Blowing Incompetent:
Mr. Cheney’s concern for the safety and well-being of American troops in Afghanistan would be far more touching had he not been so instrumental in sending them into harm’s way in the first place (before losing interest as he pursued his unnecessary war of choice in Iraq). Dithering? Is he suggesting that we’ve been bogged down in “the graveyard of empires” for eight years in what our own generals have described as a rapidly deteriorating situation because he and his boy-boss George W. Bush acted decisively? This is the man who, in the immediate wake of the 9-11 attacks, began pushing for an invasion of Iraq, despite certain knowledge that Saddam Hussien was not even remotely involved. This is the man who, when a small American force had cornered Osama bin Laden at Tora Bora, concurred that sending reinforcements in to finish the job would be unwise, thus allowing Bin Laden to escape into Pakistan where al-Qaeda still enjoys sanctuary. This is the man who, in a despicable act of moral turpitude and abject cowardice, then overturned more than two centuries of proud anti-torture policy in America, emboldening our enemies and humiliating our nation before the civilized world. But while George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are probably spinning in their graves, Dick Cheney seems more intent on covering his sorry behind in an effort to avoid providing testimony under oath. Dick Cheney knows full well who we ought to be pursuing with zeal, and I suspect it terrifies him. Politics over security? Would that be anything like ideology over truth? Private profit over patriotism? Hidden agendas over the precious lives of young American men and women who are willing to put service to country above personal safety–something that Dick Cheney never had the guts to do in the days when he had “other priorities”? Dick Cheney is a nose-blowing incompetent. When faced with the most important decisions any elected leader will confront–whether to send American citizens to war–he got it wrong. Each and every time… Saddam was connected to the 9-11 plot? No, he wasn’t. Saddam was harboring weapons of mass destruction? No, he wasn’t. He had an ongoing nuclear weapons program? No, he didn’t. Iraq posed a clear and present danger to the United States? Not a chance. The invasion of Iraq would be a cakewalk? Then why don’t you lead the parade, Dick? We’ll be greeted as liberators with showers of rose petals? Please! The litany of errors would be comical if they didn’t reflect such a tragic cost in blood and treasure. But the tragedy is compounded by the near-certainty–buttressed by solid investigative reporting and the accounts of former administration officials in a position to know–that Cheney’s blunders–and those of the Bush administration in general as it marched hell-bent to war–were not just errors of judgement, they were actions motivated by lies. The intelligence books were cooked. The public was misled. Members of Congress with constitutional responsibilities were kept in the dark—all in the service of an agenda that remains murky to this day. The legacy of the Bush White House--the legacy of Dick Cheney--is one of incompetance, dishonesty, cowardice and failure. Mere dithering would have been a considerable improvement, and he now presumes to lecture President Obama, a guy who was elected in large part to clean up Cheney’s mess? Dick Cheney, of course, has the right to say what he pleases. We can all hope that one fine day he gets an opportunity to do so in court, under oath. Until then, he would be doing himself and our country a favor if he’d learn to keep his mouth shut. |
Ronald Prescott Reagan (born May 20, 1958 in Los Angeles, California), usually known as Ron Reagan and sometimes as Ronald Reagan, Jr., is the son of the former President of the United States Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan. He is currently a political pundit for the cable television network MSNBC, and was a talk radio host and chief political analyst for KIRO radio in Seattle until his show was canceled on August 8, 2007. On September 8, 2008, The Ron Reagan Show made its debut as an Air America Media radio show; the program is a three hour daily show airing from 6–9 PM (ET). He is notable for his liberal or progressive views, which contrast with the conservative views held by his father. |
Former vice president and unindicted war criminal
Dick Cheney is at it again. Last night, in a speech before a friendly
audience at the right wing Center for Security Policy, Cheney once
again lashed out at the current White House while strenuously pretending
that the last eight years never really happened. He accused the
Obama administration of “dithering” on the subject
of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan.FAIR USE NOTICE |