Monday, May 11, 2009

Dick Cheney on "Face the Nation"

Via Flopping Aces, here's Former Vice President Dick Cheney's with Bob Schieffer yesterday:

CQ Politics has the transcript, via Memeorandum:

CHENEY: Well, Bob, first of all, it’s good to go back on the show.

SCHIEFFER: Thank you.

CHENEY: It’s nice to know that you’re still loved and are invited out in public sometimes.

The reason I’ve been speaking, and in effect what I’ve been doing is responding to press queries such as yours, is because I think the issues that are at stake here are so important. And, in effect, what we’ve seen happen with respect to the Obama administration as they came to power is they have moved to take down a lot of those policies we put in place that kept the nation safe for nearly eight years from a follow-on terrorist attack like 9/11. Dealing with prisoner interrogation, for example, or the terrorist surveillance program.

They campaigned against these policies across the country, and then they came in now, and they have tried, very hard, to undertake actions that I just fundamentally disagree with.

SCHIEFFER: Well, do you -- I mean, should we take that literally? You say that the administration has made this country more vulnerable to attacks here in the homeland.

CHENEY: That’s my belief, based upon the fact, Bob, that we put in place those policies after 9/11. On the morning of 9/12, if you will, there was a great deal we didn’t know about Al Qaida. There was the need to embark upon a new strategy with respect to treating this as a strategic threat to the United States. There was the possibility of Al Qaida terrorists in the midst of one of our own cities with a nuclear weapon or a biological agent.

It was a time of great concern, and we put in place some very good policies, and they worked, for eight years. Now we have an administration that’s come to power that has been critical of the programs, but not only that, there’s been talk about prosecuting the lawyers in the Justice Department who gave us the opinions that we operated in accordance with, or referring them to the Bar Association for disbarment or sanctions of some kind, or possibly cooperating with foreign governments that are interested in trying to prosecute American officials, those same officials who were responsible for defending this nation for the last eight years.

That whole complex of things is what I find deeply disturbing, and I think to the extent that those policies were responsible for saving lives, that the administration is now trying to cancel those policies or end them, terminate them, then I think it’s fair to argue -- and I do argue -- that that means in the future we’re not going to have the same safeguards we’ve had for the last eight years.
More here.

Also, Conor Friedersdorf demonstrates that Cheney derangement lives!

7 comments:

  1. You really have to wonder about the future of a nation in which a significant portion of the population so viciously attacks those who are working, or have worked to defend it.

    -Dave

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  2. Dave..

    You mean like the attack on Colin Powell, the only COMBAT VETERAN in the BushCheney Admin.? when you state "those who are working, or have worked to defend it" ?

    This conservative wants to know.....do any of you know what Mr. Cheney was doing during the Vietnam war? and what he did when his time to serve his nation came?

    This Vet spits on the ground when this Joker, Cheney speaks....He's an opportunist using you , dont be fooled

    I know you like this guy .....but in reviewing Cheney's behavior, his TRACK RECORD....he's proven to be a trickster.....and an embarrassment to the NRA.

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  3. Opportunist, cracker?

    How many men do you know who, once having attained the VP seat, eschewed any attempt to go for the Oval Office?

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  4. Mr. Casebolt

    Can you possibly....possibly think of "Any" reason why...Cheney would be advised NOT to run after his tenure as VP?

    (other than it would have DEEEEstroyed the party, and possibly sent the nation into partisan whirlwind that would make Katrina seem a bubble in a bathtub).

    or in truth, the office of President would never have let him exploit his personal interest the way the VP office did. I'd call that a well-disciplined trickster at best. Dont confuse cunning for courage.

    And by the by, dont misread me here, Sir. I do not carry an ounce of vehemence towards any party partisanship.

    Cheney was neither a conservative, nor a statesman.

    He operated behind the Presidents' (GW) back (AND) threw him (GW) under the Bus in the case of Scooter. He was and is, a rogue, maximizing the interests of KBR, and Haliburton, There is nothing honorable IMO about the way this man utilized his position while VP.

    He used a Conservatives natural pragmatism and reluctance against us in the face of fear....and the results SPEAK for themselves....

    Cheers

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  5. It hardly matters what party Cheney belongs to. It's pretty clear to everyone -- liberal, conservative, Green, Flying Spaghetti Monster, whatever -- that he's a crook. As for working to defend this country, ask Seymour Hersh about that. He's been a thorn in Cheney's side for years about KBR and various other misdeeds. Just because you agree with someone's politics doesn't mean you can trust them implicitly. That goes for Obama, Bush, Maddow, or Beck; knowing the content of a person's character transcends the ephemeral news cycle.

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  6. cracker, how many lies about Cheney can you print in a single comment? You're headed towards the Guiness Book of World Records!

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  7. Tom,

    The Bush- Cheney Split

    https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1833735442976461282&postID=5012441228925385749

    On Scooter

    https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1833735442976461282&postID=5012441228925385749

    5 draft deferments....Wikipedia is the easiest resource.

    Start here with How Cheney developed the "Contractor Model" while under the Reagan Admin

    http://www.govexec.com/mailbagDetails.cfm?aid=42649

    The Cheney - Haliburton connection

    http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101040607-644111,00.html

    and Finally...Cheney's stock values in Haliburton

    http://www.rawstory.com/news/2005/Cheneys_stock_options_rose_3281_last_1011.html

    So, Tom, perhaps my sources arent up to snuff for your liking....but its what I base my previous statements on.....

    I dont think you were calling me a "liar".....

    Lies get us no where....wouldnt you agree?

    Lets honestly just look at the results...they always reveal the truth.

    ReplyDelete