Cheney: Bush Has ‘Shored Up His [Political] Position…Specifically On Iraq’
Cheney: Bush Has ‘Shored Up His [Political] Position…Specifically On Iraq’
In a new interview with Newsweek, Vice President Dick Cheney falsely claims that President Bush’s Iraq escalation speech delivered on Jan. 10 “shored up his position…specifically on Iraq”:
CHENEY: My sense of it is that what’s happened here now over the last few weeks is that the president has shored up his position with the speech he made a couple of weeks ago, specifically on Iraq. And I think the speech, frankly Tuesday night, the State of the Union address was one of his best. I think there’s been a very positive reaction of people who saw the speech. And I think to some extent that’s helped shore us up inside the party on the Hill.
Cheney’s claim is false. Polls taken after the Iraq escalation address indicate that public support for the Iraq war and for Bush’s strategy continue to fall. Some examples:
USA Today, 1/15/07, “Poll: Bush’s new Iraq strategy fails to rally public support”
President Bush’s address to the nation last week failed to move public opinion in support of his plan to increase U.S. troop levels in Iraq and left Americans more pessimistic about the likely outcome of the war.
Washington Post, 1/11/07, “Poll: Most Americans Opposed to Bush’s Iraq Plan”
The findings of the survey, conducted after Bush’s primetime speech, represent an initial rebuke to the White House goal of generating additional public support for the mission in Iraq. The poll found that 61 percent of Americans oppose sending more than 20,000 additional troops to Iraq, with 52 percent saying they strongly oppose the plan. Just 36 percent said they back the president’s new proposal.
CBS, 1/11/07, “Poll: Americans Not Swayed By Iraq Plan”
Americans were not swayed very much by President Bush’s speech Wednesday night outlining his new strategy for the war in Iraq, according to a CBS News poll.
Bush’s job approval ratings have taken a hit as well. In December, both CNN and Washington Post polls reported he had a 36 percent rating. In their most recent polls, Bush has fallen to 34 and 33 percent respectively.
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VP Cheney lives in a bubble of his own imaginations!
January 28th, 2007 at 12:20 pmOne of his aides should turn the graph right side up for him. It’s a little embarassing.
January 28th, 2007 at 12:21 pmGIVE IT A REST, CHENEY – YOU’RE DEAD TO US.
January 28th, 2007 at 12:22 pmtwo words. “Last throes”
January 28th, 2007 at 12:22 pmcomment deleted
January 28th, 2007 at 12:23 pm#5- Yeah – Blind, blurred and double vision.
January 28th, 2007 at 12:25 pmMiniTruth Speaks. “War is Peace.”
January 28th, 2007 at 12:27 pmExley > please do not act brain-fried on here for Dicky. Bush will go down in history as a complete dunce and the worst president that ever existed!
January 28th, 2007 at 12:28 pmImmediately after the interview he left to go snipe hunting at Rancho Mirage.
January 28th, 2007 at 12:29 pmOne of his aides should turn the graph right side up for him. It’s a little embarassing.
Comment by dlet — January 28, 2007 @ 12:21 pm
That’s funny :)
January 28th, 2007 at 12:33 pmCheney: Bush Has ‘Shored Up His [Political] Position…Specifically On Iraq’
Bush is a hand puppet. It’s Cheney’s position that Cheney is defending here. 100%
January 28th, 2007 at 12:35 pmThat is not Exley, that is someone name jacking. Exley is conservative repulican, but he is not that insane.
On topic, Cheney hasn’t been doing well, I don’t think he should slither forth from his hidey hole anymore. Just stay out of public view.
January 28th, 2007 at 12:35 pmCheney speaks the truth? riiiiiiggghhhht. Oh, you meant troooth. Yeah, Cheney speaks troooth. Hope he speaks the truth when he’s called in the Libby trial.
Show where Cheney speaks the truth.
January 28th, 2007 at 12:36 pmBush will go down in history as a great liberator, a man with a vision for the Middle East.
Comment by Exley — January 28, 2007 @ 12:23 pm
My 6 year old niece used to believe that flying invisible unicorns spoke to her.
You two have much in common… Except that she’s out grown her delusional fantasies…
January 28th, 2007 at 12:38 pmExley, you’re so full of shit your eyes are brown.*
*Apologies to legitimately brown-eyed folk.
January 28th, 2007 at 12:38 pmHe must feel that by saying it out loud, that makes it true.
Dream on, asshat. Game over.
