(Unfortunately) Old News: Dick Cheney to Be Charged in Halliburton Corruption?

UPDATED TO ADD: Unfortunately, schadenfreude can make you too excited to notice that an article is old. Daggone it. For whatever reason, this story--at a legit site--came up today as though it was new. And I got all twitterpated, and published before I realized it. I almost struck the post, just deleted it into the ether. But you know what? It's Halloween time, and there's nothing scarier than Dick Cheney. So, I'll leave it up, and we can go on wishing that this (or something) would come to pass.

ORIGINAL POST:

Schadenfreude. According to Merriam-Webster:

noun, scha·den·freu·de often capitalized \ˈshä-dən-ˌfrȯi-də\ 

: a feeling of enjoyment that comes from seeing or hearing about the troubles of other people

A pretty horrible thing, ordinarily, right? But in certain contexts, for certain, specific people? Maybe not so bad. Certainly not in the case of my feelings for Dick Cheney. Of all of the odious people in or
associated with the George W. Bush administration, Cheney would be at the top of my list for
 "people I'd punish if I had super powers." I don't know if I'd banish him to a hell dimension, transport him to a planet of horrible smells, strand him at the bottom of a pit filled with vermin, or some other creative punishment, but I'd come up with something. Nothing lethal, mind you, just something horrible and preferably gross.

Image from source, Christian Science Monitor

Barring that? The greybar hotel would be so very nice. I mean, I know this thing is coming from Nigeria, and that Darth Cheney won't likely ever come to justice, but a guy can dream.

[Excerpt]
 
Dick Cheney to be charged in $180-million Halliburton bribery case

Nigeria's anti-corruption police said on Thursday they planned to file charges against former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney in a $180 million bribery case involving a former unit of oil services firm Halliburton. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday summoned the country chief of Halliburton and last week detained 10 Nigerian and expatriate Halliburton staff for questioning after raiding its Lagos office. . .

Read more at: Christian Science Monitor

Should President Obama Pardon Bush/Cheney for War Crimes?

Image found at TrueActivist

Every so often, in politics, there is a really interesting play on the table. Something you didn't expect. Something that may accomplish part of a long-held goal, but possibly in a roundabout way. That's happening right now, though the odds are long that it would ever happen.

Just about everybody agrees that the George W. Bush-Dick Cheney administration authorized "enhanced interrogation techniques" in the years following September 11, 2001, and that they were. . .extra-legal. Most people agree that these techniques went over the line, and I'd be willing to guess that a majority consider them outright torture. Where a partisan divide appears is in whether or not we care that we tortured people.

One could argue that a patriot should care. The United States of America is not supposed to commit war crimes with impunity, torture with no oversight, or imprison without due process. Especially at times when we're burning for vengeance, or just plain scared. Those are the times when our laws, our treaties, our moral compasses, our humanity and our Constitution need to be vigorously defended and adhered to. If not, exactly what are we defending?

Image from the (hopefully ironically titled)
WeMeantWell.com

So, while we quibble about how much over the line GWB & Co. went, we know they crossed it. Many of us think of them as outright war criminals. But we're also aware that--even though the other side can impeach a sitting president for lying about a trifle--there is no political stomach for trying and convicting any of those involved for said crimes. Which gives zero incentive for future presidents to follow even the most serious of laws. And the clock is running. Can we really expect the next president, or the next, to act on something so far in the rear view?

And act how? No way there's a trial or trials. It's just not going to happen. But someone has come up with a novel solution: Have President Obama pardon them all. It's a radical solution. It lets everyone off the hook. There might even be international blowback just for that. But it also brands them all as war criminals. Exonerated, but criminals, nonetheless. It's an asterisk that will be in every history book. And it would potentially act as a deterrent from a future president from crossing that line. Every person who wants to be president has an outsized ego. They do not want to be branded a war criminal, no matter how power-hungry they are.

