Dick

by: Brandon Friedman

Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 20:14:00 PM EDT


If Dick Cheney wants to get a rise out of the troops in theater, he should just keep talking:

In an exclusive interview with ABC News, Vice President Dick Cheney was asked what effect the grim milestone of at least 4,000 U.S. deaths in the five-year Iraq war might have on the nation.

Noting the burden placed on military families, the vice president said the biggest burden is carried by President George W. Bush, who made the decision to commit US troops to war, and reminded the public that U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan volunteered for duty.

(Jaw drops; gum falls in lap.)  

"The president carries the biggest burden, obviously," Cheney said. "He's the one who has to make the decision to commit young Americans, but we are fortunate to have a group of men and women, the all-volunteer force, who voluntarily put on the uniform and go in harm's way for the rest of us."

Obviously.  Now, you would think the aloofness and the arrogance would stop there, but it didn't.  

When asked about the toll multiple deployments have taken on U.S. military members, Cheney fired back with a question.

"Of course it is, Martha," Cheney said. "So what would be the solution to that? I mean how would you deal with that?"

(Places head in hands; shakes head.)  

Dunno, Dick.  You're the Vice President.  How about you tell us?

The problem is that Dick Cheney seems to have forgotten that he works for you and me--the American people.  As Devilstower said this afternoon at Daily Kos:

There may be greater dicks in this century, after all there are nine decades left, but Cheney has set a standard that will be hard to match.

Hard to match, indeed.

dm has some more commentary on this topic in his diary.
Brandon Friedman :: Dick
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Dick | 13 comments
Volunteer. (0.00 / 0)

 He makes sure that he says the word volunteer enough.

 Can't guess what he is trying to get across.

He has no clue... (0.00 / 0)
[ Parent ]
Deferments... (0.00 / 0)
...is the key word. In the age of the draft.

 Five of them.  

[ Parent ]
And... (0.00 / 0)
Cheney testified during his confirmation hearings in 1989 that he received deferments to finish a college career that lasted six years rather than four, owing to sub par academic performance

[ Parent ]
I just watched the video interview... (0.00 / 0)
and it just confirms again what I wish was not true. We are ruled by evil men. There's just no other word for it. How else can you describe someone that has no empathy, that purposely lies to the people in order to start a war. Then to say the president carries the biggest burden.  *throws up arms in disbelief
I wouldn't (0.00 / 0)
say evil men. Self serving SOBs, though?? You betcha.
[ Parent ]
Self-serving... (4.00 / 1)
...at the expense of other peoples' lives? EVIL.
[ Parent ]
Well (0.00 / 0)
I guess so then. Although after Zarqawi, I cannot think of a bigger asshole. Maybe I am just setting the jerk off bar too high. Is it 2009 yet?
[ Parent ]
I wouldn't... (0.00 / 0)
...say evil necessarily.  Though I wouldn't argue very long with you on that point.  I would say more along the lines of a sociopath.  Him and Dubya.  Which is worse than evil in my opinion.
[ Parent ]
Well, we can call it a lot of things I guess. (0.00 / 0)
But what is that French term that means "buyer beware"? Laisez-fair? Something like that.

That's the attitude I hear coming from Cheney when he reminds us that it's an all volunteer Army. It's like he's saying, "Hey, you ought to read the small print next time." And since he's reminding us that it's all volunteer, why doesn't he take advantage of his position to call on the public for more volunteers? Does anybody remember in five years President Bush even one time calling a press conference to call upon Americans to serve in this war? I don't. Why not? I'll tell you why I think it is. To do so would be to admit that his administration has made repeated mistakes and miscalculations from day one. It would open up the door to too many questions on how this war has been managed (mismanaged). It's all in keeping with the fact that this president and his cabinet have always put Party interests over the interests of the nation. That may not be the definition of evil to some, but when human life is at stake, you're supposed to put politics aside. That has not happened in five years of Iraq.

Also, the fact that it is a volunteer Army opens the door to another question: How many of you volunteered as a result of President Bush's post-9/11 speech in which he declared that we know who attacked us and where they are -- in Afghanistan -- and that we were going to go get them? Again, to admit that we need more volunteers could open up the question of why did we not finish the mission in Afghanistan first.  In other words, it opens up the question of whether you who answered President Bush's call were betrayed.

[ Parent ]
Admitting mistakes... (0.00 / 0)
...would be viewed as a sign of weakness for this administration.  They hate to be viewed as weak in any way whatsoever, and instead put up a front of false bravado, "Bring 'em on" comes to mind.  It's nice that we have a president who can say things like this and then allow someone else, roughly 4,000 others and still counting, to take the flack for it.  This focus on machismo is disturbing for other reasons: it is one of the 14 signifiers of a fascist state as laid out by Umberto Eco in his excellent essay "Eternal Fascism: 14 Ways of Looking at a Blackshirt," which I recommend everyone read.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/ind...

That's a good site with a general list from two authors, including Eco.

[ Parent ]
Well (0.00 / 0)
they sure didnt look to macho back in April of 04, if you know what I mean.
[ Parent ]
RE: DICK (0.00 / 0)

I'll agree with the classifications of evil, sociopath and, of course, Dick.
I'm certain that both Dick and Bush lack the empathy that makes "us" all human.  I also believe that the driving force behind this war is profit: (i.e. no bid contracts, defense, FBI, and CIA contracts, Homeland Security contracts, cronyism, oil profiteers, replacing federal judges, outing Valerie Plame and you can even add main stream media propaganda ministers in the mix as they were [are] the sales team for this corporate killing machine!)
I think I'm going to puke!
In my view, admitting they were wrong about the war is never going to happen. They're making billions of dollars and we're paying for it precious human lives.

http://dickipedia.org/dick.php...

Dick | 13 comments
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