Category Archives: Cheney

Cheney’s 9/11.

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As the most deadly attack on US soil, 9/11 is a solemn occasion for all Americans. What makes it even more tragic is that it likely didn’t have to happen.

Many of us knew about the August 6, 2001 presidential daily brief headlined “Bin Laden determined to strike in US.”  But few of us knew of all the warnings that preceded it.  Kurt Eichenwald’s revelations in the New York Times represent a 9/11 disaster for the Bush administration and, most especially, former V.P. Richard “The Dick” Cheney.

The memos detailed in Eichenwald’s piece reveal that neoconservatives within the Bush administration were dismissive of warnings from the CIA and its Counterterrorism Center, labeling the warnings as a distraction from the “real threat” that was Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.  This was despite the fact that international inspectors repeatedly stated that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction, and that it had no delivery vehicles capable of reaching the US.

Moreover, the reports showed that there was no evidence of cooperation between Iraq and al Qaeda.

So who were these neocons dismissing the warnings of an attack by al Qaeda?  The most prominent neocons connected to the Pentagon and the intelligence community included Donald Rumsfeld, Lewis Libby, Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, Elliot Abrams and, of course, Dick Cheney who bullied his way into the leadership role for intelligence for the administration.

These people were all members of the Project for a New American Century, which was determined to use our unchallenged military to push our economic interests around the world.  Indeed, a 2000 PNAC report stated “The United States has for decades sought to play a more permanent role in (Persian) Gulf regional security…the need for a substantial American force presence in the Gulf transcends the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein.”

The 2000 PNAC report went on to say that it would be politically difficult to transform our military into “tomorrow’s dominant force” and create such a presence in the Gulf unless the US was struck by “some catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a new Pearl Harbor.”

If that doesn’t send a chill down your spine, I can’t imagine what would…especially when you consider the Cheney-led dismissiveness of pre-9/11 warnings.

Want to know something almost as frightening?  17 of Romney’s foreign policy advisors worked for the George W. Bush administration.

Why You Should Hate Teapublicans. Let Me Count The Reasons.

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1 – Richard Nixon’s Watergate break-in intended to literally steal an election. 

2 – The “Southern strategy” in which the GOP embraced racists. 

3 – The “Moral Majority” in which the Party embraced “social” issues. 

4 – Reagan’s union-busting. 

5 – Elimination of loan interest deductions resulting in huge tax increases for the middle class.

6 – Cuts to capital gains taxes and estate taxes on the wealthy. 

7 – Reagan’s Iran-Contra plan which financed Central American death squads.

8 – Deregulation of Savings and Loan institutions resulting in the loss of billions.  

9 – Gun laws putting military-style weapons in the hands of millions. 

10 – $60 million witch hunt and impeachment of President Clinton. 

11 – Massive voter suppression giving the 2000 election to George W. Bush. 

12 – Bush’s failure to act on warnings of a 2001 terrorist attack. 

13 – The Bush tax cuts.

14 – The unnecessary and completely unfunded war in Iraq. 

15 – “Swift-boating” of Vietnam War Hero, Sen. John Kerry. 

16 – Richard “The Dick” Cheney. 

17 – The outsourcing of our military to corporations. 

18 – Awarding government contracts to corporations with offshore “headquarters.” 

19 – Deregulation of banks resulting in mortgage fraud.

20 – The Great Recession.

21 – Subsidies and tax breaks for corporations that send jobs offshore.

22 – Fox News Channel and right-wing hate radio. 

23 – Unsubstantiated claims about President Obama’s birthplace and religion. 

24 – The Tea Party.

25 – Sarah Palin, Michele Bachman, Steve King and Paul Ryan. 

26 – Attacks on women’s rights. 

27 – Attacks on the LGBT community. 

28 – Plans to repeal The Affordable Care Act. 

29 – Assaults on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. 

30 – Obstruction of hundreds of President Obama’s appointments. 

31 – Filibusters. 

