You Don't Know Dick . . . Posted by Michael Cohen

It really is amazing that any White House press officer continues to allow Dick Cheney to speak to the media. Check out a few of these quotes from our esteemed Vice President.
in his recent interview with ABC News's Martha Radatz:

Mr. Vice President, I want to start with the milestone today of 4,000 dead in Iraq, Americans, and just what effect you think that has on the country.  Your thoughts on that?

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Well, it obviously brings home, I think for a lot of people, the cost that's involved in the global war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan.  It places a special burden, obviously, on the families.  We recognize, I think -- it's a reminder of the extent to which we're blessed with families who have sacrificed as they have.  The President carries the biggest burden, obviously; he's the one who has to make the decision to commit young Americans.  But we are fortunate to have the group of men and women, the all-volunteer force, who voluntarily put on the uniform and go in harm's way for the rest of us. You wish nobody ever lost their life, but unfortunately it's one of those things that go with living in the world we live in.  Sometimes you have to commit military force, and when you do, there are casualties.

Just so we're clear here - the GREATEST burden is OBVIOUSLY borne by President Bush and not the families of the 4,000 soldiers who have died in Iraq. And after all our soldiers volunteered, so really it isn't like they didn't know what they were getting into. If they didn't want to die, clearly they shouldn't signed up in the first place. If you think about it, really it's their own fault and frankly a little selfish. I mean look at the significant burden they are putting on the President.

Here we have the Vice President comparing the decision to invade Iraq . . . to the pardon of Richard Nixon:

I had the experience, for example, of working for Jerry Ford, and I've never forgotten the travails he went through after he had been president for 30 days when he issued the pardon of former president Nixon. And there was consternation coast to coast.

But he demonstrated, I think, great courage and great foresight, and the country was better off for what Jerry Ford did that day. And 30 years later, everybody recognized it.

And I have the same strong conviction the issues we're dealing with today -- the global war on terror, the war in Afghanistan and Iraq -- that all of the tough calls the president has had to make, that 30 years from now it will be clear that he made the right decisions, and that the effort we mounted was the right one, and that if we had listened to the polls, we would have gotten it wrong.

Maybe it's just me, but comparing the pardon of one man to horribly flawed decisions that have caused the death of 4,000 soldiers seems not only a bit flippant, but even a tad insensitive. I keep hearing this argument from the Bush Administration that history will prove them correct. Now even if you think the war was a good idea, how can one argue that right decisions have been made about the war? Even Doug Feith says bad decisions were made (but of course they weren't the President's fault) - and that guy is about introspective as, well Dick Cheney.

If one listens to the Vice President it's as if the the little disastrous decisions like say, disbanding the Iraqi Army, not sending enough troops and having no post-war occupation plan can be waved away because in the long run everything will turn out ok. Even if Iraq does turn into a Jeffersonian democracy it doesn't change the fact that this war has caused enormous damage to US interests - not to mention the deaths of 4,000 Americans and countless Iraqis. Can anyone reasonable argue that the benefits of a free Iraqi state have been worth the costs that America has already paid? Apparently, in Dick's world, only the benefits and none of the costs seem to matter.

Long as we're on the subject of poll numbers, here's Cheney's stunningly obtuse comments about public opinion and the war:

Raddatz: "Two-thirds of Americans say it's not worth fighting, and they're looking at the value gain versus the cost in American lives, certainly, and Iraqi lives."

Cheney: "So?"

Raddatz: "So -- you don't care what the American people think?"

Cheney: "No, I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls. Think about what would have happened if Abraham Lincoln had paid attention to polls, if they had had polls during the Civil War. He never would have succeeded if he hadn't had a clear objective, a vision for where he wanted to go, and he was willing to withstand the slings and arrows of the political wars in order to get there."

I'd like to take this opportunity to remind Dick Cheney that America is a democracy and yes, public opinion matters - you know, that whole "consent of the people" thing. This is really nothing less than a monarchical view of the American Presidency. But really the more absurd statement here is the notion that public opinion has fluctuated. In fact, if you look at the polling results here, the numbers have remained remarkably consistent over the past year - Americans oppose the war in Iraq, they think the President is doing a terrible job and they want the troops to come home. No fluctuation here.

Oh and by the way, in case you missed it, Dick Cheney compared George Bush to Abraham Lincoln.

Here's Dick Cheney comparing Afghanistan in the early 1990s to Iraq:

 

Now when I hear my friends in the States, candidates and so forth, wannabees, announce that the solution in Iraq is to withdraw, take our forces out, I say that is exactly what happened in Afghanistan that produced a safe haven that generated the terrorists that came and killed 3,000 Americans.  We don't have the luxury of saying we don't care what happens in Iraq, or we don't care what happens in Afghanistan; we have to be engaged in that part of the world.  We've got to work with others so that they can control their own sovereign territory.  But the idea that we can walk away from Iraq is, I think, terribly damaging on its face.  

"Exactly what happened in Afghanistan?" Boy, I must have missed it when we sent 150,000+ troops to Afghanistan and kept them there for five years in the midst of a national civil war. This is one of the most facile historical analogies that I've seen . . . well at least since George Bush compared the war in Iraq to Vietnam. The situation in Afghanistan is completely different on almost every level from the situation in Iraq. But I suppose according to Dick, cutting and running is always bad.

Here's Dick on the definition of progress in the Arab/Israeli conflict:

Well, I think if you look, for example, at the President, I think, broke new ground when he came out, and subsequently has continued to support the proposition of two states, a Palestinian state. No other President has ever supported that publicly, he has, the idea of two states side by side, Israelis and Palestinians living in peace with one another.  That's a step forward.  That's progress.

Meanwhile Gaza burns, any momentum from Annapolis has stalled, but don't worry, the President thinks there should be a two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict so we're well on our way to peace.

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like the caricature of Dick Cheney seems more appealing than the actual person . . .

Comments

[Kostoglotov]

[i] I'd like to take this opportunity to remind Dick Cheney that America is a democracy and yes, public opinion matters - you know, that whole "consent of the people" thing. This is really nothing less than a monarchical view of the American Presidency. But really the more absurd statement here is the notion that public opinion has fluctuated. In fact, if you look at the polling results here, the numbers have remained remarkably consistent over the past year - Americans oppose the war in Iraq, they think the President is doing a terrible job and they want the troops to come home. No fluctuation here.[/i]

Are you advocating Mob rules, or just mob rules in this case? Relying on polls and doing the correct thing aren’t the same thing.

[i] "Exactly what happened in Afghanistan?" Boy, I must have missed it when we sent 150,000+ troops to Afghanistan and kept them there for five years in the midst of a national civil war. This is one of the most facile historical analogies that I've seen . . . well at least since George Bush compared the war in Iraq to Vietnam. The situation in Afghanistan is completely different on almost every level from the situation in Iraq. But I suppose according to Dick, cutting and running is always bad.[/i]

Is it possible he was referring to the Russians?