All of that said, I think there's close to a zero chance that Obama would do it. I think personally, he'd love to. But I'm not sure the political will of the party apparatus is even there for that. Which is a pity. But think about this: should the GOP follow through with their "Operation: Kill Obama's Legacy" plan in the next two years, this could be in his back pocket.

[Excerpt]
 

Maddow: Pardon Bush for Torture To "Make It Clear Crimes Were Committed"



RACHEL MADDOW, MSNBC: Tonight, the head of the national ACLU has just published this op-ed in the New York Times. It calls for President Obama to issue a pardon to former President George W. Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney and other senior Bush administration officials for overseeing torture as the U.S. policy for years. . .

Read more at: Real Clear Politics

Bill Maher's ALS Ice Bucket Challenge Has a Cheney Challenge

I approve!

Bill Maher's Ice Bucket Challenge - watch more funny videos

Cheney! (A Rocky Mountain Mike Song Parody)

Another very funny song parody by Rocky Mountain Mike about Darth Dick Cheney, to the tune of Lady by Styx. Enjoy!

 

In Case You Missed It: Megyn Kelly Calls Cheney on His Iraq Blunders

This was an extraordinary thing to happen on FOX "News," a primetime anchor of their opinion programming (separate and apart from their "hard news" stuff, naturally), throwing down with former Vice-President Darth Dick Cheney. She basically asks him why we should take his advice on Iraq now, when he was wrong about a whole host of things with the original invasion and war. She kindly doesn't level charges of lying us into war, but we can only hope for so much. Almost as remarkably, Cheney doesn't deny what she says, he doesn't back-pedal, apologize, or attempt to reframe it. He simply disagrees with her. Disagrees with facts, mind you. Hey, only a demon can live in multiple realities at the same time, right? Maybe we should ask his demon-spawn, since all of this publicity is to give the poor thing something to do.

[Excerpt]
 
Megyn Kelly to Cheney: "History has Proven" You Were Wrong in Iraq




". . .In your op-ed, you write as follows: "Rarely has a U.S. president been so wrong about so much at the expense of so many." But time and time again, history has proven that you got it wrong as well in Iraq, sir. You said there was no doubt Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. You said we would be greeted as liberators. You said the Iraq insurgency was in the last throes back in 2005. And you said that after our intervention, extremists would have to "rethink their strategy" of jihad. Now, with almost a trillion dollars spent there, with 4,500 American lives lost there, what do you say to those who say you were so wrong about so much at the expense of so many?. . ."

Read more at: Gawker

Dick Cheney and the Devil

Who is it besides Dick Cheney, and his demon spawn daughter (who makes a cameo toward the end of this video) that is seen by people as evil? Could it beeeeeee. . .SATAN!?!?

Hilarious.
 

Rachel Maddow Exterminates Dick and Liz Cheney

I used the word "exterminates" in my headline as a bit of purposeful hyperbole, to a) poke fun at typical hyperbolic interwebz headlines, b) to indulge in a little wishful thinking about the loathsome Cheneys, and c) because Rachel really does manage to almost fulfill words like "annihilates," or "destroys" with this story. She manages to give a thorough history lesson, ties it together with what's going on now, and uses it to paint the Cheneys (or as they might say, Cheney's) as clueless, tone-deaf, craven opportunists. And she manages to be entertaining while doing it!

It's long, but very much worth a view.

Can We Please Ignore the Iraq War "Experts?"

Image from source, Politico

I would never claim to be an expert on the Middle East. I'll be honest, I've never even really understood the fervor of our support for Israel. So, I'm not going to put on a front like I have the answer to what's going on in Iraq right now. But I'm pretty sure about a couple of things:

- Whether our withdrawal from Iraq spurred the current unrest or not, we had to leave, a) because we couldn't stay indefinitely, b) because George W. Bush signed an agreement before he left office (remember, he had a shoe thrown at him), c) the Iraqi parliament voted us out, and d) the overwhelming sentiment of the American people was for us to leave.

