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This Is What Democracy Looks Like
Today's Note From a Madman
January 8, 2009
Number One Observatory Circle
(or is that Cheney's Bunker of Secrecy and Death?)
There's a new "Heaven and Earth" statement coming out of the Bush
administration. You remember "Heaven and Earth", don't you?
"Had we thought that there was an attack coming in Washington or New York, we
would have moved heaven and earth to try and stop it,"
-Condoleezza Rice to the 9-11 Commission (and many, many others)
The newest "Heaven and Earth" comes from Dick Cheney. You remember Dick Cheney,
don't you? He's the guy who put "Go F--- Yourself" into the Senate record (among
other things and other places).
"I don't think anybody saw it coming,"
-Cheney, referring to the collapse of the US, and World's Financial systems
But would you and President Bush have moved both Heaven AND Earth to prevent it?
After all, you're doing okay, right?
With all of this talk about legacies and such, what will President Bush's legacy
be? What will Dick Cheney's be? Better yet, what will Dick Cheney say his legacy
will be?
Now that's a scary question.
Cheney is credited (of that's the right word) with creating our nation's energy
policy. That policy made old ladies decide whether they want to have dinner or
heat during the cold evenings of Winter. It's the policy that was created in the
DC back rooms by big shots smoking fat cigars while drinking expensive scotch
and laughing at the profits they'll make and the heartache it will cause us
regular people.
And it was Cheney who was among the first to practice the art of misinformation
known as the lead up to war in Iraq. It was Cheney who told us all that the
people of Iraq will greet us with thrown flowers at our feet and that we would
be greeted as liberators.
And it was Cheney who "earned" over a million dollars in his first year in
office in "residual" payments from his former company Halliburton. You remember
Halliburton (and its child company KBR -formerly Kellogg Brown & Root), don't
you? They're the company which "earned" all of those big, no-bid contracts in
that same Iraq war Cheney pushed harder than anybody for.
And then there was the hunting-trip-turned shoot-your-best-friend-in-the-face
trip. While that one didn't cost us much in dollars, it did cost Cheney's friend
Harry Whittington, a trip to the hospital to remove buckshot from his face and
chest. Whittington, an attorney and huge contributor to all things GOP, not only
had to suffer the physical wounds, but he also had to suffer through apologizing
to his "friend", Cheney, for getting in his way:
"My family and I are deeply sorry for all that Vice President Cheney and his
family have had to go through this past week,"
-Whittington, just outside his Corpus Christi, Texas hospital
Cheney, a man prone to DWI arrests in his own right, told investigators that he
had just one beer at the time of the shooting, but refused to make himself
available to those investigators until the next day when any alcohol would have
been out of his system.
At about the same time Cheney was pleading his DWI arrests (and convictions), he
was able to avoid the draft by obtaining five - count 'em, five - deferments
against being drafted during the Viet Nam war era. His reasoning was that he had
"better things to do."
Hmm... Maybe Cheney's legacy will be the "good example" he set.
Certainly, we have to include the Valerie Plame affair. Most of you will surely
remember that it was Plame, a CIA operative (and wife of former Ambassador Joe
Wilson) specializing in Weapons of Mass Destruction who was outed by those in
Cheney's office. The reason? As retribution and revenge against Wilson for his
NY Times editorial "What I didn't Find in Africa." Although the only person to
go to jail for anything related to the incident (Scooter Libby was convicted of
lying to federal investigators), the silence of the Vice President's office
became legendary during Cheney's tenure.
And, finally, there was the one thing that Cheney can still be tried for: his
involvement in setting torture as our nation's policy. Certainly that "shining
light at the top of the hill" has been dulled by the acts and policies set in
motion by Dick Cheney
The cable news talking heads speak about the power of the Vice President's
office when they speak of Cheney. Surely Cheney, they must believe, will be
remembered for that power which he instilled in that position. And, just as
surely, Cheney himself will revel in that assessment. But the rest of us will
remember that mean, secretive man who took control over our nation as no Vice
President, and few president ever have.