32 – Buckley v. Valeo resulting in a ruling that money is free speech.

33 – Citizen’s United which gave corporations the same rights as people.  

34 – Voter ID laws intended to steal the coming election.

35 – Attacks on Public Broadcasting, education and the environment.

36 – Blaming the poor and the unemployed for our deficit.

37 – Blaming teachers and first responders for our deficit.

38 – Trying to balance the budget on the backs of the poor.

39 – Vilifying immigrants to get votes.

40 – The debt ceiling debate.

41 – Embrace of Ayn Rand’s self-centered philosophy.

42 – Lies, lies and more lies.

Learn more in The Teapublican Book of Lies available from Amazon.com and other on-line bookstores

The Most Prescient Satire Ever!

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Recently, I had occasion to re-read The I Hate Republicans Reader by Clint Willis as research for my own book: The Teapublican Book of Lies, Volume 2.  One chapter of his book was devoted to a satirical article by The Onion headlined “Bush: Our Long National Nightmare of Peace and Prosperity is Finally Over.”  Written in 2001, the article was intended as farsical humor.  Yet it accurately predicted virtually everything that would occur over the 8 years of the Bush administration.

If you haven’t read the article, check it out.  If you read it back in 2001, it’s worth revisiting.

Should Romney-Ryan steal the White House as Bush-Cheney did, you can be assured I’ll read what The Onion has to say about it.  It just might offer me a look into the future and help me decide whether I should stay and fight.  Or whether I should flee to a sane country and sit out the next 8 years on foreign soil.

A Message To Moderate Republicans:

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To those long-time Republicans who fondly remember the Party of Lincoln, the party that held the Union together against the forces of slavery, the party that supported the “live and let live” principles of Goldwater, the party that stood with Reagan against the Soviet Union:  I have some very bad news for you.

That Republican Party no longer exists.

It was hijacked by neo-cons who started a “pre-emptive” war and resorted to torture in defiance of the Geneva Conventions.  These “new conservatives” bought votes with their unfunded Medicare drug plan.  They abandoned fiscal responsiblity by running up huge deficits and massive debt.  And they drove our economy off a cliff.

But they aren’t the only hijackers of your once proud party.  Your party has also been taken over by a group of intolerant zealots who intend to force their own unforgiving brand of Christianity on everyone; people who want to create a nanny state that dictates behavior, particularly that of women, gays and the poor.

Then, in 2010, your party embraced the “Tea Party” and yet another extreme agenda.  These people hate – I mean HATE – our government and anyone who supports it.  They hate public education, “entitlements” and government regulation – even to preserve the environment.  They refuse to compromise.  If anyone even mentions the word, they’re labeled RINOs (Republican in name only) and pushed aside.  They hate immigrants and people of color – any color but white.  And, if they don’t get their way, they threaten to exercise their “Second Amendment rights.”

Despite your best intentions, you won’t be able to fix the Republican Party from within.  There are simply too many of them and too few of you.  There is no Ronald Reagan waiting in the wings to save your party.  Instead, you have “leaders” such as Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum and Paul Ryan – the rising star who follows the self-centered principles of Ayn Rand, instead of those of Lincoln, Goldwater and Reagan.

Sooner or later, you’ll realize that the only real options left for moderate Republicans are to become Independents with no hope of choosing candidates, to form a new party, or to join the Democratic Party which has become the party of fiscal responsibility.

As someone raised Republican turned Independent turned Democrat, I can assure you that you will be very welcome in our party.

Another Dickish Demand.

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Will Richard, The Dick, Cheney never take the hint and just fade into retirement?

Previous former presidents and vice presidents retired to their compounds surrounded by Secret Service (such as George W. Bush) or devoted themselves to humanitarian causes (such as Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton).  Former vice-president and presidential election winner, Al Gore, has occupied his time by trying to convince Teapublicans that science exists. 

On the other hand, The Dick keeps elbowing his way onto cable TV to push his particular brand of hate and meanness. His most recent such foray was on CNN’s State of the Union, where he said that President Obama owes the Bush administration an apology.