January 28th, 2007 at 12:41 pmCheney reminds me of Goering, the fat warmonger, who encouraged Hitler to attack Great Britain and even though the Luftwaffe failed to bomb England into submission he continued to tell Hitler they were winning. Dicky lives in fantasy, and he wraps Bush in his delusions, so both of them have lost their minds now!
January 28th, 2007 at 12:42 pmBush says, “Good job Dickie, Billy, and Joey. You done me right on the Sunday news shows today.” The word of the day from the neo-cons is that everything is going just great in Iraq and they will escalate the war.
Has anyone told Dickie, Billy, and Joey that another US helicopter was shot down Sunday afternoon in Baghdad? Wouldn’t want to bother them with the facts. And who says Exley is not insane? Sounds like it to me.
January 28th, 2007 at 12:44 pmCheney goes down? Is that because his daughter won’t?
January 28th, 2007 at 12:44 pmAmerica ‘Poised to Strike at Iran’s Nuclear Sites’ from Bases in Bulgaria and Romania – http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0128-05.htm
“Sofia’s news of advanced war preparations along the Black Sea is backed up by some chilling details. One is the setting up of new refuelling places for US Stealth bombers, which would spearhead an attack on Iran. “The USAF’s positioning of vital refuelling facilities for its B-2 bombers in unusual places, including Bulgaria, falls within the perspective of such an attack.” Novinite named Colonel Sam Gardiner, “a US secret service officer stationed in Bulgaria”, as the source of this revelation.
Curiously, the report noted that although Tony Blair, Bush’s main ally in the global war on terror, would be leaving office, the president had opted to press on with his attack on Iran in April.
Before the end of March, 3000 US military personnel are scheduled to arrive “on a rotating basis” at America’s Bulgarian bases. Under the US-Bulgarian military co-operation accord, signed in April,2006,an airbase at Bezmer, a second airfield at Graf Ignitievo and a shooting range at Novo Selo were leased to America. Significantly, last year’s bases negotiations had at one point run into difficulties due to Sofia’s demand “for advance warning if Washington intends to use Bulgarian soil for attacks against other nations, particularly Iran”.
January 28th, 2007 at 12:45 pm“And I think to some extent that’s helped shore us up inside the party on the Hill.”
YOU FOLKS DON’T GET IT! Cheney was talking about “inside the party.” He wasn’t talking about shoring up support from the proles, because the proles don’t matter.
Just take a look at HALLIBURTON’S BOTTOM LINE since Cheney became Vice-President. Look at the vast increases in wealth to BUSH’S BASE! That’s the SUPPORT that Cheney is talking about. The WAR PROFITEERS absolutely LOVE Bush’s escalation! It means more no-bid PROFIT PLUS CONTRACTS!!!
January 28th, 2007 at 12:46 pmPapa > you have a link for the chopper being shot down today in Iraq?
January 28th, 2007 at 12:47 pmJay – excellent analogy!
January 28th, 2007 at 12:48 pmCheney goes down? Is that because his daughter won’t?
Comment by hellinabucket — January 28, 2007 @ 12:44 pm
That was a low blow. Remember when Chelsey was described as “the White House dog.”
Just remember, if BUSH GOES DOWN, DICK GOES DOWN WITH HIM!
Then you’d have PELOSI, cleaning up the oval office!
January 28th, 2007 at 12:53 pmThree TP threads this morning, each devoted to a lying, pathetic, vile waste of a human life: Lieberman, Kristol, and Cheney.
January 28th, 2007 at 12:53 pmWeird stuff. That dude will say anything.
January 28th, 2007 at 12:54 pmSenator Kyl this morning, probable phrased it the way the White House wants it.
If you are against the war, cut the funding don’t do non binding resolutions that can be spun as ‘not supporting the troops’
if you believe the war is wrong, cut the funding
The President has put this in Congress’s court and they punted, which will give him what he wants and make the ‘not supporting the troops’ mantra possible. It’s a phony argument, but he played hard ball and the Congress blinked.
January 28th, 2007 at 12:54 pmCheney’s history of recent Afghanistan is, shall we say, selective.
January 28th, 2007 at 12:57 pmJay, Here’s the CNN link to the story about the 3rd copter down in two week, Sunday afternoon in Najaf. The story is a diary on dailykos and also on buzzflash. com Nothing yet on msnbc or cnn. Insurgents taking down US helicopters is an ominous sign. I doubt Bush and Co. grasp this fact.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/01/28/sunday/index.html
January 28th, 2007 at 12:57 pmWhy anyone pays attention to him is beyond me. He hasn’t been right since he first took office. Why would he be any different now? He is merely a bloviator.
