Cheney Triumphs in Conference Vote

Plus: Russia sentences opposition leader Alexei Navalny to prison.

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Happy Thursday! Two of your Morning Dispatchers spent seven hours in N95 masks yesterday, and we now have an even greater appreciation for all of our readers who work in health care. Thank you for all you do!

Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories

  • The Justice Department on Wednesday dropped a lawsuit filed by the Trump administration that alleged Yale University illegally discriminated against Asian-American and white undergraduate applicants.

  • Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell finally came to an agreement on an organizing resolution that will dictate how the two parties share power in a 50-50 Senate. The resolution easily passed the chamber, allowing Democrats to officially take control of committees. 

  • Two days after raiding a series of democratically-elected leaders’ homes, Myanmar’s military has formally charged the country’s leader—Aung San Suu Kyi—with illegally importing walkie-talkie radios. The minor infraction gives the armed forces legal grounds to keep Suu Kyi in detention.

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  1. David B.

    The Liz Cheney vote and Ben Sasse's statement to the Nebraska GOP give me hope that maybe the conservative wing of the Republican party will manage to survive and take back the GOP. The unwillingness to call out Greene gives me hesitancy. Overall though, that Cheney vote, especially the margin, by secret ballot, says there is good hope for the non Trump worshippers.

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  2. Bill Brockman

    Responding to today's most excellent question: Those members of the current Republican Party who remain loyal to Mr. Trump form a new Know Nothing Party and beseech Mr. Trump to embrace them. After approaching the Democratic Party with a promise to bring all his working-class followers to its ranks, even vowing to renounce his views on abortion and embrace all things pro-choice since, as he explained, his pro-life statements were made just to get the gullible to vote for him, he is spurned. The Democrats explain that while the offer was extremely tempting, they figured their current crop of candidates could just as easily dupe people into thinking that they really do have the best interests of the middle-class working man/woman/trans/bi/gay/les/cis/queer/etc at heart. Their many hard working, middle-class benefactors like Cher, George Clooney, Bill Gates, George Soros, Lady GAGA, etc applaud the integrity of their beloved party. Mr. Trump, Like Millard Filmore in 1856, reluctantly joins forces with his beloved Proud Boys/Know Nothings and launches into his 2024 campaign, eventually winning 15% of the popular vote, filing 79 unsuccessful lawsuits claiming fraud and again trying to storm the Capitol but raising a crowd of only 23 mentally unstable souls who quietly disperse when their peerless leader again promises to walk with them but instead gets into a helicopter and flies off to Argentina, which by that time has no extradition treaty with the U.S. When Mr. Trump emerges months after the election, he places the blame squarely on his running mate, Rudi Giuliani, stating that they surely would have won if Mr. Guiliani had just listened to his advice not to use shoe polish to die his hair and not to campaign in warm weather. What's left of the current Republican Party, realizing that it should not keep that name since it will forever be associated with Donald J. Trump, and being deeply divided between those who embrace his ideology and those who recognize that Mr. Trump had no ideology other than self aggrandizement, that is, the few remaining sane members of the party, cannot agree on a name or a platform. Therfore, they further split into the American Party and the Whigs. Thus divided, the late, unlamented Republican Party does not field a candidate in the 2024 election. The Know Nothings, American Party and Whigs are soundly trounced in the 2024 and 2026 elections and, like their namesakes, simply disappear. The Democratic Party, with Kamala Harris and AOC heading the ticket (Mr. Biden, having finally fulfilled Jonah's prediction and shouting "get those squirrels off of me" in the middle of his 2022 State of the Union Address and resigning his office, saying "the stress was just too much for an average Joe like me") retain control of all branches of government in 2024 and 2026. Between 2021 and 2028, however, they find that the various identity groups that compose their party have so little in common beyond a visceral hatred of Mr. Trump and Republicans, both of which are gone from the American scene by 2022, that they can pass no legislation of any consequence. Thus, they, too, splinter, but into 100 parties. In 2028, John Bel Edwards of Louisiana, currently that most rare of all politicians, a pro-life, Second Amendment-supporting Democrat, presents himself for election under the banner of the newly formed Christian Republican Party and is swept into office, becoming the first Catholic who embraces all the teachings of his faith to hold the office of POTUS! Making good on his commitment to Make America Good Again, Mr. Edwards wins re-election and the country enters a Golden Era of decency, generosity and real strength. We all live happily ever after. The End!

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    JonathanRRogers

    I know they were just reporting what the Secretary of State said, but I wish TMD would have pointed out that the United States has not yet formally agreed to extend the New Start treaty. The Senate has not voted to ratify the extension. The Senate did vote to ratify the original treaty in 2010.

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    Pat Riot

    Well folks, *now* we have a much better idea about what's going to happen to the Republican party: Republicans just voted 199-11 for MTG and her denial of Sandy Hook, her jewish space lasers, and her belief in pedophile cannibals.

