# Edwards accuses Cheney of being "Un-American" **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 8, 2004, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edwards-accuses-cheney-of-being-un-american/263691 "2004-09-08T22:55:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Snag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Snag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snag)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2004, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edwards-accuses-cheney-of-being-un-american/263691/1 "2004-09-08T22:55:16Z")
From [msnbc:](http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5945001/) Cheney remarks ‘un-American’ > [@](#): > > Sen. John Edwards accused Vice President Dick Cheney of “un-American” campaign rhetoric on Wednesday, answering the Republican’s day-old charge that a vote for the Democratic ticket this fall could open the United States to another terrorist attack. > > “This statement by the vice president of the United States was intended to divide us,” said Edwards, vice presidential running mate to Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. “It was calculated to divide us on an issue of safety and security for the American people. It’s wrong and it’s un-American.” > > The Democrat called on President Bush to renounce Cheney’s comments. > > Edwards made his comments to supporters while campaigning in West Virginia, a day after Cheney said at a town hall meeting in Iowa, “It’s absolutely essential that eight weeks from today, on Nov. 2, we make the right choice, because if we make the wrong choice then the danger is that we’ll get hit again and we’ll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States.” > > Spokesman Scott McClellan said, “There are differences in how the two candidates approach the war on terror. That’s what the vice president was talking about in his remarks.” > > Edwards accused Cheney of going well beyond that, and he reminded his audience that Bush had promised in 2000 to unite the country and restore honor and dignity to the White House. > > “This statement by his vice president was not only intended to divide us. In addition to that, it was dishonorable and undignified,” Edwards said. “This is a test for the president. We will see whether this president meets that test over the coming days.” > > Cheney was campaigning Tuesday in Des Moines, Iowa, when he suggested the United States, if Kerry were elected, would risk falling back into a “pre-9/11 mind-set” that terrorist attacks are criminal acts that require a reactive approach. Bush’s offensive approach works to root out terrorists where they plan and train, he said. Wow. Discuss? Could it be that the Kerry campaign has said “If they want to play push-around, we’ll play push-around”? How does the President respond to this one? ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2004, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edwards-accuses-cheney-of-being-un-american/263691/2 "2004-09-08T23:38:57Z")
And you Dems nominated Kerry instead of Edwards _why_? ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edwards-accuses-cheney-of-being-un-american/263691/3 "2004-09-09T00:04:45Z")
No kidding. This is the most fire I’ve heard out of the Kerry/Edwards camp since the closing night of the DNC. Who knows what may happen if they actually decide to stay on the attack? ---
**Author:** ![Snag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Snag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snag)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edwards-accuses-cheney-of-being-un-american/263691/4 "2004-09-09T00:16:48Z")
> [@Strainger](#): > > And you Dems nominated Kerry instead of Edwards _why_? It’s the VP’s job to be the hatchet man while the nominee keeps their hands clean. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edwards-accuses-cheney-of-being-un-american/263691/5 "2004-09-09T00:34:34Z")
Exactly. If Kerry was the VP nominee, he’d be the one spewing fire. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edwards-accuses-cheney-of-being-un-american/263691/6 "2004-09-09T00:55:39Z")
Time to put on the flame-resistant goggles I see. “You’re weak on security! Well you’re un-American to say so!” Actually, this is pretty standard politics: Play nice and dignified until the home stretch, and then pull out the flame-throwers and scorch your opponent with anything you can. It’s often the case in campaigns that the Republican candidates save their most base and fear-driven rhetoric until the final weeks (maybe the Dems will catch on?). That way they keep flagging attention riveted until election day, while minimising the risk of alienating the electorate with negativity by keeping the duration short. I hear this was a tried-and-true tactic that worked especially well for Jesse Helms, as a Carolinan friend once complained to me. She said he’d play all nice until just before the end, and then unleash the most vitriolic and hyperbolic TV ads she had ever encountered, designed specifically to play on voter’s darkest fears. Worked every time. Thing is, I don’t think the “Un-American” accusation is going to stick. BushCo has already demonstrated that it’s OK to label any kind of dissent from their insane War on Terror “un-American”, and most everybody buys it. “Watch what you say”, right? In this race, it appears Cheney is rubber, and I guess everybody else is glue. ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edwards-accuses-cheney-of-being-un-american/263691/7 "2004-09-09T01:06:11Z")
