and Trumpism.

Having spent decades attacking the Democratic party, I don’t approach your party with any illusions about it being perfect. But I am convinced that the Democratic party has remained far truer to aspirational American values than the compromised, moral disgrace that is the party which endorsed Roy Moore and welcomes the dangerous lunacy of QAnon.

I am proud to be helping a good and decent man like Joe Biden and I welcome the future that is represented by Senator Harris.

...So to my Democratic friends: Let us go forward in this final stretch with the confidence that our mission is vital and our opponent is weak...

https://thebulwark.com/victory-is-near/

* Stuart Stevens is a Republican consultant and writer and currently a senior advisor to the Lincoln Project. His most recent book is It Was All A Lie: How The Republican Party Became Donald Trump.

Posted at "nominees" thread, I nominate this R appointee a Righteous Republican:

Trump appointee resigns over the president’s order removing job protections for many civil servants
Eric Yoder | Oct. 26, 2020

The Trump administration-appointed head of a key advisory council on the civil service has resigned over an executive order to strip away protections against political interference in hiring and firing for a large portion of the career federal workforce.

The order, which could affect tens of thousands or more career positions involved in making or carrying out policy, “is nothing more than a smoke screen for what is clearly an attempt to require the political loyalty of those who advise the President, or failing that, to enable their removal with little if any due process,” Ronald Sanders wrote in his letter of resignation Sunday from the Federal Salary Council.

“I simply cannot be part of an Administration that seeks . . . to replace apolitical expertise with political obeisance. Career Federal employees are legally and duty-bound to be nonpartisan; they take an oath to preserve and protect our Constitution and the rule of law . . . not to be loyal to a particular President or Administration,” he wrote...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-civil-servants-resign/2020/10/26/6...

Former U.S. attorneys — all Republicans — back Biden, saying Trump threatens ‘the rule of law’
Tom Hamburger and Devlin Barrett | Oct. 27, 2020

Twenty former U.S. attorneys — all of them Republicans — on Tuesday publicly called President Trump “a threat to the rule of law in our country,” and urged that he be replaced in November with his Democratic opponent, former vice president Joe Biden.

“The President has clearly conveyed that he expects his Justice Department appointees and prosecutors to serve his personal and political interests,” said the former prosecutors in an open letter. They accused Trump of taking “action against those who have stood up for the interests of justice.”

The letter, signed by prosecutors appointed by every GOP president from Eisenhower to Trump, is the latest instance of Republicans backing Biden...

“He has politicized the Justice Department, dictating its priorities along political lines and breaking down the barrier that prior administrations had maintained between political and prosecutorial decision-making,” their letter says.

The effort was organized initially by Ken Wainstein, a former U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., who later served during the George W. Bush administration as assistant attorney general for national security...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/republican-us-attorneys-back-biden/2020/...

Opinion: As a Republican, I'm tired of Trump's division, discord, vitriol and hate
Josh Venable | Oct 29, 2020

I am a lifelong Republican. And I am exhausted.

Nearly all my career, I have worked for Republican candidates and conservative causes, managing campaigns, organizing coalitions and raising money. In 2010, I helped lead the Michigan Republican Party to its most successful election cycle in history. And for nearly two years, I served as U.S. Department of Education chief of staff in the Trump administration.

But this is 2020, so of course this year is different. I cannot vote for the Republican nominee for president. For the good of the party I have supported my entire life, but more importantly, for the sake of the country I love, I implore all patriotic Republicans to join me...

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/2020/10/30/opinion-republican-im-tired...

Gracious Republicans?

Andrew Solender @AndrewSolender | 1:20 PM · Nov 8, 2020:
Republicans who accept Biden's victory:

Fmr. Pres
George W. Bush

Governors
Charlie Baker
Phil Scott
Larry Hogan

Senate
Mitt Romney
Lisa Murkowski

House
Francis Rooney
Will Hurd
Paul Mitchell
Tom Reed
Adam Kinzinger
Denver Riggleman
Don Young
Fred Upton

Some other major figures in the piece:
Incoming Utah Gov. Spencer Cox
Former Gov. Jeb Bush
Former Gov. John Kasich

-------------------------------------------

These Are The Republicans Who Have Acknowledged Biden’s Victory
'I am raising my hand and committing to to work with Joe Biden,' Rep. Fred Upton said, breaking with most of the House GOP caucus.
forbes.com

Olympia Snowe @FormerSenSnowe | 5:19 PM · Nov 8, 2020

Congratulations to @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris.
The President-elect’s speech reflects the opportunity we now have to heal our nation.
We can also celebrate the historic election of VP-elect Kamala Harris
who has proven there are no boundaries to what is possible for all women.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/10/dhs-fact-checking-trump-conspiracies-43...

Chris Krebs is heroically swatting down conspiracy theories from his post at Homeland Security.

Director of CISA, a Trump appointee, has made it his mission to protect election integrity from all threats, including rumor.

Senator Pat Toomey says that Trump should allow Biden’s transition to proceed.

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/525428-gop-senator-says-trump-should-coopera...

Why GOP superlawyer Ben Ginsberg is bucking his party and blasting Trump’s baseless election claims
Michael Kranish | November 10, 2020

...(Ben Ginsburg)...has made plenty of enemies among Democrats for his tactics over the years. In addition to his role in George W. Bush’s 2000 victory, he advised a group that Democrats say falsely accused their 2004 nominee, John F. Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, of lying about his military record and was widely seen as a decisive factor in Bush’s reelection victory.

...Today...From newspaper op-eds to network TV interviews, Ginsberg, recently retired from his work for the law firm that has represented President Trump’s campaigns, has denounced the baseless claims by Trump and his GOP allies that last week’s election was rigged and rife with fraud.

“For the president of the United States, the leader of the free world and head of the Republican Party, to make completely unsubstantiated charges about our elections being rigged is not right...My evolution started when the president doubled down in the lead-up to the 2020 election on his charges that our elections are rigged and fraudulent in a way that he hadn’t previously...It became a systemic attack made completely without evidence, aimed at undermining a basic pillar of our democracy. I know there’s no evidence for systemic fraud because I had spent the better part of every election for four decades working in Republican poll-watcher programs and elections day operations.”

...“My party is destroying itself on the Altar of Trump.” ...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/why-gop-superlawyer-ben-ginsberg-is-buck...

The current cries of voter fraud are the fraud
Todd Bice | November 10th, 2020

As a longtime Nevada lawyer who has actually litigated election cases here, including those involving unlawful voting, I feel compelled by the words of the late Congressman John Lewis: “When you see something that is not right, not just, not fair, you have a moral obligation to say something.”

There presently is a moral obligation to speak up regarding the smear being perpetrated against Nevada, its citizens and its election officials, particularly the assertions by Nevada’s former attorney general, Mr. Adam Laxalt. While I’ve been registered as a Republican my entire adult life, I am hardly a partisan — and I have had the privilege of representing both Republicans and Democrats over the course of many years.

...Every voter and every candidate for public office, whether it is for town council or president, deserves a fair election which counts only lawful votes. And in those elections where there is actual evidence of improper votes that actually matter, we have a legal system to find and remove those votes. The system actually works.

But the present assertions are of a more sinister ilk. They are not serious and there is no suggestion that the few ineligible votes that likely did occur (as they always do) could have any impact on a statewide outcome. Rather, this is about hoping you all lose the faith and don’t participate...

https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/the-current-cries-of-voter-fraud-are-th...

Retired chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a Republican of Tennessee:

Senator Bob Corker @SenBobCorker | 12:00 PM · Nov 10, 2020:
I congratulate President-elect Biden and wish him well as he organizes to lead our country.

After 2016 and 2020, surely our country can improve our election system where results are beyond question —
and beyond demagoguery from either side of the aisle.

‘Integrity still matters’: Georgia’s GOP election chief says he’ll do his job — even if Trump doesn’t like it.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is one guy Trump can't fire.

“We are doing a risk-limiting audit which will include a hand count of every single paper ballot we have and those results. Obviously, we will have plenty of observers and have the results done and then we will certify the state election … if we don’t have transparency, we wouldn’t restore trust with all of our voters, so it will be a transparent open process to make sure that we can rebuild any confidence that some voters might have in the system.”

He intends to continue doing his job, no matter what President Donald Trump and his allies have to say about it. Poor guy. Making an honest and sincere effort that's going to be a complete waste on Trumpty-Dumbpties.

POLITICO @politico | 11:38 AM · Nov 12, 2020:
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine became one of the highest-profile sitting Republicans to acknowledge Joe Biden’s victory today, going a step further than his Monday statement and calling Biden the president-elect
Gov. DeWine: 'Joe Biden is the president-elect'

OK Conservative Senator Tells Trump, "Cooperate by Friday -- or Else."

“I can assure you there will be a peaceful transition of power in the United States,” Lankford said. Appearing on wing-nut radio talk show in Tulsa, he made it clear to listeners that Don-Boy has until the end of the week to get over himself and perform the duties of transition of power to the winning contestant for president. By Friday the GSA will be able to certify state election results, the last step in preparing the Facts of Life to the Electoral College and hit Trump over the head with a metaphorical 2x4.

