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Cheney forces ‘huge imposition’ on wounded combat veterans

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I shudder to think what the reaction might be if Barack Obama tried to pull a stunt like this one.

Vice President Cheney’s invitation to address wounded combat veterans next month has been yanked because the group felt his security demands were Draconian and unreasonable.

The veep had planned to speak to the Disabled American Veterans at 8:30 a.m. at its August convention in Las Vegas.

His staff insisted the sick vets be sequestered for two hours before Cheney’s arrival and couldn’t leave until he’d finished talking, officials confirmed.

“Word got back to us … that this would be a prerequisite,” said the veterans executive director, David Gorman, who noted the meeting hall doesn’t have any rest rooms. “We told them it just wasn’t acceptable.”

David Autry, another Disabled American Veterans official, said Cheney’s demands would be “a huge imposition on our delegates.”

That certainly seems to be the case. Some of the veterans were severely wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan, and many more are elderly veterans who “left pieces of themselves on foreign battlefields since World War II.” Getting to an early-morning event two hours beforehand, and getting stuck in a room they can’t leave, isn’t much of an option.

Once inside, the vets “could not leave the meeting room, and the bathrooms are outside,” Autry added.

Now, I understand the importance of security. The Secret Service no doubt has restrictions in place for a reason.

But that’s why I found this part of the New York Daily News article especially interesting.

[T]he vice president’s rules for speaking to groups seem more stringent than those of his boss.

President Bush routinely speaks at events such as large dinners where thousands of guests freely pass back and forth through Secret Service screening portals.

Wait, Dick Cheney would impose unreasonable restrictions on wounded veterans by choice? His security restrictions are more burdensome than the president’s?

If there’s a logical explanation for that, I can’t think of it.

Comments

  • Charles

    says:

    Think of it this way: if anything were to happen to Cheney, George Bush would become president.

  • jen

    says:

    Well, at least Cheney isn’t using a brain tumor to explain bad behavior. Robert Novak has been diagnosed with one – one way of getting out of a hit and run…

  • RSA

    says:

    His staff insisted the sick vets be sequestered for two hours before Cheney’s arrival and couldn’t leave until he’d finished talking, officials confirmed.

    This is incomprehensible to me, security concerns or no. What could Cheney possibly fear from sick veterans?

  • ROTFLMLiberalAO

    says:

    David Autry, another Disabled American Veterans official, said Cheney’s demands would be “a huge imposition on our delegates.”

    A nation of whiners….

  • NonyNony

    says:

    If there’s a logical explanation for that, I can’t think of it.

    Try this one – he’s a coward. He’s deathly afraid that someone, somewhere is going to take a potshot at him. He’s a pants-wetting fraidy cat who’s been running scared of the world since at least the Vietnam-era. He’s the type of guy who needs to hide in his closet (or man-sized safe) to feel secure, and then has to turn around and push people around to prove to himself that he’s a “man” and not a pants-wetting cowardly child.

    Even W is less afraid of the world than Cheney. The man’s a coward – always has been and probably always will be. He’ll probably end his days in a panic-room somewhere – hiding from his invisible enemies.

  • mjm

    says:

    Maybe these vets will contact Cheney’s office and inform him that they have “other priorities”.

    What an ass. January cannot come soon enough.

  • Winkandanod

    says:

    Cheney may be many things, but stupid is not one of them. Remember Bush’s inaugural parade and swearing in had to be restricted. Given the behavior of Bush/Cheney the last seven years, it’s not surprising that Dick Cheney is loathe to be in a room full of men who paid just short of the ultimate price, and are trained killers. Bush’s cavalier attitude about using these people for photo-ops is further evidence of his stupidity.

  • SaintZak

    says:

    …but, come November military personel and their families will vote overwhelmingly Republican.

  • Martin

    says:

    David Gorman, who noted the meeting hall doesn’t have any rest rooms

    Hmm, this sounds suspiciously like those self-actualization groups of the 70’s (EST, Lifespring). Lock them in a room, don’t let them leave (even to pee) and talk at they until their eyes glaze over.

    Dick Cheney is starting his own cult to take care of him when he leaves office. Thank god our wounded Vets outted him in time!

  • tom_oftheplains

    says:

    Well, we can’t be giving those paraplegic, arthritic, PTSD sufferers permission to use the bathroom, for God’s sake! Next they’ll be wanting a photograph of the Vice President. Or even worse, to be near enough to shake his hand! What is the world coming to when those who volunteer for military service STILL don’t know their place. Bathrooms are WAY too good for ’em.

  • joey (bjobotts)

    says:

    Why would the Veterans want to have a 9 time military deferment chickenhawk, speak to a group he forced to do what he himself would never do yet cheer them on to just short of death.

    Cheney’s guilt makes him paranoid of everyone. “Why on earth wouldn’t they want to kill me” he says to himself so he naturally suspects most people would. “Darth Vader” title was supposed to be a joke but as it turned out..he’s the real deal…responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands. Vets were planning to rip off their prosthetic legs and beat him to death with them

  • Ramki

    says:

    Now, now, Steve, give the man his due. Dubya is merely the Executive (yes, I used the definite). Cheney is more than that. Much more.