January 28th, 2007 at 12:58 pmCompare and contrast:
January 28th, 2007 at 12:58 pm“DC Dick and Baghdad Bob.”
The lunatic is in the hall
The lunatics are in my hall
The paper holds their folded faces to the floor
And every day the paper boy brings more
And if the dam breaks open many years too soon
And if there is no room upon the hill
And if your head explodes with dark forbodings too
Ill see you on the dark side of the moon
The lunatic is in my head
January 28th, 2007 at 12:58 pmThe lunatic is in my head
You raise the blade, you make the change
You re-arrange me till I’m sane
You lock the door
And throw away the key
Theres someone in my head but its not me.
Jay,
You might try The Google:
U.S. helicopter shot down near Najaf
By Rich Mauer
McClatchy Newspapers
BAGHDAD, Jan. 28 – A U.S. helicopter was shot down early Sunday afternoon near the provincial capital Najaf during a pitched battle with fighters described as religious fanatics.
January 28th, 2007 at 1:01 pmWhy anyone pays attention to him is beyond me. He hasn’t been right since he first took office. Why would he be any different now? He is merely a bloviator.
Comment by Nellieh
He’s a bloviator with power. That’s why we have to watch him. How do you think we got into this mess?
We weren’t watching.
January 28th, 2007 at 1:01 pmThe Ghost,” then you’d have Pelosi, cleaning up the oval office”….Please explain, would that be good or bad.? Just wondering….
January 28th, 2007 at 1:04 pmHogwash
January 28th, 2007 at 1:04 pmThey really must stop giving this man ink and air time.
January 28th, 2007 at 1:06 pmThanks PapaJohn for the link > No report on number of dead killed in the helicopter crash in Iraq today. Pentagon is slow to admit stuff, even though they have the information almost immediately. Seems to be a new tactic of Iraqi insurgents to shoot down choppers. Viet Cong learned that trick too, so American casualties are going to escalate now.
January 28th, 2007 at 1:07 pmAs you watch CHeney bloviate with fascination
He and Bush are preparing to attack Iran.
It’s a magic trick. Look over here everyone at crazy Cheney spewing forth on TV. Pay no attention to the movement of troops and air force bombers within striking distance of Iran
As long as you can all go on and on and on about how awful Cheney is, you FEEL like you’re doing something. You’re just being tricked to look the other way.
January 28th, 2007 at 1:09 pmI will show up as a volunteer with disinfectant, mop and bucket to help Madam Speaker Pelosi clean up the Oval Office.
January 28th, 2007 at 1:09 pmPlease explain, would that be good or bad.?
Comment by Lisa — January 28, 2007 @ 1:04 pm
It would be BAD for the WAR PROFITEERS. BAD for the AMERICAN DREAM of OWNING THE WORLD’S OIL RESOURCES.
I could go on, but you get the picture.
January 28th, 2007 at 1:10 pmCheney: Bush Has ‘Shored Up His [Political] Position…Specifically On Iraq’
I would say that Cheney wasn`t lying.
1.) Bush holds all the cards. ( Unitary President )
2.) He`s got his escalation. ( Self Explanatory )
3.) And he remains to have a wedge in the congress. (The War )
Bush indeed has…Shored Up His [Political] Position…Specifically On Iraq’
January 28th, 2007 at 1:11 pmHenny Penny, the sky is falling.
His car like his heart starts with a hand crank.
January 28th, 2007 at 1:12 pmThe second aircraft carrier fleet is steaming for the coast of Iran as we speak, expected to be there sometime in February……….
January 28th, 2007 at 1:12 pmViet Cong learned that trick too, so American casualties are going to escalate now.
Comment by Jay Randal — January 28, 2007 @ 1:07 pm
No, they’re just going to surge.
January 28th, 2007 at 1:12 pm*
just heard on mclaughlin – tony blankley says the anti war protests won’t amount to much… most of the anti war effort is on the internet…
i hope this weekend proves him wrong…
January 28th, 2007 at 1:13 pm.
Raven lol > cleaning out the White House after Bush will be a very nasty job. I bet the smell from Bush will linger in the carpets and drapes, so best to strip the place down to the bare walls.
January 28th, 2007 at 1:14 pmThis week I’m really going to get to know at least the people who answer the phones for my Congressmen and Senators of both parties.
January 28th, 2007 at 1:16 pmThe only vote which counts, the only poll which counts, is the number of people willing to sign up at their local recruiters.
January 28th, 2007 at 1:17 pmAnd they ain’t doing it. End of story.
