While Tim Walz and Kamala Harris are campaigning with Liz Cheney and promoting an endorsement from her father, Dick Cheney, comedian Jon Stewart seems to be indicating there’s still some ‘Bad Blood’ there.
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See what I did there?
Walz appeared with Stewart on “The Daily Show” on Monday. The host immediately made it clear that asking voters to hold their noses while they try to sell them on the Cheney “we’re saving democracy” tour is not ideal.
“The Cheney thing — do we really have to do that?” asked a sheepish Stewart.
Walz immediately assumed the comment was referencing the elder Cheney. And he offered an incredible comparison.
“Look, it goes farther than that. Look, Bernie Sanders, Dick Cheney, Taylor Swift —”
One of those things is not like the others.
Stewart immediately interjected by repeating the word “no” over and over again before half-heartedly joking that the pop star didn’t lead us into any endless wars.
“You can’t Dick Cheney or Taylor Swift. No!” he insisted. “What country did Taylor Swift get us to invade? No!”
Dick Cheney, it should be noted, was universally reviled as an integral figure in the “weapons of mass destruction” intelligence failure that led to a nearly nine-year war in Iraq that cost countless military and civilian lives.
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He spied on Americans and brought back torture tactics. He left office with a 13 percent approval rating from the American people.
Still, Walz believes Dick and Liz Cheney will draw in very specific blocs of voters. Particularly—the Gadsden flag-waving libertarians.
“There is still a core group of folks out there. You know, your point being, the Don’t Tread on Me, the Reagan piece of this, the libertarian piece of this, the Constitutional piece – There are a lot of people out there,” he explained.
“I think Liz Cheney and Dick Cheney give permission to those folks who want to find a reason to do the right thing.”
Libertarians might be surprised to learn that Dick Cheney is now their new standard-bearer. You know, one of the most ardent advocates of the Patriot Act.
The Patriot Act, you may recall, was rushed through in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. It granted the U.S. government sweeping surveillance powers in the name of combatting terrorism, including the domestic variety.
“Domestic terrorism,” by the Patriot Act’s definition, includes any activity that “appears to be intended“ to “influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion.”
The ACLU describes the Patriot Act as “the first of many changes to surveillance laws that made it easier for the government to spy on ordinary Americans.”
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The Department of Justice, according to an unsealed court document, used the “domestic terrorism’” measure in the Patriot Act to obtain search warrants against January 6th defendants.
That’s what Walz is hoping Libertarians will overlook. But rest assured, the Harris campaign – he says with a wink and a nod – is just using the Cheney name. They don’t support Liz and Dick’s policies.
“It doesn’t mean they agree with us,” said Walz. “We’re not going to take their foreign policy decisions and discussions, you know, and implement those.”
That comment seemed enough to placate the eminently unintelligent Stewart.
“Promise?” he whimpered, putting his head down and rubbing his forehead.
Walz assured, “Yes, promise. It’s a stressful time.”
“It’s a stressful time!” Stewart shouted back.
Walz has used the Cheney/Taylor Swift big tent analogy before.
“I’m as surprised as anybody of this coalition that Kamala Harris has built, from Bernie Sanders to Dick Cheney to Taylor Swift,” he said during the vice presidential debate.
He was wearing what Billboard described as “Eras Tour-inspired friendship bracelets” at the time.
Pop stars, comedians who pretend to be journalists, a guy they used to call Darth Vader, and some friendship bracelets are what Wlalz and Harris offer.
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Libertarians and conservatives aren’t falling for it. The Cheneys, both Liz and Dick, bring them zero voters.
Cheney has alternately been criticized by Democrats and the media for decades as being a warmonger or even to some extent – a war criminal who enjoys torture.
Now he’s going to help unite them with libertarians to save democracy.
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