VP Cheney on Meet the Press

Sunday, September 10, 2006

My mouth is agape. I am in a state of complete and utter disbelief! I just listened to VP Cheney in his interview with Tim Russert and I cannot recall having ever heard a larger raft of lies, obfuscations and distortions of reality. It is unfathomable!! One must question if our Vice President is living in the same universe as the rest of us, reading the same accounts and assimilating the same facts. To say that this boggles the imagination is an understatement.

Asked if terrorism in the world has increased or decreased since we invaded Iraq, his answer was "I don't know". Asked if the sectarian violence in Iraq was all but a civil war, he said that no, there was no civil war. Asked what influences were reponsible for the increased violence, he resorted to his usual response... outside influences were largely responsible, namely Al Quaida. He insisted that our efforts have substantially diminshed the influence of Al Quaida, regardless of the fact that we have all but abandoned the search for Osama Bin Laden. His response to the assertion that Pakistan had made agreements with tribal factions friendly to Osama was to deny that Pakistan had also abandoned the search. When informed that the American public was largely against U.S. policy in Iraq, he stated that they were mistaken and did not understand...the same allegation he rudely proffered to Tim Russert..."What part of this do you not understand?".

He maintained that the Taliban is not gaining strength in Afghanistan, he glossed over the record setting opium harvest and used his sterotypical rhetoric that we must support Karzai or else we will be seen as "cut and runners". He made the same point with regards to Iraq. He again insisted that the only way this war could be lost was if American opinion "lost faith"..meaning that dissent at home enboldened the "enemy" abroad. He still insisted that we were making progress in Iraq. In keeping with his tradition of stating, at each juncture, that we are on the verge of winning...he asserted that 2006 would now be the year that we would see the tide turning. Mr. Cheney is evidently not familiar with the tale of "the boy who called wolf".

Domestically, he predicted that the Democratic party would not win the majority in either the House or the Senate. He still believes in his justifications for a strong and extended executive branch which has the power to reinterpret the Constitution at whim and at will. He has continued his attacks on Joe Wilson while defending Karl Rove and Scooter Libby.

I can only hope that most Americans who listened to this conversation can no longer be persuaded by the continuous and unsubstantiated assertions that come from this man. The campaign of deception, the insistent appeal to fear, and the incessant revisionism are wearing thin. We tire of this man's rhetoric. We long for honesty and integrity. At the very minimum, we must work for a change in Congress and a restoration of oversight which is a Congressional obligattion and responsibility. Perhaps a vigilant House and/or Senate will curtail the ability of this administration, and this Vice President, to undermine our Constitution and to cow the American public into submission!

trickster108