Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Liz Cheney, Congresswoman from Wyoming?


 The small size of the "official portrait" is the one easily downloadable, and in the public domain, but it reflects the views of a lot of Wyoming natives about "our" Congresswoman, born in Wisconsin, raised as a child in Casper and Washington, graduating from high school in Virginia and rediscovering Wyoming when she correctly assessed that she might be able to use her father's memory to launch a political career here.

Recently elected Congresswoman Liz Cheney, of Virginia but a Wyomingite by way of the thin connection of Jackson Hole, has, in the words of the Tribune "irked" sportsmen by her vote to make the transfer of public lands budget neutral.

"Outraged" was the world used in the article itself.

I'm not outraged as I never expected her to act like she was from here. She's from the State of Money and Power.  Not Wyoming.  I truly wonder to what extent, on an issue like this, she's even bothered to inform herself.  Of course, in a theoretical defense of her actions, votes on these sorts of resolutions are extraordinarily anti democratic and basically make a joke out of democratic pretenses as they lump so many things together that nobody really knows what they are voting for, quite often.  The newly nominated Secretary of the Interior, who is from Montana and who is opposed to such transfers, also voted for this and is catching a lot of flack.

Unlike that fellow, however Cheney's spokesman had come out with the bottle of pablum to feed to the voters about how this assures that such lands will be administered by those in Wyoming and Wyoming industry. No, they won't. They'll assure that they are sold to the highest bidder and that's not going to be anyone we know. They won't even live here.

Well, while she likely thought that everyone holds the same views of her circle, she's likely learning otherwise now. She probably wants to hang on to her seat at least until she can secure an appointment to something else, which I'd bet dollars to donuts is her goal.  Wyomingites who do not wish to transfer public lands into the hands of the out of state wealthy should get in touch with her and let her know how they feel.  The next higher office or appointment is always on the minds of politicians, but keeping their current seat is usually the first thing on their minds.

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