Liz Cheney falsely claims Obama hasn’t said ‘I believe in American exceptionalism.’
Liz Cheney falsely claims Obama hasn’t said ‘I believe in American exceptionalism.’
Liz Cheney continued her seemingly unending campaign to flood the American media, and once again, she said something that isn’t true. This time, on CNN last night, she criticized the Obama administration for being “focused on the president’s popularity overseas.” “We’ve now seen several different occasions when he’s been on the international trips, where he’s not willing to say, flat out, ‘I believe in American exceptionalism,’” Cheney complained. But of course, Obama has said this. Last April during a press conference at the NATO summit in Strasbourg, France, Obama was asked if he “subscribe[s]…to the school of American exceptionalism.” Obama replied:
OBAMA: I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism. I’m enormously proud of my country and its role and history in the world. … And I think that we have a core set of values that are enshrined in our Constitution, in our body of law, in our democratic practices, in our belief in free speech and equality, that, though imperfect, are exceptional.
Watch the compilation:
No, Obama did not say “America is the best nation that ever existed in history, and clearly that exists today,” as Cheney wishes. But she essentially wants him to stand in front of a room full of foreigners and say, “We’re better than you.” This is exactly the kind of cowboy diplomacy that has hurt America’s relationship with its allies over the last eight years and ultimately its standing in the world.
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I’ve got the chops to say that we’re no where near ready to claim what Liz wants. We’ve f@#$ up too many things, both here and in other folk’s back yards to claim serious greatness. She’s demented, just like her good ol’ Darth dad.
June 11th, 2009 at 3:53 pmHere’s an American exception:
Politicians don’t have to speak the truth.
That goes for the red and blue teams.
June 11th, 2009 at 3:53 pmLike father, like daughter….
June 11th, 2009 at 3:54 pmA family of pathological lying traitors.
American exceptionalism as defined by Cheney: We’re the world’s good guys by definition, even when we commit war crimes. America makes the rules, but they do not apply to us.
June 11th, 2009 at 3:54 pmLiz Cheney … once again … said something that isn’t true.
And the apple never falls too far from the tree.
June 11th, 2009 at 3:54 pmYesterday, it was Bush never said he wanted to try Gitmo detainees in the U.S.. “He never said it!” she exclaimed. (he did.)
Todays it’s the “exceptionalism” comment.
Someone needs to remind these idiots that we live in the age of video tape.
June 11th, 2009 at 3:57 pmWhen will Liz Cheney, her dad, and all the right-wing mouthpieces understand that we live in the 21st Century, where we have things like film, videotape, and recording devices? Do these people really think they can say whatever crap comes into their brain and nobody will check it out?
Apparently so.
June 11th, 2009 at 3:58 pmThe apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
June 11th, 2009 at 3:58 pmI’m sorry my previous post was incomplete
June 11th, 2009 at 3:58 pmIt should read:
Like father, like daughter….
A family of pathological lying traitors
only interested in lining their own pockets and saving their own necks……
They have “other priorities” “if you will”, then most of the rest of the country.
I’d like to see someone give Liz Cheney a verbal smackdown. She needs to go on Rachel Maddow’s show. Even Chris Matthews or Keith Olbermann would shred her to bits! Lizzy wouldn’t last 5 minutes. She really needs to be put in check. Either Liz Cheney is evil and lying intentionally or she’s just plain stupid. Evil is more fitting.
June 11th, 2009 at 3:59 pmGuess Dick had to replace GWB with someone who is eager to repeat his lies and not be concerned with being viewed as an idiot.
June 11th, 2009 at 4:00 pmA Cheney lying? Do tell.
June 11th, 2009 at 4:01 pmShe sure is getting a lot of practice as a stand-up comedian…is she working on her pitch for the WAR CRIMES COURT in the Hague??
I can picture her and the old man sitting in his dank study at night, lit by nothing but candles scratching down the talking points (Lies) for the next day..what a grand thing it must be in their feeble little skulls… delusions of adequacy…. truly telling….
June 11th, 2009 at 4:02 pmSo? Who gives a rat’s ass whether or not he said that?? We Amurkins ain’t all that great shakes lately…
June 11th, 2009 at 4:04 pmOh, this is starting to get hilarious, the way she flatly states things that are the opposite of things that can be looked up on video. What’s next? “I’m not saying the words I’m saying right now.”
