Republicans want Cheatle’s head on a platter

House Speaker Mike Johnson and other top Republicans are calling for the resignation of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle. They’re demanding her professional head as political compensation for allowing an assassin to come within a whisker of taking former President Donald Trump out during a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.

The gunman, a 20-year-old bullied incel, nipped a piece off Trump’s right ear. But he killed one spectator and wounded two others. Unlike everyone else, I refuse to give mass shooters or would-be assassins the notoriety they seek, even if posthumously, by identifying them or, God forbid, speculating about their motives – as if knowing the motive has ever prevented another shooting.

Meanwhile, Cheatle’s explanation for this obvious failure did little to inspire confidence in her leadership. The would-be assassin perched himself on a nearby rooftop and had a clear shot at Trump. But she explained that agents failed to secure that rooftop because its slant presented a safety concern (for the agents – Trump be damned?).

Notably, Johnson struck up the chorus of Republicans calling for her to go even before top law enforcement officials briefed Congress about what happened. That’s how hellbent they are on having her head.

Anti-DEI crusade: sexism, racism, and misogyny

But, with all due respect to Trump, the real story here is Republicans carrying water for the anti-DEI crusaders who want white men to rule every facet of life in America again. Just like ex-presidents Gay at Harvard and Magill at the University of Pennsylvania, they deride Cheatle at the Secret Service as a DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) hire gone wrong.

It’s no coincidence that Republicans didn’t call for the resignation of the male directors of the Secret Service following the assassination attempts on Presidents Reagan and Ford. This stark contrast betrays the sexist nature of their calls in this case. Because these calls clearly have more to do with ongoing political battles over DEI policies than with concerns about the competence of the Secret Service.

The unspoken word among her critics is that only White men are capable of running things. This mindset underscores why Trump made a triumphant entrance at the Republican National Convention last night to James Brown’s “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World.”

The song choice wasn’t just about ego. It played like an anthem for a cult worship service, hinting that women, like Cheatle, are merely around to act as Handmaids. They’re there to bear more men to rule the world.

Republicans are propagating the sexist, racist, and misogynistic narrative that any woman or minority in a position of power was a DEI hire. Further, that any failure on their watch reflects social engineering experiments that fail in the real world. Yes, they willfully ignore the volumes of failures that occurred on the watch of men who held those positions of power for centuries.

GOP: It’s that woman, not the gun

Alas, women like Cheatle will continue to face this kind of scrutiny and criticism. But Republicans conspicuously avoid any mention of the dark cloud hovering over this assassination attempt. But there’s no denying this feature: live by the sword, die by the sword. After all, thanks to the GOP carrying water for the NRA, we live in an America where any disaffected kid can get an assault rifle to perpetrate this kind of crime.

So, will Cheatle stay or go? With the GOP on the warpath, her chances don’t look promising. Republicans are like a dog with a bone: they won’t let go until they can claim Cheatle as the latest casualty in their crusade against diversity. But, as always in politics, the theater of the absurd keeps us watching.