The Unraveling of Dick Cheney

[seemslikeadream]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/04/11/LI2005041100879.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns

By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Monday, January 29, 2007; 12:18 PM

While Dick Cheney undoubtedly remains the most powerful vice president this nation has ever seen, it's becoming increasingly unclear whether anyone outside the White House believes a word he says.

Inside the West Wing, Cheney's influence remains considerable. In fact, nothing better explains Bush's perplexing plan to send more troops to Iraq than Cheney's neoconservative conviction that showing the world that we have the "stomach for the fight" is the most important thing -- even if it isn't accomplishing the things we're supposed to be fighting for. Even if it's backfiring horribly.


But as his astonishing interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer laid bare last week, Cheney is increasingly out of touch with reality. He seems to think that by asserting things that are simply untrue, he can make others believe they are so.

Maybe that works within the White House. But for the rest of us, it's becoming a better bet to assume that everything -- or almost everything -- Cheney says is flat wrong.

Meanwhile, the trial of Cheney's former chief of staff Scooter Libby is exposing to public view the vice president's role as master-manipulator of misinformation and vindictive retaliator-in-chief -- once again, indifferent to the truth. (For example, Cheney ordered his staff to lie to reporters about the contents of a highly classified National Intelligence Estimate.)

[goclark]

1. How much longer must the nation endure this man ? He must "resign"

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[oldtime dfl_er]

2. the "stomach for fight"

as long as it's not his stomach. Hypocritical asshat.

[DearAbby]

13. Line from "Patton"

"Yeah, his guts, our blood!"

Cheney wants to show the world our resolve, the price for that impression?..The blood and death of our troops. Bastard

[Straight Shooter]

17. .

Someone should tattoo FIVE DEFERMENTS on Cheney's corpulent stomach.

[WI_DEM]

19. the hypocrite sure didn't have the "stomach to fight" in Vietnam

[tblue37]

23. He said he had "other priorities." (eom)

[The Wizard]

26. Fact is he's a bloviating

nutless punk depending on others to do his dirty work while he and his cabal loot the treasury. Mr. Cheney, go directly to the ninth ring of the ninth circle; do no pass go; do not collect $200. And one more thing, go fuch yourself.

[SemperEadem]

45. exactly--and he should never be allowed any space from that truth

when it comes to sending more troops to Iraq.
This truth should be tied around his neck for him to drag from interview to interview--and any journalist with any kind of stomach and balls should never let him commandeer and corral an interview the way Blitzer did in his interview. Blitzer had his freakin' balls thrown in his face by that jerk.

When the truth is so overwhelming and condemning as with the lunatic VP, there is no way it should be allowed to be buried just because he doesn't want to face up and answer for it. Even if it means that things get ugly on camera, let it get ugly--Cheney needs to answer for many things.

[katty]

3. hoarding the lifeboats on the Titanic-it's over and they

know it...it's just a waiting game now (but not soon enough for the world!)

[The Backlash Cometh]

12. We're waiting for the porch lights to go on in the Red states.

Maybe John Edwards can send them his energy guzzling bulbs as he hussles to replace his with energy misers to keep everyone happy?

[LaBanty]

4. Unraveled, yet unscathed

You can come at Cheney a hundred different ways, have him red-handed, probably even on video tape - it won't make any difference. It simply isn't in the cards that bastard will get his come uppins in this lifetime, and he'll probably sleaze his way out it in the next, if you believe in such things.

As much as I'd like to see him "get his" in this life, since it's the one I'm living, I'm pretty positive it isn't going to happen. All the ranting and raving and speculation to the contrary isn't going to change that.

The best you can hope is that the next time he goes hunting, someone gives the birds guns and they can at least shoot back.

[NEOBuckeye]

28. He's an elected official. He CAN be held accountable.

But people are going to have to fight and continue to put pressure on Congress to make it happen.

[Robbien]

5. Cheney isn't any different. The reporting is different

Just think back to the Edwards/Cheney VP debate, Cheney was just as off the wall crazy then and he is today.

The only difference is that the WaPo, NYT, and network news all said Cheney was masterful and won the debate. We all thought he was a batshit crazy liar.

[az chela]

6. he was just in a n interview on tv and the whole time

he stood there grinning and said because he is the vp he can do what he does
He needs to be put on more meds,lots more where he can no longer talk or speak

[whistle]

7. Cheney must be placed in restraints and kept from making any further

....damage

[Disturbed]

9. Will the House have the stomach to Impeach this criminal VP?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm?

[Quakerfriend]

10. Ditto! And, I think it's wrong for people to keep saying that he's

'out of touch with reality'. Of course he his, but MORE than that he is a criminal who is being allowed to continue to push his own agenda. He knows exactly what he is doing.

We need to take him down fast.