June 11th, 2009 at 4:05 pmI’m not stunned that Liz missed the point; sometimes selective hearing is a quality that is heavy in some politicians. The fact that she missed the point altogether by saying that Obama never said a very specific quote, only to be refuted by the fact that Obama said the very quote itself–that’s some unbelievable selective hearing.
I think what Liz was trying to emphasize was that she doesn’t believe Obama subscribes to the idea of “American exceptionalism”–after all, he states that America is imperfect.
However, I don’t believe that many in the GOP believe in American exceptionalism either, Liz included. I believe that they subscribe to Americentrism and a cultural version of Manifest Destiny. Not only do they believe that America is perfect, but they believe that it should be the center of the universe.
And that pigheadedness is what makes us ugly to parts of the world. A little humility goes a long way,l but don’t tell that to the neoconservatives.
June 11th, 2009 at 4:06 pmJust as WRONG as her dad!
Is she on the same coumadin and beer for huntin lawyers concoction?
June 11th, 2009 at 4:07 pmWhy is anyone repeating anything that woman (or her has-been father) says, anyway?
Let them all shuffle off into the cold and ignominious twilight they’ve earned themselves, and leave it at that.
(and they can take that tacky, catty, gadabout from Alaska with them)
June 11th, 2009 at 4:08 pmDidn’t Obama also tell the RNC to go Cheney themselves?
Liz, when your last name has become a verb describing a sexual act, it may be time to cut bait & head that boat to your alternative reality.
Look for Chuckie the Kraut to find your way, he’s been dropping bait like Hansel & Gretel dropped bread crumbs to find his way back home.
June 11th, 2009 at 4:08 pmMy apologies if someone has posted the answers to these questions already; however, I really do need to understand:
1) who is Liz Cheney and why should anyone give a damn what she says?
2) what’s with this “American exceptionalism” catch-phrase — what does it really mean and why is it so important for Obama or anyone else to actually say it?
I have to admit that — with everything else of much greater importance happening in this country and the world — I really fail to understand why the major cable news channels have such a fatal attraction to this know-nothing named Liz.
June 11th, 2009 at 4:08 pm‘I believe in American exceptionalism,’”…
And good on him for not saying it. Just think what our right wingers would be saying if, say France, ran around saying that they were “exceptional”, the most important nation on the earth.
We are one country among many on this earth. There is nothing that makes us better than any of the other countries and after Bush’s rein of terror, much that makes us worse than other countries. I would be happy if we were to maintain the status of a good citizen of the world.
June 11th, 2009 at 4:08 pmOne Planet
One People
One Chance…
June 11th, 2009 at 4:10 pmDizzy Lizzy in a tizzy,
shadow of daddy do tell.
There is no explaining
June 11th, 2009 at 4:16 pmall her complaining
as she greases the pole to hell.
I’m wondering if the networks, cable news and other news media have simply given up research and care in their purveying of ‘the news’. If so, perhaps they should no longer be considered ‘the press” and no longer permitted to enjoy the freedoms the press–the fourth estate–constitutionally enjoy. Someone besides these websites should really call them to account legally and financially. The news used to be extremely careful about what was said, what it purveyed as truth, but now it’s only about propaganda and trying to sucker misinformed saps into believing what the last person said, as long as they said it loudly and firmly, a la the Cheneys, Gingrich, and company.
June 11th, 2009 at 4:18 pmBilbo Hussein Baggins Says:
‘I believe in American exceptionalism,’”…
And good on him for not saying it.
Except he did say it, using exactly those words. Check the news post at top again.
June 11th, 2009 at 4:19 pmOh man oh man, I know sexual perversion runs deep in the cheney family, so liz may very well be hiding a pair under that dress, but i’ll bet even if she does, she still doesnt have enough testicular fortitude to get on a talk show with Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, who has straight up called her dad a liar and a coward on numerous occasions. Wilkerson would make mince meat out of her…
June 11th, 2009 at 4:20 pmLiz Cheney again? Please Mr. Ailes, give this hack a show on your network, that way we’ll know where not to tune in to avoid her lies. She’d fit right in with the rest of your line up.
June 11th, 2009 at 4:21 pmThanks in advance.
I would think that Bible Spice is getting nervous about the push Ms. Cheney is getting. It looks like the GOoPers have a new “best girl”. One who, despite the vile nature of the things she says, at least speaks English coherently.