Lankford told the audience that

. . .despite a recount in Georgia, it’s unlikely that the projected results will get overturned, as recounts rarely change the outcome of elections in the United States.

Cindy McCain: 'It's time we get behind Joe Biden as our next president' (BBC)

The wife of late Republican Arizona Senator John McCain says "it's time we get behind" Democratic President-elect Joe Biden... Mrs McCain, who endorsed Mr Biden in the election, said he would work for the good of the country: "He and my husband worked across the aisle for many, many years."

'Integrity still matters': the unlikely Republican standing up to Trump's voter fraud lies
The Georgia secretary of state tells the Guardian he’s received death threats for pushing back against the president’s claims
Sam Levine | 19 Nov 2020

...Raffensperger and his wife have faced death threats since election day – something election officials around the US have reported as Trump continues to stoke baseless accusations about fraud. And Raffensperger said it was “sad” to see it coming from his own party.

“For the last, how many months, everyone on our side was talking about all these leftwing radical groups … And then you have people on our side start talking in that same inflammatory language,” he said. “This is a family feud, but we’re going to have to put boundaries on that. We have to talk to each other and lower the rhetoric.”

He added that he intends to run for re-election in 2022, and that if he lost, he would accept the result.

“Everyone has to decide how they want to run their life. I know that if I win, I want to win honestly. And if I lose, I want to lose honestly. And if I lose, I can go back and do other things,” he said. “I’m not gonna complain about the process.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/19/brad-raffensperger-donald-trump-...

Senators Mitt Romney & Ben Sasse opine on Trump's attempt to overturn Michigan election 'undemocratic':

Mitt Romney @MittRomney | 10:36 PM · Nov 19, 2020:
Image ( https://twitter.com/MittRomney/status/1329629701447573504/photo/1 )
"Having failed to make even a plausible case of widespread fraud or conspiracy before any court of law, the President has now resorted to over pressure on state and local officials to subvert the will of the people and overturn the election," Romney said in a statement posted to Twitter. "It is difficult to imagine a worse, more undemocratic action by a sitting American President."

...(Ben) Sasse said in his statement that he is telling his constituents to look at what the Trump legal team is arguing in court, not what they are saying in public.

In lawsuit after lawsuit, the Trump team has either not alleged voter fraud or been unable to back up their claims with evidence. Thursday, Trump and his allies lost cases in Arizona, Pennsylvania and Georgia.

"Based on what I've read in their filings, when Trump campaign lawyers have stood before courts under oath, they have repeatedly refused to actually allege grand fraud -- because there are legal consequences for lying to judges," Sasse said. "President Trump lost Michigan by more than 100,000 votes, and the campaign and its allies have lost in or withdrawn from all five lawsuits in Michigan for being unable to produce any evidence."

It's unlikely that the statements from Romney and Sasse are a sign that support is waning on Capitol Hill for Trump and his post-election campaign of lies and conspiracy theories.

...Sasse pointed to (Giuiliani) news conference as particularly dangerous.

"Wild press conferences erode public trust," he said. "So no, obviously Rudy and his buddies should not pressure electors to ignore their certification obligations under the statute. We are a nation of laws, not tweets."

Kyle Feldscher | November 19, 2020
https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/19/politics/mitt-romney-ben-sasse-trump/index.html

Jeff Flake (frmr senator from AZ) @JeffFlake | 6:41 PM · Nov 19, 2020:
There are no words to describe how inappropriate this is

Michigan Republican leaders going to White House Friday; Trump calls GOP canvassers
By ED WHITE and DAVID EGGERT and ZEKE MILLER
Associated Press | Nov 19, 2020
https://www.chicagotribune.com/election-2020/ct-nw-michigan-election-results-cer...

Julie Cohen (RBG director) @FilmmakerJulie | 6:33 PM · Nov 19, 2020:

Gov Larry Hogan* (R-MD) on Trump’s refusal to concede:
“It’s outrageous.
It’s an assault on democracy...
It’s bad for the Republican Party.”

Image--photo w Wolf Blitzer ( https://twitter.com/FilmmakerJulie/status/1329568424327000065/photo/1 )

* former chair of governors' association, snuck in PPE from S Korea, Presidential ambitions, reportedly.

Senator Bob Corker @SenBobCorker | 9:40 AM · Nov 20, 2020:
While the president has the right to legitimate legal challenges,
responsible citizens cannot let the reckless actions by him and his legal team stand.
Republicans have an obligation when the subject is of such importance
to challenge demagoguery and patently false statements.

John Bolton @AmbJohnBolton | 8:58 AM · Nov 20, 2020
Two Michigan legislators meet today with Donald Trump,
who will inflict on them the political equivalent of blunt force trauma.
The GOP's honor & integrity rest on the character of these two men.
If they resist, we must come to their defense. If they falter, we are in trouble.

>38 2wonderY: contd.

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA):
“President Trump has exhausted all plausible legal options to challenge the result of the presidential race in Pennsylvania. ...
I congratulate President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on their victory.”

- Geoff Bennett (NBC) @GeoffRBennett | 9:03 PM · Nov 21, 2020

Aaron Van Langevelde, the GOP voting member on the Michigan board of state canvassers:

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/11/24/michigan-election-trump-voter-...

In Key States, Republicans Were Critical in Resisting Trump’s Election Narrative
They refuted conspiracy theories, certified results, dismissed lawsuits and repudiated a president of their own party.
Peter Baker and Kathleen Gray | Nov. 28, 2020

...If the president hoped Republicans across the country would fall in line behind his false and farcical claims that the election was somehow rigged on a mammoth scale by a nefarious multinational conspiracy, he was in for a surprise. Republicans in Washington may have indulged Mr. Trump’s fantastical assertions, but at the state and local level, Republicans played a critical role in resisting the mounting pressure from their own party to overturn the vote after Mr. Trump fell behind on Nov. 3.

The three weeks that followed tested American democracy and demonstrated that the two-century-old system is far more vulnerable to subversion than many had imagined even though the incumbent president lost by six million votes nationwide. But in the end, the system stood firm against the most intense assault from an aggrieved president in the nation’s history because of a Republican city clerk in Michigan, a Republican secretary of state in Georgia, a Republican county supervisor in Arizona and Republican-appointed judges in Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

They refuted conspiracy theories, certified results, dismissed lawsuits and repudiated a president of their own party, leaving him to thunder about a supposed plot that would have had to include people who had voted for him, donated to him or even been appointed by him. The desperate effort to hang onto office over the will of the people effectively ended when his own director of the General Services Administration determined that Joseph R. Biden Jr. is the president-elect and a judge Mr. Trump put on the bench chastised him for ludicrous litigation...

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/28/us/politics/trump-republicans-election-result...

Senior Republican senator accepts election was not rigged but refuses to call Biden president-elect (Indenpedent)

GOP Senator Roy Blunt has admitted the 2020 election was not rigged and that former Vice President Joe Biden is “likely” to become the 46th US president in January... “The President wants to see this process play out,” Mr Blunt said... “The president-elect technically has to be elected president by the electors. That happens in the middle of December,” the senator said... Mr Blunt agreed with the CNN host that the election was not “rigged” against Mr Trump. “I don't think it was rigged, but I do think there were some things that were done that shouldn't have been done. And I think there was some element of voter fraud as there is in every election. But I don't have any reason to believe that the numbers are there that would have made that difference” in the outcome...

A half-righteous Republican?

>55 John5918: No, still a hypocrite. By now, every Republican should be able to stand up and proclaim that Biden is president-elect, period. The process has been played out, and the numbers haven't changed, no fraud has been found.

>56 MsMixte:

Indeed. It's interesting how he is able to acknowledge that there is always some element of voter fraud in every election, but that there is no reason to believe that the numbers would have made any difference in the outcome, and yet still persists in maintaining that Biden is not the president-elect until the Electors have made the formal declaration in mid-December.

OK Sen. Lankford, Where's Your 'or else'?

There are no righteous Republicans. They are all condemned to be known for all time as un-American, tyrant-supporting COWARDS by their continued silence about Trump's corrupt term, his reprehensible on-going coup attempt to indemnify and overturn our legitimate 020 election, and his unconscionable inciting of violent neo-Nazi, Fascist, and domestic terrorist elements who agree with his dictatorial ambitions as long as racial bigotry and misogyny underpin them.

Where are those righteous Republicans? Hunkered down in a bunker somewhere with lips sealed to insure their silence while their cult leader goes on and on, attempting his coup.

Arizona Legislature 'cannot and will not' overturn election, Republican House speaker says
Ryan Randazzo, Jen Fifield and Andrew Oxford | December 5, 2020

...Republican state Reps. Mark Finchem and Kelly Townsend spent much of the day imploring their fellow legislators on social media to overturn the election results in favor of President Donald Trump.

