Mr. Cheney’s “stuff happens” economic glibness is getting a lot of attention today, but it’s not what caught my ear.
The man who brought us Ahmed Chalabi and Paul Wolfowitz, as well as “Curveball,” with Judy Miller’s greatest hits on WMD pushing the way at the NY Times, thinks Scooter Libby was left “hanging in the wind” by Bush, and that Scooter deserved a pardon. Having the pleasure of interviewing Mrs. Plame and Mr. Wilson, the drivel from Mr. Cheney today is especially reprehensible. The lack of respect Dick Cheney has for independent intelligence professionals ends with Valeria Plame (and her colleagues) being dispensable. Never mind that later in the interview he lauds the intelligence community, but only when they validate the political agenda of Bush-Cheney. That tells you how we got into Iraq from the man who helped concoct the invasion. Accurate intelligence was never solicited or even required, but just got in their way. So when Joe Wilson outed the White House for manufacturing their primary avenue of proof against Saddam, it was nothing to Cheney that a career C.I.A. officer was burned in the process to send a message. Oh! But the hit man sent to do the dirty deed is worthy of a pass.
From there it was an easy jump to torture, illegal wiretapping, Justice department tampering, etc., etc., which resulted in America’s image and trust across the globe damaged in a way that will require Obama’s entire administration, especially Secretary Clinton, to begin from scratch to try and tape back together what Bush and Cheney destroyed.
However, the interview clincher came when John King asked Mr. Cheney if President Obama “has made Americans less safe.” The reply was blunt and short: “I do.” It’s Mr. Cheney’s evaluation of President Obama’s adherence to the U.S. Constitution that is so startling even today, as he applauds the illegalities that had George W. Bush circumventing the rule of law during his terms in office.
I urge you to read “Tales From Torture’s Dark World,” by Mark Danner, which appears today in the Times. It will prove why President Obama’s commitment to distancing the U.S. from their national security policies is one of the most important things he can do if we are to bring terrorists who target Americans to justice. You simply cannot do it without adhering to the rules and tenets of American justice.
[...] From everything we know, many or all of these men deserve to be tried and punished — to be “brought to justice,” as President Bush vowed they would be. The fact that judges, military or civilian, throw out cases of prisoners who have been tortured — and have already done so at Guantánamo — means it is highly unlikely that they will be brought to justice anytime soon.
For the men who have committed great crimes, this seems to mark perhaps the most important and consequential sense in which “torture doesn’t work.” The use of torture deprives the society whose laws have been so egregiously violated of the possibility of rendering justice. Torture destroys justice. Torture in effect relinquishes this sacred right in exchange for speculative benefits whose value is, at the least, much disputed. [...]
Mr. Cheney scoffs at the notion that “the rule of law” is important in fighting radical Islamic jihad. It’s obvious that his idea of justice, and those of his former boss George W. Bush, is a 21st lynch mob mentality. I remain stunned that Congress never did anything about it and that President Obama seems sanguine to “look forward” without reconciling what happened in the past, at least so far. This sort of moral cowardice and squeamishness about the importance of law inforcement is how we got here in the first place.
What frightfully amazed me was how cold and calculating Cheney emphatically says all this. This man is beyond evil.
I have always said that he was the worst of the two. Bush was never smart enough and just followed what Cheney Wanted, IMHO.
There ya go, Betsy …
http://www.lbfitness.com/dicksdummy.jpg
I want this murdering sonofabitch indicted and jailed till trial.
I want this murdering sonofabitch tried for murder and warcrimes.
I want this murdering sonofabitch if convicted hung for his crimes.
That this bastard is walking the Earth a free man is a slap in the face to every American and an indictment of us as a nation.
I agree with you sec. He’s really a disgrace and in my book a war criminal. And the nerve of him to come out after leaving office and espousing to all his BS.
Taylor, I just read the article in the NY Times. I got sick to my stomach. How in hell can we NOT bring the Bush admin to justice. Our word and reputation is worth nothing to the world if we don’t, IMHO.
As long as liberals fail to recognize the fundamental criminality of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, et al., then they will continue to get away with these interviews which serve to re-legitimize them. The only rational response to Bush and Cheney and the rest of the Bush crime family is to demand, in the strongest possible terms, the arrest, conviction, and imprisonment of the bastards. Merely pointing out, like Mr. Danner does, that the use of torture by Bush and Cheney made it impossible to prosecute actual terrorists, does nothing more than deflect attention from the real criminals. Bush and Cheney will continue to welcome these kinds of liberal analysis.
Arharris, it’s NOT that we fail to recognize the fundamental criminality of Bush & Cheney, after all, we overwhelmingly voted a Democrat into the Presidency because we saw the truth, but rather, how do we effectively demand that these criminals be convicted? Blogs reek of disdain towards these two, but how would our President look if he puts our economy and well being on hold to pursue these bastards?
This is precisely why they do it, because they know Obama’s priorities are otherwise. They feel safe. In less than 60 days, our President has been very capable of juggling many matters at once. I hope he can add this project to his agenda.
arharris says:
15 March 2009 at 7:53 pm
As long as liberals fail to recognize the fundamental criminality of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, et al
_______
I really don’t think that’s the problem. The problem is people like Cheney are practically sociopaths with no sense of morality or perspective.
I still get so mad when I think of Plamegate – Cheney is treasonous in my opinion. And for him to say that Obama makes us less safe takes a hell of a lot of nerve when it was Bush/Cheney that did. Taylor, I am saddened, too, that Congress pushed all of this under the rug. This is much too important a matter to be swept away for fear of confrontation and getting a little messy.