Don't mess with my Dick

Tiny emerges from the little house into the early morning light reflected back from one of the windows of the big house.

"Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama ridiculed Vice President Dick Cheney on Friday for saying Britain's decision to pull troops from Iraq is a good sign that fits with the strategy for stabilizing the country," reports AP:

"In fact, Dick Cheney said this is all part of the plan (and) it was a good thing that Tony Blair was withdrawing, even as the administration is preparing to put 20,000 more of our young men and women in.

"Now, keep in mind, this is the same guy that said we'd be greeted as liberators, the same guy that said that we're in the last throes. I'm sure he forecast sun today," Obama said to laughter from supporters holding campaign signs over their heads to keep dry. "When Dick Cheney says it's a good thing, you know that you've probably got some big problems."

We guess Obama and Company are either unaware or uninterested in the NYTs embedded John Burns's I-was-there assessment of the nation's -- not just Dick Cheney's -- "greeted as liberators" take on the early days post OIF. We ourselves blogged our own take the other day. Oh, and one more thing, Mr. Hollywood Idol: A gentleman and a scholar and a mighty warrior would never dream of referring to any Vice President, let alone the magnificent human being who now holds that title as a "guy." That is red meat to folks like us. Nevertheless, we couldn't have been more delighted than we now are to see Hollywood bigshots eat their own. Hillary, we hardly knew ye . . . NOT. As Ann Coulter said on one of the Fox shows last night, it's nice to see former Clinton supporter David Geffen givin' the Clintons the finger she herself gave them years ago. We ourselves knew from day one -- that toe-curling "60 Minutes" moment when Bill and Hill said they'd made "mistakes" in their marriage and got their daughter to say she was glad she was their daughter -- that these folks were born to lie.

Now comes "an exclusive interview today" where "ABC's Jonathan Karl asked Vice President Dick Cheney about the topic of global warming, a subject Mr. Cheney has rarely addressed in the past":

The vice president agreed that the earth is warming but, like President Bush, maintained there is debate over whether humans or natural cycles are the cause -- a position that puts the administration at odds with the vast majority of climate scientists.

Idiocy rules. Fear societies heavy and lite define human nature. And yes, you utopianists, there IS such a thing as human nature.

Update I: Instalanche! Thank you, Professor Reynolds.

Update II: "Back in 2007, Sissy Willis warned, 'Don’t mess with my Dick!' Um, OK, fair enough," blogs Ed Driscoll two years older and wiser later. LOVE the guy!

Comments

[goomp]

Humans have to believe in something to stabilize the uneasiness that comes from the uncertainess that life forces us to face. For many the established religions of mankind are a satisfactory sinecure. In a secular society there exists a desperate need to find something that humans can be sure about. An example is the fanatical certainty about the cause of possible global warming that these peole have. For those of us who think we understand that animal nature leads to human nature a Darwinin belief and understanding of what human nature demands is an answer to human problems.

[hnav]

I love Goomp's comment...

Obama doesn't sound too bright, and seems to be practiced in the art of dodging.

No Democrats seems to want to answer the obvious, that their efforts to undermine this President and the Mission in Iraq, actually aids the terrorists...

But they never had a plan to combat al Qaeda anyhow, except a vague suggestion to return to the days of pretend and denial from the Clinton era (which helped enable 9*11)

thought SISU might enjoy this video, which is a bit better than many OSCAR award winners we have been forced to encounter lately:
KITTEN Keyboard

[Sissy Willis]

Too cute for words! :-)

[Gayle Miller]

On the longest day that smartmouthed punk Obama lives he will never be able to equal the class, integrity, intelligence and statesmanlike mien of Vice President Cheney. He's going to keep running his immature and ignorant mouth and sure as the sun rises in the East it will result in "definition" of his lack of character and qualifications! The good thing is that in the process, he will bring down the wicked witch of Chappaqua! And that's a good thing.

[Gayle Miller]

The Taliban is now claiming that they really tried to mess with the Vice President via a homicide bomber at the entry to the base where Cheney was making a SURPRISE visit. I do not believe their claim for exceedingly practical reasons BUT wouldn't it be nice if we acted as if we did believe their nonsense and launched a terrifically astringent retaliatory strike!? I kind of had some intense and prolonged carpet bombing over Taliban held areas in Afghanistan AND over the border into Pakistan as a salutory wakeup call to both the Taliban and the president of Pakistan. And if we send a plethora of their fighters to the promised 72 virgins (all of whom doubtless look like Helen Thomas or Janet Reno), so much the better.

I'm of the mind that "reasoning" with these creeps will never, ever work and to try is to risk entirely too much of our nation's security.

[TallDave]

The "global warming" scare reminds me of the childhood assurances (supported by the "the vast majority of scientists") the media gave me that even if we didn't all die in the inevitable nuclear holocaust, all natural resources would be depleted by 1999 anyway.