(Republican Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives Rusty Bowers) said such action would be both illegal and inappropriate...

https://news.yahoo.com/arizona-legislature-cannot-not-overturn-174837795.html
___________________________________________________

Failing to convince Gov. Kemp to flip election, Trump vows to 'win back the White House' at Georgia rally
David Jackson | Dec 5 , 2020

...Kemp rejected Trump's request to call a special legislative session to approve the appointment of a pro-Trump slate to the Electoral College, earning repeated rebukes from Trump during an airport rally in Valdosta, Ga., that lasted 100 minutes.

...Kemp did not attend the rally, which took place hours after Trump phoned the Georgia governor to pressure him into calling the legislature into session.

In a tweet, Kemp did say he agreed with Trump's call for a "signature audit" of Biden's win, but he does not have the power to order one in a race that he and other state officials have already certified.

Replying by tweet, Trump told the governor: "Your people are refusing to do what you ask. What are they hiding?"

Trump also confirmed his request for electoral vote legislation by tweeting at Kemp: "At least immediately ask for a Special Session of the Legislature. That you can easily, and immediately, do."

The governor did not comment on Trump's request to have the GOP legislature approve Trump electors, as reported by The Washington Post and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The Georgia legislature lacks the constitutional authority to submit its own slate of electors in any case...

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/12/05/trump-georgia-brian-kemp...

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trump Encourages Primary Challenge Against Georgia’s Pro-Trump Governor Kemp
Andrew Solender | Dec 5, 2020

President Donald Trump on Saturday ramped up hostilities towards Republicans perceived as being insufficiently supportive of his claims of voter fraud, even going so far as to encourage a primary challenge to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, an ardent Trump supporter.

"Doug you want to run for governor in two years?” Trump told outgoing Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), one of his closest supporters in Congress, at a campaign rally for Sens. David Perdue (R-Ga.) and Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.), who defeated Collins in the Senate election in November.

Though Trump endorsed Kemp, who has in turn been almost unflinchingly loyal to the president, the two had fallings out over Kemp’s selection of Loeffler over Collins for the vacant U.S. Senate seat and, more recently, over Kemp certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s win over Trump in his state.

Just on Saturday, Trump called Kemp to urge him to call a special session of Georgia’s GOP-controlled legislature in the hopes of overturning the election results – which Kemp declined to do – before tweeting that Kemp and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, another staunch Trump supporter, “fight harder against us than do the Radical Left Dems.”

Trump has also encouraged a primary challenge against Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine for acknowledging Biden’s victory, and on Saturday he took aim at the small contingent of Congressional Republicans who have acknowledged Biden’s victory....

https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2020/12/05/trump-encourages-primary-...

Frank Thorp V (NBC News) @frankthorp | 5:28 PM · Dec 8, 2020:
ROMNEY on GOP Reps threatening to protest electoral college vote: “This is madness. We have a process, recounts are appropriate, going to the court is approp & pursuing every legal avenue is appropriate, but trying to get electors not to do what the people voted to do is madness”

ROMNEY: "It would be saying, 'Look, let's not follow the vote of the people, let's instead do it what we want, that would not be the way a democratic republic ought to work."

Q: Are you very confident that anything like that would be rejected here.

ROMNEY: "Yes."

George Conway Returns to CNN to Trash Efforts to Overturn Election Results: ‘An Embarrassment’
Josh Feldman | Dec 8th, 2020

George Conway returned to CNN Tuesday to call out the latest efforts in courts to overturn the election results by President Donald Trump’s legal team and some allies.

He pointed out to Jake Tapper today marks “safe harbor day” regarding a time limit on election challenges (something the Trump legal team dismissed earlier) and how all the states being challenged by the Trump team and others have already certified results.

It’ll be “officially over,” Conway said, when the electoral college convenes in a week.

Tapper brought up the Pennsylvania case from one congressman that — as of the time of the segment — was in the air with regard to whether the Supreme Court would take it up. This was the case Ted Cruz was heavily promoting and offering to be a part of.

So Tapper asked Conway, “Do you think there is a chance the Supreme Court might take up this case that Cruz* is pushing?”

“No, it doesn’t have a snowball’s chance,” Conway said, minutes before, well, he was proven right.

He also trashed the Texas case suing several other states as “the most insane thing yet,” saying it has absolutely no merit and there’s no way the Supreme Court takes that up either.

“They are peddling to the Supreme Court the notion that it’s anomalous that some votes in some areas at some points in time are going to more one-sided than others. It’s crazy and they’re saying that,” Conway continued. “For a member of the Supreme Court bar to do this in the Supreme Court of the United States is outrageous. They’re throwing all the garbage allegations of fraud that the Trump campaign wouldn’t put in some of their complaints in federal district court! It’s absurd and an embarrassment.”...

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/george-conway-returns-to-cnn-to-trash-efforts-to-ove...

* Ted Cruz has a stellar education and background (wikipedia). Lordy, what does Trump have on him that he'd so abase himself for a man who lied and smeared his dad and wife??? Unless Cruz is likewise a miserable excuse for a human being?

GOP lawyer resigns over treatment of Florida data analyst
Mary Ellen Klas | Dec 8, 2020

A Sarasota lawyer resigned his appointment to the panel that picks judges on Tuesday to call attention to the way Gov. Ron DeSantis has handled “public access to truthful data” and the raiding of a data analyst’s home.

Ron Filipkowski, a Marine veteran, former state and federal prosecutor, and a lifelong Republican who was appointed to the 12th Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission by DeSantis resigned Tuesday morning after reviewing the search warrant affidavit the state used to seize computers and phones from Rebekah Jones, the former Department of Health data analyst who has been running an alternative web site to the state’s COVID dashboard...

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2020/12/08/gop-lawyer-resigns-ove...

0:53 ( https://twitter.com/CuomoPrimeTime/status/1336512826987466755 )
____________________________________________

Rebekah Jones @GeoRebekah | 8:08 PM · Dec 8, 2020
Got new info tonight.

The judge who signed the search order of my house was appointed by Governor Desantis and sworn in less than a month before he signed that warrant. In civil court. He's not even a criminal court judge. It was one of his first actions as judge.

0:42 ( https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1336654180027600896 )

A little louder this time:

Jeb Bush @JebBush | 8:11 PM · Dec 10, 2020:
This is crazy. it will be killed on arrival. Why are smart people advancing this notion? Let it go. The election is over.

Quote Tweet
Frank Luntz @FrankLuntz | 8:31 AM · Dec 10, 2020:
“Texas could not even get its Solicitor General — the man who argues on behalf of the state before the Supreme Court — to sign onto the lawsuit.” https://ewerickson.substack.com/p/about-the-texas-lawsuit

GOP Group Issues New 'Consumer Protection Alert' Ad Over Trump Election Fund
Daniel Villarreal | 12/11/20

The group Republicans for the Rule of Law have released a new ad set to air on the conservative networks Fox News and Newsmax warning voters not to donate to President Donald Trump's "Official Election Defense Fund" now that all 50 states have certified their election results, all but guaranteeing that President-elect Joe Biden inauguration.

"Attention! Consumer protection alert!" the ad begins, police sirens blaring through its one-minute length. "Beware of a new scam from Donald Trump targeting 2020 voters requesting money to be used for an Official Election Defense Fund."

"Do not be fooled," the ad continues. "Joe Biden will be the next president of the United States. The election has been certified by all 50 states. Over 50 Trump lawsuits and counting have been thrown out. Attorney General Bill Barr announced the Justice Department found no widespread voter fraud. Don't get fooled by Donald Trump's post-election scam."...

https://www.newsweek.com/gop-group-issues-new-consumer-protection-alert-ad-over-...
________________________________________________________

ad -- 0:35 ( https://twitter.com/ForTheRuleOfLaw/status/1337574006371848193 )

In GOP House leadership, retiring after this Congress, Rep Paul Mitchell quits GOP:

NEW: @RepPaulMitchell is leaving the GOP:
"As I saw that amicus brief and through the national media it became clear to me I could no longer be associated with the Republican Party that the leadership does not stand up and say that the process, the election is over."

1:38 ( https://twitter.com/AndrewFeinberg/status/1338594942923444224 )

- Andrew Feinberg @AndrewFeinberg | 4:21 PM · Dec 14, 2020

-----------------------------------------

Congressman cites Trump's efforts to overturn election in announcing decision to quit GOP
Jake Tapper | December 14, 2020
https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/14/politics/paul-mitchell-quits-gop/index.html

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/530110-top-michigan-republicans-shut-down-...

State Senate Majority leader, Mike Shirkey, and House Speaker, Lee Chatfield, issued statements making clear the legislature would not appoint electors that undercut the state’s popular vote.

There still are no righteous Republicans. Republicans and violent gangs of white supremacist neo-Nazis and gun suckers are joined at the hip with present day elected Republicans. Not even revisionist history by conservatives can perform a successful surgery to separate themselves from the militant supporters of Trump whose itchy trigger fingers are trembling in anticipation of slaughtering Af Ams, cops, and Democrats.

There are no righteous Republicans because they are all arrogant Republicans who believe in and reflect the white Western chauvinists' ideology that they are entitled to decide and define what America and its culture are to be. No one else. Equality in progress is anathema to them.