What do you use to get out a barbacue/treason/torture stain?
It’s new improved IMPEACHMENT (with lemon)!
January 28th, 2007 at 1:19 pmThat’s the face of pure evil.
January 28th, 2007 at 1:19 pmHopefully the idea of impeachment will get “shored up” too.
January 28th, 2007 at 1:19 pm#50…
January 28th, 2007 at 1:22 pmRecruiters for what/who?
The Ghost, thank’s for the link and response…..I will sign up with the fumagater’s, lysol in hand..
January 28th, 2007 at 1:24 pm01 Jan 2007 3000
27 Jan 2007 3078
Congratulations Insurgenst keep up the bloody good work
Your people are raped and killed by US forces over a LIE
January 28th, 2007 at 1:36 pmNow they want your OIL , Kill them all
A U.S. helicopter was shot down in the fighting near Najaf, Iraq security sources said. The U.S. military declined comment. A Reuters reporter saw a helicopter come down trailing smoke.
MY god Karma is a post away these days that was quick eh
January 28th, 2007 at 1:40 pmReuters: Two crew members of U.S. helicopter killed (unconfirmed)
I cannot beleive how fast Karma is these days…. Ha ha
January 28th, 2007 at 1:42 pmWell that ’s tricky dick’s story and he’s sticking to it. Never mind his “shored up” numbers are at a low of 30% approval for these morons. I can’t wait until this idiot resigns or is hauled off to jail…
January 28th, 2007 at 1:49 pmBin Laden from the grave.
Your a Republican right?
January 28th, 2007 at 1:52 pmThese guys are so over-the-top I often wonder why they don’t just start dropping nukes. They clearly don’t care about consequences of anything.
January 28th, 2007 at 1:53 pmHe didn’t lie. He prefaced his comments with “My sense of it”, which means “in my opinion”. It wasn’t a lie, it was a weasel. He’s full of shit, and he’s intentionally misleading, but as long as he couches it in those terms he’s not technically lying, unless you can prove he held a different opinion than what he stated.
January 28th, 2007 at 2:13 pmHe will soon be standing on a moonlit beach singing, “I sailed away to a silver island.”
January 28th, 2007 at 2:22 pmIs there static in his little gray cells?
Has he had a check-up lately?
He may be losing his marbles but we are the ones who need help!
Dick Cheney is a smug deluded but smart sociopath. He is the most dangerous man in America !
January 28th, 2007 at 2:26 pmIt’s just a “last throes” kind of line!
January 28th, 2007 at 2:27 pm“My sense of itâ€, Is the verbal equivilent of crossed fingers.
January 28th, 2007 at 2:29 pmDick Cheney suffers from schizophrenia.
January 28th, 2007 at 2:39 pmHe prefaced his comments with “My sense of itâ€, which means “in my opinionâ€. It wasn’t a lie, it was a weasel.
Comment by Dan Isaacs — January 28, 2007 @ 2:13 pm
they always preface… always just one step ahead, they think…
January 28th, 2007 at 2:48 pmW = Weasel & Co.
“My sense of itâ€, Is the verbal equivilent of crossed fingers.
Comment by mparker — January 28, 2007 @ 2:29 pm
heh… but no, not necessarily… they really do believe this shit…
January 28th, 2007 at 2:51 pmI think the quote is nasty, but I read it differently.
He doesn’t care what the people polled think, he’s only talking about slowing the bleeding in the republican party, specifically house members and a few senators. Chenney has never expressed an interest in the will of the people.
Sounds like people were polite to him and he took it as being back in the saddle, because he is delusional.
He looks like he had a stroke and part of his brain died and is roting inside his skull.
January 28th, 2007 at 2:55 pm” My sense of it is that what’s happened here now over the last few weeks is that the (vice)president has”
TAKEN LEAVE OF HIS SENSES. The guy is clearly certifiable on medical grounds. He’s demonstrably BARKING MAD.
Jon Stewart has Cheney’s bark down pat. All that remains is for men and women of integrity to rid us of this troublesome fool. One doesn’t encourage gross national cancer, one excises it.
January 28th, 2007 at 2:58 pm#64 Dick Cheney is a smug deluded but smart sociopath. He is the most dangerous man in America !
Comment by km4
And only a heartbeat away from being the President for real —— Shudder!
He and Dubya along with their NeoCon allies like Kristol, Perle and Rummy are beginning to make Hitler and his crew look like choirboyz.
January 28th, 2007 at 3:20 pmDelusional.