It's a wonder anyone in my generation got to adulthood without committing suicide.

[Thomas]

Obama is revealing his unpreparedness for all of this public scrutiny stuff, one poorly chosen word at a time.

[CTRepublican]

"Magnificent human being"? By what metric?

[ostrakon]

Never in history has a more cowardly and corrupt individual been Vice President. Cheney ran and hid from Vietnam (five deferments), personally pocketed over 90 million dollars of taxpayer money from Halliburton no-bid contracts and has been consistently wrong about every pronouncement he has made. For example;
The insurgency in Iraq is "in the last throes," Vice President Dick Cheney says
June 20, 2005

In the first eight months of the Bush administration Cheney was appointed to head up the task force on terrorist threats. They were receiving a multitude of actionable intelligence. For example;
"Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S."
- Title of the CIA's Aug. 6 briefing memo to President Bush . . .
In all eight months Cheney never even held one single meeting to address the terrorist threat.

Your unyielding support for this man is touching but somewhat reminiscent of how cult members speak of people like David Koresh and Jim Jones.

[The Monster]

The Global Warming crowd is getting desperate, because if the temperatures stabilize or even go back down before they get their 'cure' enacted into law, they can't take credit for it.

[red]

--90 million dollars of taxpayer money from Halliburton no-bid contracts--

I call b()**sh(*)*

Give us a reputable link.

[Mike from SC]

CTRepublican:
Off the top of my head, here are some metrics for magnificent human being: To satisfy the crowd’s need for avoiding any perceived conflict of interest, Cheney probably gave up more future income than any previous president or VP, so that’s got to account for something, no? He’s been a steadfast and involved member of the administration who’s done a fair job of communicating the administration’s message. Other than an interest in public service, why would anyone accept the position of VP? Cheney had all the accomplishments and loot he’d wanted or needed, so why sacrifice eight of his remaining years other than to serve?

One may not like his politics, but one should recognize his selfless dedication.

[Mike from SC]

Nice try at rewriting history. So Cheney got deferments, lots of folks did. At least he did not do a Clinton.

Your time sequence is out of order. Haliburton’s KBR subsidiary won through competitive bidding the IDIQ LOGCAP contract during the last year of the Clinton Administration. The purpose of that contract was to have at the ready a contract vehicle under which the Defense Department could order logistics support anywhere in the world without having to stage a lengthy contract competition for each requirement .

Cheney’s compensation was part of his employment contract with Haliburton and had nothing to with Haliburton’s later financial successes or failure. As I noted earlier, in becoming VP Cheney had to turn the contract into an annuity with significantly lower payments.

As for the rest of your rant, please resume your meds soonest; we care about you and hope for your speedy recovery.

[ostrakon]

Red is right. I was referring to 433,333 shares of unexercised Halliburton stock options Cheney currently holds. Value estimation of nine million, not ninety.

[Mike from SC]

From Wikipedia:

Cheney has a Gift Trust Agreement pursuant to which an Administrative Agent has the right to exercise those options and distribute the proceeds from the sale of the resulting stock to certain charitable organizations… All proceeds of the options will be split between the George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates, Inc. for the benefit of the Cardiothoracic Institute, the University of Wyoming for the benefit of the University of Wyoming Foundation, and Capital Partners for Education for the benefit of low-income high school students in the Washington, D.C. area.

[ostrakon]

Cheney in 1991:“For the U.S. to get involved militarily in determining the outcome of the struggle over who’s going to govern in Iraq strikes me as a classic definition of a quagmire.”

[ostrakon]

“Since I left Halliburton to become George Bush's vice president, I've severed all my ties with the company, gotten rid of all my financial interest," the Vice President said. "I have no financial interest in Halliburton of any kind and haven't had, now, for over three years.”
Meet the Press in 2003

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) concluded in Sept. 2003 that holding stock options while in elective office does constitute a “financial interest” regardless of whether the holder of the options will donate proceeds to charities. CRS also found that receiving deferred compensation is a financial interest.

[Mike from SC]

Ostrakon:

Thank you, you proved my point (and followed the link to Wikipedia -- good job! The Internet is more than porno and gambling, no”?) when I wrote above “He’s (Cheney’s) been a steadfast and involved member of the administration who’s done a fair job of communicating the administration’s message. “

Regarding the quagmire quote, he was toeing the Bush 41 administration’s line on why they didn’t move on to Baghdad. Steadfast, no? Yup. Not bad for a draft-dodger.

Yes, the Congressional Research Service may hold that Cheney has a financial interest in the stock options, but in the real world he does not. Sheesh, he gave up more money by giving away the proceeds from the options than you, I, and the proprietor of this site combined will earn in our lifetimes! And if you refer to that Wikipedia link, you’ll note that he gave up the deferred compensation to purchase an annuity.