I used to think it would be a great idea if they all would be herded back under their rocks from whence they came, once Trump was given the boot. Now I want them to have to continue to live in the light of America's full recognition and be resisted and fought until they are so over-exposed and reviled that even they can no longer stand themselves.

Then, let Nature take its course.

>67 Limelite: There still are no righteous Republicans

I'm sure you're correct, and "righteous" is probably not the best word. However what this thread is documenting is a gradual process whereby the collaborators, colluders, enablers, supporters, indeed often perpetrators, leave and turn against the cause for whatever reason. For some it may be a genuine and sincere desire to do the right thing. For others (perhaps most) it is self-preservation, fear of legal consequences, a recognition that it is a lost cause even if they might still favour it privately, ambition, trying to safeguard their future electability or employability, trying to salvage something out of the wreck of their hopes, whatever. Rats deserting a sinking ship.

An important part of any active nonviolent campaign is to separate the followers, supporters, hangers-on, colluders, collaborators, enablers, beneficiaries, foot soldiers, etc from the main perpetrators of whatever unjust cause is being opposed. It's well worth reading How to Stop a Power Grab (New Yorker), a longish article which sets out many of the principles and lessons of nonviolent civil resistance. My thanks to kiparsky for drawing my attention to this excellent article.

Never Forget the Republicans Who Held Fast
There should have been more of them. Lots more. But a few did stand strong.
Christine Todd Whitman | December 15, 2020

..Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who filed suit in an attempt to strip millions of Americans in four states of their vote. And Paxton was joined by attorneys general in 18 states won by Donald Trump. 126 Republican members of the House also filed an amicus brief, a clear violation of their oath office in which they swore to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic. We should not mince words: These people are enemies of democracy.

But we should also take note of the Republican attorneys general who chose to stay off the Paxton brief:
Lawrence Wasden (ID),
Daniel Cameron (KY),
Gordon MacDonald (NH), and
Bridget Hill (WY).
Dave Yost (OH) filed his own brief, but did not endorse Texas’ remedy of legislative overthrow of the popular will. We should applaud these brave attorneys general, who, despite significant pressure, stood up for democracy while their Republican party attempted to disenfranchise millions of citizens.

Others also stood up against this autocratic attempt—and deserve our respect. Another amicus brief brought together 23 state attorneys general from across the country to condemn AG Paxton’s baseless lawsuit. Some Republican leaders were outspokenly critical of the Paxton suit. In addition to Georgia AG Chris Carr, Senator John Cornyn and Sen. Mitt Romney called the lawsuit for what it was: factually inaccurate, legally unsound, and an attack on our democracy.

This list should have been longer. Much longer.

But that only makes the courage of those who stood against it more admirable.

..We need more leaders to speak out and join the elected officials who refuse to accept Trump’s attempt to undermine the will of the people. We need to applaud those who stood on the right side of history and supported our election officials. Those men and women are the guardians of our democracy. We owe them our gratitude.

..The GOP was once known for its support for the rule of law. Today, the majority of the party supports an utter fiction. They have abdicated their role as leaders and violated their oaths of office. When these men and women are written about in the future, may the first clause in their description be, “who attempted to overthrow the votes of millions of Americans.”

We must not forget.

https://thebulwark.com/never-forget-the-republicans-who-held-fast/

Will Nancy Pelosi black-ball the newly elected House members who participated in attempts to steal the election from the prez-elect?

She has the power. It's in the Constitution.

Or will she take the high road and buy into Biden's attempt to "work with" people who have essentially declared themselves anti-democratic nihilists?

Lincoln Project co-founder, former New Hampshire GOP chair leaving Republican Party
Marina Pitofsky | 12/17/20

Jennifer Horn, the former chairwoman of the New Hampshire Republican Party and a co-founder of the anti-Trump GOP group The Lincoln Project (1st anniversary), announced Thursday...(she will change her voter registration from Republican to independent this week)

...“became a Republican” because she viewed the party’s values as “a voice for equality, freedom and constitutional conservatism, with a rich history of fighting for what was right because it was right...For the past five years, however, I have found myself fighting for what I thought were the principles of my party in the face of the ever-deteriorating character and integrity of party representatives...They have revealed their impotence and decrepitude as they have fallen, one by one, at the feet of the most corrupt, destructive and unstable president in the history of our country...It seems there is no assault on human dignity too great, no attack on democracy too extreme, to inspire the Republican weaklings in Congress to speak up or stand up to President Donald Trump...silent in the face of this president's most contemptuous and at times barbaric actions. They have defended and excused his impeachable betrayals...worst of all...openly supported his attempts to sabotage the Constitution and dismantle democracy as we know it...Trump’s post-election attempts to invalidate millions of legitimate votes through an abuse of the judicial system amount to no less than an attempted coup and has been openly encouraged and supported by every level of the Republican Party...Republicans have “humiliated themselves and disgraced our great nation” and that “the party of Lincoln is no more.”

“I (leave the R party) not because of Trump, but because of everyone else in the party who openly embraces Trumpism, because of the party’s perfidious leaders, and a platform that advocates against equal rights for all”...

...(Another) co-founder of the Lincoln Project...longtime GOP strategist Steve Schmidt announced...Monday that he is registering as a Democrat.

https://thehill.com/homenews/news/530623-lincoln-project-co-founder-former-new-h...

Kyle Cheney (Politico) @kyledcheney | 12:30 AM · Dec 31, 2020
SASSE issues a lengthy midnight takedown of efforts by some Republicans to overturn Biden's victory, labeling them
"ambitious politicians who think there’s a quick way to tap into the president’s populist base without doing any real, long-term damage."

https://facebook.com/709959352435346/posts/3517705981660655/?d=n
Image--R Sen Sasse statement ( https://twitter.com/kyledcheney/status/1344516142556184576/photo/1 )

The very first OP: "Righteous Republicans...put country above party..."

Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-IL)

https://www.newsweek.com/gop-congressman-posts-video-debunking-donald-trumps-ele...

JUST IN: Fmr House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) calls Biden’s win “entirely legitimate.”

Says it’s hard to imagine “a more anti-democratic and anti-conservative act than intervening
to overturn the results of state-certified elections and disenfranchise millions of Americans.”

Image--Ryan statement ( https://twitter.com/johnkruzel/status/1345830039548538881/photo/1 )

- John Kruzel (The Hill) @johnkruzel | 3:31 PM · Jan 3, 2021

Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton ?
"..I will not oppose the counting of certified electoral votes on January 6..."

https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-statement-on-joint-sess...

-----------------------------------------------------
ETA: Cotton's decision was not without consequence to himself, so good for him.

'NEVER FORGET’: Trump threatens Cotton over Electoral College certification
NICK NIEDZWIADEK | 01/04/2020

President Donald Trump warned Sen. Tom Cotton on Monday that Republican voters would "never forget" GOP lawmakers who fail to embrace Trump's baseless effort to contest President-elect Joe Biden's Electoral College victory.

“How can you certify an election when the numbers being certified are verifiably WRONG,” Trump tweeted. “You will see the real numbers tonight during my speech, but especially on JANUARY 6th. @SenTomCotton Republicans have pluses & minuses, but one thing is sure, THEY NEVER FORGET!”...

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/04/trump-threatens-cotton-electoral-colleg...

SC Senator Lindsey Graham ?

...Sen. Graham, one of Trump's most prominent and closest supporters in the Senate, wrote a series of tweets outlining why he opposes the Cruz-led effort to object.

"Proposing a commission at this late date–which has zero chance of becoming reality–is not effectively fighting for President Trump. It appears to be more of a political dodge than an effective remedy," Graham tweeted.

"I do look forward to hearing from and will listen closely to the objections of my colleagues in challenging the results of this election. They will need to provide proof of the charges they are making.

"They will also need to provide clear and convincing evidence that the failure to act–in both the state and federal courts and the states' legislatures which investigated these claims–was made in error.

"They will also need to show that the failure to take corrective action in addressing election fraud changed the outcome of these states' votes and ultimately the outcome of the election.

"My colleagues will have the opportunity to make this case, and I will listen closely. But they have a high bar to clear."

https://www.newsweek.com/tom-cotton-lindsey-graham-trump-gop-senators-object-155...

Statement by John C. Danforth (U.S. Senator, R-MO, 1976-1995) Concerning Challenges to the Votes of the Electoral College

“Citing my support for Josh Hawley's campaigns, a number of people have asked me to comment on his decision to challenge votes of the electoral college...

2/ “...Lending credence to Trump's false claim that the election was stolen is a highly destructive attack on our constitutional government. It is the opposite of conservative; it is radical....

3/“... As one friend asked me, ‘What are my grandchildren to think of America if they are told that elections are fraudulent?’At a time of extreme polarization the populist strategy is to drive America even farther apart by promoting conspiracy theories and stoking grievances...

4/ “... We must reject this strategy and reclaim America's historic purpose of holding our diverse nation together as one people.”

- Jake Tapper (CNN) @jaketapper | 10:37 AM · Jan 4, 2021·

The overwhelming stupidity and lack of knowledge of the Constitution among Republicans who make it a badge of honor to wave around their pocket-sized editions to prove their "patriotism" stuns the educated.

