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This Is What Democracy Looks Like
www.NationalView.org's Note From a Madman
December 23, 2008
Cheney-Speak
"If you let the Big 3 collapse, the GOP will be remembered for years again as
the party of Herbert Hoover."
-Sitting Vice President Dick Cheney
Are there any sweeter words than "The outgoing Vice President Dick Cheney"?
Perhaps "Former Vice President Dick Cheney" would fit that bill.
In a little less than a month, Dick Cheney will be the ex-Vice President, a
title that many of us thought might never come.
"The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day
of January,"
-The 20th Amendment to the US Constitution
And we can hardly wait.
Remember those Conspiracy Theorists who were sure that, come November 2008, Dick
Cheney would find a way to use the state of our nation's security to keep him
and President George W. Bush - a.k.a. the Puppet-master and his Puppet,
respectively - in office? It wasn't that long ago some said that this pair will
use national security as the issue they would need to rid themselves of that
pesky little Term Limit Amendment, the 22nd, put into out Constitution in 1951.
This past week, Cheney appeared on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace to take
the first of what will be numerous parting shots at his successor Joe Biden and
anyone else Wallace decided to pitch softballs about for him to hit out of the
GOPark.
Wallace asked Cheney about Biden's statements regarding the dangers of Cheney in
office. Here's what Biden said:
"Vice President Cheney's been the most dangerous vice president we've had
probably in American history."
-Vice-President-Elect Joe Biden
Bush relied on Cheney for everything from policy down to who to trust. His
involvement in the day-to-day duties at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue was
unprecedented and in the world of Washington, DC politics, new isn't necessarily
better. Here was Cheney's response to Biden's criticism:
"Well, I just fundamentally disagree with him. He also said that the — all the
powers and responsibilities of the executive branch are laid out in Article 1 of
the Constitution. Well, they're not. Article 1 of the Constitution is the one on
the legislative branch,"
-Cheney
Cheney's wrong here and Biden happens to be right. While Cheney went on to blast
Biden for not knowing the Constitution ("Joe's been chairman of the Judiciary
Committee, a member of the Judiciary Committee in the Senate, for 36 years,
teaches constitutional law back in Delaware, and can't keep straight which
article of the Constitution provides for the legislature and which provides for
the executive." -Cheney), it's Cheney himself who hasn't got a clue.
"The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but
shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided."
"As the presiding officer of the Senate, the vice president may vote only to
break a tie."
-The US Constitution
And other than the forty-fifth Amendment, which better defined the succession of
the Vice President to the Presidency, the duties of the VP are laid out only in
Article Number one.
"In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or
resignation, the Vice President shall become President."
-The US Constitution, as included in the 45th Amendment
Funny how Wallace failed to follow-up on that, isn't it?
The Time-Machine moment in the latest Wallace-Cheney interview came when Wallace
asked Cheney this:
"If the president during war decides to do something to protect the country, is
it legal?"
-Wallace
Cheney's response was very Frost-Nixon-like in its tone and meaning:
"I think we're perfectly appropriate to take the steps we have,"
-Cheney
In other words, and as Richard Nixon told David Frost some thirty years ago,
"When The President does it, it's not illegal."
With all that this administration has done to harm the United States and destroy
its middle class, it's just too bad that the only venue Dick Cheney felt safe
enough to speak out on was a Fox News talking head show. Certainly the most
powerful Vice President and the main policy-maker of worst administration since
Hoover's owes us more of an explanation than "Things happen."
If only they had been able to predict anything prior to its occurrence. If only
those that were there weren't ignored. If only...
-Noah Greenberg
Why a Chimp?
Some more thoughts on the "shoe thrower" and the reaction it sparked on this
newsletter.
I realize that some people don't like calling the President names out of a sense
of respect for the office. I don't think offices merit respect. The people that
hold them must earn respect. In my opinion, George W. Bush violated the public
trust by lying into an unjust war. For that reason, I call him a "Chimp" -
meaning, he is a stupid person. I intend no offense to Chimps!
I also realize that some people don't like seeing objects thrown at the
President. Rachel Maddow said as much this week on her show. I don't wish Bush
any harm but I believe he brought this situation on himself. He was incredibly
callous taking a "victory lap" around Iraq where thousands are dead and as mush
as 1 million are refugees. Iraq is literally a destroyed nation. For that,
Americans will have to live with the shame that we did this to Iraq with no just
cause. Of late, Bush has been on a tour making disingenuous speeches about his
Presidency in an attempt to rescue his legacy. It's too late for that. This
event was the fitting punctuation point to that "tour".
Finally, I am not un-subscribing though I admit to being irritated on reading
direct attacks against writers on this newsletter. There is plenty of room for
disagreement but there is no reason writers should call each other names.
I sure hope that none of us will be mad enough at the next President that we
will start conjuring up names. We simply can't afford another 4 years of
failure. But, we should separate how we communicate about the politicians from
how we communicate about each other.
Have a nice holiday all!
-Robert Scardapane
Chimp-Speak
What is Chimp Bush babbling about when he says that the auto industry could go
bankrupt as long as it's orderly? There really is no such thing as an "orderly
bankruptcy". Once a bankruptcy occurs, all parties line up for their share of
whatever loot is left over. Plants close across the country. Workers lose their
jobs.
Now, if he was talking about a "debt swap", as they are doing at GMAC, that
would make more sense. Basically, the bond holders would take a hit but lower
interest on the "substituted" debt would save the company money. Bottom line
though is that a "debt swap" will not save GM in the short term. They need a
bailout coupled with a long term adjustment of their business model (building
fuel efficient green cars).
I found it instructive that Chimpy made his remarks at the Mecca of Milton
Friedman "free market" capitalism - the American Enterprise Institute (AEI).
Bush was a right wing ideologue from day one and he is going out that way.
Wishing Bush a speedy retirement and be sure to look out for flying shoes.
-Robert Scardapane
A Different Christmas Idea
The Grinch, as you know is a chubby green fellow who hates Christmas.
He hated all the frills of Christmas, such as the bows, presents, trees, lights,
the endless assault of television adds that start way too soon, the music that
is played in every store and even in the airport etc, etc.
What he discovered was that Christmas isn't really about all those things. It
isn't about the presents and the candy in stockings. It isn't about the crowded
shopping malls and heavy traffic. It isn't about the toys and bicycles. It's
about unity and love, tolerance and acceptance, Peace and good will and friends
and family. What the Grinch hated was what made Christmas so troublesome and
hard to bear. That, my friends, is commercialism. The greedy bastards of big
business who want us to spend more money we have on stuff nobody needs.
Join me and fight the idea that Christmas can only be enjoyed by buying presents
and getting stuff. Don't go to the mall and buy anything unless it's for a kid.
They wouldn't understand what I'm trying to say, and children are what makes
Christmas fun anyway. So take the little boys and girls to visit the mall Santa
and buy their presents online. Make sure you don't buy anything from China, of
course. And remember the Grinch didn't steal Christmas commercialization did!
-Sean O'Neall
In response to, "It should be noted that something needed to be done in the
aftermath of Lehman Brothers' collapse and that the jobs lost by a number of
other Big Finance Giants, added to the $25,000 jobs lost at Lehman, would have
been catastrophic.
"Still jobs were lost, but not at the top where heads should have rolled. The
only reason, in my opinion, to distribute such large sums of US taxpayer dollars
was to save those middle-class jobs," David W. writes:
Ii remember after 9/11 the airline industry was in bad shape. The fed gave my
tax dollars to them and what t=did they do? Gave each other bonuses and laid off
15,000 workers.
Send your comments to: NationalView@aol.com
-Noah Greenberg