January 28th, 2007 at 3:24 pmThe whole damn White House needs to spend some time “on the couch.”
From the same interview:
Cheney also speaks out about his “Darth Vader†image and whether he feels he gets treated fairly by the media. “By the time I leave here, it will have been over 40 years since I arrived in Washington, and I’ve been praised when I didn’t deserve it, and probably criticized when I didn’t deserve it,†he says. “And there aren’t enough hours in the day for me to spend a lot of time worrying about my image.â€
He just doesn’t care. His rationale is “I’m vice president and you’re not.”
January 28th, 2007 at 3:30 pmThe huberis and arrogance of this administration in taking us into a war that we had no business starting is best summed up to my thinking, in Cheney’s statement that this (Iraq) is a problem(of Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld and the rest of the Crime Family’s making) that will occupy at least the next four administrations. Words fail me to properly identify the individuals who visited this on us and our children.
January 28th, 2007 at 3:50 pmBush boy may have shored up his position but he spent all his political capital in the beginning of 2005. He’s broke.
Just 722 days, 8 hours, 2 minutes left until it’s bye bye Bush and Cheney.
January 28th, 2007 at 3:56 pmWith Senate debate on competing Iraq resolutions set to begin this week, Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel has emerged as the bete noire of President Bush and his remaining Republican allies in Congress. But while his ferocious opposition to the “Alice in Wonderland” surge in Iraq marks him now as a White House foe, back in 2005 Hagel offered Bush some sage advice that should have made him the President’s best friend.
For the details, see:
January 28th, 2007 at 3:56 pm“Hagel and Bush’s Bay of Pigs Moment.”
It is my sense that two American deaths equals 250 Iraq “Militants.” Gosh, this seems like deja vue all over again. Weren’t we informed that American efforts were paying off with lots of dead “bad guys” in Viet Nam? Guess our leaders are now relying on body counts to make Americans toe the line on bush’s folly. Makes me feel good that bush has “shored up his political position” on his war.
I’m sure this will provide a great deal of relief to the families of all the dead soldiers.
January 28th, 2007 at 3:58 pmLadies and gentle lets look at the face of the words biggest liar, thief and murderer ……………. Dick Cheney
January 28th, 2007 at 4:23 pmKrazny, I just logged on to ThinkProgress, reading the comments, and saw here that apparently there was another hijacking of my name today (This has occurred five times over the last four days)…It looks like TP administration has deleted the name-jacked posting here (I assume it was posting#5). I thank ThinkProgress for that.
I’d also like to thank you, Krazny, for reocgnizing that the posting was not mine.
January 28th, 2007 at 4:41 pmciting polls of the general public do not refute what cheney said, because the final sentence in the quote above is —
as far as cheney is concerned, his and bush’s positions have been made better with republicans in the house and senate. unfortunately, the reality of the position of the people cheney wishes to ignore hold the key to his mistaken confidence in those inside the party on the Hill. those elected representatives and senators who are with cheney and bush even now will be quickly fleeing that sinking ship in the next week.
January 28th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
test
January 28th, 2007 at 4:59 pmCHENEY: And I think the speech, frankly Tuesday night, the State of the Union address was one of his best. I think there’s been a very positive reaction of people who saw the speech.
Ummm yeah, Dick. Thats why he got the standing ovation of one, just you bubba, during the speech.
Did you imagine the whole world clapping with you, while the whole world was actually just watching and thinking, WTF?
Have the doctors checked his meds lately?
January 28th, 2007 at 5:00 pmWho’s this dingaling trying to fool? Chainsaw Cheney needs to be cognizant of the adage: “There’s no fool like an OLD fool!”….what a jerk.
January 28th, 2007 at 5:35 pmNow I’m really pissed. Someone hijacked my name in comment 81 at 4:41pm. You know I don’t like this, so knock it off. Good diversion to claim that I claimed I was hijacked.
January 28th, 2007 at 5:36 pmTricky Dick is one ugly old windbag and wingnut. It’s time to retire him before he shoots someone else in the face. He’s the epitome of pure, unadulterated EVIL if ever there was one. yuk!
January 28th, 2007 at 5:36 pmFitzgerald found out very early on that Cheney was the ringleader but realized how difficult it would be to bring down a sitting VP. So…he decide to play Rove off against Libby with the help of Armitage and Ari Fleischer, both of whom were guilty of wrongdoing themselves (Armitage for leaking Plame and Fleischer for perjury) knowing that they would sing for immunity.
Fitzgerald then began negotiating with Rove and Libby using them against each other to get them to reveal incriminating evidence against one another and more importantly, Cheney.
