Sarasohn: Cheney launches nuclear attacks on his foes
In what reporters actually called an easing of the rhetoric on Iraq, Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday called 57 percent of the American people “dishonest and reprehensible.” And that was the friendly part.
- David Sarasohn
If there was any doubt just how little the Bush Administration thinks of the American people now that they’re in power, Vice Torturer Dick Cheney’s speech to the American Enterprise Institute should clear up up any remaining doubt. Granted, Cheney was preaching to the choir, so it’s not as if he needed to win over his audience. Nonetheless, the stunning arrogance and disregard displayed by Cheney towards his employer- the American People- should be a red flag for any thinking person.
Clearly, this is an administration will to do what ever it takes- compounding lies, smearing opponents, propagandizing- in order to avoid being held accountable for getting us into this clusterf—k they call the “war on terror”. Truth is whatever serves their purpose, and whatever allows them to achieve the desired policy goal. If it means ignoring the reality that the war in Iraq has become this nation’s Vietnam, so be it. If it means more young Americans die for no discernable reason, hey, it’s a cost of doing business. And if you don’t like it, you can go f—k yourself.
Speaking to the conservative think tank the American Enterprise Institute ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ these days, the president and vice president speak mostly to conservative groups, if they can’t find a military base ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ Cheney attacked claims of manipulation of prewar intelligence as “dishonest and reprehensible,” and launched his legendary sneer at the senators who suggested it.
Yeah, I know how hard it can be to find a hand-picked, screened, ideologically reliable audience these days. And with so many troops overseas, it can be difficult to find a group so willing to follow orders
But earlier this month, an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll asked the question, “Do you think President Bush gave the country the most accurate information he had before going to war with Iraq, or do you think President Bush deliberately misled people to make the case for war with Iraq?” Of the sample, 57 percent thought the president misled them.
That’s a lot of reprehensibility.
It may be that on Iraq, the vice president needs more than a new American policy. He may need a new American people. And he may have to look hard.
With more and more Americans finally taking the time to WAKE UP AND SMELL THE CAT LITTER, the fact that this Administration is the most corrupt and venal since Richard Nixon stalked the Oval Office is fast becoming public knowledge. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…well, you get the idea.
As Cheney also explained, anyone saying that American troops were sent into battle in Iraq on a lie were committing “revisionism of the most corrupt and shameless variety.”
Interesting isn’t it, that a member of the Administration most guilty of engaging in their own revisionist history cannot see the irony inherent in accusing their political foes of the very behavior they are guilty of. Somewhere, Josef Goebbels is smiling.
But a survey taken in early November by the Pew Research Center asked whether leaders of the United States and Britain claimed that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction “mostly because they were themselves misinformed by bad intelligence, or … mostly because they lied to find a reason for invading Iraq?”
The survey found 43 percent thinking the U.S. and British leaders lied, and only 41 percent thinking the leaders were just misinformed themselves. If 43 percent of Americans are “corrupt and shameless,” Democratic senators may not be Cheney’s biggest problem.
Of course, it’s not as if Bush & Cheney have to worry about running for re-election. Being a lame duck Administration in this case means never having to say your sorry…indeed, it means blaming your opponents for the very shortcomings you have become renowned for.
Still, the vice president insists that what’s really hurting his Iraq policy is politicians not being nice about it.
“The flaws in the intelligence are plain enough,” he admitted, “but any suggestion that prewar information was distorted, hyped or fabricated by the leader of the nation is utterly false.”
It’s a ringing declaration, and an impressive display of Cheney’s mastery of the synonyms for dishonesty. But underneath the charges of political conspiracy is a real problem big enough to be picked up by U.N. inspectors, or even by the CIA.
An ABC News/Washington Post poll this month asked, “In making its case for war with Iraq, do you think the Bush administration told the American public what it believed to be true, or intentionally misled the American public?” By a margin of 55 percent to 44 percent, those surveyed went for “intentionally misled.”
Whether that 55 percent ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ the general standard of a political landslide ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ were “dishonest and reprehensible,” or “corrupt and shameless,” or maybe all four, was not made clear.
Clearly, this is not an Administration disposed to admitting that they have the blood of 2000+ American soldiers on their hands. They are not about to admit that in their headlong rush to war, they lied, fudged the available intelligence, and made the rest up out of whole cloth.
You know, if Bill Clinton had engaged in this sort of dishonest, reprehensible behavior, he would have long ago been impeached by a horde of torch- and pitchfork-wielding Republicans. AND HE WOULD HAVE DESERVED IT. Of course, no red-blooded Republican is going to vote to impeach a Chief Executive from his own party. Our Glorious Leader could have been caught in flagrante delicto with his pet goat, and he would get a free pass from the Republican-controlled Congress.
Ultimately, attacking those who have come to doubt your veracity and your integrity is a damn poor way to defend your record. Any reasonable person can now recognize that Our Glorious Leader and his apologists lied and deceived their way into the war in Iraq they so desperately wanted. The Prevaricator in Chief’s failed policy has created our own terrorist threat, which the Administration is now using to justify our continued presence in Iraq. It’s the kind of circular, twisted logic that is so characteristic of this Administration. Using Dick Cheney as the designated attack dog, while reprehensible, is certainly in character.
When you begin to see truth in your own lies, isn’t it time that for good and decent people to demand accountability?
WE DESERVE BETTER.
