A Former VP Without Any Class and Without A Clue

On a day when the sitting, very popular President delivered a major speech on national security, the astoundingly unpopular, discredited Vice President gave an immediate "rebuttal." I am aware that Cheney has been on a non-stop "Undermine Obama and Try To Save My Ass Media Tour," but his "rebuttal" today shattered any notion that he has even an ounce of class. He obviously doesn't.

The American people spoke in November when President Obama received more votes than any other presidential candidate in U.S. history. By a large margin the country came down on the side of respecting the Constitution and closing Guantanamo. It was an electoral college landslide in which Obama bested the republican candidate by more than a 2 to 1 margin (365-172) and won the popular vote by almost 10 million. Cheney's disgraced reign over this country, in which its cherished values and sacred Constitution were little more than an afterthought, ended when they rolled him out the door in a wheelchair.

I can only conclude that he is now completely delusional or desperately trying to head off a possible conviction. He is quite the chatterbox since he left office. Where was he for eight years? You almost never saw the guy. His behavior since leaving office is nothing short of disgusting. Trying to undercut the President at every turn followed by his lame, twisted justifications for his illegal and un-American actions while in office is turning into a sad sideshow. This is unprecedented behavior and shows no self-awareness of just how unpopular he is and that there is now a new leader who is supported by the majority of Americans. It is a new day, but he just can't accept it.

I think President Obama summed-up Cheney's philosophy and those who support Cheney when he said:

"On the other end of the spectrum, there are those who embrace a view that can be summarized in two words: anything goes. Their arguments suggest that the ends of fighting terrorism can be used to justify any means, and that the President should have blanket authority to do whatever he wants - provided that it is a President with whom they agree."

That philosophy is not what America is all about and is also why, despite Dick Cheney's best efforts, history will always consider him to be a key player in one of America's darkest chapters.

Latest Republican "False Outrage" - Nancy Pelosi

Let me see if I understand this correctly. No outrage from the right-wing about torture, outing an undercover CIA agent, politicizing the Justice Department, Hurricane Katrina, record budget deficits, crumbling infrastructure, and destroying the economy in less than 8 years. BUT if there is any possibility that Nancy Pelosi may have been briefed by the CIA about waterboarding then it is the crime of the century. Or is the crime of the century Obama shaking hands with Chavez, or ordering a hamburger with mustard, or using a teleprompter. This transparent "false outrage" tactic in order to deflect attention from real news is getting old fast.

I am actually not a big fan of Nancy Pelosi primarily because she took impeachment off the table at a time when the facts were screaming out for impeachment of President Bush due to his clear violations of federal law and the Constitution (warrantless wiretapping, torture, etc.). And it really doesn't matter to me whether she gets burned by this issue or not. If investigations and criminal prosecutions of torture cause political damage to some democrats in Congress, then so be it. As I have said on many occasions I am for holding anybody accountable for ordering torture whether they be in a Democratic or Republican Administration. It is not a political issue for me. It goes way beyond that.

For at least a short period of time the mounting evidence that Dick Cheney was suggesting that an Iraqi detainee be waterboarded in order to try to establish a link between Al Qaeda and Iraq gets pushed completely to the side as the media focuses exclusively on the relatively insignificant sideshow of Nancy Pelosi. I have got to give the right-wing credit for their effective "divert attention from Bush/Cheney complicity at all costs" campaign.

At this time it is not clear what was really said in those briefings. There were caveats in Panetta's response which were largely overlooked by the media and Bob Graham's statements cast a lot of doubt on the credibility of the CIA's briefing dates, etc. I will withhold judgment until I see clear evidence one way or the other. But this in no way affects the overwhelming case mounting against high-ranking Bush Administration officials. Let the chips fall where they may.

CBS Golf Analyst and Local Mayor Make Dangerous Statements About Democratic Leaders

In the April 2009 issue of D Magazine CBS Sports golf analyst David Feherty made the following statement:

"From my own experience visiting the troops in the Middle East, I can tell you this, though: despite how the conflict has been portrayed by our glorious media,if you gave any U.S. soldier a gun with two bullets in it, and he found himself in an elevator with Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Osama bin Laden, there's agood chance that Nancy Pelosi would get shot twice, and Harry Reid and bin Laden would be strangled to death."

I'm getting tired of this kind of talk by the idiots on the fringe. It reminds me of the comments made during the "Tax Day Tea Protest" near me in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. The mayor of a small city near Fort Walton Beach (Mary Esther, FL) said the following:

"I believe that Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are more dangerous to the future of this country than Osama Bin Laden.." See my You Tube clip of the event here - his comments are at the 2:45 mark

I defend anybody's right to criticize the President or Congressional leaders. That is what this country is all about, but I have no tolerance for the kind of comments I've highlighted above. I consider them to be beyond irresponsible. After all, Osama Bin Laden has a $25 million bounty on his head. What are we supposed to infer if Obama, Reid , and Pelosi are "more dangerous" than Osama Bin Laden? Enough is enough.

Torture Apologists Are The Worst Kind Of Americans

Torture apologists comprise approximately half of the U.S. population according to a recent poll. I wonder if these people ever had a civics class or know anything about the history of the United States. I have a feeling that a large percentage of these apologists are republicans and a large subset are the same ones that will defend ANYTHING a republican administration does and try to sell a rationale for it, no matter how preposterous it is.

Their arguments fall apart on every level. Here is my summary of why the United States does not torture (at least until we had a rogue presidency):

What has always separated us from many other countries in the world is our unwavering respect for human rights, the rule of law, and our basic humanity. It has NEVER been demonstrated that the information received from torture is better than other PROVEN, LEGAL methods. In fact, there is overwhelming evidence that it yields far inferior results and produces a lot of completely false information. Chasing down these false leads wastes valuable intelligence assets which could be used on real, accurate leads.

If you support the United States using torture then you, by default, also support "open season" on our troops when they are captured by other countries. You MUST remain silent and you have NO right to protest as their heads are slammed into walls, they are waterboarded 200 times a month, and are deprived of sleep for 11 days at a time with their hands shackled above their heads. The military understands this and for this reason they are opposed to the U.S. using these illegal methods. Don't say you "support the troops" if you support torture because you really don't support the troops.

We are signatories to international agreements which outlaw these practices. We have prosecuted others for using the exact same methods approved by President Bush. And here is an exact quote from President Bush in 2003:

"The United States is committed to the worldwide elimination of torture and we are leading this fight by example. I call on all governments to join with the United States and the community of law-abiding nations in prohibiting, investigating, and prosecuting all acts of torture and in undertaking to prevent other cruel and unusual punishment."
Click here for the link to the article in the Washington Post.

How can a man who stood up and said this in front of the world go on to approve the use of torture? I say we follow HIS WORDS by investigating and prosecuting all acts of torture.