[ostrakon]

As to my rant, perhaps it does have to do with my meds. You see my provider for Medicare part D, you know, that HUGE entitlement program that is so anti free market that the government was unable to negotiate for better pricing, cancelled support for meds it used to cover. You big spending, big government types always confuse me when you talk about fiscal discipline.
"The Republican party is simply not interested in small government now," says Brian Riedl, a budget analyst at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. "They're worse than the Democrats they replaced."

Anyway, did the VP hold any meetings on the terrorist threat before 9/11? No he did not.
Did he get 5 deferments to avoid Vietnam? Yes he did.
Why is that rewriting history?

Let’s take a look at some other wrap yourself in the flag military geniuses.

GW Bush - decided that a six-year Nat'l Guard commitment really means four years

VP Cheney -did not serve; received five deferments

Karl Rove - avoided the draft, did not serve

Paul Wolfowitz, did not serve

Douglas Feith, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy - did not serve.

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-OH - did not serve

House Minority Whip Roy Blunt, R-MO - did not serve

Former Att'y Gen. John Ashcroft - did not serve; received seven deferments

Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert - avoided the draft, did not serve.

Former Speaker Newt Gingrich - avoided the draft, did not serve

Richard Perle, did not serve
Rush Limbaugh, did not serve
Sean Hannity, did not serve
Bill O'Reilly, did not serve

[Mike from SC]

Nancy Pelosi did not serve, but I did, 1971-1977. You are welcome.

Sorry about the meds. Did you look at other carriers? Different ones have different formularies. I helped my mom and my mother-in-law with their selections. They are both saving money, but they each have quite different plans from different companies.

I thought the plan was going to be outrageously expensive, but so far it's cost less that predicted, which is good. I still think it's a bad idea, but take solace in the fact that my stinking kids will be paying for all the drugs I'll need, so I'm living life to teach them a lesson.

[ostrakon]

He only said he would donate the profits to charity after he was pressured to do so, If he is now unable to receive those benefits what do you suppose he will receive when he returns to the private sector in 2009? Hmmm, I wonder.

I am very impressed that he was a good shill by toeing the Bush 41 administration’s line. In recent years he flip flopped and became the strongest proponent of invading Iraq. All of his time, cost, and results assertions have been emphatically wrong. Why do you continue to support failure?

[W stands for Walker]

All right--it's late at night, so try to be gentle with me. What the hell is the meaning of the caption below our hot C-of-C
pic?

[Gabriel Hanna]

In the first eight months of the Bush administration Cheney was appointed to head up the task force on terrorist threats. They were receiving a multitude of actionable intelligence. For example;
"Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S."

It would be more accurate to say that they got a memo like this every day for the first eight months--just as the Clinton administration did for its last eight years.

Did you actually read that memo? It doesn't predict 9/11 or anything like it. It says OBL is a terrorist who wants to hijack planes. Which everyone has known since 1992, when another President who received actionable intelligence about OBL did nothing about it.

If Bush and Cheney had done anything that could have remotely prevented 9/11, even more of you lefties would say it was a plot than already do now.

[W stands for Walker]

Okay, let me re-phrase the question: "what is the meaning of the crytic caption placed beneath the picture of our handsome, ballsy president as he strides across the carrier deck looking so fine in that fly-boy
get-up?"

[Ostrakon]

Yes, I did read it, did you?
It says;
Bin Laden implied in U.S. television interviews in 1997 and 1998 that his followers would follow the example of World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yousef and "bring the fighting to America."

By the way where are Ramzi Yousef and Khalid Mohammed from the first WTC bombing, oh yeah, in prison for life. Nice job Bill Clinton. Where are Osama Bin Laden, Mohammad Omar, and Ayman al-Zawahiri? Alive and free. Nice Job Bush administration.

And;
After U.S. missile strikes on his base in Afghanistan in 1998, bin Laden told followers he wanted to retaliate in Washington, according to a -- -- service.
Those missile strikes ordered by Bill Clinton while every republican and righty in sight chanted “no war for Monica” It is you that’s trying to rewrite history. Take a look at what you were all saying.

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2006/09/25/clinton_2/index.html

And;
The millennium plotting in Canada in 1999 may have been part of bin Laden's first serious attempt to implement a terrorist strike in the U.S.

You know the plot that was stopped on Clintons watch.

So what did the administration do when they received the PDB entitled “Bin Laden determined to strike in US.”

According to Ron Suskind's "The One Percent Doctrine
We've known for years now that George W. Bush received a presidential daily briefing on Aug. 6, 2001, in which he was warned: "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S." We've known for almost as long that Bush went fishing afterward.
What we didn't know is what happened in between the briefing and the fishing, and now Suskind is here to tell us. Bush listened to the briefing, Suskind says, then told the CIA briefer: "All right. You've covered your ass, now."

Cheney’s terrorism task force still didn’t meet. Not once. I'm no lefty, I just can't defend failure after failure.