An apology? For what? For cleaning up the two unfunded wars started by The Dick and his puppet Bush? For cleaning up the economic disaster left behind? For cleaning up the oil and financial industries run wild? For trying to restore our nation’s stature in the world after years of violating the Geneva Conventions? For finally tracking down the leaders of Al-Qaeda?

No, according to The Dick, President Obama should take back his criticism of the Bush administration’s tactics in the war on terrorism. More specifically, The Dick wants President Obama to take back statements from his 2009 speech in Cairo, in which he said the trauma of 9/11 caused America to “act contrary to our ideals.”

It appears The Dick had his feelings hurt (yeah, I know, it’s hard to imagine that he of the bionic heart has feelings) when President Obama denounced The Dick’s “enhanced interrogation” as torture. Of course, The Dick’s waterboarding technique is specifically defined as torture by the Geneva Conventions. But, despite that inconvenient truth, The Dick claims, “We were never torturing anyone in the first place. He (Obama) said we walked away from our basic fundamental ideals. That simply wasn’t the case.”

Even The Dick’s daughter piled on the current President. “He slandered the nation,” said Liz Cheney, “and I think he owes an apology to the American people.”

Proving that you don’t have to be male to be a Dick.

An Exposed Dick

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With Richard “The Dick” Cheney set to release his tell-all book about his term as dictator-in-waiting and puppet master of the George W. Bush presidency, the early reviews are all too predictable.  Apparently Cheney praises all those who agreed with him as smart, tough and patriotic.  At the same time, he portrays those who disagreed with him as stupid, naive and weak.

Reportedly, those who fit into the latter category are former Secretaries of State, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice. 

Of course, he also continues to support his so-called “enhanced” interrogation methods, otherwise known as torture.  The methods he ordered to be implemented on captives in our “War on Terror” included sleep deprivation, ear-splitting noise, humiliation and, of course, waterboarding.  The latter technique is officially banned as torture by the Geneva Conventions of which the US is a signator.  Indeed, in the past, the US executed enemies who were convicted of using waterboarding on US troops.

Cheney is not only unapologetic for his role as Torturer-In-Chief, he has said he would do it all over again in the same circumstances.  If he has actually put those statements in writing, I couldn’t be happier!  Those statements would be a confession of war crimes, admissable in court.  Not a court presided over by his buddies, Justices Roberts, Thomas, Alito, Scalia and Kennedy.  But the International Criminal Court which has the authority to prosecute war crimes.

Once his book is published, Cheney may never be able to travel outside the US again without fear of arrest and prosecution.  Of course, that threat is not likely to stop someone as arrogant as Cheney.  So let’s hope he decides to tour Europe.  If you believe in the rule of law, Cheney’s arrest and subsequent trial could be of real benefit to world peace.

An Endorsement No One Should Welcome

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The Houston Chronicle’s Fuel Fix blog reports that Richard “The Dick” Cheney is gaga over Congressman Paul Ryan.  “I worship the ground he walks on,” said Cheney.  “I hope he doesn’t run for president because that would ruin a good man who has a lot of work to do.”

If voters didn’t already have enough reason to be wary of Ryan following his attempt to gut the Medicare program, this should raise some even larger red flags. Whatever, or whomever, Cheney favors is almost certain to mean greater largess for corporations (especially big oil) and trouble for ordinary working people.

Still a Dick after all these years.

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Following the successful mission to find bin Laden, Richard “The Dick” Cheney was quick to claim part of the credit by saying that the mission justified our torture (aka enhanced interrogation) of political prisoners.

Say what?

It has been 10 years since the Bush/Cheney administration failed to take heed of warnings that Al Qaeda was planning an attack on U.S. soil, possibly with the hijacking of American passenger planes.  It has been at least 9 years since Bush/Cheney ordered the torture of captives in violation of the Geneva Conventions.  And more than 2 years since Cheney crawled back under his cloak of oil-stained money.