June 11th, 2009 at 4:24 pmoff topic, homie. – flags for dogsack.
June 11th, 2009 at 4:25 pmIs everyone else as sick of this walleyed cow preaching “Idioacrcy” as I am. Given her way we become a nation with a collective IQ around room temperature
June 11th, 2009 at 4:25 pm>Wright says ‘Jews’ keeping him from Obama
what more do you want Obama to do other than what he already has…denounce and dissasociate himself from this guy?..
June 11th, 2009 at 4:26 pmYou know, I don’t mind so much that folks say trash like this. What gets my blood pressure up is that these so-called News stations don’t call them out on it. Can you imagine what Liz Cheney’s face would’ve looked like if a little later in the interview, they’d shown the clip of played the audio of Obama saying what she said he didn’t?
June 11th, 2009 at 4:26 pmReally makes you miss Tim Russert. I don’t think he’d let any of the Cheneys or Rove or anyone get away with playing loose with the facts like they are now.
Bilbo Hussein Baggins Says:
And good on him for not saying it. Just think what our right wingers would be saying if, say France, ran around saying that they were “exceptional”, the most important nation on the earth.
June 11th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
_____________
Obama rather artfully dodged the question, I think. He said he agreed with it, but then redefined the term to mean something other than it means.
In international relations, “exceptionalism” means putting oneself or one’s country or company or other granfalloon outside the realm of ordinary rules and standards. Not allowing your country to join the world court, for example, or declaring that you no longer need to follow the non-proliferation treaty.
Obama said “we’re exceptional” cause we’re a unique and thus exceptional country, in the same way that Tiger Woods is an exceptional golfer or Jimi Hendrix was an exceptional musician. That’s really not the same thing.
June 11th, 2009 at 4:29 pmSpoxLogic Says:
Really makes you miss Tim Russert. I don’t think he’d let any of the Cheneys or Rove or anyone get away with playing loose with the facts like they are now.
June 11th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
Russert let a lot of shit slide in the Bush years.
June 11th, 2009 at 4:31 pmZimzone Says:
Didn’t Obama also tell the RNC to go Cheney themselves?
Liz, when your last name has become a verb describing a sexual act, it may be time to cut bait & head that boat to your alternative reality.
Perhaps it’s finally time for her to take her husband’s name? Can you imagine having the Dick as your father-in-law?
June 11th, 2009 at 4:31 pm*Shudder*
Do we really expect ReichWingers to tell the truth about anything?
They lie out of habit.
Fcuk the Republic Fascist Party
June 11th, 2009 at 4:32 pmThe thing that bugs me is that there are a lot of people who will believe her because they’ve been brainwashed to believe people like her over anyone from CNN. For some reason (more brainwashing?) they seem to think that CNN leans left.
June 11th, 2009 at 4:34 pmObama’s answer was perfect. But he admits – as almost no re=Thug would – that other countries are also exceptional. I would call it National Pride – and of course every country has it.
cheney is proving to be as exceptional a liar as her father – which is why she’s out there of course. For some reason – the media have decided her opinions and lies matter.
June 11th, 2009 at 4:36 pm*
Russert let a lot of shit slide in the Bush years.
And the Bushies loved MTP, because they could spin to their hearts content, and Russert would never call them on it.
June 11th, 2009 at 4:36 pmUsually wingnuts get away with the “he didn’t say ‘X’” meme, because it technically requires that the person being criticized uses the exact same terms or phrasing in order to avoid the criticism. Remember Guiliani during the ‘08 Republican primaries, constantly complaining that other people wouldn’t say the word “Islamo-terrorism?” It’s not like any of the people he was talking about weren’t talking quite a lot about terrorism coming from the Islamic world, but if they didn’t use his pet word, he got to pretend they were ignoring the issue. It’s a pretty easy gambit to make, and I’ve seen more than one troll here try to get away with it as well: “tell me where I said ‘X Y Z’” as if comparing statements required no more intelligence than a simple pattern-match on text strings.
But Liz Cheney even screwed that up. Obama used the exact wording that she claimed he didn’t use. She could weasel out of it if she hadn’t made the mistake of saying what she claimed he didn’t say in the exact same way he said it.
June 11th, 2009 at 4:44 pmThe GOOGLE, Liz, use the GOOGLE.
