The Weight of Absence: Dick Cheney‘s Funeral and the Fractured State of American Politics
The National Cathedral, a monument to both faith and national memory, hosted a somber gathering this week for the funeral of former Vice President Dick Cheney. But the service wasn’t simply a farewell to a controversial figure; it was a stark reflection of the deep fissures cleaving American society,a silent commentary on the evolution – or perhaps devolution – of political norms. The attendees, and crucially, those absent, spoke volumes about the state of our union, a nation grappling with a past it can’t quite reconcile and a future fraught with uncertainty.
The congregation read like a roll call of washington’s established order, a bipartisan mix of figures who once dominated the national conversation. Joe Biden, despite his age, made the journey from Delaware via Amtrak. Kamala Harris sat alongside Mike Pence, a visual juxtaposition that underscored the strange bedfellows forged by a shared concern over the direction of the country. Al Gore, Margaret Tutwiler, Elliott Abrams – names familiar from a time when newspapers held sway – exchanged greetings.The presence of such individuals, representing decades of policy debates and political maneuvering, highlighted a shared history, even amidst profound disagreements.
Yet, the most telling aspect of the service wasn’t who was there, but who wasn’t. Donald Trump and any senior members of his management were conspicuously absent. Even J.D. Vance, the current Vice President, was not invited, and the Republican Speaker of the House remained away. This deliberate exclusion, sources confirm, was precisely what Cheney would have desired.It was a final, defiant act from a man who, in his later years, publicly broke with a party he felt had abandoned principle in favor of fealty to a single individual and demonstrably false claims. cheney’s decision to align himself with his daughter Liz, both ostracized by the GOP for their opposition to Trump’s election denialism, cemented his status as a pariah within his former political home.
The resulting atmosphere wasn’t one of overflowing grief, but rather a subdued acknowledgment of loss tempered by political realities. The cathedral wasn’t empty,but it lacked the full attendance one might expect for a figure of Cheney’s stature in a more unified era. Politics,as always,is fluid. The room was filled with individuals who may have vehemently disagreed with Cheney’s policies – particularly his role in the Iraq War – yet felt compelled to pay their respects to a man who ultimately prioritized truth over party loyalty in the face of Trump’s ascendance. Manny Republican colleagues, privately aligned with Cheney’s concerns, remained publicly silent during his lifetime, a testament to the chilling effect of Trump’s dominance.
“I can’t believe we got Dick Cheney in the national divorce,” a mourner remarked, encapsulating the sentiment of the day. The gathering was,in part,a social event – a chance to observe the shifting allegiances and lingering resentments within Washington’s elite circles. but it was also, perhaps, an attempt to grapple with a legacy complicated by both achievement and controversy.
A Pattern of Political Funerals in the Trump Era
This service followed a pattern established in recent years, where national funerals have become potent symbols of the nation’s political turmoil. John mccain’s funeral in 2018, as I reported at the time, felt like a “meeting of the resistance,” a gathering of those determined to uphold traditional conservative values in the face of Trump’s populist onslaught. Even the presence of Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, attempting to bridge the gap with an establishment that largely rejected their overtures, felt jarring. Looking back, that event now seems almost quaint, a prelude to the deeper polarization that would follow.
The state funeral for Jimmy Carter in January offered a different, equally unsettling spectacle. The image of Barack Obama engaging in cordial conversation with Donald Trump, while surrounded by dignitaries radiating disapproval, raised questions about the lengths to which former leaders would go to maintain a facade of normalcy. Was it a calculated attempt to project stability, or a tacit acceptance of a dangerous new reality?
But the veneer of civility has now shattered. While mourners gathered at the National Cathedral, Trump unleashed a torrent of nineteen posts on his social media platform, attacking a recent video of Democratic members of Congress advising military personnel to resist unlawful orders from a potential future Trump administration. His response was not a measured rebuke, but a chilling call for violence, labeling the Democrats’ actions “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” and even suggesting the means of their execution, invoking the authority of George Washington to justify his