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?. . ."
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!?!?
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!
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.
. .
FOX "News" Sunday--shockingly--had an exclusive interview with Wyoming carpetbagger Senatorial candidate Liz Cheney. Wonder how they managed that? Anyhow, Satan's spawnDarth 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. . .
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. . .
Gee, I wonder if I've ever used that headline before. If not word-for-word, I've at least used the same sentiment, because they just keep doing it. This morning, FOX "News" Sunday was my first choice to watch on the DVR, because for some reason the (increasingly boring) Meet the Press didn't record. I store these shows up for a little while in the morning so that I can zip through them without all the BP commercials.
Anyway, the first guest was Ted Olson, George W. Bush's Solicitor General (a job until recently filled by Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan). Olson would not be an unusual guest to have on F"N"S were it not for the fact that he recently tried and won Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the case that overturned California's Proposition 8 as un-Constitutional. Prior to that, Olson was mostly known for holding the Bush side of Bush v. Gore, Citizens United and for being the widower of Conservative writer Barbra Olson.
Chris Wallace did his level best to push the presumed "typical" FOX viewers' viewpoint on the same-sex marriage case, repeatedly hammering Olson with questions right out of the right-wing playbook. Question after question, time after time, Olson replied with cogent, logical, legal answers, not once falling into a trap or contradicting himself. I was very impressed. I'll admit to having had concerns when I'd originally heard that Olson was the lawyer trying Perry. While I'm still extremely wary of the results of the Citizens United case, it is clear that Olson is a brilliant legal mind, one that is capable of seeing logic and the law ahead of partisanship. My hope from today's interview is that he may have put a seed of rational thought into the minds of FOX "News" viewers.
The second guest was apparently a Republican dude (Mitch Daniels it turns out, whoever that is) who has aspirations to be a presidential contender. I have no idea who he was--as far as I know, I've never seen him before--because I was typing the stuff above! But the reason I started writing this post is what Wallace said when he lead into second interview: (paraphrasing) "Up next, what can Republicans do to ensure big wins in the 2010 elections? Our next guest. . ."
Of course the show's last half is nearly always filled with the ludicrously named "Power Panel," their "fair and balanced" discussion group. This week, the right is represented by extreme neocon William Kristol and Darth Cheney's daughter, Liz Cheney. The left--as usual--had Juan Williams and some lady I've never seen before. Even when FOX has equal numbers of right vs. left-leaning pundits (if you pretend that Wallace is neutral), they stack the deck with heavy weights on the right and feather weights on the left.
Now, it would be a rare thing indeed for me to recommend watching a clip from this highly-skewed program. But I'll make an exception for the Olson interview. It's kind of fun to see Wallace's tactics fail when he's up against someone who can outthink him.
Oh good lord. I'm zipping through some of the Sunday morning political shows on the DVR. Meet the Press with David Gregory was a snooze-fest, with a too-long segment on Afghanistan, and a depressing panel discussion highlighted by Alan Greenspan's sensible but dispiriting analysis. Next up was FOX "News" Sunday, and it was a craptacular suck-fest.
The first guest was the always well informed and lucid half-governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin. She spewed forth her usual word-salad run-on sentences, read bullet points off a sheet of paper, and a note off of her hand (seriously). She was asked a diverse set of questions by host Chris Wallace--who to be fair, did not lob only softball questions--from Afghanistan to the immigration law in Arizona. Now, I can see there is a loose connection between Palin and AZ Gov. Jan Brewer. They're both semi-nutty, outsized Governors with polarizing views. But what the f*** does Palin know about Afghanistan, and why the hell should we care? The pull quote from this interview will be, no doubt, that Palin thinks Gov. Brewer has "cojones." Which is funny on a couple of levels. Palin also says, in the same statement that President Obama doesn't have cojones. Nice.
Next up? House Minority Leader John Boner Boehner and Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McTurtle McConnell. How is that for fair and balanced!?! Boehner looks orange and twitchy this Sunday morning, but at least doesn't seem drunk (this time). McConnell made no impression, sticking to this week's talking points as he always does, providing no insights or changing any minds that don't already agree with him.
