Cheney Is Wrong About Me, Wrong About War
Vice President Dick Cheney recently attacked my 1972 presidential platform and contended that today’s Democratic Party has reverted to the views I advocated in 1972. In a sense, this is a compliment, both to me and the Democratic Party. Cheney intended no such compliment. Instead, he twisted my views and those of my party beyond recognition. The city where the vice president spoke, Chicago, is sometimes dubbed “the Windy City.” Cheney converted the chilly wind of Chicago into hot air.Cheney said that today’s Democrats have adopted my platform from the 1972 presidential race and that, in doing so, they will raise taxes. But my platform offered a balanced budget. I proposed nothing new without a carefully defined way of paying for it. By contrast, Cheney and his team have run the national debt to an all-time high.
He also said that the McGovern way is to surrender in Iraq and leave the U.S. exposed to new dangers. The truth is that I oppose the Iraq war, just as I opposed the Vietnam War, because these two conflicts have weakened the U.S. and diminished our standing in the world and our national security.
In the war of my youth, World War II, I volunteered for military service at the age of 19 and flew 35 combat missions, winning the Distinguished Flying Cross as the pilot of a B-24 bomber. By contrast, in the war of his youth, the Vietnam War, Cheney got five deferments and has never seen a day of combat - a record matched by President Bush.
Cheney charged that today’s Democrats don’t appreciate the terrorist danger when they move to end U.S. involvement in the Iraq war. The fact is that Bush and Cheney misled the public when they implied that Iraq was involved in the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Iraq had nothing to do with the attacks. That was the work of Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda team. Cheney and Bush blew the effort to trap Bin Laden in Afghanistan by their sluggish and inept response after the 9/11 attacks.
They then foolishly sent U.S. forces into Iraq against the advice and experience of such knowledgeable men as former President George H.W. Bush, his secretary of State, James A. Baker III, and his national security advisor, Brent Scowcroft.
Just as the Bush administration mistakenly asserted Iraq’s involvement in the 9/11 attacks, it also falsely contended that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. When former Ambassador Joseph Wilson exploded the myth that Iraq attempted to obtain nuclear materials from Niger, Cheney’s top aide and other Bush officials leaked to the media that Wilson’s wife was a CIA agent (knowingly revealing the identity of a covert agent is illegal).
In attacking my positions in 1972 as representative of “that old party of the early 1970s,” Cheney seems oblivious to the realities of that time. Does he remember that the Democratic Party, with me in the lead, reformed the presidential nomination process to ensure that women, young people and minorities would be represented fairly? The so-called McGovern reform rules are still in effect and, indeed, have been largely copied by the Republicans.
The Democrats’ 1972 platform was also in the forefront in pushing for affordable healthcare, full employment with better wages, a stronger environmental and energy effort, support for education at every level and a foreign policy with less confrontation and belligerence and more cooperation and conciliation.
Cheney also still has his eyes closed to the folly of the Vietnam War, in which 58,000 young Americans and more than 2 million Vietnamese died. Vietnam was no threat to the United States.
On one point I do agree with Cheney: Today’s Democrats are taking positions on the Iraq war similar to the views I held toward the Vietnam War. But that is all to the good.
The war in Iraq has greatly increased the terrorist danger. There was little or no terrorism, insurgency or civil war in Iraq before Bush and Cheney took us into war there five years ago. Now Iraq has become a breeding ground of terrorism, a bloody insurgency against our troops and a civil war.
Beyond the deaths of more than 3,100 young Americans and an estimated 600,000 Iraqis, we have spent nearly $500 billion on the war, which has dragged on longer than World War II.
The Democrats are right. Let’s bring our troops home from this hopeless war.
There is one more point about 1972 for Cheney’s consideration. After winning 11 state primaries in a field of 16 contenders, I won the Democratic presidential nomination. I then lost the general election to President Nixon. Indeed, the entrenched incumbent president, with a campaign budget 10 times the size of mine, the power of the White House behind him and a highly negative and unethical campaign, defeated me overwhelmingly. But lest Cheney has forgotten, a few months after the election, investigations by the Senate and an impeachment proceeding in the House forced Nixon to become the only president in American history to resign the presidency in disgrace.
