Cheney’s values

At the risk of sounding picky, is it too much to ask the Vice President to refer to the protections of the Geneva Convention and the Constitution of the United States as good things? Perhaps protections that he’s proud of?

Not when they get in the way of acquiring enormous wealth and power.

I suppose I should be shocked Mr. Other Priorities would even show his crooked face at WP but my delicate sensibilities have been squashed six years of rule by a bunch of power-crazed bastards.

I mean “isn’t this the moral reason we fight anyone?” Don’t we fight to protect ourselves from those who would undermine humane principals?
or do we become them?

Irony drips off of almost every word this administration speaks. They must, at least in the “three AM” of their souls (where distraction, rationalization, and pretense does not exist), ocassionally hear themselves and squirm at the sound of their sad words. At least I would like to think so.

Shorter Cheney: the U.S. Constitution is the last refuge of a scoundrel. … Pathetic.

But he is on to something. If we paraphrase his sentence to say, “Capture one of these felons, and he’ll be quick to demand the protections of the Constitution of the United States.” That would apply perfectly to Monica Goodling, Alberto Gonzales and the rest of the USAgate criminals. They get busted doing something illegal and they all go pleading the 5th and hiding behind executive privilege. Cheney perfectly describes all the vile people around him.

In the world of Dick Cheney, freedom is slavery and war is peace. By noting this, one can only then begin to see Dick’s argument: The Constitution and the Geneva Accords are wrong, and work counter to Dick’s view of democracy where only the powerful get to make the choices for the rest of us. Yes, Dick is a DICK! -Kevo

Besides Dick’s Dirty Harryesque “damn punks and their liberal rights” comment, I found some other interesting bits and pieces in his speech:

“They have given themselves to an ideology that rejects tolerance, denies freedom of conscience, and demands that women be pushed to the margins of society.”

But enough about the GOP, let’s get back to the terrorists

“By force and intimidation, they seek to impose a dictatorship of fear, under which every man, woman, and child lives in total obedience to their ideology. Their ultimate goal is to establish a totalitarian empire, a caliphate, with Baghdad as its capital.”

And this is based on, what? Most of the information on an new caliphate comes from sources that are either vague, sketchy, or just made up.

“And now they have chosen to make Iraq the central front in their war against civilization. ”

Once again, the Manchurian White House is letting al Qaeda dictate when are where the US fights.

“America is fighting this enemy in Iraq because that is where they have gathered.”

Well, okay, they gathered there AFTER the US invaded, but that’s really water under the bridge at this point.

“We are there because, after 9/11, we decided to deny terrorists any safe haven.”

Except in Pakistan.

“We are there because, having removed Saddam Hussein, we promised not to allow another dictator to rise in his place. ”

Unless he’s friendly to the US, then we don’t really mind (see previous comment).

“We know from history that when people live in freedom, answering to their own conscience and charting their own destiny, they will not be drawn to the ideologies of hatred and violence.”

People like Timothy McVeigh.

“In the struggle against terror, no country has had more battlefield deaths, or lost more civilians, than Iraq itself. They and their elected leaders are striving to preserve democracy against direct attack by merciless enemies. And they can know that our country, as in other times and other places, stands firmly for the cause of democracy. ”

But we are willing to substitute “democracy” with “authoritarian”, as long as it brings “stability”. No such thing as being too flexible.

“As we look to the future, I want to say this to the graduates, and to all the men and women of the Corps, and to the families gathered in this stadium today: Whatever lies ahead, the United States Army will have all the equipment, supplies, manpower, training, and support essential to victory.”

After I leave office.

[…] you will now face enemies who oppose and despise everything you know to be right, every notion of upright conduct and character, and every belief you consider worth fighting for and living for. — Cheney

Cheney must have been looking into a mirror. Yet, I could have sworn I was told that the Evil One didn’t produce a mirror image…

…you will now face enemies who oppose and despise everything you know to be right, every notion of upright conduct and character, and every belief you consider worth fighting for and living for.

That’s exactly what they said about the godless Commies during the Cold War. Until Sting taught us that the Russians love their children, too.