- The architects and players of the War in Iraq, including Rice, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Feith, Hadley, Tenet, Rumsfeld, and Dubya himself should have no role in any decisions made. They also shouldn't be viewed as experts on cable news or the Sunday political shows. Add to the Bush Administration the cheerleaders for war, such as Bill Kristol, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, and really the whole of FOX "News" and right-wing talk radio. They were all flat wrong about almost everything. Their opinions shouldn't hold any weight or any sway.

- Most of all, let's get the President out of the damned microscope. Let's have just a smidgen of the old "don't criticize the Commander in Chief in a time of war," attitude again, shall we? Not to insane, grill-the-Dixie Chicks, Patriotic­™ American® ­levels, but in the actual patriotic American sense. Imagine if we did have the dreaded sequel to 9/11. Rather than rallying around the flag, Right Wing World would be sharpening their pitchforks, lighting their torches, and storming Pennsylvania Avenue. It's not healthy individually and not healthy for our country to behave this way.

[Excerpt]

The Case for Doing Nothing in Iraq

Here we go again. Whenever there’s a crisis anywhere in the world, you can count on America’s pundit class to demand action—usually of the military variety. Don’t just stand there, bomb something! After more than two decades of unchallenged American hegemony, Washington keyboards seem almost programmed to call for intervention halfway around the globe. . .

Read more at: Politico

Jon Stewart Rips Rumsfeld & Cheney on Torture

EDITOR'S NOTE: I'm playing with Raw Story's "post it legally" feature. Of course, as far as I know, I always post things legally. but I thought I'd give it a go. And since I didn't have anything to add to this one beyond, "You, go, Jon Stewart!," I thought this was a good enough post to try it on. I have a feeling I'm going to have to do some tweaking of this service in the future though.

Jon Stewart rips Rumsfeld and Cheney: ‘Look how f*cking proud’ they are to avoid discussing torture (via Raw Story )

Daily Show host Jon Stewart observed on Monday that, as the Senate moves closer to declassifying a report trashing the Central Intelligence Agency’s “enhanced interrogation” techniques, the political figures behind it — including former Vice…

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Liz Cheney to Quit Wyoming Senate Race?

When Satan's spawn Liz Cheney decided to run for the US Senate from Wyoming, my first thought wasn't that she was a carpetbagger. It was that she's best known for being a bomb-thrower on FOX "News" Sunday, and has all the charm and natural warmth of a gila monster. Of course, she "fluffied" and "mommyfied" herself up for the cameras, to look more appealing. Could that possibly be enough to propel her to a win, even in deep red Wyoming? Um, maybe not.

[Excerpt]

Liz Cheney may exit Wyoming Senate race
 
Liz Cheney has signaled to allies that she is preparing to drop her bid for the United States Senate and may announce as soon as this week that she plans to focus on issues related to her family, sources told POLITICO Sunday. . .

Read more at: Politico

Liz Cheney and Gay Marriage

Image from source, TPM

FOX "News" Sunday--shockingly--had an exclusive interview with Wyoming carpetbagger Senatorial candidate Liz Cheney. Wonder how they managed that? Anyhow, Satan's spawn Darth Vader's kid Dick Cheney's daughter looked like she'd had a bit of a makeover, and had a slightly different persona from her more combative "Power Panel" guise. And she's trying to tightrope walk over one specific issue. See, she can't come flat out and say she hates gay people. She's got a gay sister after all. And she can't come out and say that she's totally cool with gay people and gay marriage (Mary Cheney is married Cheney now), because Wyoming tea baggers ain't down with that. But no matter how she threads that needle, she's basically saying that her sister doesn't deserve equal rights, and that Mary's family is "less than."