Who was the real loser of ‘72?
THE VICE PRESIDENT spoke with contempt of my ‘72 campaign, but he might do well to recall that I began that effort with these words: “I make one pledge above all others - to seek and speak the truth.” We made some costly tactical errors after winning the nomination, but I never broke my pledge to speak the truth. That is why I have never felt like a loser since 1972. In contrast, Cheney and Bush have repeatedly lied to the American people.
It is my firm belief that the Cheney-Bush team has committed offenses that are worse than those that drove Nixon, Vice President Spiro Agnew and Atty. Gen. John Mitchell from office after 1972. Indeed, as their repeated violations of the Constitution and federal statutes, as well as their repudiation of international law, come under increased consideration, I expect to see Cheney and Bush forced to resign their offices before 2008 is over.
Aside from a growing list of impeachable offenses, the vice president has demonstrated his ignorance of foreign policy by attacking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for visiting Syria. Apparently he thinks it is wrong to visit important Middle East states that sometimes disagree with us. Isn’t it generally agreed that Nixon’s greatest achievement was talking to the Chinese Communist leaders, which opened the door to that nation? And wasn’t President Reagan’s greatest achievement talking with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev until the two men worked out an end to the Cold War? Does Cheney believe that it’s better to go to war rather than talk with countries with which we have differences?
We, of course, already know that when Cheney endorses a war, he exempts himself from participation. On second thought, maybe it’s wise to keep Cheney off the battlefield - he might end up shooting his comrades rather than the enemy.
On a more serious note, instead of listening to the foolishness of the neoconservative ideologues, the Cheney-Bush team might better heed the words of a real conservative, Edmund Burke: “A conscientious man would be cautious how he dealt in blood.”
George S. McGovern is a former U.S. senator from South Dakota, was the Democratic nominee for president in 1972.
© 2007 The Los Angeles Times
Cheney the Chickenhawk
Cheney’s only reason to stay in Iraq is because he is raking in cash via Haliburton and gang. The war stops, the war-profiteer stops making money. The amount of kickbacks Cheney is getting needs to be investigated. And Cheney and his family needs to be tried for treason.
The Chicago that the impeachable US vice president spoke to was the “laissez-faire” capitalists from Chicago School of Economics, the disciples of Milton Friedman and Ayn Rand, the commodities brokers who drive down the prices of and dumped corn/soya on Mexico forcing millions of Mexicans out of their centuries-old traditional livelihoods, and force US farmers into slavish adoption of every latest capitalist concoction of high-energy corn/soya inputs, including petro-fertilizers, petro-pesticides, and proprietary seed.
Thank you George for an enlightening article. Please follow up with a list of the high crimes and unethical activities which you believe will finally bring King George and the power behind the throne(Cheney and Rove)to their knees. This list can then be carried by all thinking Americans to help educate those who haven’t considered the full magnitude of this administration’s deviant and criminal behavior.
May blessings rain upon you, Mr. McGovern. Your reasoned and selfless voice is like the first drops of a coming shower in a parched desert.
Come Home America!
Good on you Mr. McGovern. Keep your pledge to the truth. Keep speaking out against these lice that have infested the head of our government.
Are there no patriots in Washington? Men who might go to the Whitehouse and drag these criminals out to the street and there punish them as they have punished us?
If I were to send this absolutely true and correct article to my parents or my brother, why is it that they will probably not “get it”? What is the reason that common sense, truthfulness, perspective, and wisdom from experience are unable to persuade those who have what I consider irrational and exaggerated fears?
I would suggest that it is something like this: truthful reasoning cannot overcome unexamined emotional attachment to belief. To go against the errors of the Bush administration would be like to say you hate your parents, or like a life-long Raiders fan turning against “their team”, a violation of semper fi perhaps. Loyalty trumps reason. They bought the folksy Bush persona, and will stand by him to the end. To admit error is to lose face, and to lose face is shameful.
It may be helpful to mention a pretty hip and well thought out new book by the Senator and Prof. William Polk, Out of Traq- A Practical Plan for Withdrawal Now. Also for “ecowmn” and everyone interested in the further adventures of Bush/Cheney et. al. The Impeachment of George W. Bush by Elizabeth Holtzman The youngest member of the House sitting on the Nixion impeachment panel. Both very worthy reads. Draft McGoveren!