It was to our detriment and it was our fault.
-Noah Greenberg
In response to, "“It’s only about oil!,' was the big Lib battle cry along with
'No weapons of mass destruction'” when Bush (no buddy of mine) embarked on his
Iraq venture. What’s the matter? Getting expensive to keep your back sides warm
in Al Gore’s untimely Winter of Global Warming? All you accomplished was to
contribute to our problems in Iraq and Afghanistan, stiffen the Muslim’s
resolve, embolden Bush to 'spend his political capital' on furthering the
Republican dream of destroying Social Security, and divide the nation while the
money sharks looted our national treasury and destroyed our economy with debt.
Reich-wingers get worked up over the craziest things...
It WAS about the oil. There were NO Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq--sorry
to the families of the 4200 and climbing who have died there ensuring a sad
little man his place in history.
The reason it got expensive to warm our back sides has to do with putting two
Texas oilmen in the White House, and the allowing of the Oil industry to price
gouge the population for 5 years.
As for the resolve of the people in Iraq... you would be better off putting the
blame for that on the people responsible for the invasion of a nation that was
NO THREAT to us, and the fact that despite all the propaganda about LIBERATION,
the people of Iraq know clearly that they are an Occupied nation. Their
"resolve" is the of a people fighting against their Invaders and Occupiers.
In response to, "A very Complicated mess," David McReynolds writes:
In fact, since you raised the question about bombing in WW II, there are some
lessons which Israel might learn. Until the allies finished the invasion and
overthrow of the regime, the German people grew closer to Hitler, not farther
away, as their homes and cities were destroyed.
The bombing of London and other parts of Britain was minor compared to the
destruction of Germany. In some cases (Dresden) the bombings were clearly
criminal, were not military targets and were, like the speeding up by the Nazis
of the murder of the Jews, part of the madness of war itself.
In 1951 I went to Europe for the first time, to a student pacifist conference in
Denmark. In those days, going by a Greek liner was a lot cheaper than air, so I
took the ship. On board was a young German (what he was doing in Montreal, from
which the ship departed, I do not remember). He had been in military service on
the Eastern front, and as I recall, had also seen service in North Africa - a
very young guy, so he had gone into the military at some very early age - 15,
something like that. We got into very heated discussion as I tried to get him to
admit that the murder of the Jews was indefensible. Finally, the discussion
ended when he virtually screamed at me "How dare you talk about the killing of
the Jews when you murdered millions of Germans in the bombing".
From that discussion I realized that one result of the killing - of Israelis by
Palestinians, of Palestinians by Israelis - persuades no one. It simply
increases the sum total of hatred. And for Israel to survive it must find
something other than bombs - there are an endless supply of Muslims surrounding
Israel.
And Madman responds:
How dare us? I certainly would like to have a word with that former German
soldier... and so would everyone of my parents' Eastern European ancestors who
were murdered in by hitler and his nazis. Her very large family became very
small in just a few, short years.
And Lew Warden writes:
You ask, “How do you engage peace-hating jihadist murderous thugs in any kind of
meaningful dialogue?” Think of the famous last words of the disillusioned
Liberal in “Heart of Darkness” - “Exterminate the brutes.”
And in response to, "What is an appropriate response from a nation - any nation
- whose borders are regularly being broken by crude, yet effective bombs hurled
at them?" Dorothy Schwartz writes:
Here's one suggestion - stop the blockade that led to the rockets.
And Madman responds:
I don't believe that would stop the rockets, but I'm not against stopping the
blockade, especially if it would lead to stopping the rockets.
By the way, what's Egypt's excuse?
In response to George H. W. Bush's suggestion that son Jeb should run for
President, Sheila Burleson writes:
Another Bush in the White House would not be a dynasty - it would be a
DIE-NASTY.
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-Noah Greenberg