Cheney Doesn't Shoot Straight

Former Vice President Dick Cheney is trying hard to salvage his legacy, so he is resorting to spin, distortion and lies. By why is the media paying attention to him? Not even Cheney himself could erase from history the devastating record he has amassed, especially working with President George W. Bush. 

A 2012 New York Times report revealed all of the warnings the Bush/Cheney administration received in the spring and summer of 2001 of a terrorist threat against the United States from within. On May 1, 2001, the CIA warned Bush a "group presently in the United States" was planning an attack. In July, the CIA warned that the attacks could be "imminent." On August 6, Bush received a classified document entitled, "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S." None of the dots were connected by the White House, which dismissed criticism by saying they were not told when or where the attacks would occur. The attacks occurred on September 11, with devastating consequences. 

In response, The Bush/Cheney White House targeted Iraq and its ruthless leader, Saddam Hussein. They built their case around alleged links between al Qaeda and Hussein, as well as allegations that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMD's). While Hussein was a brutal dictator, his government held together Iraq's various religious factions and served as a balance against a restive Iran. 

Cheney was among those from the administration who were speaking out publicly about WMD's in Iraq. In August 2002, Cheney told a VFW convention, "Right now, Iraq is expanding and improving facilities that were used for the production of biological weapons." Of course, there were no WMD's in Iraq. The administration had misled the American people. 

Just before the U.S. invaded Iraq, Cheney was asked on NBC's Meet the Press how long a U.S. invasion would take. He responded, "My belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators...I think it will go relatively quickly...weeks rather than months." The U.S. was not greeted as liberators, and the invasion proved to be poorly planned by the Pentagon and Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. 

In September 2003, six months after the invasion, Cheney said, "If we're successful in Iraq..we will have struck a major blow right at the heart of the base, if you will, the geographic base of the terrorists who have us under assault now for many years, but most especially on 9/11." But no link between Hussein and the terrorists was ever found, and Osama bin Laden was based in Afghanistan. The Bush/Cheney administration failed to focus on the war in Afghanistan.

Following the invasion, the administration implemented a policy of de-ba'athification, which rid the Iraqi government of Hussein's Ba'ath party supporters. As a result, an estimated 50,000 civil government employees were removed from their positions and the military's officer ranks were depleted. The Bush/Cheney operatives had failed to fully understand the possible implications of their policy, so the result in Iraq was chaos. Meanwhile, the Bush/Cheney White House backed a government supported by hard line Shiite religious organizations, which included now Prime Minister Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The Sunnis, who are about 20% of the population, were squeezed out, as were the Kurds. 

Today's civil war involving ISIS is largely a result of Bush/Cheney policies. The Iraq War has cost U.S. taxpayers more than $2 trillion dollars and 4,000 American lives. More than 100,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed. And to what end?

In 2005, The Washington Post editorial page dubbed Cheney "The Vice President for Torture." Cheney initiated and defended the use of torture on terrorism suspects, a violation of human rights and the Geneva Convention. In 2011 he defended the policy in an appearance at the American Enterprise Institute. "The notion that somehow the United States was wildly torturing anybody is not true," he said. "One of the most controversial techniques is waterboarding ... Three people were waterboarded. Not dozens, not hundreds. Three. And the one who was subjected the most often to that was Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, and it produced phenomenal results for us." Of course, he lied about the "phenomenal results" too.

Cheney was also behind an NSA operation to monitor the phone calls and emails of U.S. citizens without warrant, which would later become known as the Terrorist Surveillance Program. After two years of going along with "the vice president's special program" the Justice Department decided that parts of it were illegal.

The Bush/Cheney team allowed Russian President Vladimir Putin to invade Georgia and take control of two of its regions. And the Bush/Cheney team is responsible for not reining in Iran early on. Ari Shavit, an Israeli author and columnist, wrote, "The Bush administration didn't initiate a political-economic siege on Iran when it was weak, and Mr. Bush weakened America by exhausting its economic power and military might in a futile war."

On domestic policy, the Bush/Cheney team led this country into the worst recession since the Great Depression, yet Cheney refuses to take any responsibility for the policies that nearly destroyed the world's economy. They added billions to the U.S. deficit, but Cheney once said, "deficits don't matter." 

Now Dick Cheney is defending his legacy and bitterly attacking President Barack Obama. For instance, Cheney took to CNN Wednesday to say that Obama is "the worst president of my lifetime." But President George W. Bush left office in January 2009 as one of the most unpopular presidents in history. According to a CBS News/New York Times poll at the time, 73 percent of Americans surveyed said they disapproved of the way Bush handled his presidency. 

Ever since Dick Cheney shot his friend in a 2006 duck hunting accident Americans have known that Cheney just doesn't shoot straight.

The Same Old Party

President Barack Obama will give his State of the Union address Tuesday evening, the first of his second-term.  American voters may have hoped that their elected officials had gotten the message that they should put partisanship aside and work together solve the myriad of problems facing the nation.  Not so fast!

The president has his hands full.  Unless Washington acts, in three weeks the country will be hit with the “sequester”, mandatory cuts to the federal budget that will be devastating to the U.S. economy because several hundred thousand people will be furloughed or lose their jobs.  Instead of working to avoid disaster, members of both parties are busy blaming the mess on their opposition.  