Thank you, McGovern for a well-written and reasoned treatise on the current Vice. Cheney has done nothing positive for the American people or any people for that matter. He has jammed us into a war we have no business being near.
He and that idiot in the White House have sold us down the polluted river while the Bush clan buys up the land over the largest fresh-water aqueduct in the Western Hemisphere-Paraguay.
If George S. McGovern and others as experienced and wise as him, continue to speak TRUTH to power….
There is a good chance that we can…
“expect to see Cheney and Bush forced to resign their offices before 2008 is over”
Or just convict or impeach them!!!!!!
Tbanks for your comments, Senator. You’re a true American hero.
Thank you, Mr. Cheney, for prompting a great American to respond to your attempt to cast aspersions in his direction and against reasonable people in general. You have proven yourself time and time again to be a loathsome fool so your latest remarks come as no surprise. What an enormous human tragedy - hundreds of thousands of needless deaths and unimaginable grief - that has undeniably been caused by you and those of your ilk. If you had an ounce of self-respect, you would commit hara-kiri - that’s the least you can do at this point of your career. Banzai! May George McGovern live 10,000 years.
Okay folks, if you don’t mind a non-American joining in the discussion: here’s my little penny.
In my opinion it is about time (well, six years on the tardy side rather) that another more American kind of America will step forward.
Many people in Europe - such as I - have been somewhat depressed for since a person I will not name was not elected in the year of ****AD, and this is not because people-like-me ‘are’ anti-American.
Nay, it is exactly because people-like-moi (pardon my Freedom-Fry-fueled language) love the best that America can, could, should be - and because that ‘other’ America has been threatened by systematic anti-Constitutional activities - that the last so many years have not exactly been uplifting.
The funny thing is that Europeans who actually ARE anti-American have had nothing to do than to sit back and wait for the daily bad PR-for-America to come out of the White House.
So, I hope you’ll have better leaders there some time soon, so that you will be liberating anti-American Europeans from the life of leisure they are leading right now.
Also, the vast majority of Europeans who are not anti-American are looking forward to collaborate with the vast majority of well-meaning Americans. I am quite sure of this. And things seem to have been improving, over there. Yippieee!
Best wishes,
European Student
Thank you Senator. I appreciate this piece and ask for one more favor.
Please move articles of impeachment, lobby friend in the house to do so, ask the NY Times to carry an op-ed about impeachment. Please. I keep writing my congresspeople and getting the same tired responses about how there is not enough support to follow through with impeachment.
You are a well established and influential voice, America will stand with you against these tyrants.
“The truth is that I oppose the Iraq war, just as I opposed the Vietnam War, because these two conflicts have weakened the U.S. and diminished our standing in the world and our national security.”
If the war made America stronger and maintained our “beacon of light and hope” status would 3000 dead U.S. soldiers and 600,000 dead Iraqis be considered a reasonable cost for procuring resources that don’t belong to us?
“In the war of my youth, World War II, I volunteered for military service at the age of 19 and flew 35 combat missions, winning the Distinguished Flying Cross as the pilot of a B-24 bomber. By contrast, in the war of his youth, the Vietnam War, Cheney got five deferments and has never seen a day of combat - a record matched by President Bush.”
Some wars are just wars, then? Didn’t the U.S. end that one by using a couple of WMD’s that killed many civilians?
Good to know that Clinton, Obama and Edwards are keeping all options on the table in case Iran continues to threaten us. Oh yeah, like George Mc, I am not thrilled by Dick’s actions and comments either.
Is Nancy Pelosi still keeping impeachment “off the table”?
Hopefully her constituents will continue to dog her on this issue.
The treachery and deception played out by this administration is something that keeps getting misconstrued as incompetence or lies.
I think it is more that the Bushies feel that they can do whatever they want, whenever they want and never have to attone for their attrocities.
Time for impeachment!
For all of you above who want to get the real truth on how “Dubya” and “Darth Vader” think, then just read this article by Paul Minot, MD
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/12/22/101516/45
Bless you, George McGovern!