The Electoral College is a Constitutional edict. The inauguration date and time are Constitutional edicts. What makes them think that they have a chance in the face of every Democratic House member (majority) and Senator (over 40 of them) will allow their madness to override the Constitution?

Pelosi, if she had the nerve, should let each member of the House know that if by their actions they attempt to usurp Constitutional governance, she will regard that as the most serious violation of their oath of office, and they will be censured and punished in any other legal way that she can in her capacity as Speaker.

IT'S OVER!

(Senator Amy) KLOBUCHAR: "There are a large number of Republicans who are actually standing up for the democracy... It is very clear in Senate there is going to be bipartisan pushback against this group that is trying to undermine the will of the people of America."

- Ryan Struyk (CNN) @ryanstruyk | 9:43 AM · Jan 5, 2021

Video shows Romney being called "traitor" by Trump fans while on flight
April Siese | January 6, 2021

...An additional video posted to Twitter showed Romney being confronted prior to boarding his flight...

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-fans-chant-traitor-at-mitt-romney-on-f...

Tough shit.

No Republicans are righteous. They all made this man because they did NOTHING to stop him when we ALL knew who and what he was.

On the contrary, all we heard from every single one of them was, "Let Trump be Trump."

Well here you are. Stand by your sword, die by your sword.

Republicans stood around yesterday shouting "Victory or Death" in support of Trump. Well, let me tell you something. Trump LOST. So, there goes one option.

John Boehner @SpeakerBoehner | 7:00 AM · Jan 7, 2021:
Congratulations President-elect @JoeBiden. I know you’re sincere in your desire to be a president for all Americans, and
I know you’ve got the tools and the heart to get it done...

Image- photo, Biden and Boehner ( https://twitter.com/SpeakerBoehner/status/1347151119923949569 )

_________________________________________________
ETA:

John Boehner @SpeakerBoehner | 11:07 AM · Jan 7, 2021:
I once said the party of Lincoln and Reagan is off taking a nap. The nap has become a nightmare for our nation.
The GOP must awaken.
The invasion of our Capitol by a mob, incited by lies from some entrusted with power,
is a disgrace to all who sacrificed to build our Republic.

Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) @RepKinzinger | 10:46 AM · Jan 7, 2021:
It’s with a heavy heart I am calling for the sake of our Democracy that the 25th Amendment be invoked.
My statement:
2:15 ( https://twitter.com/RepKinzinger/status/1347207878801846276 )

Ciao, Chao!

Mitch McConnell's wife quits as Trump's Sec'y of Transportation, following Mike Pottinger out the door.

Don't be fooled. She's not righteous. Her statement declares she was "deeply troubled" by yesterday's violence. So, why, if she's so deeply troubled doesn't she stick around and aid Congress in enforcing the 25th Amendment and remove the actual mote from her eye?

Tired of the empty words and rebukes. DO SOMETHING to heal the Nation, Republicans!

>85 Limelite: No Republicans are righteous.

I was put off by his dog-on-a roof, binders-of-women, corporations-of-people, disdain for the poor
( https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/09/secret-video-romney-private-fundrai... ), and wobble when interviewed for State job, but Romney voted for Trump impeachment and he's been spot-on since, IMO.

Maybe it's my RC upbringing to be okay with redemption, but I DO have limits:

Resigning with two weeks to go isn’t putting your country first, it’s putting your career first.
- Jason Kander @JasonKander | Jason Kander | 10:12 AM · Jan 7, 2021

Arnold @Schwarzenegger | 7:45 AM · Jan 10, 2021:
My message to my fellow Americans and friends around the world following this week's attack on the Capitol.
Message regarding the attack on our Capitol

7:39 ( https://twitter.com/Schwarzenegger/status/1348249481284874240 )

>89 margd:

Probably due to not having had any religious upbringing, I find myself able to forgive unintentional transgressions and honest actual mistakes.

However, I'm unable to give any quarter to those who plan or choose to do evil unto others. Not ever, except in the case of justice being served when it's served up to the guilty in a "justly" amount, and the guilty fully serve a "justly" amount of what they owe to society.

JM Rieger (WaPo) @RiegerReport | 2:40 PM · Jan 10, 2021:

Colin Powell: “I can no longer call myself a fellow Republican."
1:38 ( https://twitter.com/RiegerReport/status/1348354110890913797 )

Anti-Trump group pledges $50 million effort to defend Republican impeachment supporters
NICK NIEDZWIADEK | 01/12/2021

A Republican group has pledged to amass a $50 million war chest to help GOP lawmakers who vote to impeach President Donald Trump ward off potential primary challenges.

The effort is led by Defending Democracy Together, an umbrella organization that includes Republicans for the Rule of Law and Republican Voters Against Trump, groups that campaigned against the president during his unsuccessful reelection bid.

...Billed as the “Republican Accountability Project,” the campaign announced Tuesday will also go toward standing up primary challenges to the dozens of Republicans who sought to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral victory and promote Republicans in open contests who do not align themselves with Trump’s MAGA ethos.

...(Bill Kristol, a leading conservative critic of Trump’s)...Sarah Longwell, who co-founded Republicans for the Rule of Law, and disillusioned former Trump administration hands Elizabeth Neumann and Olivia Troye. Neumann is a former civil servant and Department of Homeland Security counterterrorism official, and Troye worked on the White House’s coronavirus task force and served as an adviser to Vice President Mike Pence.

The announcement marks another step in the internecine war for the future of the Republican Party after Trump leaves the Oval Office next week. Prior to the deadly riot by a Trump-supporting mob, the president and his closest allies vowed to take note of which Republicans remained loyal to him and his fervent political base...

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/12/anti-trump-group-gop-impeachment-suppor...

The Congress must hold President Trump to account and send a clear message that our country cannot and will not tolerate any effort by any President to impede the peaceful transfer of power from one President to the next. Thus, I will vote to impeach.

Image--short statement ( https://twitter.com/RepFredUpton/status/1349190793840521219/photo/1 )

- Fred Upton*#WearYourMask @RepFredUpton | 10:05 PM · Jan 12, 2021

* Rep Fred Upton (R-MI)

State Republican Parties Blast Members Of GOP Who Voted To Impeach Trump
Jaclyn Diaz | January 14, 2021

...Reps.
Liz Cheney (Wyo.),
Anthony Gonzalez (Ohio),
Jaime Herrera Beutler (Wash.),
John Katko (N.Y.),
Adam Kinzinger (Ill.),
Peter Meijer (Mich.),
Dan Newhouse (Wash.),
Tom Rice (S.C.),
Fred Upton (Mich.), and
David Valadao (Calif.) voted to impeach...

https://www.npr.org/2021/01/14/956714241/state-republican-parties-blast-members-...

So far only reported behind paywalls. DC Republican attorney for names like Cruz, McCarthy, Bolton and Sessions wrote an editorial in the WSJ detailing the constitutionality of impeaching a former president. Charles J. Cooper is a conservative constitutional lawyer.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/07/us/politics/charles-cooper-trump-impeachment....

But Mr. Cooper, who is said to be dismayed by the unwillingness of House and Senate Republicans to hold Mr. Trump accountable, took on the main claim made by his own confidants and clients, offering a series of scholarly and technical arguments for why the Constitution allows for a former president to stand trial.

I have to confess that I have no idea why it would be problematic to hold this impeachment trial, or why Trump would not want it to be held. Trump was impeached as president: the House brought extremely grave charges against him. One of the remedies provided for by the constitution limits his future behavior, so it is necessary to hold a trial in order to determine whether that remedy is required. And from Trump's point of view, surely if he believed in his innocence why wouldn't he would want a chance to clear his name in public?

I can only assume that those who have tried to dodge the trial are all assuming that Trump is as guilty as fuck and that he has no chance of escaping conviction.

Trump must laugh his fool head off when he stops and thinks about how far he has led the GOPers away from the moral high ground they always insisted they occupied.

Thank you Bruce and Jeep!

>98 Molly3028:

Was it planned, or did it just happen as a result of his narcissism and ineptitude? Does he even realise what he has done, do you think?

>99 John5918:

I see it as fate's way of "killing" two birds with one stone. Fate used the foibles of Trump and GOPers to accomplish the deed.

The GOP taught us that it is a single issue litmus test party: Drown government in the bathtub.

>101 Limelite: ...while also complaining about anarchists...

One & Only Righteous Republican in Impeachment II

Here's Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler's (R-WA) written testimony admitted into evidence in impeachment trial. Full statement:

"In my January 12 statement in support of the article of impeachment, I referenced a conversation House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy relayed to me that he’d had with President Trump while the January 6 attack was ongoing. Here are the details:

“When McCarthy finally reached the president on January 6 and asked him to publicly and forcefully call off the riot, the president initially repeated the falsehood that it was antifa that had breached the Capitol. McCarthy refuted that and told the president that these were Trump supporters. That’s when, according to McCarthy, the president said: ‘Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are.’

“Since I publicly announced my decision to vote for impeachment, I have shared these details in countless conversations with constituents and colleagues, and multiple times through the media and other public forums.

