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Friedman: The Republican plot against Cheney and democracy

Photo by Amanda Andrade-Rhoades of The Associated Press / Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming, smiles after being ousted from her leadership role in the House Republican Conference at U.S. Capitol in Washington on Wednesday, May 12, 2021. Photo by Amanda Andrade-Rhoades of The Associated Press / Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming, smiles after being ousted from her leadership role in the House Republican Conference at U.S. Capitol in Washington on Wednesday, May 12, 2021.

By Thomas L. Friedman / The New York Times May 12, 2021 4 min read

I met a girl who sang the blues

And I asked her for some happy news

But she just smiled and turned away

– “American Pie”

I didn’t want to write again about the House Republicans ousting Liz Cheney from their leadership for calling out Donald Trump’s Big Lie. I was going to make this my week for happy news. But to write about anything else would be like writing a column about the weather the day after Watergate exploded or about Ford Theater’s architecture after Lincoln was shot. This is a big moment in American history.