I miss you Sam!!

I miss you Sam!!
I miss you Sam!!

Friday, May 15, 2009

The Doomsayer

Maureen Dowd, NYT Op-Ed columnist had an extremely interesting column a few days ago about Dick Cheney. I was glad to discover that I’m not the only one asking serious questions about the former vice-president and just what he's up to these days.

Questions like, just what is it with Dick Cheney, anyway? The man who never talked is now the man who won’t shut up. The man who wouldn’t list his office in the federal jobs directory, who had the vice president’s residence blocked on Google Earth, who went to the Supreme Court to keep from revealing which energy executives helped him write the nation’s energy policy, is now endlessly yelping about how President Obama is holding back documents that should be made public.

Cheney was asked by Bob Schieffer on Sunday how America could torture when it made a mockery of our ideals and Cheney blithely gave an answer that surely would have been labeled treasonous by Rush Limbaugh, if a Democratic ex-vice president had said it about a Republican president. Doomsday Dick said, “Well, then you’d have to say that, in effect, we’re prepared to sacrifice American lives rather than run an intelligent program that would provide us the information we need to protect America.” And this in spite of the testimony from former FBI agent Ali Soufan and former Bush administration State Department official Philip Zelikow, both of whom have voiced serious concerns about Bush administration interrogation policies and just how effective they really were.

Cheney had five deferments himself to get out of going to Vietnam, but he would rather follow a blowhard entertainer who has had three divorces and a drug problem and who also avoided Vietnam, than follow a four-star general who spent his life serving his country.

Even Republicans are complaining. An official with Bush 1 recently said that he was sure that Bush 41 doesn’t appreciate Cheney acting out and that he is giving the whole party a black eye just as Jeb is out there trying to renew the party.
Cheney unleashed is pretty much the same as Cheney underground: He’s batty and he thinks he was the president. Even Bush 41 and 43 have come to see Cheney differently and I don’t think that either of them has any idea what makes Cheney tick.

He has no coherent foreign policy viewpoint. He still doesn’t fathom that his brutish invasion of Iraq unbalanced that part of the world, empowered Iran and was a force multiplier for Muslims who hate America. He left our ports unsecured, our food supply unsafe, the Taliban rising and Osama on the loose. No matter if or when terrorists attack here – and they’re on their own timetable, not a partisan red/blue state timetable – Cheney will be deemed the primary one who made America more vulnerable. He still loves torture, Gitmo and scaring the bejesus out of Americans. He’s still trying to pull the GOP into a black hole of zealotry.

When Cheney was in the first Bush administration, he was odd man out. Bush 41, James Baker, Brent Scowcroft and Colin Powell corralled Cheney’s “Genghis Khan” side, as it was known, and his “rough streak.” Cheney didn’t care for Powell even then.
According to Dowd, with W, “Back Seat” – Cheney’s Secret Service name in the Ford Administration – clambered up front. Then he totaled the car. And no amount of yapping on TV is going to change that when history is written.

12 comments:

Kay said...

What really scares me, really really scares me is that there are probably still Americans out there who agree with that not-quite-all-there, Cheney. What the heck are his motives? Does he think he's helping this country? Why don't the Republicans tell him to sit down and be quiet?

Deborah Godin said...

I think we're witnessing the unravelling of fear-based living, right before our eyes. It's no accident to me that Obama stands for hope and fixing things and for communication. That's the other side in this coming mental and spiritual shift.

Margie's Musings said...

Lord only knows.

He is a hawk as long as it doesn't involve his life or the life of any of his friends and relation. That's the way most hawks are.

If he keeps talking, he's going to reveal himself..the real Cheney.

Mind my opinion, it's just a matter of time and he will die of his hate and bad negative vibes.

Maria said...

Hi, thanks for visiting Vienna every week :)
I loved your black picture with the moon so very much - it is so dramatic! Great!
I don't like hawks, somehow ;)

Maria said...

Ha, what I really wanted to say is that the rains in Vienna have stopped by now, and the swallows are flying like wild in the sky, but we have needed the rain very much here, we had no rain for 6 weeks, and that's really long, but we had good rain before that so the spring was really great here.
Seattle's drowning ? :)))

Kim said...

Imagine discovering you, my neighbor here in Seattle, through the Skywatch community!
I am glad to find you.

Re. Cheney, doesn't his recent cage rattling remind you of the same old tactics he and Carl Rove have been so successfully using for decades? He's on the offense and what we need to be asking ourselves now is "why?". What is he up to? What is his objective? I was curious since Obama (unlike most of the rest of us) has made it his position to not appoint a special prosecutor to delve into the last administration's misuse of power. You'd think Cheney would be grateful and lay low. There must be some groundswell, despite the President's wishes, to pursue an investigation of some sort. That's my theory, at least, for why Cheney would come out punching and pull Nancy Pelosi into the ring with him re. the use of torture. There is something he is up to, of that I'm sure. And I am also sure he is running scared and grabbing for power for his friends in high money places. Someone needs to corral this truly corrupt man and follow the money behind him to dismantle their stranglehold on our country and the bad effects their aims have for us and the rest of the globe. Thanks for your article.
Mine is a photoblog about Seattle and I don't get to talk politics very often, so sorry for the rant :-)
-Kim
Seattle Daily Photo

Nancy said...

Good riddance Cheney! Great post - I'm happy to have found your blog. I love your part of the country and visit there every year.


Best,

Nancy
San Diego

Sujatha Bagal said...

It's strange that even Bush doesn't seem to be as interested in defending his record as the ex-VP seems to be.

Linda Reeder said...

The more Cheney talks, the better it is for the Democratic Party, and the worse it is for Republicans. Unfortunately, we really do need a two party system, and it looks like it will be a while before new leadership emerges.
Cheney is a fearful man, and he has much to fear, given the number of enemies he had made throughout the world. He seems to be fighting for his legacy. Someone needs to tell him it's a hopeless cause.

Utah Savage said...

All of this has really been eating at me. I have not posted anything this good about the topic, but Cheney and torture is always in the front of my mind and it's not a happy thing to have in your head. I want Obama to greenlight investigations. I'm tired of all of us knowing that our government tortured in our name it's so repugnant a fact, so not who we are. So lets get it on, and find out what really happened.

Vagabonde said...

This is a very good post. I always thought of Cheney as being evil, and have not seen anything to change my mind. He is hoping to save his name in the history books by trying to change people’s knowledge of what he was an accomplice to. He keeps saying that Obama is making us unsafe, but wasn’t he in charge during 9/11? The man looks evil and is totally self-serving. I won’t talk anymore about this hateful man and I think the news media should throw him out as well and not give him so much air time.

Unknown said...

You have a commanding politial voice on your blog, Sylvia. This is excellent. He really is coockoo.

What Can I Say?

What Can I Say?
I'm interested in almost everything. Use to like to travel, but it's too expensive now. I take Tai Chi classes, swim, volunteer in a Jump-start program for pre-schoolers. I'm an avid reader and like nearly everyone these days I follow politics avidly. I'm a former teacher and Special Projects Coordinator for a Telecommunications company, Assistant to the President of a Japanese silicon wafer manufacturing company. Am now enjoying retirement -- most of the time. I have two daughters, one son-in-law and two sons scattered all over the country. No grandchildren.

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