“I told it to the Daily News of Longview on January 17. I’ve shared it with local county Republican executive board members, as well as other constituents who ask me to explain my vote. I shared it with thousands of residents on my telephone town hall on February 8.

“To the patriots who were standing next to the former president as these conversations were happening, or even to the former vice president: if you have something to add here, now would be the time.”

She's looking at you, Minority Leader McCarthy.

Trump reads off the names of Republicans who voted to impeach and voted to convict including “warmonger” Liz Cheney.
He says get rid of them all with the next election.
1:10 ( https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1366163682640629761 )

- Acyn @Acyn | 6:09 PM · Feb 28, 2021

‘He’s toast’: GOP leaves Raffensperger twisting in the wind
The Georgia GOP secretary of state who bucked Donald Trump is up against serious resistance within his own party.
DAVID SIDERS and ZACH MONTELLARO | 03/28/2021

The former president is obsessed with defeating him next year. He’s getting mauled by his own state party. Last week alone, a Republican congressman announced he’d challenge in the primary and the state legislature voted to strip his office of some official powers.

By most accounts, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger doesn’t have a prayer of being reelected.

...Not everyone in state political circles is convinced Raffensperger’s political plight is so grim. Some still see a path to reelection, despite the serious resistance within his own party.

...It is a remarkable turn of events for a conventional Republican politician whose down-ballot election in 2018 went largely unnoticed outside his own state. Yet after refusing to buckle to Donald Trump’s requests to change the state’s vote count and feuding with Trump over the former president’s baseless claims of widespread voter fraud, Raffensperger’s reelection campaign is unfolding, improbably, as one of the most consequential of the election cycle — with implications for the GOP in every state and at all levels of government....

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/28/georgia-secretary-of-state-gop-478251

JUST IN: Governor Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas has issued a veto on HB 1570,
a bill that would ban medical care for transgender minors.
- Travis Akers @travisakers | 2:10 PM · Apr 5, 2021

Fractures in GOP on full display as Cheney faces renewed criticism for bucking Trump and disagreeing with McCarthy in public (CNN)

"I disagree strongly w/ @JoeBiden policies, but when the President reaches out to greet me in the chamber of the US House of Representatives, I will always respond in a civil, respectful & dignified way. We're different political parties. We're not sworn enemies. We're Americans"...

‘We’re not sworn enemies’: Liz Cheney defends herself for fist-bumping Biden (Guardian)

Liz Cheney, the embattled No 3 ranking Republican in the House of Representatives, has been forced to defend herself for having fist-bumped Joe Biden during his address to Congress this week...

A welcome example of courtesy and sanity which seems to have been sady lacking in her party.

Rs don't censure Reps Boebert, Gaetz, MTG... Romney's must have been a recorded vote.

It’s worth pointing out for all the stories about how Romney got booed is that there was a healthy amount of cheering and he survived his censure vote 789-711. There is very much a robust debate, this is not by any means one-sided against him.
- Amanda Carpenter (Bulwark) @amandacarpenter | 8:59 PM · May 1, 2021

------------------------------------------

Mitt Romney booed and called ‘traitor’ at Utah Republican convention (00:52)
Martin Pengelly | 2 May 2021 07.47 ED

Only Republican to twice vote to impeach Trump gets hostile reception as censure motion narrowly fails
Mitt Romney addresses the Utah Republican party convention, where he was booed by many delegates.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/may/02/mitt-romney-booed-and-called-tra...

Michael Martin @cardiacstudy · 15h
I’m curious to know what you think you’ve lost by supporting Biden.

Joe Walsh @WalshFreedom | 5:29 PM · May 2, 2021:
My career.
My livelihood.
My savings.
Any shot at ever getting elected again.
All of my former political supporters & followers.
Most of my friends.

That’s a start. But no regrets. Country first.

Liz Cheney is facing mounting criticism from her GOP colleagues
John L. Dorman | 5/2/2021

House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney is the highest-ranking female Republican in Congress...

Unlike most members of her party, Cheney has been unusually candid in her criticism of Trump, especially as it relates to the damage that she feels the former president caused to the democratic process and the peaceful transfer of power.

"What we saw, first hand, on Jan. 6 was a threat to this system," she said during a February foreign policy event sponsored by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. "What happened on that day must never happen again."

Trump, even in defeat, still holds an iron grip over most of the party, and he has zeroed in on ensuring Cheney's political defeat.

...the past few weeks have seen a cascade of developments that seriously imperil Cheney's leadership role — and her future within the party — a stunning reversal for a candidate who in the past has been touted as a potential House speaker, US senator, or president....

...Last Wednesday, Cheney gave a fist bump to President Joe Biden before his first address to a joint session of Congress...Responding to attacks from the party's right flank, Cheney reaffirmed her conservatism while calling for a need to be conciliatory to people with opposing views...Last week, she also floated a possible presidential campaign while also saying that McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky were the leaders of the GOP — leaving out Trump...

https://www.businessinsider.com/liz-cheney-criticism-republican-party-conservati...

Bush says if GOP stands for 'White Anglo-Saxon Protestantism, then it's not going to win anything' (CNN)

Former President George W. Bush again criticized what he sees as a Republican Party that is not inclusive enough, arguing that if it stands for "White Anglo-Saxon Protestantism, then it's not going to win anything"...

>111 John5918:

Bush is soooooo behind the times. The GOP doesn't stand for anything. Certainly not religion of any stripe. The Republican Party is the Cancel Culture Nanny Nazi: It only stand against.

If the American majority -- nay, even if more than 45% of them -- is FOR it, Republicans, led by Trump, McConnell, and McCarthy are against it.

Opinion: Liz Cheney: The GOP is at a turning point. History is watching us.
Opinion by Liz Cheney | May 5, 2021

I am a conservative Republican, and the most conservative of conservative values is reverence for the rule of law...

The question before us now is whether we will join Trump’s crusade to delegitimize and undo the legal outcome of the 2020 election, with all the consequences that might have. ...

While embracing or ignoring Trump’s statements might seem attractive to some for fundraising and political purposes, that approach will do profound long-term damage to our party and our country...

For Republicans, the path forward is clear.

First, support the ongoing Justice Department criminal investigations of the Jan. 6 attack. ...

Second, we must support a parallel bipartisan review by a commission with subpoena power to seek and find facts; it will describe for all Americans what happened....We should appoint former officials, members of the judiciary and other prominent Americans who can be objective, just as we did after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The commission should be focused on the Jan. 6 attacks...

Finally, we Republicans need to stand for genuinely conservative principles, and steer away from the dangerous and anti-democratic Trump cult of personality. In our hearts, we are devoted to the American miracle. We believe in the rule of law, in limited government, in a strong national defense, and in prosperity and opportunity brought by low taxes and fiscally conservative policies.

There is much at stake now, including the ridiculous wokeness of our political rivals, the irrational policies at the border and runaway spending that threatens a return to the catastrophic inflation of the 1970s. Reagan formed a broad coalition from across the political spectrum to return America to sanity, and we need to do the same now. We know how...

History is watching. Our children are watching. We must be brave enough to defend the basic principles that underpin and protect our freedom and our democratic process. I am committed to doing that, no matter what the short-term political consequences might be.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/05/05/liz-cheney-republican-party-t...

Forced to Choose Between Trump’s “Big Lie” and Liz Cheney, the House G.O.P. Chooses the Lie
“Liz is a living reproach to all these cowards,” a friend of Cheney’s said, but the cowards have the votes.
Susan B. Glasser | May 6, 2021

...Eric Edelman, a friend of (Rep Liz) Cheney’s who served as a national-security adviser to her father, former Vice-President Dick Cheney... revealed that Cheney herself secretly orchestrated an unprecedented op-ed in the Washington Post by all ten living former Defense Secretaries, including her father, warning against Trump’s efforts to politicize the military.* The congresswoman not only recruited her father but personally asked others, including Trump’s first Defense Secretary, Jim Mattis, to participate. “She was the one who generated it, because she was so worried about what Trump might do,” Edelman said. “It speaks to the degree that she was concerned about the threat to our democracy that Trump represented.” The Post op-ed appeared on January 3rd, just three days before the insurrection at the Capitol.

...another Cheney effort to combat Trump’s post-election lies, a twenty-one-page memo written by Cheney and her husband, Phil Perry, an attorney, and circulated on January 3rd to the entire House Republican Conference. In it, Cheney debunked Trump’s false claims about election fraud and warned her colleagues that voting to overturn the election results, as Trump was insisting, would “set an exceptionally dangerous precedent.” But, of course, they did not listen. Even after the storming of the Capitol, a hundred and forty-seven Republican lawmakers voted against accepting the election results. When Trump was later impeached over his role in inciting the insurrection, Cheney was one of just ten House Republicans to vote in favor of it.

...It took a long time, but arguably Liz Cheney today is 9Sen John) McCain’s heir. She is, at the last, willing to call a lie a lie...

https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-bidens-washington/forced-to-choose-be...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

* Opinion: All 10 living former defense secretaries: Involving the military in election disputes would cross into dangerous territory
Ashton Carter, Dick Cheney, William Cohen, Mark Esper, Robert Gates, Chuck Hagel, James Mattis, Leon Panetta, William Perry and
Donald Rumsfeld | Jan. 3, 2021

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/10-former-defense-secretaries-military-p...