Everyone in Washington thinks the deficits are a serious problem.  But Republicans, having gone along with raising tax rates on the rich to temporarily avoid the "fiscal cliff", are demanding deep cuts in the federal budget, especially in entitlements and social programs, while rejecting raising any additional revenues.   The president is proposing raising some more revenues by closing tax loopholes that favor the wealthiest, along with making targeted budget cuts.  The GOP has rejected his “balanced approach”.  

While the country has been careening from fiscal crisis to fiscal crisis, Republicans, who are still licking their wounds from last November's election defeats, are in a period of reflection and reexamination.   One outcome has been for the party to begin reaching out to Latinos, African Americans, Asians, and women, all demographics the party did poorly in last election.   

Republicans had been the party of "self-deportation" and impregnable border fences.  However, earlier this week House Majority Leader Eric Cantor actually did a flip on the Dream Act when he said the U.S. should, "provide an opportunity for legal residence and citizenship for those who were brought to this country as children and who know no other home."  He also called for, "creating a workable guest worker program."  Meanwhile, Republican spinmeisters have hailed Florida Senator Marco Rubio as the leading voice for Hispanic Americans and immigration, while saying the president has failed to lead on the issue.  But Latinos won't be fooled. 

Immigration reform and gun control have been among the many hot topics consuming most legislators’ attention these past few weeks.  But the largely Republican opposition to any truly meaningful steps on either issue is certain to assure only minimal changes will be enacted.  

Meanwhile, Republican Senator Lindsay Graham has threatened to block two of President Obama's cabinet nominations until he receives satisfactory answers from the White House about what happened during the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, last September which left four Americans dead.  The appointees, Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense, and John Brennan for CIA Director, were subjected to tough, some say personal, questions in their respective committee appearances.  Republican Senators John McCain and Rand Paul had previously made fools of themselves trying to beat up on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her testimony on Benghazi. 

While most everyone expects the president's nominees to be confirmed, leading Republicans are coming out of the woodwork to talk trash.  Former Vice President Dick Cheney criticized President Obama to a gathering of Wyoming Republicans, "Frankly, what he has appointed are second-rate people."  These words from a second-rate political hack who misled the world to start a war in Iraq, who authorized illegal torture, and who was a major player in the greatest recession since the Great Depression.  Remember, Cheney can't shoot straight. 

The Republican Party is out of touch with mainstream America.  They want to make deep cuts in federal spending, even though similar austerity efforts by England and other European have been an economic disaster.  They are against banning assault weapons and high capacity ammunition clips.  They are opposed to a path to citizenship for America's eleven million illegal immigrants.  They are on the wrong side of most social issues.  They are the architects of restrictions on voting meant to suppress African-Americans, Latinos and the elderly, who are largely Democratic voters.

The GOP can try to repackage their party by reaching out to all demographics.  But for many Americans the GOP is the same old party.  

Oil Exploitation

British Petroleum's Chief Executive, Tony Hayward, was all over the airwaves saying his company accepts responsibility for the disastrous oil leak off the Gulf Coast. At the same time there is a growing chorus of irresponsible and absurd comments from the far right linking the oil leak to possible sabotage.

First, President Barack Obama basher and radio blowhard Rush Limbaugh pointed the finger at "environmentalist wackos." He opined, "What better way to head off more oil drilling, nuclear plants, than by blowing up a rig? I'm just noting the timing here." Then Dana Perino, the former White House Press Secretary under President George Bush, said on Fox News, "You have to wonder whether there was sabotage involved." No Ms. Perino, Americans wonder why you and Limbaugh are so reckless with your comments.

Maybe Americans should wonder if Halliburton had a hand in this "sabotage." You know, the very same company where Vice President Cheney served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer from 1995 to 2000. The Wall Street Journal reported, "Scrutiny on cementing will focus attention on Halliburton Co., the oilfield-services firm that was handling the cementing process on the rig, which burned and sank last week." The company says, "It is premature and irresponsible to speculate on any specific causal issues." Apparently Perino and Limbaugh didn't get the memo.

Or maybe Vice President Dick Cheney himself played a role when his energy task force decided against requiring remote-control shut-off switches, at $500,000 apiece, because they are too costly, ineffective and the rigs had other backup plans. Brazil and Norway require the switches. But the United Kingdom, where BP is based, doesn't require the devices.

Were it not for the oilrig disaster, BP would have had a fabulous first quarter. They reported their profits had risen 135% from the same period a year earlier, to about $6 billion. With 11 oilmen dead and almost unimaginable destruction to wildlife, coastal areas and the devastation to fragile businesses that rely on the Gulf, BP may need every penny.

In a statement BP said it is "Committed to pay legitimate and objectively verifiable claims for other loss and damage caused by the spill - this may include claims for assessment, mitigation and clean up of spilled oil, real and property damage caused by the oil, personal injury caused by the spill, commercial losses including loss of earnings/profit and other losses as contemplated by applicable laws and regulations."

But one has to wonder just how much BP will actually pay in the end to the families of the dead, to small businesses, to the citizens who live on the Gulf Coast and to the American taxpayers. Especially considering that, while they have publicly accepted responsibility, they have said the accident is not their fault because they contracted with other companies to do the work.

Countless Congressional hearings, investigations and lawsuits will likely drag on for years. But corporate greed, lax regulations, transparency, oversight, and powerful political connections are likely to be at the bottom of this calamity. Sound familiar?

This massive disaster is far from over. The gravity of the destruction has yet to be fully realized. The people of the Gulf Coast are desperate for answers and an end to this nightmare. They must not be exploited for political and personal gain.