  • Racer X

    says:

    That bag of shit is telling our wounded warriors to wait two hours til they can take a Cheney.

    I’ll bet that chickenshit draft dodging warmonger only gets within spitting distance of a select group who swear a loyalty oath.

  • Bones

    says:

    Maybe the differences between W’s security preferences, and Dick’s,
    are mainly due to the fact that W can run much faster …

  • Steve

    says:

    Why in the world would a group of vets want to take a pot-shot at Cheney? Bullets cost money; they require guns to work: they’re a one-shot deal (no pun intended)—you use it once, and it’s gone.

    Bayonets are nicer; they’re quieter; they’re both re-usable and environmentally friendly. When was the last time you heard of wildlife getting lead poisoning from spent bayonets?

    Repeat after me: The bayonet is my friend….

  • st john

    says:

    What would McCain have to say about this: avoiding meeting with wounded veterans. I’d like to see this in his next ad.

  • Don

    says:

    Actually, you’ve got it a little backwards. Cheney’s security is approproate, it’s Bush’s that looks lax in comparison. But there’s a reason.

    Bush knows that as long as Cheney is his VP, he’s the safest dude in Washington.

  • Capt Kirk

    says:

    I think Dick Cheney has proven a huge imposition on our country and his disdain for US troops couldn’t be more apparent. Perhaps he will now sit out his barnacle days back at his undisclosed location, but I wouldn’t count on it. He has unfinished business east of Iraq, diplomacy-Cheney style.

  • Racer X

    says:

    …[Cheney’s] staff insisted the sick vets be sequestered for two hours before Cheney’s arrival and couldn’t leave until he’d finished talking…

    I’ll bet there’s a lot of fear in Cheney’s camp of a bunch of vets just standing up and walking out on him. Or rolling out, as it were.

    Biggest. Chicken. Shit. V.P. Ever.

  • JRD

    says:

    “If there’s a logical explanation for that, I can’t think of it.”

    A lot more people hate Cheney?

  • The Answer is Orange

    says:

    NonyNony is dead on and Charles owes me a new keyboard.

    It’s easy to believe Cheny has a list of ways to crap on members of the armed forces and is trying to get through it before Jan 2009. Next he’ll want to take them hunting.

    Have any of the fReichtards started screaming that the DAV must be full of traitors and terrorists?

  • Jim Strain

    says:

    Personally, I think Dick Cheney is the devil, but I’m afraid I ain’t taking this story at face value. It doesn’t sound right, and it isn’t consistent with other Cheney appearances before arguably friendly groups in the past. I hate it when McCain tries to advance false rumors about my guy, so forgive me if I wait just a bit to see if this one is true or not.

  • 2Manchu

    says:

    “NonyNony nails it. Did you know that Cheney brings along a Bio Hazard suit everywhere he goes?” -DennisSGMM

    Just a suit, that’s all?

    I kind of pictured Dick as more of a “escape capsule” kind of villain, in the Blofeld/Dr. Evil mold.

  • libra

    says:

    Jim Strain, @29

    It’s not a false rumour. Read the whole article, and don’t miss these tid-bits:

    When Cheney spoke to the group in 2004, his handlers imposed the same stringent security lockdown, upsetting members, officials said.

    And:

    Cheney’s office acknowledged the security requests, but insisted he is sensitive to combat veterans’ needs.

    Spokeswoman Megan Mitchell said the two-hour rule is “a recommendation, not a requirement,” and “we always work to make sure the bathrooms are within the security perimeters.”

    “The vice president would never let us do anything that didn’t help facilitate the needs of our veterans,” Mitchell added.

  • SickofBushMcCainLiebermann

    says:

    Why would deadeye Dick even care? He is a disgusting human being and deserves whatever karmic payback he gets.

  • Marnie

    says:

    Chaney probably treats his dog the same way.
    When he leaves the house for work he locks it in and if the poor animal needs to relieve itself it has to go on the floor and see, and smell and sit in it.
    That’s the way a Chaney kinda person treats dogs and other subhuman life forms.

    By the way look real close at the size of Bush’s suits and how they fit. Most often he has at least a bulletproof vest under his suit, sometimes a sleeveless bullet proof jacket, sometimes a cod piece.
    Look at the photos of when he walked along the Caspian sea. Huge stuffed out suit jacket and tiny head sticking out, slacks big enough for a 300 pounder, and Frankenstein shoes. Just look at the size of his shoes compared to the man he was walking with.
    Mr. Chicken wears full body Kevlar.

  • buckheaddad

    says:

    Would it be inappropriate to question WHY the Disabled Veterans would ever
    even consider asking the S.O.B. Vice-President for his comments on any subject?

    He summarized his approach when confronted with the FACT that A GREAT MAJORITY OF AMERICANS disapprove of this Administrations’ policies:
    “Sooooooooooooooooooooo?” . . . what a great guy. How would you like your
    daughter to marry into this family???????????????????????

  • toowearyforoutrage

    says:

    Wait, Dick Cheney would impose unreasonable restrictions on wounded veterans by choice? His security restrictions are more burdensome than the president’s?

    If there’s a logical explanation for that, I can’t think of it.

    You HAVE seen Dick Cheney’s approval numbers, yes?