_____________________________________________________________

ETA: Thank goodness professionalism prevailed in US military...

Military Times Graph: how service members view Pres. Trump, 2016-2020 ( https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/meFXsMnkBIUwIF4nTz2psCEOcQc=/800x0/filters:qua... )

The Republican Accountability Project@AccountableGOP | 1:24 PM · May 10, 2021

January 6, 2021.
1:28 ( https://twitter.com/AccountableGOP/status/1391913445025456129 )
Narrated by Liz Cheney.

Rep. Liz Cheney @RepLizCheney | 8:43 PM · May 11, 2021:

Freedom only survives if we protect it.
We must speak the truth.
The election was not stolen.
America has not failed.

6:17 ( https://twitter.com/RepLizCheney/status/1392279216364871683 )

-----------------------------------------------------

Ted Lieu (rep D CA) @tedlieu | 9:08 PM · May 11, 2021:

This speech by @RepLizCheney is a profile in courage,
not because anything she said is controversial, but because she knows
she will lose her GOP leadership position for telling the truth.

------------------------------------------------------

Laurence Tribe (Harvard Law) tribelaw | 6:39 AM · May 12, 2021:

Must listen to @RepLizCheney deliver this powerful speech.
It’s four minutes of courage that will be taught to schoolchildren a century from now.

Symbolic Clothing?

Liz Cheney wore a solidly deep blue ensemble to her "execution" today. Blue through and through.

Look for her to start making the rounds on talking head shows. Place your bets on who will get to her first. Rachel Maddow? Chris Cuomo? Tucker (Lord Ha-Ha) Carlson?

>117 Limelite: Tucker Carlson wouldn't give her the steam off his piss - and I would bet that goes both ways! Lol

She's likely getting bombarded with interview requests atm. Rachel Maddow would be a good one.

Food for thought, eh? :)

Opinion: We cannot wait for the GOP to clean up its act. So we’re creating an alternative movement.
Charlie Dent, Mary Peters, Denver Riggleman, Michael Steele and Christine Todd Whitman | May 13, 2021

...Alongside dozens of prominent Republicans, ex-Republicans and independents, we are announcing “A Call for American Renewal”*, a nationwide rallying cry against extremist elements within the GOP, and highlighting the urgent need for a new, common-sense coalition.

...Our alliance includes former governors, members of Congress, Cabinet secretaries, state officials, seasoned political strategists and grass-roots leaders dedicated to offering a hopeful, principles-based vision for the country — and ensuring that our votes have decisive impact in key elections across the United States.

...If we cannot save the Republican Party from itself, we will help save America from extremist elements in the Republican Party...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/05/13/new-gop-alliance-dent-peters-...

* A Call for American Renewal
PRINCIPLES
1. Democracy
2. Founding Ideals
3. Constitutional Order
4. Truth
5. Rule of Law
6. Ethical Government
7. Pluralism
8. Civic Responsibility
9. Opportunity
10. Free Speech
11. Conservation
12. Common Defense & Welfare
13. Leadership
https://www.acallforamericanrenewal.com/

Worthwhile read:

Trump's stranglehold on the GOP is a death trap for American democracy
How the Republican Party — my party — has quietly participated in the systematic deconstruction of our republic.
Michael Steele, May 23, 2021

...From the day Trump descended that escalator to declare his presidential ambitions, many Republicans have been engaged in a grotesque and perverted dance with the devil. From the likes of Sens. Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz to Josh Hawley and now the tag team of disgraced Reps. Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene, my party has descended further into madness. And as the events of Jan. 6 remind us, such madness never leads to anything good.

Defeating ambition and ignorance with patriotism and intelligence will require us to follow Lincoln’s advice to engage one another and our nation around core principles for a successful American democracy like pluralism and civic responsibility; or the rule of law and Constitutional order, so as to make converts to truth and justice day by day, neighbor by neighbor, conversation by conversation. Yeah, we have some work to do; otherwise, this does not end well — for any of us.

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/trump-s-stranglehold-gop-death-trap-american-democ...

"Truth is hard stuff. But we've got a responsibility to it."

Alan He (CBS) @alanhe | 9:32 PM · May 27, 2021:
Senator Murkowski's 9 minute long reflection on 1/6 and the debate over the commission is worth a read/listen.

Audio (9:45): https://bit.ly/2QZNCon
Transcript: https://twitter.com/alanhe/status/1398089733276942350/photo/1

Interview:

Rep. Adam Kinzinger on the Moral Failure of Republicans and the Big Lie
David Marchese | July 2, 2021

...“I made the decision early in my career that I would be willing to take a potentially career-ending vote,” says (Illinois's Adam) Kinzinger, one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for inciting the attempted insurrection. “But I thought that vote would be for something like a Social Security reform bill. I never thought it would be for defending democracy.”...

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/07/05/magazine/adam-kinzinger-interview...

Republican Group Trolls Trump With Massive Billboard Reminding Him He's A Loser
Ed Mazza | October 14, 2021

A Republican group is using billboards to send a blunt message to Donald Trump and his supporters who are still pushing for endless election audits based on debunked claims of election fraud.

“TRUMP LOST,” the billboards from Republicans for Voting Rights read. “NO MORE ‘AUDITS.’”

One billboard is in Times Square in New York...The group said it plans to put up dozens of billboards in eight states, many near state capitol buildings and in locations where Trump supporters are pushing for audits, including Georgia, Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Michigan...

...The organization is part of of the Republican Accountability Project, which has been calling out GOP lawmakers who enabled Trump and supported the Jan. 6 insurrection.

https://news.yahoo.com/republican-group-trolls-trump-massive-085227836.html

House votes to hold former Trump adviser Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress
Savannah Behrmann | Oct 21, 2021

...nine Republicans voted to hold Bannon in contempt. That included
Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and
Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, both of whom serve on the Jan. 6 committee.

Other Republicans included
Michigan Reps. Fred Upton and
Peter Meijer,
Rep. John Katko of New York,
Rep. Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio,
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania,
Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, and
Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington...

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/10/21/steve-bannon-held-contem...

>124 margd: the usual suspects that you’d think might do that. Kinzinger and Cheney on the commission. Herrera Beutler who came within a hair’s breath of testifying against Trump at the second impeachment trial. Gonzalez, Meijer, Mace and Upton all targets to be primaried. Gonzalez I don’t think is running again. Katko’s done this before. Fitzpatrick I think might have done it too.

>125 lriley: A sadly small little tribe of Rs with any backbone at all. A low bar to enforce the credibility and reach of one's institution... Mace was a surprise?

I thought Mace was one of the few who okayed impeachment after January 6.

One would have thought the name "Cheney" would have trumped every other consideration in WY, where many Rs apparently now take direction from a ridiculous orange man in FL. Guess this means Cheney no longer needs to bother with R primary. If general electorate can spell "Murkowski" as a write-in candidate, I bet WY electorate can spell "Cheney". WY Rs may have done her a favor!

(Gotta admire her spine, if not her policies.)

Wyoming GOP votes to stop recognizing Liz Cheney as a Republican
The 31-29 vote by the state party central committee was the group's second official rebuke of Cheney over her criticism of former President Donald Trump.
Associated Press | Nov. 15, 2021

CASPER, Wyo. — The Wyoming Republican Party will no longer recognize Liz Cheney as a member of the GOP in its second formal rebuke for her criticism of former President Donald Trump.

The 31-29 vote Saturday in Buffalo, Wyoming, by the state party central committee followed votes by local GOP officials in about one-third of Wyoming’s 23 counties to no longer recognize Cheney as a Republican.

...Cheney is now facing at least four Republican opponents in the 2022 primary including Cheyenne attorney Harriet Hageman, whom Trump has endorsed. Hageman in a statement called the latest state GOP central committee vote “fitting”...

“Liz Cheney stopped recognizing what Wyomingites care about a long time ago. When she launched her war against President Trump, she completely broke with where we are as a state,” Hageman said.

In May, Republicans in Washington, D.C., removed Cheney from a top congressional GOP leadership position after she continued to criticize Trump’s false claims that voter fraud cost him re-election.

Cheney had survived an earlier attempt to remove her as chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, a role that shapes GOP messaging in the chamber.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/wyoming-gop-votes-stop-recognizin...

Wisconsin state senator, Kathleen Bernier, calls for the election review to be wrapped up sooner rather than later

https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2021/12/13/wisconsin-republican-kat...

GOP Rep. Tom Rice has said he regrets voting to sustain objections to the 2020 presidential election results in two states on Jan. 6 — and said former President Donald Trump was “responsible” for the riot that ravaged the Capitol that day.

Rice (R-SC) told Politico Wednesday that while he still believes there were “real issues with the election,” he wishes he had voted differently.
According to the outlet, Rice is believed to be the first GOP member of Congress to publicly disavow his Jan. 6 vote.