June 11th, 2009 at 4:52 pmThe making of a great nation takes more than saying “America is the best nation that ever existed in history, and clearly that exists today,” and “We’re better than you.”.
It takes actual work. Continuous and responsive work. Time and other nations do not stand still. Unsustainable theft from poor nations and poor Americans is easy until the poor nations and poor Americans move on from dependency on fear. The philosophy the right wing neocons have based their governing on has been proven a failure. You won’t be missed.
June 11th, 2009 at 4:55 pmI haven’t subscribed to cable in years so, I depend on the net to keep track of the demise of journalism. It seems to me that the only one who will really hold the feet of a guest to the fire is Tweety.
Granted, he can be a real ass and can be as odious as anyone in the game but, when he smells blood, he’s tenacious. And he’ll call out people from any political group if he detects a lie.
June 11th, 2009 at 4:57 pmHmmm
June 11th, 2009 at 5:02 pmAmerican Exceptionalism:
An exceptional Number of Incarcerated Non Violent Offenders.
An exceptional number of Pre-teens with Diabetes.
An exceptional number of Carbon dioxide molecules released.
An exceptional number of sick people without health insurance.
Don’t get me wrong..I love America,
I just agree with something Ben Franklin said:
“The Best Sermon is a Good example”.
June 11th, 2009 at 5:03 pmAmerica may be exceptional but it certainly does not mean we, or our elected ones, are excepted from the law nor from conventions we are signatories to.
June 11th, 2009 at 5:06 pmHer comments are even worse when one reads the transcript, she follows the quote above with, complaining that the President fails to say “I believe unequivocally, unapologetically, America is the best nation that ever existed in history, and clearly that exists today.”…I’m not sure how that would help the field of diplomacy at all…but, again, not their strong point.
June 11th, 2009 at 5:17 pmNot surprised by Liz Cheney’s elitist statement. After all, she believes that she is better than anyone else and that she poops ice cream.
June 11th, 2009 at 5:17 pmLiz Cheney was raised up to say crap even if it is untrue. I am sure they lied to one another around the dinner table.
June 11th, 2009 at 5:47 pmummm…don’t flame me for this, but:
what the hell is “American exceptionalism”?
I’m serious-I have NO idea what this means. Help???
June 11th, 2009 at 5:48 pmThat’s some cold sh*t, Cats.
June 11th, 2009 at 5:55 pmWho the fuk is liz cheney? And what are the credentials or experience she possesses that makes her somebody the so-called “news media” needs to keep presenting to the American Public.
My off-the-cuff jugement is that the republicans are planning on putting her out for public office – probably Congress – during the next election cycle. This is their way of creating public name recognition for her to give her a better chance of capturing a seat. In other words, this is nothing more than an advertising campaign to create a popular commodity.
Since that’s the case, who is funding her appearances? And shouldn’t campaign contribution regulations be in effect here???
As to what she had to say:
“I think that we have a core set of values that are enshrined in our Constitution, in our body of law, in our democratic practices, in our belief in free speech and equality, that, though imperfect, are exceptional.”
Yes, we do have a core set of values and law based in the Constitution. These proscribe specific punishments for public officials that violate our laws and the Public trust. Is liz cheney coming out and declaring her daddy needs to be delivered to the Hague to be tried for the War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity he committed? Let alone all the other laws he broke and all the public funds he helped his buddies steal.
June 11th, 2009 at 6:15 pmPlease, Liz Cheney, just go away! You comments are filled with blatant lies, & ignorant smears. Apparently you have no clue as to what the truth is, and you expect us to believe your garbage. We’re sick of you already.
June 11th, 2009 at 6:17 pmBreaking news: Another Cheney gets pavlovian news coverage about a something else they just pulled out of their arse.
June 11th, 2009 at 6:20 pmC_NTESSA CHENEY SEZ: he’s not willing to say, flat out, ‘I believe in American exceptionalism,’”
MY COMMENT: I’m beginning to question my opposition to capital punishment!
June 11th, 2009 at 7:01 pmRobert M. Says:
Who the fuk is liz cheney? And what are the credentials or experience she possesses that makes her somebody the so-called “news media” needs to keep presenting to the American Public.
I think she made coffee in the state department for a couple of months.
