New York Times Doesn't Think Republicans Have Any Political Legitimacy

On Friday, the Republican National Committee voted to censure Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) for their part in normalizing the theater of the absurd in Washington by joining Democrats on the hyper-partisan Jan. 6 Committee.

The party, facing an existential crisis, believes in the old adage “we must all hang together or we will surely hang separately.” The censure resolution reflected the practical political belief that this was no time for GOP disunion and that an example must be made to prevent further defections.

The censure resolution speaks for itself.

WHEREAS, The Conference must not be sabotaged by Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam
Kinzinger who have demonstrated, with actions and words, that they support Democrat efforts to destroy President Trump more than they support winning back a Republican majority in 2022;

WHEREAS, Representatives Cheney and Kinzinger have engaged in actions in their positions as members of the January 6th Select Committee not befitting Republican members of Congress, which include the Committee’s disregard for minority rights, traditional checks and balances, due process, and adherence to other precedent and rules of the U.S. House and which seem intent on advancing a political agenda to buoy the Democrat Party’s bleak prospects in the upcoming midterm elections;

The above is undeniable. Democrats have ridden roughshod over the concept of minority rights — and not just with the formation of this partisan committee but also in their efforts to destroy the filibuster, the most important guarantor of those rights.

As far as rules and precedents of the House go, Democrats tossed those under the bus long ago.

Then the RNC pointed out something that Democrats and the media have been ignoring since Jan. 6:

WHEREAS, Representatives Cheney and Kinzinger are participating in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse, and they are both
utilizing their past professed political affiliation to mask Democrat abuse of prosecutorial power for partisan purposes;

According to a report recently released by the Secret Service, there were 120,000 pro-Trump protesters on the Ellipse before the riot at the Capitol.

President Trump departing shortly! pic.twitter.com/sU7od2axPw

— Dan Scavino Jr.🇺🇸🦅 (@DanScavino) January 6, 2021

These people — peacefully assembling, as is their right — and the organizers of the rally are being smeared and have been declared guilty by association. They have been investigated, interviewed by the FBI, and their records have been subpoenaed. Some of them have been fired from their jobs for being in that crowd and nowhere near the Capitol.

But the New York Times ignored the fact that these thousands and thousands of Americans exercising their legitimate right were worthy of defense by the RNC. They headlined their story, “G.O.P. Declares Jan. 6 Attack ‘Legitimate Political Discourse.'”

The Republican Party on Friday officially declared the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and events that led to it “legitimate political discourse,” and rebuked two lawmakers in the party who have been most outspoken in condemning the deadly riot and the role of Donald J. Trump in spreading the election lies that fueled it.

That’s a lie. The RNC did not, in any way, shape, or form, declare the riot legitimate political discourse. And the Times knows it.

After the vote, party leaders rushed to clarify that language, saying it was never meant to apply to rioters who violently stormed the Capitol in Mr. Trump’s name.

Cheney and Kinzinger chose to join Pelosi in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens who engaged in legitimate political discourse that had nothing to do with violence at the Capitol.

The NYT needs to correct this story now, or again expose themselves as political hacks.

— Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) February 4, 2022

The Times also refuses to make a distinction between the violent rioters and the far greater number of peaceful protesters.

But the censure, which was carefully negotiated in private among party members, made no such distinction, nor is the House committee investigating the attack examining any normal political debate.

Another lie or perhaps just plain ignorance. The House Jan. 6 Committee is examing records of those who organized the political rally on the Ellipse. They had absolutely nothing to do with the riot yet are being dragged through the mud.

Finally, there’s this bit of deliberate mischaracterization.

In approving it and opting to punish two of its own, Republicans seemed to embrace a position that many of them have only hinted at: that the assault and the actions that preceded it were acceptable.

“Seemed to embrace”? What kind of “journalism” is that?  They either embrace it or they didn’t. Ronna McDaniel was wrong. They’ve already exposed themselves as “hacks.”

And again, the Times fails to separate the legitimate political expression embodied in the rally on the Ellipse from the illegitimate storming of the Capitol building. It’s not that they’re incapable. It’s that they are knowingly assisting in the destruction of the opposition party.

This is why Cheney and Kinzinger are being punished. They have a big problem with “enemy identification,” and if they can’t see what the Democrats are doing in trying to delegitimize legal and traditional political opposition, they don’t belong in the Republican camp.