“In retrospect, I should have voted to certify,” Rice said. “Because President Trump was responsible for the attack on the Capitol.”

“In the wee hours of that disgraceful night, while waiting for the Capitol of our great country to be secured, I knew I should vote to certify,” he added. “But because I had made a public announcement of my intent to object, I did not want to go back on my word. So yeah, I regret my vote to object.”

https://nypost.com/2021/12/22/gop-rep-tom-rice-regrets-jan-6-objection-vote-says...

Elex Michaelson (Fox News LA) @Elex_Michaelson | 9:07 PM · Dec 23, 2021:

"This is the greatest Christmas gift!”
@Schwarzenegger donates 25 tiny homes to homeless vets at the VA in West LA.
For the first time in a long time, these vets are now off the streets.

2:19 ( https://twitter.com/Elex_Michaelson/status/1474199947541049347 )

>131 margd: That's cool!

Several establishment Republicans push back on party's punishment of Cheney and Kinzinger
Shawna Mizelle | February 4, 2022

..."Shame falls on a party that would censure persons of conscience, who seek truth in the face of vitriol. Honor attaches to Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for seeking truth even when doing so comes at great personal cost," (Utah Sen. Mitt) Romney said in a tweet.

"The RNC is censuring Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger because they are trying to find out what happened on January 6th - HUH?" Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who voted to convict Trump over his role in the riot, tweeted as the RNC's motion advanced.

"The GOP I believe in is the party of freedom and truth. It's a sad day for my party—and the country—when you're punished just for expressing your beliefs, standing on principle, and refusing to tell blatant lies," Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan wrote on Twitter...

https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/04/politics/romney-gop-cheney-kinzinger-censure-vote...
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Bill Kristol (Bulwark) @BillKristol | 2:51 PM · Feb 4, 2022:
Why I'm not now a Republican.
Here's establishment Republican @billpalatucci , who objects to Cheney's censure: “We should be spending our time shooting at Democrats, not Republicans.”
No.
We should be spending our time defending democracy.

The person the RNC should be censuring is Donald Trump (who thinks we should pardon the people who violently attacked the Capitol on January 6)

Latest live shot from the RNC meeting.
Photo of sheep ( https://twitter.com/BillKristol/status/1489680427778551811/photo/1 )

No discussion, no debate, no recorded vote. It's not a political party. It's a herd of sheep.
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Tim Miller (Bulwark) @Timodc | 1:20 PM · Feb 4, 2022:
This video is a microcosm of 7 year “good republican” whimper.

When asked for objection to motion to censure Liz/Adam there’s silence. Then on vote there’s a smattering of anonymous nays from ppl who want to tell their lib friends they voted right without angering the MAGA mob

Quote Tweet
Allan Smith (NBC News) @akarl_smith · 15h
VIDEO (0:45) https://twitter.com/akarl_smith/status/1489661748110004226

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G.O.P. Declares Jan. 6 Attack ‘Legitimate Political Discourse’
Jonathan Weisman and Reid J. Epstein | Published Feb. 4, 2022

The Republican National Committee voted to censure Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger* for participating in the inquiry into the deadly riot at the Capitol.

...Most House Republicans tried to ignore the actions of the party on Friday, refusing to answer questions or saying they had not read the censure resolution...

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/04/us/politics/republicans-jan-6-cheney-censure....

* https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/02/04/us/rnc-resolution-censure-cheney-...

‘He is wrong’: Pence rebuts Trump claim that he could have overturned election (Guardian)

Mike Pence, the former US vice president, has issued his strongest rebuke yet of Donald Trump, insisting that his old boss is “wrong” to claim that Pence could have overturned the 2020 election... “I heard this week that president Trump said I had the right to overturn the election,” Pence told a conference hosted by the conservative Federalist Society in Florida on Friday. “President Trump is wrong. I had no right to overturn the election.” The Republican former governor of Indiana added: “The presidency belongs to the American people and the American people alone. Frankly there is almost no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president... Under the constitution, I had no right to change the outcome of our election..."

>133 margd:
Principles First @Principles_1st | 7:08 PM · Feb 5, 2022:

GOV. HUTCHINSON (R-AR): “The censure resolution by the RNC is wrong; undermines respect for our rule of law; & divides our party unnecessarily. I am grateful for those courageous dissenters in the RNC vote.”

Thank you, Gov. Keep speaking up.

Renewed opposition to Trump stirs among establishment Republicans (Guardian)

There are different constellations in the Never Trump firmament and it’s unclear if they can unite...

Republican Kinzinger: I should have voted to impeach Trump over Ukraine (Guardian)

One of two Republicans on the House January 6 committee has said he regrets his vote against the first impeachment of Donald Trump, for withholding military aid to Ukraine in an attempt to obtain dirt on rivals including Joe Biden. In tweets posted on Friday, as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continued, with cities besieged and bombarded, Adam Kinzinger said: “I want to be honest, in Congress I have only a few votes that in hinds{igh}t, I regret. My biggest regret was voting against the first impeachment of Donald Trump. “It’s important for political leaders to be transparent and admit regret when needed. The bottom line, Donald Trump withheld lethal aid to Ukraine so he could use it as leverage for his campaign. This is a shameful and illegal act, directly hurting the Ukraine defense today. I wish I could go back in time and vote for it, but I cannot. What we can do now is to ensure that this never happens again, and that we all put the interests of our nation above our party"...

January 6 ‘was a coup organized by the president’, says Jamie Raskin
Member of House Capitol attack panel says hearings will focus on Trump’s bid to cling to power
Ankita Rao | 20 Apr 2022

...“This was a coup organized by the president against the vice-president and against the Congress in order to overturn the 2020 presidential election,” (Jamie) Raskin said ...

...“We’re going to tell the whole story of everything that happened. There was a violent insurrection and an attempted coup and we were saved by Mike Pence’s refusal to go along with that plan,” said Raskin.

He was referring to Trump’s vice-president, who went ahead in his role of overseeing the certification of Biden’s win, which was delayed until the early hours of the following day after Pence and other lawmakers, staff and journalists ended up running for their lives as rioters stormed the building, shortly after Trump held a rally near the White House exhorting his supporters to “fight like hell”...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/apr/19/donald-trump-jamie-raskin-januar...

Texas death row prisoner Melissa Lucio granted stay of execution (Guardian)

The Texas court of criminal appeals has issued a stay of execution for Melissa Lucio, the Mexican-American woman who was set to be judicially killed within 48 hours, ordering a lower court to consider new evidence of her innocence in the death of her two-year-old daughter Mariah...

Jeff Leach, the Republican lawmaker who led the push in the Texas House for a delay of execution, greeted the news of the stay with delight, saying it would secure “justice for Melissa and for Mariah and the entire Lucio family”. Earlier, Leach told the Guardian in an interview that the failings of the prosecution in Lucio’s case had shaken his belief in the death penalty. He said her treatment had “given me great pause and made me reconsider my stance on whether this is the way we want to do things in the state of Texas”. Leach has been at the forefront of efforts by Texas lawmakers to persuade the authorities to postpone the execution. He orchestrated a letter to the board of pardons signed by 80 House members, 32 of whom are Republican. A similar letter has been sent by 20 Texas senators, eight Republican...

Well done Mr Leach!

House Republican Withdraws From Reelection After Daring To Support Gun Reforms
Kate Riga | June 3, 2022

Rep. Chris Jacobs (R) announced Friday that he is withdrawing from his reelection bid after his recent comments in favor of gun reform made him a pariah to his party.

The first-term congressman, whose district in New York sits just miles from the Buffalo grocery store where 10 shoppers were shot and killed last month, acknowledged the political risk of embracing reforms — including a federal assault weapons ban, limits on high-capacity magazines, raising the required age for certain gun sales to 21 and banning the sale of body armor to the public — at the time.

“I can’t in good conscience sit back and say I didn’t try to do something,” he said then...

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/house-republican-gun-reform-buffalo

“I say this to my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible,” #LizCheney said at Thursday night’s opening hearing of the Jan. 6 House select committee. “There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain.”

Mic drop 🎤

- Laurence Tribe tribelaw | 4:47 AM · Jun 10, 2022

Liz Cheney Will Not Tolerate Trump’s Lies
Frank Bruni | June 9, 2022

“I keep waiting for Liz Cheney to flinch….. But no. She’s all in and she’s all steel. It could well be the political death of her. Or it could give her a kind of immortality more meaningful than any office.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/09/opinion/liz-cheney-trump-january-6.html

⁦

Righteous for a Day

Mike Pence

Amanda Carpenter (Bulwark) @amandacarpenter | 10:35 PM · Jun 29, 2022:
Watch this clip. In its entirety. She clearly lays out the case against Trump. And the choice before us. Listen to the applause.

Quote Tweet
The Republican Accountability Project @AccountableGOP · Jun 29
Powerful words from @Liz_Cheney at the Reagan Presidential Library:
"The reality that we face today as Republicans, as we think about the choice in front of us, we have to choose because Republicans cannot both be loyal to Donald Trump and loyal to the constitution."
1:57 ( https://twitter.com/amandacarpenter/status/1542336018757685251 )