Why, oh why, are there so few men and women of integrity, decency, and wisdom in today’s congress, white house, and supreme court? Where have all the TRUE patriots — like George McGovern — gone?
I voted for that blackhearted bastard, Richard Nixon in 1968, because he said he had a “secret plan” to end the war in Viet Nam, and because Bobby had been killed and Hubert would not dissasociate himself from Johnson’s position on the war. As criminal and underhanded as that lying asshole Nixon was and culpable in the Watergate scandal, it was his betrayal on the war that makes me hate him to this day with a white-hot intensity.
I did not make that same mistake in 1972. I was one of the handful of people who supported McGovern that year, and I’ve never voted for a Rethuglican since 1968. I can tell you this: The country would be in much better condition today if George McGovern had been elected in 1972. He spoke the truth then, and he speaks the truth now.
Cheney must GO! I hope that Dennis Kucinich’s introduction of articles of impeachment against this sneering malicious, venemous monster gain some traction in the House of Representitives. First Cheney, then that moron, Bush. Oh, and let’s get rid of Karl Rove along the way - actually maybe Rove ought to be the first to go.
Oh, it is long past time for impeachment. How about World Court trials for crimes against humanity?
It’s sad to see that Mr. McGovern feels it necessary to defend himself to anyone, but especially to America’s most notorious war criminal, profiteer and traitor. It’s like demanding equal time because Ted Bundy called you crazy. Who the hell on the face of this melting planet gives a flying f**k what the Vice President from Hell’s Sewer has to say about anything or anyone? Drop the defense and stick to the attack! Anytime he opens his lying, troop-murdering mouth, the only proper response is to point out the fact that he lied us into an illegal invasion and illegal occupation, the very definition of war criminal. He says boo, we answer “Your lies have killed and maimed over a million innocents while you pocket millions. What you think or say no longer matters.” Etc.
Or, use the short NY version: “Cheney - shut the f**k up.”
Nancy Pelosi is not immune from censure or impeachment. If she continues to stonewall impeachment of the Bush/Cheney regime, she’s just as bad as one of them.
I agree with Frank1569, especially the short NY version.
one of my most wonderful life experiences was voting at 18 for one of my heroes, George McGovern, in my very first presidential election in 1972. senator mcgovern was then, and is still, a real american. he speaks the truth, a word not understood under the current cartel. i praise his courage to speak out and he encourages me to remember to “speak up even if my voice quivers!” for those things that are unjust, especially this horrible war.
Senator McGovern has long been a hero of mine. When you see the concentration of wealth and power and the damage that has been done to our democracy, and our enviroment, what is the harm of having a fantasy about what our world would be like if he had won, or if Jimmy Carter has been relected, or if a honest count of vote in Florida had happened, in 2000?
Finally a man qualified to speak about war and its consequenses tells the truth.
In the war of my youth, World War II, I volunteered for military service at the age of 19 and flew 35 combat missions, winning the Distinguished Flying Cross as the pilot of a B-24 bomber. By contrast, in the war of his youth, the Vietnam War, Cheney got five deferments and has never seen a day of combat - a record matched by President Bush.
Isn’t it amazing but those who have been the furtherest away from it are its biggest supporters or its biggest detractors.
Bless you George McGovern. A real patriot speaks!
Senator, while you were flying your 35 out of Italy, I was flying my 35 out of England. And I applaud and fully endorse your views above.
The chicken hawks could be renamed the “Let’s you and him fight” gang.
Impeachment is NOT off the table!
The only way that an attempt at Impeachment makes sense is if one can demonstrate, by polling, to a sufficient number of Republican Senators that they will lose their next elections unless they vote to convict (it takes a 2/3 vote in the US Senate to convict). I do not think that will ever be demonstrable, but if it comes to be, that will be a great day.
And, if by some miracle, Bush and Cheney were removed from office by Impeachment, it would be a moral imperative to have them tried for war crimes, along with some others in the Bush administration.
Instead of “chicken hawks” they ought to be called “Chicken S__t’s”, except that would be an insult to chicken droppings because when properly aged they are at least useful as fertilizer.
