The funeral for former Vice President Dick Cheney took place Thursday morning at Washington National Cathedral. Cheney, who passed earlier this month after battling heart disease, was a divisive figure, yet at this funeral, you’d have thought he was universally beloved. And boy, does that make me angry.
For years, the only person the left hated more than George W. Bush was Dick Cheney. But years later, their attitudes changed for both men. After calling both men “Hitler,” their distaste for Trump and the MAGA agenda changed everything. Suddenly, they were acceptable Republicans, brave and honest critics of the evil Donald Trump, the left’s new Hitler incarnate.
Joe Biden even showed up to the funeral, despite once labeling him “the most dangerous vice president we’ve had probably in American history.” However, President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance were notably absent. Both were reportedly not invited amid the bitter divide between establishment Republicans and Trump’s MAGA faction.
This is how it works. As long as you hate Trump, you’re part of the “in crowd.”
We’ve seen this kind of thing before. During the 2008 presidential campaign, Joe Biden called John McCain “an angry man” and accused him of playing “the low road.” Barack Obama accused McCain of racism, and the campaign accused McCain of being too old and frail for the presidency. Yet both men eulogized McCain at his 2018 funeral.
Welcome to Washington hypocrisy.
The bipartisan praise at Cheney’s funeral, though superficially noble, felt like yet another act in the long-running theater of two-faced political posturing. And I’m sick of it. It’s the same phoniness we’ve seen over and over again, a pattern so predictable it’s insulting that we’re expected to fall for it. For a fleeting moment after the attempted assassination of President Trump last year, Democrats feigned concern over political violence, only to dive back into the same bitter, hateful rhetoric as if nothing had happened. The same hollow ritual played out after the assassination of Charlie Kirk in September.
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The pattern is impossible to ignore: Democrats and Republicans hurl vile insults at each other every day, only to issue solemn statements and deliver heartfelt eulogies when tragedy hits.
I know there’s a counterargument here that such things are merely a noble display of respect, but to me, it just comes across as blatant hypocrisy. It’s performative politics at its most cynical and, frankly, insulting, and I can’t stand it. Today’s foes become tomorrow’s mourners, and past insults are swept under the rug before the eulogies are delivered.
Imagine if these leaders actually treated each other with respect during critical moments. How much better would our political discourse be if Democrats stopped casually calling their opponents Hitler or fascists and instead aimed for genuine cooperation to help the American people?
Ultimately, Cheney’s funeral was the latest example of the insincerity that defines Washington. Cheney deserved a dignified send-off, but when you see former enemies who regularly trashed the man suddenly mourning him. I’m sorry, but it’s just an unmistakable showcase of Washington’s cynicism and insincerity.