Fitzgerald then publicly announced that Rove was cleared and only indicted Libby on a limited perjury charge to deflect attention from the case he was building against Cheney knowing that all would eventually come out in trial.
We’ll see if I’m right as I know it’s a bit far-fetched, but if I am, Fitzgerald is a brilliant prosecutor with balls of steel who will go down in history as a true American hero.
Interesting how quiet Byron York of NRO has been on the matter these last few days.
January 28th, 2007 at 5:37 pmI think Dickey’s meds are thinning his blood to the point where his BP is non existent if he really believes that the SOTU was one of the best….good grief! He’s back on that distant planet called Uranus again!
January 28th, 2007 at 5:37 pmFitzgerald found out very early on that Cheney was the ringleader but realized how difficult it would be to bring down a sitting VP. So…he decide to play Rove off against Libby with the help of Armitage and Ari Fleischer, both of whom were guilty of wrongdoing themselves (Armitage for leaking Plame and Fleischer for perjury) knowing that they would sing for immunity.
Fitzgerald then began negotiating with Rove and Libby using them against each other to get them to reveal incriminating evidence against one another and more importantly, Cheney.
Fitzgerald then publicly announced that Rove was cleared and only indicted Libby on a limited perjury charge to deflect attention from the case he was building against Cheney knowing that all would eventually come out in trial.
We’ll see if I’m right as I know it’s a bit far-fetched, but if I am, Fitzgerald is a brilliant prosecutor with balls of steel who will go down in history as a true American hero.
Interesting how quiet Byron York has been on the matter these last few days
January 28th, 2007 at 5:38 pmWhile reading Cheney’s remarks, the two words that jumped out at me were: shored and shore.
Dick, with deep, great sorrow I must inform you:
CAPTAIN BUSH’S BOAT IS ADRIFT AT SEA. HE’S LOST, AND A S-H-O-R-E ISN’T IN SIGHT. Bush’s boat is surrounded by water, and visions of seeing a s-h-o-r-e are just that: visions.
Dick, Captain Bush’s boat hit an iceberg. Yep! Your boat is sinking, and how does it feel to be aboard the Titanic? Your remarks to Newsweek could be classified as simply rearranging the deck chairs before the final plunge into the sea. Strike up the band as the chilly waters engulf the boat.
Hundreds of sharks will be waiting for you as the boat slowly sinks. They like big fish like you.
SHARKS, SHARPEN YOUR TEETH.
DINNER WILL BE SERVED IN A FEW SHORT MONTHS.
John
January 28th, 2007 at 5:46 pmFirst off the “NeoCon’s” that come in here are niether New, nor Conservative. They are same old Straussian/Machiavellian beliefs that is the NeoCon. “Strauss thought that a political order can be stable only if it is united by an external threat, and following Machiavelli, he maintains that if no external threat exists, then one has to be manufactured,” – Shadia Drury
“Because mankind is intrinsically wicked, he has to be governed,” Strauss wrote. “Such governance can only be established, however, when men are united-and they can only be united against other people.” Strauss’ established governance, according to Drury, is made possible through “aggressive, belligerent foreign policy,” and “perpetual war, not perpetual peace, is what Straussians believe in.”
A Straussian society needs an endless war to supply a “them” against which “we” will do endless battle. The endless war, such a horrible prospect for the rest of us, provided the political glue to transform the United States of American from a liberal democracy to a Straussian totalitarian state.
I’m not making this shit up. This is what these people believe.
January 28th, 2007 at 5:50 pmI hate to nitpick, but this is what Cheney said:
My sense of it is that [...] the president has shored up his position with the speech he made a couple of weeks ago, specifically on Iraq.
And this is how ThinkProgress replies: Cheney’s claim is false.
With all due respect, VP Cheney’s claim is not false. He is expressing an opinion. Divorced from reality as it is, it is not the same as making false claims.
If that doesn’t show that the Bush administration discusses reality as they would like it, Cheney says right after that: “I think to some extent that’s helped shore us up inside the party on the Hill”.
“Shore us up”? That is another opinion not supported by the facts: The Republican party just lost Congressional majority to the Democrats, Republican Senators are breaking ranks on the occupation of Iraq -but he thinks the speech has helped “shore us up”.
How he can twist the facts and interpret them to mean Pres Bush’s policies have popular support is beyond me. It seems the entire administration is completely delusional. No wonder they think Iraqis are happy to have US troops in their country.
Up is down, war is peace, and an electoral loss is a vote of confidence.