[ourbluenation]

8. Better late than never I guess, but....DUH!

It's oh so bittersweet to have everything we've been saying all along finally make some light bulbs go off. But again, better late than never I guess.

[spooky3]

11. So when will Liz and Mary arrive for military service in Baghdad?

[bdrube]

16. On the same plane with Jenna and Barbara, n/t

[spooky3]

18. oh, good; only 20,996 more needed for that surge!

[StrictlyRockers]

14. Fuck that lying, murdering asshole!

Fuck him two times!

[Tatiana]

20. Well the gloves are slowly coming off, but we aren't quite in shark feeding frenzy yet. n/t

[stevedeshazer]

21. It seems like a John Dean moment is necessary

It was Nixon's White House counsel, Mr. Dean, who had to break it to Dick Nixon that the jig was up.

Cheney's approval rating is undoubtedly less than 20%!

The most recent poll I could google was over 11 months old, and had him at 18%.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/03/AR2006030302045.html

Somebody needs to tell Dick that his frankfurter is done. Stat.

[LiberalLovinLug]

22. He's not lying.....

....about "enormous successes" in Iraq. And it must kill him not to be able to explain his reasoning behind this statement.

But even that slimeball is smart enough not to brag about the great success of the privatization and American thievery of Big Oil in Iraq. (After claiming earlier that it was asinine to suggest that the war was about oil)
And also his, or to be specific his immediate families;), windfall in Halliburton stock profits.


I wish, just once, a brave White House press corp reporter would ask a simple question of Dubya and/or Dicky:

"Over half a million Iraqis have died, and over 3000 Americans in this war. Would you please tell the American public how much, directly or indirectly, you, or your immediate family, have profited from this war in the last 4 years from your holdings in Carlyle, Haliburton, Chevron, etc....

If you don't have those numbers at the moment, could you please get back to me on that in the next week? The public would be most interested. Thanks."

[Catshrink]

24. Hmmm... you want a reporter to act like a real journalist?

If only. Great question -- I'd love to hear the answer.

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[confludemocrat]

25. Like the guy he "mentors", his whole life is one big ugly failure

a bloody failure to boot. I guess he was successful at scamming people all his life.

[Blackbird_Highway]

27. Iraq Not A Failure at all!

Why do people insist on calling the Iraq war a failure?

It has done exactly what it was designed to do: Halliburton has made billions upon billions of dollars on it! You actually think Cheney and his buddies care the slightest little bit that thousands have died? Hell no, not when there's money to be made!

Pull out the troops? Hell no, not when there is money to be made!

[hippiechick]

36. Ding Ding Ding!!!

:applause: Blackbird_Highway gets a cookie !!! :applause:

It amazes me how few people actually realize that the Cabal has done precisely what they set out to do over there - releive the US Treasury of the Clinton/Gore surplus and route it to their profiteer cronies, create perpetual instability by removing Saddam and thus drumming up a perpetual 'arms race' of sorts for their weapons-running cronies.

Rent Nic Cage's "Lord of War" ... war is all about the money !!

[Tekla West]

40. they were in danger

if you remember the 90s peace was breaking out all over, couldn't have that could we?

[NewJeffCT]

38. Welcome to DU

good post. I think Blackwater (the mercenary company) and a few others have profited nicely as well.

[smoogatz]

29. Crazy like a fox.

What's interesting, though, is that Cheney really is backed into a very tight corner by the Iraq fiasco. He can't admit the truth because it's been his baby from day one--Rumsfeld and Cheney are best buds going way back to the Nixon administration. They convinced each other they were military geniuses, apparently. A little bit of chaos was good for business, initially--you could have American personnell driving around Iraq with truckloads of hundred dollar bills and never have to account for any of it. You could install your boy Chalabi as Prime Minister, and get his boys to run the Oil Ministry, and privatize the whole deal and hand over the thirty year leases to your pals at Exxon and Gulf and BP. In the meantime your Halliburton options are doubling in value every six months. Things are going great, except you and Rummy forgot to account for the fact that you just completely disenfranchised about 16% of the population, who happen to be heavily armed, highly motivated, well-organized and extremly pissed off. Oy. The thing I can't figure out is whether Cheney's just in it for his own bank account and the undying gratitude of his oil-baron buddies, or if he's actually an agent of the Iranian government. Either way, it's treason.

[PADemD]

33. If he talks Jr. into attacking Iran, that will make Iraq's oil even more valuable.

[struggle4progress]

30. Aw, Dick's just tense. Maybe if he shot a quacking Supreme Court justice in the face ..

.. that would relax him. Or he could go out and shoot a few hundred more small birds with clipped wings as they're released from nets. Or he could borrow W's copy of the Saddam hanging tape -- assuming W doesn't need to watch it everyday ...

