Dear Editor:

As Wyoming’s Al Simpson put it, “If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.”

Liz Cheney is not now, has never been, and never will be, an advocate for the agenda of the Democratic Party. Her voting record in Congress has been aligned with Republican Party policy nearly 100%. Her politics garnered her sufficient support from her Republican colleagues to place her in their third highest leadership position after only three years. Her politics earned her resounding victories in the last three Wyoming elections. Her politics and effectiveness in office earned her the fierce support of Ms. Harriet Hageman. And Cheney’s politics have remained consistent and conservative over time.

The 2022 election is extraordinary. This one is not our usual debate on whether Republicans or Democrats have better ideas on how to govern. This time, the U.S. House race is about the core or what we cherish about the United States of America — the principles to which the founders pledged “our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor” on that Fourth of July long ago. It’s about free and fair elections and the peaceful transfer of power to which we Americans were firmly committed for the 230 years before 2020. It’s about integrity.

Last May, Liz Cheney received the Profile in Courage award from the John F. Kennedy Foundation. Cheney is demonstrating courage in holding to her oath of office to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic.”

Donald Trump and his acolytes have trampled the Constitution and vandalized our democracy in their desperate efforts to deny an election he clearly lost. Both Republicans and Democrats win and lose elections, and through it all, the integrity of the process is essential. Each of us, as voters and patriots, can and should put integrity first. 

Regards,

Bern Hinckley

Laramie