Someone call the asylum…
January 28th, 2007 at 6:53 pmTREASON?
As I hear it, outing an undercover CIA is an act of treason. If, as a result of testimony during the Libby trial, evidence that Cheney and Rove participated in the outing of Plame, can charges of treason be brought against Cheney and Rove?
January 28th, 2007 at 6:54 pmOh, I see. He’s doing so well his latest poll numbers according to Newsweek is only 30% approve of the job he is doing. Not much further down he can go. Furtunately the American public in finally starting to get it. I only hope that they didn’t wise up too late. And I only hope that Congress can stop the madman in the oval office from starting a war with Iran (or endorsing Israel starting a war with Iran).
January 28th, 2007 at 6:54 pmThat story about Halliburton acquiring the asbestos liabilities of Dresser Industries raises an interesting point…
Cheney KNEW that Dresser had the most massive liability issue on planet earth (he had to have known) yet decided to pay good money to bring Dresser’s problems under Halliburton’s tent.
This raises the question…who were the largest shareholders of Dresser – in need of a lifeboat to save their own personal bacon? Anyone named Bush? Anyone named Carlyle?
The deal went like this:
Cheney agrees for Halliburton to take on the Dresser asbestos liability.
It is determined that Bush and Cheney will be (s)elected, and that the PNAC plan will be implemented – using 9/11 as the essential pretext.
Ken Lay plays his role using his Enron smoke and mirrors tactics to create a faux energy crisis in California, causing the public to demand an energy-savvy administration be elected.
With the asbestos liability and other matters hanging in the balance, the election of 2000 simply had to be rigged in order for the plan to go in to effect.
Following the appointment of Bush and Cheney, the secret energy planning meeting established which oil companies would reap the rewards of the pending invasion of Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran.
The timing and the pretext were predetermined, and 9/11 was greenlighted for 9/11/2001. Cheney outsourced the implementation to Mossad, and ran the show from his bunker on D Day under the cover of preplanned drills simulating the exact attack that was proscribed, with NORAD as coconspirator. At least 50 administration officials and countless foreign agents were in on it.
Once the entire charade was concluded, the Administration generally, and Cheney specifically, had every reason in the world to blame Iraq.
The Afghanistan mission could not provide Halliburton with enough revenue to offset the massive asbestos liability claim. Iraq and Iran are essential wars in order to provide cover for the infusion of the billion of TAX DOLLARS necessary to both profit Halliburton for its actual work AND cover the massive asbestos liability claims.
Now you know why Halliburton was awarded the contracts without the need to bid for them. This was all prearranged.
NOTE: Private enterprise pushed its legal/financial obligations onto tax payers using war as the excuse.
The asbestos liability claims of Dresser Industries were ultimately paid by you and me, and our troops in the field, all to ensure that the investors in Dresser didn’t take the multibillion dollar loss.
Just one piece of a very large chessboard.
Hang them for TREASON.
January 28th, 2007 at 7:10 pmIs that you head rest?
January 28th, 2007 at 7:27 pmMy sense of what has happened over these past few weeks is that there are a lot more people dead in Iraq than there were a few weeks ago when the public made it crystal clear that we want our children home.
January 28th, 2007 at 7:32 pmRelax EXley, we know you like a book. Very few are as cute as you…
January 28th, 2007 at 7:33 pmI’m glad that America is finally waking up. The world has been screaming about Bush-Cheney for 6 whole years – how could America have been so incredibly stupid to vote them in in the first place? I hate to say it – the world is now shaking their head. You people have lost so much credibility it’s not funny.
Is Bush the Manchurian candidate for Al Qaeda? You would think so – they (Al Qaeda) have profited greatly from his reign.
January 28th, 2007 at 7:37 pmThere is no “Al Qaeda”
There is no “Bin Laden”
There is only deception, false flag terror and lies.
January 28th, 2007 at 8:02 pmCould someone hang him from a pole already? Please!
January 28th, 2007 at 8:04 pmSounds like Tony Snow mentor..!!
January 28th, 2007 at 9:07 pmCheney,another heart attack? i wish you have one but the real one ,hell is waiting.
January 28th, 2007 at 9:07 pm86. “Now I’m really pissed. Someone hijacked my name in comment 81 at 4:41pm. You know I don’t like this, so knock it off. Good diversion to claim that I claimed I was hijacked.”
Your getting what you deserve. No one likes you stupid blind idiots.
