Letters to the Editor
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If only...
... oh, if only, back in August 2001, they had "sit there every morning and read the intelligence reports in the Oval Office" -- especially the one that said, "Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the U.S."...
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"we're going to do absolutely everything we can to see to it that we do succeed "
That's not even close to being true. If this is as important as he says it is, commit 500,000 troops to establish order in Iraq. Stop using suplemental spending when you know damn well that the war is going to cost you money during the fiscal year. Light a fire under Condi's ass to establish at least the groundwork of a diplomatic solution. And don't conflate tactics (like the surge) with strategy (like what Tehran has and we so obviously lack).
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Osama bin-Forgotten
Dick Cheney: "Our mission is to do everything we can to prevail on what is now, we believe, a global conflict . . . against one of the most evil opponents we've ever faced."
Everything, that is, except catch the terrorists actually responsible for 9/11. Who, by the way, have attacked the U.S.'s allies one by one (Australia in Bali, Madrid, London etc.); so to claim that "we" haven't been attacked since 9/11 ain't 'zactly true either. What a Dick.
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Heaven Help Us!
Speaking from an undislosed bunker, Dick Cheney and Eva Braun vow to fight on.
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The hypocrisy is breathtaking.
"We didn't get elected to be popular. We didn't get elected to worry just about the fate of the Republican Party." This, from the man in charge of the administration that:
A: Has gamed the entire Iraq War from the beginning to boost its own popularity -- and to demonize its opponents.
B: Has done its best to turn the entire Federal Government into a machine that promotes Republican Party interests (and supports Repub backers) to the complete and utter exclusion of the public interest.
That's right: the man who has politicized everything now righteously claims he and his henchmen are now (and have always been) above politics...
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If only...
It is hard to read Cheney talking about the need to worry more about the future of the nation than the future of his party. This is so admirable a sentiment, but nothing - nothing - he has done or said during his time in office indicates that understands how much he and the others of his party have hurt this idea. When was the last time Cheney said anything that indicated that he honestly thought other people could hold opinions contrary to his own and still be patriotic Americans? I have lost friends who, after listening to Cheney and his friends in right wing radio, decided that I am a terrorist-supporter because I am a liberal Democrat. I know I am not the only one. If Cheney and his ilk truly believed in nation over party, they would not have spent so much time trying to divide and conquer in the political sphere. Such poisonous divisiveness, part of crass political strategies, have done more to undermine the administration than anything else (well, aside from the corruption, incompetence, and weird disregard for reality). If only they had decided that nation was higher than party and chosen to use the solidarity and good will that prevailed after 9/11, rather than using it for partisan gain, and done so not only on the national, but the international stage? Think of what years of not spitting in the eyes of those who did not tow the party line would have accomplished? If only... The irony is that there is a great likelihood that we could have had a much more effective response, and the terrorist networks would now be dying, rather than growing. I do hope Cheney, Bush, and the right in general one day realize just how much harm they have done in taking the path of division and contempt in regard to their fellow citizens and Americans.
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MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
If that's true, Dick, then you guys have been a smashing success.
But what's with the propaganda and photo ops? What's that about, hmmm...?
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3 Co-sponsors for Impeachment
While Cheney's actions have been particularly harmful to our democratic instututions, our armed forces, our national security, our standing in the world, and to the lives of hundreds of thousands of people his true constituency has profited mightily from his tenure. The oil companies and Halliburton have had particularly good profits as a result of this administration's policies.
So, we can't really say for certain that Cheney didn't actually accomplish the job he set out to do.
---- in related news -----
Woo-hoo! A whopping 3 Democrats have now chosen to support impeachment of Cheney.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:HE00333:@@@P
Rep Wynn [MD-4] became the third co-sponsor of Rep Kucinich's H.R. 333 "Impeaching Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors."
Too bad the House Judiciary Committee isn't planning to have an actual debate on the resolution.
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Test?
How is this a test of the American people? What have they ever asked of us? To keep shopping? To believe evrything they say? To mind our p's and q's? That's not a test of anything at all, except perhaps our patience.
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Perpetual motion
Mankind has always struggled against the allure of the notion of the perpetual motion machine, which, once set in motion, can continue to operate without introduction of additional energy.
Darned if the GOP didn't come close to inventing one post-9/11. The idea that the unfocused threat against all that is good and proper could ONLY be addressed by resolute Republicans successfully led to continued control of the White House and Congress in 2004, sparking speculation that Democrats would remain in the wilderness for years to come. If there's only one logical response to the one real threat faced by the U.S., then what's to be done except more of the same?
The problem with this latest pretender to perpetual motion is additional "fuel" still must be added continually -- that being the lives and bodies of Americans, Iraqis and others, not to mention the billions of dollars continually going up in smoke.
Switching gears a bit, I do agree 100% with this part of Cheney's statement: "We didn't get elected to be popular. We didn't get elected to worry just about the fate of the Republican Party." He's right (even if Bush administration actions put the lie to his lofty claims) -- but then he neglects to consider that Congress ALSO was elected to achieve all the same admirable ends. They share responsibility for the fate of this country with the executive branch; no one has sole claim. Only when Congress truly asserts its rights and powers, effectively reining in an out-of-control administration, will balance and sanity have a chance to return to this country.