“In our nation’s 246-year history,” the ad begins, “there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump.”

So it starts off with a whopper, an utterly laughable claim, and it doesn’t get much better. Barack Obama, for one, did far greater damage to our republic than Donald Trump could ever hope to do. One needn’t look beyond our hyper-politicized criminal justice system and the hollowing out of our once-proud military and the doubling of our national debt to see the results of eight years of Obama. But Dick Cheney continues on:

He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. He is a coward. A real man wouldn’t lie to his supporters. He lost this election, and he lost big. I know it, he knows it, and deep down, I think most Republicans know it. Lynn and I are so proud of Liz for standing up for the truth, doing what’s right, honoring her oath to the Constitution when so many in our party are too scared to do so. Liz is fearless. She never backs down from a fight. There is nothing more important she will ever do than lead the effort to make sure Donald Trump is never again near the Oval Office. And she will succeed. I am Dick Cheney. I proudly voted for my daughter. I hope you will, too.“

It was an odd bit of teleprompter reading for the former vice president, the guy who nobly wore the black hat, and took the slings and arrows, and helped lead our nation through the post-911 years. Pay close attention, and you’ll see that he only blinks once during the entire thing.

”‘Never Has America Faced A Greater Threat Than Donald Trump,’ Says Guy Who Started Two Wars And Shot A Dude In The Face.“

That’s the brilliant retort of The Babylon Bee, and it kneecaps the entire ad before it even gets out of the gate.

Sure, it’s easy now to look back on the Bush years and think about those two horrendous wars and their awful costs both human and financial. Trump sure did, campaigning against the Bush-Cheney wars. It’s easy to look back on those onerous anti-terrorism policies and the dangerous intelligence apparatus they created and think we could’ve done a far better job of safeguarding American liberty. It’s easy to reevaluate them in hindsight. But back then, we all knew in our bones that the next attack was coming. We just knew it. And while George W. Bush was The Decider, Dick Cheney was the architect. And he, more than anyone, kept our nation safe by taking the fight directly to the jihadists.

Sadly, though, rather than fade away in peaceful retirement after a long and distinguished career in public service, Dick Cheney has come unhinged. Perhaps precisely because Trump won after repudiating his work, he’s as stricken with Trump Derangement Syndrome as anyone we can imagine. Except maybe his daughter, Liz, whose only mission in life seems to be that of defending her dad’s honor and thereby becoming the sorry face of the Never Trumpers.

Next week, on Tuesday, she’s expected to pay the price for her useful idiocy as the leading "Republican” on Nancy Pelosi’s nakedly political show trial known as the January 6 committee. Harriet Hageman, Trump’s pick to replace Cheney as Wyoming’s only congressional representative, holds a commanding 22-point lead in the contest according to a recent Casper Star-Tribune poll. Hageman leads Cheney 52% to 30%, with 11% of voters somehow being undecided. In a way, it’s remarkable that the margin is that close, given that Trump carried this state in 2020 by a whopping 43 points. And it shows the sorry desperation of Cheney that she’s been reduced to begging for Wyoming’s Democrats to cross over and vote for her in the Republican primary.

What a disgrace.

“In Liz Cheney’s world,” begins a recent op-ed from Hageman, “she’s the only one whose opinion matters — to the point where any competing points of view are not only discounted, but purposely suppressed and ignored. This is why all her preening over her self-described work to ‘protect the Constitution’ is landing with a loud thud in Wyoming. Our voters are smart enough to see what she’s up to, and protecting the Constitution isn’t it.”

Hageman’s campaign ad is simple, straightforward, and hard-hitting:

“Cheney has repeatedly stated that her main goal for the committee is to make sure Trump ‘never gets near the Oval Office again,’” Hageman’s op-ed continues. “Someone should break it to her that it’s not her job to make that decision — to tell tens of millions of Americans who they can and cannot vote for in an election. It’s also not Congress’ role to play the prosecutor, judge, and jury. What they are doing is a violation of the separation of powers and it makes a mockery of the Constitution, the very document Cheney claims to be defending.”

That’s a sad and powerful indictment of what Liz Cheney has become. And, as a closing argument, it should be more than enough to bring about the end of her political career when the Cowboy State’s Republicans go to the polls next Tuesday.