I haven't gotten around to the ludicrously named "Power Panel" segment, but it is virtually the same every week: a semi-regular group of four people, consisting of two hard-right conservatives, and two centrist, or barely liberals. This week, one of the panelists is Liz Cheney! You'll never find Chris Hayes or David Sirota in the "liberal" spot on this show.
If you want a single show to point to that fairly well proves the bias of FOX "News"--something that should need no reference; it's like saying the sun is hot--point to the August 1, 2010 edition of FOX "News" Sunday. Cojones, also.
Captain Obvious is a feature at Greenlee Gazette, where I get up on my soapbox and opine on issues that should be obvious but for some reason aren't.
Just a few things off the top of my head. . .
President Obama doesn't want to destroy America
Gay people do not want to tear apart the fabric of society, convert children, or destroy the family.
Taxes, government spending, health care reform, and "big government" aren't the real concerns of tea baggers the Tea Party movement. If they were, why did the movement only start up last year?
Pundits (like Bill Kristol, Brit Hume, Liz Cheney) who are almost always wrong should not be trusted with their most recent pronouncement.
Sarah Palin is an idiot. But Democrats do not "fear" her. Run her for President! We dare you!
If you have ever texted while driving, or think it's an okay thing to do, you are a moron.
I know that my posts from The Rachel Maddow Show are almost daily lately. If nothing else, if you are a regular reader of this blog, you know that Rachel is nothing like the picture the right paints of her. And this clip is genius. Using Liz Cheney's own "logic," Rachel proves that, dum dum DUM! Cheney is Al Qaeda!
Sigh. Add Sarah Palin's name to that of Liz Cheney, Karl Rove, Bill Kristol and many others who really have no business being "news commentators." Kristol and Rove because they're always wrong, and Cheney and Palin because they have no real expertise in anything. Of course, conventional wisdom has long held that Palin would be a perfect fit for FOX "News," since they put far more stock in personalities and partisanship than they do actual ability.
The right-wing blogs (and no doubt the conservative radio talkers) are under the illusion that this news would make liberals heads explode. Far from it, I've been expecting this all year. And while Palin is photogenic, and actually has training in broadcasting, she's a lightweight when it comes to actual political knowledge. Worse, she's an unmitigated disaster as an extemporaneous speaker. Far from being outraged, I'm morbidly curious at exactly how bad she's going to be. Also.
[Excerpt]
Sarah Palin Signs Deal With Fox News
Fox News viewers will be seeing more of Sarah Palin soon. The former Republican vice presidential candidate is going to be a contributor on the network.
"I am thrilled to be joining the great talent and management team at Fox News," Palin said in a statement released shortly after The New York Times broke the story Monday. "It's wonderful to be part of a place that so values fair and balanced news. . ."
The problem with naming the craziest person of 2009, is that there are so many people to choose from. They just keep coming out of the woodwork.
[Excerpt]
Crazy of the Year!
2009 will be remembered as the year that one man's craziness gripped America with fear
The staff and readers of Salon had a big debate over choosing Glenn Beck our "Crazy Person of the Year." As we stated in the introduction to "The Year in Crazy," we disqualified certain media stars -- Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly -- and some GOP leaders -- Sarah Palin and Liz Cheney -- whose crazy behavior was purely opportunistic. We rejected prominent people who had a crazy belief or two -- Whoopi Goldberg casting doubt on the moon landing -- but didn't seem driven by crazy. . .
What if you threw a party and nobody came? Well, if you're Newt "frankly" Gingrich, Karl "Turd Blossom" Rove, Bill "Cheshire Cat" Kristol or Liz "Spawn of Dick" Cheney, you found out. I can't imagine that these stunning luminaries couldn't get people to party with them. And I'm not being facetious either. I can't stand any of them, and would love to see them all in orange jump suits, chained together. But these are Republican icons here. And the tea baggers will jump at any reason to get their bags dipped. What gives?
[Excerpt]
Rove, Cheney, Gingrich and Kristol Fail To Rally 9/11 Trial Foes
On Monday, Karl Rove sent a tweet to his 92,000 followers: "Don't sit out: 9:30am 11/18 Dirksen Senate Bldg Rm G-50 to oppose Atty Gen's testimony on trying terrorists on U.S. soil." On Tuesday, Newt Gingrich dispatched a similar message to his 1.2 million Twitter devotees: "Join @keepamericasafe at 9:30am Wed at Dirksen Senate Bldg to protest Holder's testimony on bringing terrorists to US." Keep America Safe is Elizabeth Cheney's new hawkish group—neocon godfather Bill Kristol is one of its three board members—and on Tuesday it tweeted followers: "Reminder 9:30 am show Holder and Obama what you think about the terror trial decision. . ."