Published on Tuesday, February 17, 2004 by the Los Angeles Times
Old MacDonald Had a Judge ...
Quack, Quack. So Much for the Constitutionally Mandated Separation of Powers
by Robert Scheer
... Bizarre as it sounds, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia quacked like a duck last week during his defensive denial that a duck-hunting trip with Vice President Dick Cheney was improper. According to Scalia, the visit of the two men to the private game reserve of a top oil executive was merely a pleasant social engagement ../
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0217-04.htm

Cheney Admits To Drinking Beer Prior To Hunting Accident
In his interview with Fox News this afteroon, Vice President Dick Cheney confirmed to reporter Brit Hume that he consumed alcohol prior to the shooting incident. Hume reported that Cheney admitted to having at least “a beer at lunch.” ...
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/02/15/cheney-drinking/

CNN's Morton: Bush "likes to hunt quail"; Cheney "loves to hunt" -- but Kerry "spent time posing with guns"
Tue, Feb 14, 2006 3:48pm EST
... University professor and hunter Scott Denham wrote in a February 14 Charlotte Observer column that Cheney's February 11 quail hunt "broke several basic rules" of hunting -- too many hunters, no dog, and hunting from a vehicle. Denham noted that Cheney himself "broke some of the most basic rules: shooting at a low bird and not being aware of the placement of his hunting party members." Also, as was widely reported in 2003, Cheney and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) took part in a controlled bird hunt on a Pennsylvania game reserve, in which farm-raised birds were released from nets right in front of the hunters. According to a December 28, 2003, Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch article, Cheney alone shot at least 70 birds, and the entire 10-person hunting party shot 417 birds.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200602140015?offset=20&show=1

Questions Persist Over Cheney Shooting
Bush Knew Of Hunting Accident Saturday, Info Not Public Until Sunday
... CBS News correspondent Mark Knoller reports that Cheney had acquired a $125 Texas non-resident season hunting license, but he lacked a $7 stamp for hunting upland game birds. His staff was not aware of the new stamp requirement. The vice president expects to receive a warning and has sent a check for the stamp ...
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/13/national/main1309344.shtml

Bush: Congress can't stop troop increase
POSTED: 10:43 p.m. EST, January 14, 2007
... Bush said he was discouraged by video of Saddam Hussein's hanging ....
Bush, who has said he does not use e-mail, said he watched the video on the Internet ...
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/14/bush.60.minutes/

[provis99]

32. jeez, Cheney is just a bloodthirsty vampire

just looking at him on tv makes me feel like he's draining the soul right out of my body.

[cboy4]

31. I go back and forth between thinking he's a pathalogical liar to

just plain and simply a lunatic with a shotgun.

[liberal N proud]

34. Quick, More Kool-Aid

What has happened is the Kool-Aid crowd has started to realize they have been duped by the Penguin.

More and more every day are seeing though the bull shit lies from Dead Eye.

He seems to think that by asserting things that are simply untrue, he can make others believe they are so. It used to work, but no longer.

[E-Z-B]

35. Look on the bright side. Only two more years left of this clown in office.

[Danascot]

37. Echoing smoogatz' pithy quote:

"Oy"

:hide:

[IWantAChange]

39. I say it for the nth time - he's a Nixonite - he's been exactly true to form.

Secretive, manipulative, no thought process based on facts or reality, and a 'get-even' mentality toward the American Public for the shame of Nixon being forced to resign and slowing the Repug agenda of Big Business FIRST and American citizens a far distant second.

:evilfrown:

[Tekla West]

41. Calling Cheney out of touch

is absurd. He knows exactly what he is doing. You can't be out of touch with that which you never cared about in the first place.

[tofurkey]

42. The best I can hope for is that Cheney, Rumsfeld and Turdblossom

end up like their buddy Lee Atwater. Anything less would be an injustice.

[mcking]

43. Remember, every word he says is a lie . . .

including "a" and "the".

I stole that from somebody...

[woodsgirl]

44. Wonder if

the same powerful people who managed to steal 2 presidential elections and keep MSM silent are the reason Bush and Cheney aren't in jail awaiting trial at the Hague? And all the House and Senate folks working on raising wages etc. are scared to do anything about fixed elections and the fascism problem.

[On Par]

46. No One Has Been "Indicted" For The Actual Leak ...

When "Cheney" is indicted as the source, he will go down! And before Bush can appoint a new VP, he must be "Impeached!"

[woodsgirl]

47. Democrats and republicans were

chomping at the bit to impeach Clinton over his sex life. Now, impeachable offenses occur on a daily basis with bushco...and not a peep. I think our lawmakers are scared. WMR is saying Conyers has a stalker threatening his life and the DC police don't think it is serious.Leahy and Daschule could have changed the Dem. Iraq war vote and they got an anthrax attack. Which the DOJ refuses to investigate. Not so subtle cabal.