[Excerpt]

Liz Cheney Defends Stance On Same-Sex Marriage

Liz Cheney, Republican Senate candidate challenging Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) in 2014, on Sunday defended her stance on same-sex marriage. Cheney's sister Mary is married to a woman and has criticized her sister for her opposition to same sex marriage, but Liz Cheney stands by her beliefs. . .

Read more at: Talking Points Memo

Liz Cheney Carpetbagging Her Way to the Senate?

Image from source, Wonkette

I often get into scuffles and skirmishes on the internets, because I can't help myself. And often, my sparring partner will froth at me, "you hate anyone who disagrees with you!" or some such nonsense. And I always tell them I don't hate hardly anybody. I save that heated emotion for people who deserve it. Just Cheneys.

Liz Cheney, the demon spawn of Darth Cheney, is running for US Senate, from the state of Wyoming--where she does not, and hasn't ever lived--against an incumbent conservative Republican. Liz's chief qualifications are her noxious, bilious, horrifying commentary on FOX "News," and some government job her dad got her back in the Bush era. But far more scary than this harpy in the Senate is that it portends her aspirations which are surely higher. Another Vice President Cheney (who is secretly pulling the strings, like daddy did)? Horrors!

[Excerpt]

Liz Cheney Will Waterboard Wyoming Until It Makes Her Senator

Since Fox News does not (yet) have representation in the United States Senate, torture fan Liz Cheney announced Tuesday afternoon that she is willing to let the state of Wyoming elect her in 2014. . .

Read more at: Wonkette

Right Wing World: Cheney and Palin and More, Oh My!

In my previous post, I ranted about the idiocy of presenting Dick Cheney (or countless others) on the Sunday political shows, and holding them out as some sort of authority on foreign policy. Or anything else. I left out John McCain and his swooning buddy, Lindsey Graham, both of who appear so often on those shows, they should be noted as the Senators from Meet the Press, rather than the states they allegedly represent. But my rant was just to let out steam. I should know by now that I am but a humble, hobbyist blogger, and that there are pros out there who do it better.

Image from source, NewsCorpse

But the nice thing is, I can share their work, and still feel like I did something! And oddly enough, it does make me feel better. This is from a great site that focuses mostly on FOX "News," but you can apply it across the board.

[Excerpt]

Fox News On Credibility: With Dick Cheney, Sarah Palin, And Stuttering Jesse Watters

Bizarro World is contemplating a lawsuit against Fox News for infringing on their patented methods of presenting a worldview that is wholly inconsistent with reality. . .

Read more at: NewsCorpse

Lest We Forget: Who the Hell Cares What Dick Cheney Thinks?

I haven't read a word of the article I excerpted below. I didn't watch the clip. When I grudgingly watched FOX "News" Sunday this weekend to see what was up their asses this week, I turned it off when Dick Cheney was introduced as the guest. Why? Because I don't care what Cheney has to say. About anything. And nobody else should either.

In fact, there are very few members of the Bush Administration that should be appearing on Meet the Press or Face the Nation or any of the other shows, particularly on matters of foreign policy. Cheney and the rest weren't just wrong about damned near everything, they actually started a war under false pretenses. They presided over the worst terrorist attack on our country since Pearl Harbor.

Cheney says President Obama lacks credibility? A thesis on all the reasons Cheney has no credibility would fill pages and pages so lengthy that no one would read it, so I won't bother. I just had to say to the powers that be, and the universe in general, could you please keep this increasingly creepy man off of my TV, and out of the spotlight? Thank you.

[Excerpt]

Cheney Backs NSA Spying; Calls Snowden A Traitor, Says Obama "Lacks Credibility"


CHRIS WALLACE: What do you think of Edward Snowden?

DICK CHENEY: I think he's a traitor. I think he has committed crimes in effect by violating agreements given the position he had. . .

Read more (but I'm not gonna) at: Real Clear Politics

Republican National Committee Using George W. Bush as Fundraising Opportunity

Thanks W? Yeah, thanks a hell of a lot, George.
By the way, dumb asses, it's missing a comma.

