Thank you, OP, for starting this pitting. I saw that MTP, and wanted to start a thread on Darth Cheney, but was so angry I could not put it to words like you did. Cheney is a subhuman monster, and the world is a smaller and worse place for me and my kids because of his thinking and actions.
When pressed about bringing to justice those who perpetrated these torture crimes, he stated they should not, because they were just following orders from above, and that he and GWB were briefed daily on the program. On this point, we are in accord - the torturers may have been “just following orders”. But, those at the top ought to be brought to justice in that case - he freely admits knowledge about it. I know that will never happen, but IMHO it should.
I also found the latter part of that episode discussing drone strikes to be illuminating as well. Shit - I think we can now answer that question “Why they hate us”.
Sub-humans like him are a blight and deserve no consideration. I don’t believe in the forgiveness of sociopathic monsters like Cheney. History is full of them.
I think Cheney deliberately makes the world a more dangerous place because he makes more money doing it through Halliburton and because he gets turned on by it.
Cheney is a tough guy, not a sadist. A tough guy tells himself its his stern duty, he doesn’t want to, he’s a decent fellow making a very difficult call, the kind of call wimps and/or civilians can’t deal with. We need tough guys to protect us from other tough guys. And we never seem to have a shortage.
Used to be just stupid, bloody and cruel, but our weapons have advanced. We need to wise up in a big ass hurry, because we are going to have world peace one way… or the other. The difference between quiet and silence.
He takes the position of what he thinks is a tough guy. He has had numerous life episodes that strongly suggest that he is a coward, not tough. He supported the Vietnam war, yet sought and received many deferments. After 9/11 he hid for years at various secret locations, despite holding the public office of Vice President of the United States. He avoids all but the most friendly interviewers on his actions and policy positions. He let his friend Scooter Libby take the fall for outing Valerie Plame rather than admit he ordered it and lied about ordering it. When he shot his hunting buddy in the face by accident, he did not immediately cooperate with making a proper police report but hid and drank. This is not a “tough” guy, but rather someone who is terribly afraid.
A real tough guy is someone like John Kerry (whom I think is far too hawkish as a Senator in the 2000s and as Sec of State) who served in the military despite policy disagreements with the war and as his disagreement with policy became more intense, denounced the war, which in a prior generation would have ended any political career.
I’m pretty much incapable of using “tough guy” as a compliment, so do not be misled.
As far as the chicken hawk thing goes… I wonder, perhaps, if a man looks into himself and acknowledges he doesn’t have what it takes, it would be best to stay out of it rather than be a burden to men who would be better off without him. I have no such experience, it is only a thought.
As for Kerry, I have some regard for him, but I think that he has been running for President since he was born. I suspect he got himself assigned to combat duty with one eye on his political boney fidos. Getting his ticket punched.
What he got was an education, and good for him. He risked what meant most to him in order to do the right thing. We may some day have too many of such men, but I think we can put up with it.
Somewhere along the line I crafted an image of Dick Cheney as an amalgam of Judge Dredd and Richard Nixon: judge, jury and executioner, combined with a conviction that anyone who opposed his righteous aims was the Enemy, undeserving of quarter or mercy.
On the other hand, he also strikes me as a petty, vindictive asshole who wormed his way somehow into the corridors of power. Either one works.
He’s perfectly consistent within his own framework. He was very anti-gay until his daughter came out, and once it impacted his immediate family, he softened his stance notably. Just so, he will remain pro-torture until he is waterboarded, at which point he will change his stance on waterboarding. /shrug
Remember, fundamentally you are dealing with a mindset like that of a puppy. If you hide the ball under the rug, the ball no longer exists! And when you pull it back out, MAGIC!!!
This is probably one of the rare moments of this board where most people agree with the OP on the subject. Damn, Dick Cheney must be a big jerk, most of what I hear of him a cartoon parodies in which he’s the devil or just plain evil.