Oh, okay, I'll say it. Liz Cheney is a liar! Big time, out and proud, spawn of Darth liar. I suppose I should be happy that her attempts at salvaging the Bush/Cheney administration's reputation are so ridiculously lame. Rachel lands some blows in this bit, even if Lawrence O'Donnell had already beaten Liz to a pulp in the previous hour on MSNBC. But both of them are absolutely correct, and both bits are completely blogworthy.
Ooh, Lawrence O'Donnell is getting very, very good at guest hosting shows such as Countdown with Keith Olbermann. So good in fact, I wouldn't be surprised at all if he got his own show. Here, O'Donnell smacks down Satan's Spawn, Liz Cheney, using everything but the c-word. And he's absolutely right.
"Laugh or cry?" That quote from the HBO program, Nurse Jackie, has quickly become a favorite in our household. And it couldn't be more apt, in relation to the excerpted article below. Liz Cheney is seriously being considered a "fresh face" of the GOP, a rock star.
On one hand, my heart sinks at the notion of a continuation of the Cheney legacy. On the other, she is only slightly less cartoonish than the rest of the roster (Sarah Palin, Bibby Jindal, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Michelle Bachmann, ad infinitum). So, a good thing, or a bad thing? Laugh or cry?
[Excerpt]
Liz Cheney, 'Red State Rock Star'
Although former Vice President Dick Cheney has taken a lower profile recently, his eldest daughter, Liz Cheney, has become an in-demand spokeswoman for conservative causes and a hot property on network and cable news shows alike.
Monday, the New York Times put Liz Cheney on its front page, with an in-depth profile of the woman one Republican described as "a red state rock star. . ."
Didja watch This Week with George Stephanopoulos? Liz Cheney, daughter of satanDarth Vader Dick Cheney was on the roundtable panel. And she had to go into hyper overdrive to defend dear old Dad on torture. I'll give her this, she's tenacious, and seems to believe what she's saying. How much effort did this girl have to put her conscience through these past eight years? That's a long time to over-rationalize.
Is there such a disease as Palinitis? Because, Dick Cheney's daughter (no, not the gay one), Liz, is sure talking like Sarah Palin. Where Palin actually quitting her job allegedly doesn't make her a "quitter," if Democrats investigate Cheney for various allegations, it proves they're "weak on terror." To quote Scooby-Doo, "hunh???" Of course, it is interesting that now that we have a little meat on the Cheney bone, the former Vice President who wouldn't shut up a few weeks ago, has sent his daughter out to make excuses for him. To bad she didn't make a lick of sense.
[Excerpt]
Liz Cheney: Investigating My Dad Would Prove Americans ‘Can’t Trust’ Democrats With National Security
On Saturday, the New York Times reported that former Vice President Dick Cheney gave “direct orders” to the CIA, compelling the agency to withhold “information about a secret counterterrorism program from Congress for eight years.” Despite news organizations’ efforts to contact him, Cheney has yet to comment on the revelation. . .
Oh, I know. Rachel Maddow is wicked smart, but it doesn't take a huge brain to figure out that Cheneys = liars. All you need is some time alone with the Googles or the YouTubes. Still, most of us don't have the wit (or the forum) do deliver the news in such an entertaining way.
What new, fresh horror is this? Dick Cheney's spawn, Liz Cheney running for elected office? Why don't they just pair her with Jeb Bush, and cause 50% of America to turn into shrieking howler monkeys?
[Excerpt]
Cheney on daughter Liz: ‘I’d love to see her run for office some day.’
For the last few weeks, Liz Cheney, daughter of the former vice president, has been an omnipresent force in the news. For example, she made 12 appearances in the 10 days between May 12 and May 22, prompting many to wonder whether she jumpstarting her own political career. In an interview with Fox News’s Greta Van Susteren that aired last night, Dick Cheney said he’d love to see his daughter follow in his footsteps. . .