> [@](#): > > “This statement by the vice president of the United States was intended to divide us,” said Edwards, vice presidential running mate to Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. “It was calculated to divide us on an issue of safety and security for the American people. It’s wrong and it’s un-American.” He must have been using a page from the Dem’s play book. ---
**Author:** ![Snag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Snag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snag)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edwards-accuses-cheney-of-being-un-american/263691/8 "2004-09-09T01:06:33Z")
> [@Loopydude](#): > > Thing is, I don’t think the “Un-American” accusation is going to stick. BushCo has already demonstrated that it’s OK to label any kind of dissent from their insane War on Terror “un-American”, and most everybody buys it. “Watch what you say”, right? In this race, it appears Cheney is rubber, and I guess everybody else is glue. “Stick”? As in do we take a poll? It’s kinda like calling someone a communist back in the 50’s. It’s just not a label hung on a VP everyday, not by his opponent. I think you underestimate what it means to some people. I tell you where it will stick. In Mr. Cheney’s craw. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edwards-accuses-cheney-of-being-un-american/263691/9 "2004-09-09T01:36:19Z")
::Cheney, muttering:: Yeah, well Edwards can go &\*^% himself:: ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edwards-accuses-cheney-of-being-un-american/263691/10 "2004-09-09T01:55:23Z")
Cheney’s got a lot of F\*\*\*ING nerve to call someone un-American. [sarcasm] Didn’t you like the red white and blue response Cheney and George “Dubya” exhibited when their country was at war and when they were of draft age? [/sarcasm] And hey Dick Cheney, whose administration was in power on September 11, 2001? So, is he saying that based on this “spotless” track record we should continue with these clowns for another 4 years? ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edwards-accuses-cheney-of-being-un-american/263691/11 "2004-09-09T10:40:22Z")
**Moderator’s Note:** Thread title changed at OP’s request. ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edwards-accuses-cheney-of-being-un-american/263691/12 "2004-09-09T11:07:09Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > Cheney’s got a lot of F\*\*\*ING nerve to call someone un-American. Who did Cheney call un-American? ---
**Author:** ![Snag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Snag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snag)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edwards-accuses-cheney-of-being-un-american/263691/13 "2004-09-09T19:04:38Z")
> [@Brutus](#): > > Who did Cheney call un-American? The title from msnbc that I copied is not clear; Edwards claims that remarks Cheney made were un-American. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edwards-accuses-cheney-of-being-un-american/263691/14 "2004-09-09T19:24:50Z")
I am so glad the Democrats finally let loose the attack dogs. I hope it isn’t too late. Seeing James Carville snarling on the opinion shows is so much better than the milquetoast guys from the DNC. After the election the Democrats should blow up the DNC and reconstruct it. They’ve managed to promote two hopelessly inept candidates and stood by saying nothing while letting an incompetent Bush run the country and scare the people into voting for him. ---
**Author:** ![Snag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Snag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snag)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2004, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edwards-accuses-cheney-of-being-un-american/263691/15 "2004-09-11T21:00:10Z")
OK, maybe **Loopydude** is right on the money. It almost seems that the allegation that being called un-American can be shrugged off. As if it doesn’t matter. I admit I’m a bit stunned that this wasn’t a big deal. 😕 Edwards implies THE accusation, and it never made headlines. It was mentioned, then moved to page 8. Such a charge couldn’t sell newspapers? Can’t the liberal media get it right? I understand that Cheney retracted his remarks quickly, and Edwards did not repeat the claim, it went by mostly without comment. Still, the Republicans didn’t go to task on it. I thought it would be an enormous matter of pride, needing to only be said once. As a former Republican, this doesn’t seem right to me.