Letters to the Editor: Another gutless Republican refusal to honor the courageous Liz Cheney
To the editor: While reading the first paragraph of Mark Z. Barabak’s column on the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation’s annual award for political courage, former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) immediately sprang to mind. Is there anyone in America today who has more openly put her country before her party and shown more personal political courage than Cheney? No.
In ignoring her nomination for the award, however, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation’s board proved it is just like every other Republican these days. Its reasoning that Cheney was considering a run for president and giving her the award could jeopardize the foundation’s tax-exempt status was baloney.
Fear of backlash from former President Trump’s supporters seems to have been the board’s real reason.
Had every non-MAGA Republican just stood up with Cheney immediately after Jan. 6, 2021, Trump would not be running for president now. Shame on all of them for their cowardice and lack of concern for the American people, let alone the future of our democracy.
Kathryn Zaremski, Mission Viejo
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To the editor: Whether the late President Ford would go MAGA, of course, is a rhetorical question. Ford was a traditional, rock-ribbed, Midwest Republican who embraced the American values of individual freedom and small government.
While supporting Big Business and anti-union politics, Ford still supported the ideal of American democracy. He, in no shape or form, would have countenanced the fascism that has enveloped the GOP today.
Please, America, understand the difference between Western conservative ideology and the fascism on display in the Republican Party today. After all, there is a world of difference between the likes of Benito Mussolini and Gerald Ford.
Bob Teigan, Santa Susana
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To the editor: Reading Cheney’s memoir “Oath and Honor,” describing her experiences and actions during and after the attempted coup on Jan. 6, 2021, I was impressed by her clear-eyed, resolute commitment to getting to the truth, no matter where the facts led her. From the beginning of her work on the House Jan.6 committee, she was aware of the consequences to her career and her safety.
She is the definition of courage, sacrifice, character, sound judgment and love of country. Yet by failing to honor Cheney, and by failing to acknowledge former board member David Hume Kennerly’s fitting nomination, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation has rendered its annual honor for courage virtually meaningless.
The current board members, if they had half the bravery of Cheney, would step down.
Paula Waxman, Los Angeles