I, along with millions of Americans, got an instant refresher course in all things Dubya over the last couple of days. In some cases, George W. Bush's tenure at the White House was glossed over, but I didn't see very much that actually tried to play his presidency off as a success. Mostly, it was just polite and respectful. Perhaps too respectful for my taste. I know that my political ideology colors my views, but to be fair, much of my current ideology was shaped in reaction to the eight years of Bush/Cheney! And watching that little weasel on television with his insipid answers to vapid questions (Q: What do you do with your time; A: Paint 2-3 hours a day!) just brought it all back. How embarrassed I was watching him represent our country.

Listen, I'll cop to having a case of Bush Derangement Syndrome, but unlike current sufferers of Obama Derangement Syndrome, I had an honest, earned case of it. There wasn't as much making crap up then, inventing things to get torqued about. Oh, we nitpicked, sure. And we wondered what that boxy thing was on his back during the debate. And why he had that weird gyrating jaw when he talked. Wondered what the real story was behind the pretzel incident, and the falling off the bike incidents. . .mostly, all of that stuff just made us wonder if he was still on the sauce or the blow. But we didn't question his paternity, his citizenship, his religion, his sexuality or his patriotism. We thought he was a dolt, in over his head, with a collection of incompetents and/or amoral opportunists working for him. I could write a 10,000 word post for all of the solid reasons why I despised the Dubya Bush administration, but will save time, and just refer you to the bulk of this blog from its inception until January 20, 2009!

My take on best uses for the RNC's new image. Like it?

And George, if you can't tell after that, NO! We don't miss you yet! NO! We will not thank you for anything but leaving and going away. And, Mr. Reince Priebus, if you think that stupid sticker is going to work wonders for the RNC, I've got to think you're demented. Many Bush voters are loathe to admit it now. Fewer would display any kind of "W" sticker on their car. And any revenue you gain from this little endeavor is more likely to be overshadowed by the scorn heaped upon it. And also very likely to generate a whole new internet meme built ironically around it. I'll do my part.

Get yours here though, if you feel moved: Republican National Committee

A Lie-By-Lie Deconstruction Of How We Got Into the Iraq War

Image from source, Mother Jones

What are the odds, do you think, that the real story of the run-up to the Iraq War becomes the official story? Will the history books rely on a he-said/she-said CNN transcript? Will it rely on press releases from the Dubya administration? Will the implausible-but-true rehabilitation of so many of the administration players color how the story is ultimately sold? I ask, because they continue to this day to try and polish this turd.

[Excerpt]

Lie by Lie: A Timeline of How We Got Into Iraq

At A congressional hearing examining the march to war in Iraq, Republican congressman Walter Jones posed "a very simple question" about the administration's manipulation of intelligence: "How could the professionals see what was happening and nobody speak out?" Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, Colin Powell's former chief of staff, responded with an equally simple answer: "The vice president. . ."

Read more at: Mother Jones

Dying Iraq War Vet Pens Letter to Bush & Cheney

Even their picture still makes me wince.
Image from HuffPo.

I'm not sure George W. Bush has enough of a conscience to be disturbed by a letter from a dying veteran of his own misbegotten war. I'm positive Dick Cheney doesn't. But it's well worth a read. And now that we've passed the 10-year anniversary of the beginning of that war, it's worth repeating and remembering what a bad idea the whole thing was. How we were lied into it, knowingly and repeatedly. Years later, my Republican parents still insisted that it was a necessary response to the attacks of September 11, 2001. It wasn't, quite clearly. It had nothing whatsoever to do with the attacks. But all of that lying, all of that faux patriotism, all of the posturing and snookering got my parents, even though they couldn't come close to explaining why the Iraq War was a response to 9/11. "We had to do something," they told me. Did we?

