the thorn in Wyoming's side will soon be gone

If or when I do finally go back to the States for vacation, I need to take a comprehensive road trip all around Wyoming. I've built Wyoming up in my head for a while, now, but I've never been there. I know the state is gorgeous with its mountains, rivers, and lakes; I know it's one of the least populous states in the union, which is one reason why the crime rate there is almost nonexistent. The movie "Wind River," which features some panoramic shots of Wyoming, is basically an advertisement for the state, although the movie pulls no punches in portraying the region's harsh winters. I've long thought that, were I to move back to the States permanently, Wyoming would be the place to go.

But Wyoming has one problem, and it's reflective of a larger problem: Liz Cheney. Liz Cheney is part of the old-school neocon establishment that includes people like George "Dubya" Bush and her father, Dick Cheney. These people believe in the forcible spread of American-style democracy across the globe, and they all hate Donald Trump, the man who drove Senator John McCain to distraction by claiming McCain was no war hero because he got caught. McCain was, until he died, the face of the Never Trump movement, and Liz Cheney is part of that movement as well. A commenter on Instapundit did point out, however, that Cheney's voting record before her turn to the dark side had been consistently pro-Trump. At some point, though, the neocons got to her and turned her, and now, she's as rabid as John McCain, to the point that she's the vice chair of the January 6th Commission.

Cheney, originally from Wisconsin but quickly transplanted to Virginia before finally moving to Wyoming, just lost her bid to continue as a representative for Wyoming; in the recent primaries, she lost out to perpetually startled-looking MAGA Republican Harriet Hageman, a Wyoming native. Cheney lost by a 37.4 percentage-point margin. Ouch. This was seen as a massive rebuke for her anti-Trump stance—a sign that she is out of touch with her constituency and not looking out for the best interests of the citizens of Wyoming. Because of the primary results, Cheney will not be in the running during the general election this November: her term is effectively at an end.

I referred, above, to a larger problem, to wit: the electorate. Why on earth did Wyoming's citizens vote for Cheney in the first place? It's a mystery. Maybe she hoodwinked everyone by saying the right things and doing the right deeds—whatever it took to position her for a win. Not just for one term, either: she's been in office since 2017, and in the House of Representatives, a term lasts two years. So Cheney is currently serving out her third term. How could Wyomingites vote for this creature three times? That fact is the one thing that makes me hesitant about a move to Wyoming.

Well, she's done now, and she'll be replaced by someone—preferably Hageman—come January. And that change will make Wyoming all the more palatable to me.