January 28th, 2007 at 9:10 pm(Sigh!),/strong> Why does the perpetual nonsense spewing from the mouth of Dick Cheney surprise anyone anymore? I distinctly remember him as someone who actively supported South African apartheid criticizing the release of Nelson Mandela from his Robbins Island prison cell, and by voting against economic sanctions on South Africa while a member of Congress. Has this rabid clown and his bootlicking posse ever been right or truthful on any matter of substance?
January 28th, 2007 at 10:18 pmThe more Cheney speaks, the dumber he sounds. He was better off staying at home than going on the air.
January 28th, 2007 at 10:49 pmMakes sense.
January 28th, 2007 at 11:40 pmWhere do you “shore up” stuff.
In a mine, basically a big deep hole in the ground.
Makes sense.
I wonder how Laura Bush feels being hitched to a downward spiral?
January 29th, 2007 at 12:34 amSomeone please remind Uncle Daddy Warbucks- Dickless Cheney that his colostomy bag’s exhaust should be routed to the bag on his belt and not through his oral cavity.
January 29th, 2007 at 1:11 amGRIM NUMBERS
Civilian contractor casualties in Iraq:
2006
•301 dead
•3,273 injured
Since the war began*
•770 dead
•7,761 injured
*Through Dec. 31, 2006
Source: Halliburton
January 29th, 2007 at 6:25 amMusn’t have gotten the memo…
January 29th, 2007 at 8:04 amYou claim that Darth Cheney’s claim is false. However, look closely at what he said (which you yourself emphasised, although I’m going to remove part of that emphasis):
The whole Bush maladministration, particularly Cheney and Rice, construct their statements with far more precision (and far more frequently) than Bill ever did when it depended upon what the meaning of “is” is. Inside Cheney’s evil head, it is Cheney’s “sense” (which is not necessarily the same as a belief) that the Resident has shored up his position. Cheney could take a lie detector test on that and pass it. If Cheney said that the Resident had shored up his position, that would be a lie. If Cheney said he believed that the Resident had shored up his position, that would be a lie. But in the articial reality inside Cheney’s head, Cheney has the “sense” that the Resident has shored up his position.
Next you’ll be thinking that Cheney is lying when he continues to state that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. But he’s right. Back in the 80s, when Rumsfeld was sent to cement the deal, Saddam did have WMDs. He used most of them up in the (US-sponsored) war with Iran. The rest decayed (as Ritter predicted back in 2002) to uselessness. But once upon a time Saddam did have WMDs. And when Cheney says that “Saddam did have weapons of mass destruction” without specifying when, he’s telling the literal truth.
January 29th, 2007 at 9:44 am“Well Tim, I think it’s safe to say that bush’s approval ratings are in their final throes.”
January 29th, 2007 at 10:59 amWhat’s new? Bush continues to abuse the position of his office to serve the benefit of a select few. Anything that appears on the surface to somehow
January 29th, 2007 at 12:14 pmbe good for the country has at it’s roots a very personal and private reward and assuredly none for the masses. This man who holds the greed of retribution sacred is not to be trusted or believed on any level. Like the boy who cried wolf, Bush needs to be eaten inside out by the cancer of his own rhetoric. Karma received as karma does.
Cheney is an evil, evil, entity.
January 29th, 2007 at 12:24 pmDoes anyone else get the impression that Cheney keeps trying to do the Jedi Mind Trick, but the only person it still works on is Wolf Blitzer?
January 29th, 2007 at 1:01 pmWhy isn’t the jacka$$ in jail?? Am so sick of the lying piece of garbage
January 29th, 2007 at 1:25 pmCheney’s plan of action: When in doubt, keep repeating the same old lies.
January 29th, 2007 at 2:11 pmI’ll tell you the source of Cheney’s delusion. All he cares about is his own profit margin, and as he bellows his smart sounding bull that profit is all he has his attention on. This is to the detriment of our own national interest although he wouldn’t frame it that way. One day after we pry the energy task force records from his cold dead hand we’ll get a glimpse at his enormous capacity for greed for surly they will read like pirates planing the plunder of a defenseless country. The wars they have started are waged against reality itself with hypocrisy and lies, but they won’t win against reality. It’s unbelievable that they are not already on trail for their many crimes, and abuses of power having already been ousted by a more than worthy Impeachment. Please will some semi good-looking patriotic liberal woman out there go rub up against these tyrants and get them caught receiving a blow job.
January 30th, 2007 at 5:51 pmI saw all of this coming six years ago.Cheney had to bailout Halliburton because of his asbestos blunder. Now he is worth 100 million dollars. Looks like it worked.
February 11th, 2007 at 1:03 pm