It’d be a tough call, but if I had to pick the most blatantly dishonest person in the Bush administration, I’d have to say it’s Dick Cheney. The man just can’t seem to help himself.
In fact, Cheney lies with such regularity, it no longer seems shocking. On Friday, for example, the vice president was in Alaska en route to this week’s European tour in Japan, China, and South Korea. Giving a speech to military personnel at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Cheney again tried to link Iraq with the attacks of Sept. 11 and al Queda.
As the LA Times noted:
Cheney, as he frequently has in the past, said the fight against the Al Qaeda terrorists who attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, and against Saddam Hussein in Iraq was part of a broader war against terrorism.
“In Iraq, we rid the country of a murderous dictator, a sponsor of terror,” he said. “He will never again threaten the United States of America.”
Saddam threatened the United States? When? With what? Cheney didn’t say.
The Washington Post noticed, too.
[Cheney] indirectly linked the Sept. 11 attacks to the current campaign in Iraq, though the administration has not produced evidence connecting the former government of Saddam Hussein to the attacks, and links between the secular Hussein and religion-inspired al Qaeda have proven faint.
Cheney’s record of deception on this is terribly long. If he were capable of feeling shame, Cheney might be embarrassed. Fortunately for him, he feels that he can lie with impunity — so he does it all the time.
In January, for example, Cheney was on NPR arguing that there’s “overwhelming evidence of a connection with al Qaeda and the Iraqi government.” It’s as if the poor man has lost touch with reality.
It wasn’t the first time. Last September, Cheney suggested that there may have been a connection between Saddam Hussein’s regime and the attacks of 9/11. Not only were the remarks wrong, but even Bush, not known for his veracity, felt the need to distance himself from Cheney’s comments.
And now Cheney’s at it again. No wonder so many Americans believe Iraq was involved with 9/11; their leaders keep repeating the same lie.