June 11th, 2009 at 7:08 pmWatchdog you ignorant punkass troll. Your trolling is weak. Your stupid is strong and your time is up so just STFU
June 11th, 2009 at 8:20 pmLooks like the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree — since Liz Cheney, like her father and so many other conservatives, has clearly confused nationalism with patriotism and believes them to be one and the same when in fact they are two very different concepts, in much the same way that people in a severely dysfunctional family confuse co-dependency with unconditional love. In both cases, the former is often an example of the latter taken to an extreme and therefore often unhealthy degree.
Patriotism is the state of loving, preferring, and taking pride in the nation in which one was born and/or makes one’s home while still being able to recognize that other countries matter and have something worthwhile to contribute — also that any country or society comprised of human beings, including one’s own, will invariably be imperfect and have its share of faults and problems which should be acknowledged and (if possible) changed. Obama, to my way of thinking, is a patriot.
By contrast, nationalism is the state of believing that the country in which one lives and/or makes one’s home is infinitely superior to any other (sometimes for no other reason than the fact he/she was born or lives there) and that other countries don’t matter and/or have nothing of any real value or worth to contribute. The nationalist is often quick to mock, criticize, or condemn the faults or foibles of other countries and peoples while at the same time loath in the extreme to acknowledge the faults or foibles of his/her own country — in fact, the nationalist will often carry this to the extreme of excusing anything and everything which his/her own country does yet hypocritically condemn other countries for doing the very same things. It seems to me that Liz Cheney, her father, and indeed most of the former members of the Bush administration (or at least the inner circle) are dyed-in-the-wool nationalists.
June 11th, 2009 at 8:32 pmuhhhh, American exceptionalism is a good thing?
June 11th, 2009 at 10:19 pm.
Yea!!! The “exceptionalism” game…
… Let’s play!
Of course it’s not torture when America does it…
Of course it’s not WMD’s when America uses them…
Of course it’s not wars of aggression when America does it…
Of course it’s not violating international Laws when America does it…
Of course it’s not terrorism when America does it…
Of course it’s not Fascism when it’s America…
Did I play it right?
.
June 11th, 2009 at 10:48 pmI care about my country, but, America IS NOT EXCEPTIONAL. We had HUGE advantages from the start–huge natural resource reserves, little in the way of significant military competition from neighboring states, excellent natural barriers, excellent agricultural potential, prime coastal waters,and a huge cheap labor force (read ’slavery’). Our history includes multiple instances of involvment in coups (Panama, Iran, etc..), brutal use of military force for corporate interests (Indonesia, Guatemala, etc…), human and civil rights abuses, segregation, and support of sociopathic dictators so long as they support American interests (Pinochet, Hussein, etc…).
So, love your country, be proud of America’s many achievements and positive influences, but let’s not be dumb.
June 12th, 2009 at 12:57 amlzcrmc Says:
uhhhh, American exceptionalism is a good thing?
In a Special Olympics kind of way…
June 12th, 2009 at 1:40 amNo, Liz Cheney is right. Obama’s statement in context completely subverts the meaning of “exceptionalism”. American exceptionalism is when you believe that America should get rights other countries don’t, and this is very different from saying that other countries get to have their own exceptionalism that’s just as legitimate. Obama, in effect, said that we’re just like everyone else (and I’m glad he’s saying this; this is one reason I hoped he became president) in wanting what’s best for us. Spoken like a true liberal. (If only he were enough of a true liberal to push hard on DADT, too…)
What Obama said in that quote is, honestly, begging to be taken out of context; it was his way of saying “no” by saying “yes, where by ‘yes’ I mean ‘no’” and conveniently leaving out the explanatory bit after the “yes”. Liz Cheney may have missed on the facts, but she was right on in her assessment of content. Now what she needs is a good challenge, because exceptionalism of any kind is utterly wrong.
June 12th, 2009 at 2:25 amI am genuinely curious what the fascination for a fairly low level bureaucrat has to say about any topic. Liz Cheney has been on TV quite a bit in the last few months and there doesn’t appear to be any real reason for it.
June 12th, 2009 at 2:30 amThe rotten apple falls not far from the old, dying tree.
June 12th, 2009 at 9:45 amWho cares what Liz Cheney says about anything. Why give her the time or day. She is just the demon child sprung from the loins of the evil dark lord. If the media ignored her maybe she would dry up and go away.
June 12th, 2009 at 9:52 am