[Excerpt]

Tomas Young, Dying Iraq War Veteran, Pens 'Last Letter' To Bush, Cheney On War's 10th Anniversary

Days after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, Tomas Young, then a 22-year-old from Kansas City, Mo., made a decision repeated by many other Americans around the country: He was going to enlist in the military in hopes of getting even with the enemies who had helped coordinate the deaths of nearly 3,000 men, women and children. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

Hubris: Selling the Iraq War

Having followed much of the news regarding the run-up to the Iraq war--both at the time, and in the years after--there wasn't much in Hubris: Selling the Iraq War that I didn't already know. Except that it was presented in Rachel Maddow's typically straightforward, educational style, succinctly and all in a 1-hour package, featuring people who know. It also reawakens old ire in this American, a fire that was largely put out when Bush/Cheney slunk away into (near) obscurity.  When Barack Obama took over, many liberals like myself felt like we could finally take a breath. And though we were initially upset with Obama when he said that we were "looking forward" and not back to the crimes of the Bush era, the fight was largely out of us by then. This documentary brings it all back. We were lied into war, plain and simple.

I'm curious whether the MSNBC documentary will reignite the same anger in other people, or whether its source network and host will cause it to be dismissed by people who consider MSNBC to be the counterpart to FOX "News." Though I  think it would be hard to argue that Hubris is liberally biased, beyond--say--the musical score. Don't believe me, check it out, the whole thing:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Obama: Thought Romney Meant it When He Said He Wouldn't Get Bin Laden

Politics leads to plenty of WTF moments, but I was actually kind of dumbfounded when I heard Ed Gillespie (professional GOP election guru) whining about President Obama's ad touting the killing of Osama bin Laden, and pointing out that a President Romney may not have even tried to do such a thing. It's sourced, I remember the source. . .so what's the problem? Gillespie portrayed it as unseemly and out of bounds. Even the allegedly liberal Arianna Huffington called it "despicable."  [Story continues below]



What? Why? Are we to believe that with an opposite set of circumstances, Republicans wouldn't touch it? That they can't/haven't/wouldn't tout anti-terrorism operations in an election? That they wouldn't imply that Democrats might do a worse job? Which issue is the despicable one, the "grandstanding" or the Romney slam?

Image found at Common Dreams.

See, I remember seven stinkin' years of Republican grandstanding and/or fear-mongering using terror, terrorism and terrorists as subjects. I remember a flight-suited Dubya landing on an aircraft carrier, artfully staged to look as though it was going out to sea. There was color coordination, pomp and circumstance, and a big, red-white-and-blue banner reading "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!"  They even made a stinking (doll) action figure out of it! And yet, the mission wasn't even accomplished. Boy, now that was some freakin' grandstanding.

And they say the left has a woody for Obama.
Explain this! Image from Balloon Juice.

I also remember Darth Dick Cheney flat out saying that if John Kerry were elected, we were going to get attacked again! Now that is freakin' dispicable! So, tell me again--especially you, Arianna--WTF is wrong with the ad. But before you do, tell me honestly. . .if George W. Bush had killed Bin Laden, do you think he'd have been quiet and reserved about it? Really?


[Excerpt]

Obama Defends Attack On Romney: ‘I Assumed’ He Meant It When He Said He Wouldn’t Get Bin Laden


Mitt Romney and his allies have been attacking President Obama for his campaign’s recent video ad, highlighting both his decision to order the raid that killed Osama bin Laden and Romney’s statement in 2007 that he would not have taken similar action given the chance. Romney now says he would have done the same as Obama. “Of course [I would have]. Even Jimmy Carter would have given that order,” Romney said today. . .

Read more at: Think Progress

Quote of the Day: The Rude Pundit on Dick Cheney

"In Brief: Dick Cheney Is Still Alive and Talking, For Some Reason"

--The Rude Pundit


And nothing more really needs to be said. But of course he did, and of course, it's good. Read more at: RudePundit.blogspot.com