I was gearing up to write something allegedly wise about America on the cusp of a particularly fraught July 4 weekend – marking an Independence Day in which our independence a free people is being imperiled as never before – but Liz Cheney beat me to it.

Earlier this week, in a speech at the Reagan presidential library, the congresswoman told an audience of Republicans:

“My fellow Americans, we stand at the edge of an abyss, and we must pull back. One of my Democratic colleagues said to me recently that he looked forward to the day when he and I could disagree again, and, believe me, I share that sentiment, because when we can disagree again about substance and policy that will mean that our politics have righted themselves. That will mean that we have made the decision that we are going to reject anti-democratic forces, that we are going to reject toxicity, that we are going to reject some of the worst kinds of racism, and bigotry, and antisemitism that characterize far too much of our politics today.“

And last night, during a Wyoming GOP congressional debate, in which she was flanked on stage by various loons not worthy of further mention, she delivered a closing statement that defined patriotism not as the last refuge of totalitarian liars who conspire to shred laws and norms, but as the motivating force for the values we hold dear – most notably, truth and the rule of law.

Her key passage:

“I will never put party above my duties to the Constitution. I swore an oath to God, and I will abide by that oath…We need to recognize that if we are not faithful to the Constitution, if we embrace lies, if we embrace the lies of Donald Trump, if we tell the people something that is not true, we will soon find ourselves without the structure and the basis and the framework of our constitutional republic. If we don’t abide by the Constitution when it is politically inconvenient, we will not have the Constitution as our shield.”

What Liz said, because I can’t say it better. Have a happy holiday.