But it was Bush and Cheney who deserve credit for finding bin Laden?!!

That makes about as much sense as seeing our college students party following bin Laden’s death.  Celebrate, yes, but party?  Complete with chants of “USA, USA” and renditions of the “Na, Na, Goodbye” song? It’s as if they equated the killing of an individual (no matter how evil) to the winning of a championship basketball game.  And it’s hardly an image of our nation that will help us around the world. Better to reflect on the past and to pay tribute to those who died as a result of Bin Laden’s actions.  To consider how we can promote democracy and freedom around the world without the threat of war.  And to stop future terrorists before they strike without further compromising our own freedoms and resorting to measures such as torture.

Given Bush/Cheney’s actions and the fact that we’ve been at constant war for 10 years, that could take a good, long while.

Connecting the oil dots…er…globs.

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I’ve written before about Bush and Cheney’s influence on our energy policy. The Bush family has deep ties to the Saudis and Kuwaitis. After WWII, the Bush family jumped at the opportunity to rebuild the Balkans oil fields. And Bush worked in the oil industry before running for public office.

In addition, Cheney was the CEO of Halliburton prior to gaining the office of Vice-President. Cheney received a $34 million bonus from Halliburton when he left for Washington. And Cheney held secret meetings on energy policy in the very first month of the Bush administration.

All of that raises some very troubling questions. For example, what role did Cheney’s relationship to Halliburton play in the company receiving billions of no-bid government contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan? What role did Bush’s desire to build a pipeline across Afghanistan play in the events of 9/11 and the ensuing war in Afghanistan? What role did oil play in the unprecedented pre-emptive invasion of Iraq?

While those issues are in question, there are many Bush/Cheney impacts on U.S. energy policy that are not. It was the deregulation of commodities that led to speculation, skyrocketing oil prices and record oil company profits during the Bush/Cheney administration. It was the Bush/Cheney administration that increased subsidies to oil companies, in spite of their obscene profits, and cut subsidies for alternative energy sources.

It was the Bush/Cheney appointees at the Minerals Management Service who were literally in bed with oil company executives. The Bush/Cheney administration gave oil companies the right to drill in national parks and other wildernesses. Despite evidence to the contrary, Bush/Cheney decided it was safe to expand off-shore drilling and to drill in ANWR (the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge). And it was the Bush/Cheney administration that allowed BP and other oil companies to drill a mile under the Gulf’s surface without a serious back-up safety plan. (Indeed, the BP safety plan for the Gulf addressed the impact on walruses!)

It’s time for an in-depth Congressional investigation of the oil industry and all those who have helped oil companies keep a grip on our energy policy while, at the same time, making them the most profitable corporations in the history of the planet.

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Time For Bush And Cheney To Do The “Perp Walk”

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Not long ago, Richard The Dick Cheney extolled the benefits of waterboarding U.S. prisoners. And during a speech in Grand Rapids last week, George W. Bush publicly admitted to the same crime. Bush said, “Yeah, we waterboarded Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. I’d do it again to save lives.”

The problem for these unrepentent inquisitors (and for the United States) is that the U.S. signed the Geneva Convention against torture. Labeled the “Convention Against Torture And Other Cruel, Inhuman Or Degrading Treatment Or Punishment,” the document states that the parties to this Convention, have agreed as follows:

“…torture means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession…”

The document further states, “Each (signator) shall take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction. No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture. Each (signator) shall ensure that all acts of torture are offences under its criminal law…each (signator) shall make these offences punishable by appropriate penalties which take into account their grave nature.”

That doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room for our smug former president and former vice-president, does it?

Just to be clear, The U.S. tried and hanged some Japanese soldiers for torturing American prisoners during World War II with techniques that included waterboarding. As a result, our nation should not take Bush’s and Cheney’s confessions lightly. Otherwise the world community will forever label the U.S. as the renegade hypocrites we probably are.