    That conveniently breaks down to 95% of the Republican party being controlled by Trump, Alex Jones, and Ted Cruz, and 5% of the party being controlled by Romney, Sasse, and the 11 now-walking-dead Republicans in the House who just went against their party.

    Interestingly enough, the ratio in the Senate appears to be on track to be the exact same as the House: only 5 GOP Senators appear to be ready to vote against Trump's attack on the Capitol on 1/6, with 45 poised to exonerate him.

    MTG, Trump, Bobert, Hawley, Cruz, Alex Jones, Sean Hannity... this is the Republican party now. The "lunatic fringe" of the GOP is 95% of it.

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      Jen

      Btw Cheney was a no vote. I probably would have been to. I think parties should deal with their own. If Republicans were in control and wanted to strip Ilhan Omar from committees I doubt Democrats would have agreed.

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        Pat Riot

        Yep, it's a good reminder that Cheney might draw the line at 1/6, but Q-Anon is a-okay if it helps her party win elections in certain places.

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    rlritt

    "After all, according to a new Axios/SurveyMonkey poll, Greene is significantly more popular with GOP voters than Cheney is, +10 net favorability to -28" This is awful. It might be wise to start ignoring Greene. She's getting way too much attention. The Cheney wasn't removed from leadership because the vote anonymous. I bet if it wasn't a lot of the spineless Trumpites would have voted against her. Outrageous!

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      Bill Nelson

      “It might be wise to start ignoring Greene.”
      Ya think?

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    Jen

    Ben Sasse responds to the Nebraska GOP censure with a wonderful video statement. Another testament to why I am a Sasse stan. 😊
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jCnUHNeTkg&feature=emb_title&ab_channel=SasseforNebraska

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    GREG BROWN

    What are the odds-makers giving Navalny leaves prison in a box?

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      Cornelius O’Brien

      Biggest question. I doubt he’s expecting martyrdom.

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      Man-Eating Cow

      I don't think anyone's taking that bet.

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  8. Dicklowery

    Question “What do you think happens to the Republican Party?“

    I don’t really know - at least in the short term.

    The nonsense quotient for large sections of both major parties is currently a 12 (on a scale of 1 to 10). I recall the quote from Mr. James Petigru of South Carolina who said in 1860 regarding the political madness that led up to his state seceding from the Union, “South Carolina is too small for a republic, but too large for an insane asylum.” Hence the insane asylum wing of the GOP in particular is getting crowded. ( May soon be standing room only!)

    The National Republicans (1820’s), the Whigs (1830’s) and the Republicans (1850’s) were all formed as an amalgamation of disparate factions opposed to the Democratic Party. The first two parties listed above fell apart - broadly speaking- when the glue that held them together weakened to the point when their internal differences exceeded their opposition to the Democrats. The Democratic Party is by its nature more tribal and can weather internal divisiveness better than these opposition parties which tend to representative of the broad general public (again speaking high level.) The GOP has been able to stay together since 1860 because of election laws enacted in the late 19th makes it more difficult for 3rd parties to gain national economies of scales and because GOP internal party gatekeepers have tempered positions between the party factions and have generally been able to control the knuckleheads; hence keeping the party framework intact.

    Various factions have dictated the GOP direction (T. Roosevelt progressivism, Dewey eastern establishments, Reaganite anti communist/ sorta free marketism). But these factions were able to moderate themselves and compromise. Now the crazy uncle section - descendants from the 1850 Know Nothing Party wing - which has always been a part of the party but was kept under control by gate keepers has made it’s noisy presence known and drowns out others even though it is a minority in numbers. It also demands purity tests from other factions which weakens the intraparty ability to work out intraparty compromises- which are required in a big tent two party system.

    The GOP will most likely find new ways to reinstall mechanisms to manage their factions and tamp down their insane asylum wing so as to again present a viable opposition center/ right alternative on the national stage. At least historically both parties have done this (since the civil war). The question is how long will it take the GOP to figure this out. Recently, It took the Democrats 3 election cycles to do this - 1980 to 1992. Hopefully it will not be that long for the GOP. ‘Cause 12+ years of Democratic Party rule - given their current policy preferences- ain’t gonna be pretty.

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  9. Tony Rice

    I have no idea where the party is headed, but there can be no denying that the strongest and most revered person in that room last night was Liz Cheney.

    Next to her, McCarthy comes across as Spanky from the Little Rascals.

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      Bill Nelson

      McCarthy is the little weasel who was trying to capture Foghorn Leghorn.

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    Seth B

    Imagine the GOP Representatives putting up one of those dopey lawn signs: "In THIS house, we believe that..."

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    1. Joe1776

      "In THIS house, we believe that... "F_____ __fill in democrat____"

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    2. Anonymous

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      1. Ryan

        The yard sign wars are where the true battles of our time will be fought!

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          JeffQ

          You mean like a turf war?

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