Everybody get a sign for the rear window of your car (make it in 72 point bold print)that says Impeach Gonzalez, Cheney, then Bush. Put it in your car and drive in the slow traffic lane. Watch how many people give you thumbs up or a honk of approval. Just do it and see what I mean.
I’m going to try that this week.
In the words of a “good old boy” from the US South, “There’s a lot of hot air in old “Dead Eye” Dick, but he’s sure full bag of wind to blow it out of.”
Better yet, “Dead Eye” Dick “is a lot of hot air, but he sure has a full bag of wind to blow it out of!” Oh, he may be a chicken hawk, but old Dick is trying make chicken salad out of chicken “s___, and I don’t think the word is sox.
I supported George McGovern in 1972, I was right then, and I’d do it all over again, because he would have been probably the only equal of Franklin D Roosevelt in the 20th Century in greatness. Thanks to you McGovern!
It’s interesting that McGovern’s article may come across to many as a breath of fresh air. He does indeed make many fair points in it. But one shouldn’t get too enthusiastic about him, because he, too, is just a Democrat, and he’s not telling the truth about the Democrats here.
He says “The Democrats are right. Let’s bring our troops home from this hopeless war.” This is an flatly false representation of what the Democrats are trying to do. They are posturing as “opponents of Bush,” playing games with “non-binding timelines” & various loopholes, while approving $100-plus billion to CONTINUE the war. They could immediately stop the war if they wanted to, simply by filibustering an appropriation bill. It only takes 41 Senate votes to do that, and they have 51.
McGovern also portrays the 1972 Dems (& implicitly, their current-day counterparts) as “in the forefront in pushing for affordable healthcare, full employment with better wages, a stronger environmental and energy effort, support for education at every level and a foreign policy with less confrontation and belligerence and more cooperation and conciliation.”
- Again, this is not really so. The D’s make insincere noise & fake gestures in those constructive directions — but when push comes to shove, they are every bit as much the puppets of corporations as the R’s.
Sure, Republicans are liars and gangsters, & almost all of them belong in jail. That’s plain to see. The Democrats’ duplicity, however, is much more subtle. One shouldn’t get overly enthused about McGovern. The Bush Gangsters would never have gotten this far in destroying the US Constitution, without the complicity of the Democrats, every step of the way.
If Senator McGovern would have won, the world might have been very different. Global peace and prosperity and an example of democracy for the world here. But now:
“Preparation for war is useful to the holders of centralized political power. When things go badly at home, when popular discontent becomes inconveniently articulate, it is always possible, in a world where war making remains an almost sacred habit, to shift the people’s attention away from domestic to foreign and military affairs. A flood of xenophobic or imperialistic propaganda is released by the government-controlled instruments of persuasion, a “strong policy” is adopted toward some foreign power, an appeal for “national unity” (in other words, unquestioning obedience to the ruling oligarchy) is launched, and at once it becomes unpatriotic for anybody to voice even the most justifiable complaints against mismanagement or oppression.”
ALDOUS HUXLEY (English writer), Science, Liberty and Peace, 1946
“I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. As a result of the [Civil] War, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.”
ABRAHAM LINCOLN, letter to Col. William Elkins, 21 November 1864
How could anyone give a rat’s pootie about anything that comes out of Cheney’s mouth? He’s a draft dodging, lying A*&hole that hasn’t spoken the truth since 2000. He should be sent to Iraq with a BB Gun and NO protective gear. (With Shrub right by his side.)
George McGovern was right in 1972 as time proved, and he’s right in 2007. I only hope he’s right about the “George and Dick” show being removed before the 2008 election.
1972… I was in the fourth grade growing up in ruralish Bothell Washington. My family was then and still is absolutely anti-war and of course even as a kid that ideal made good sense to me. Our class had a mock election, Nixon vs McGovern and I, out of 30 or so kids was the only one to vote McGovern. Thats not all that suprizing I guess. What is suprizing is that two weeks later I was voted in as the fourth grade student counsel president… go figger!
G. McGovern I still follow you and am strengthened hearing your words, you, fighting back.
“….in the war of his youth, the Vietnam War, Cheney got five deferments and has never seen a day of combat - a record matched by President Bush.”
How the hell have these “Cowards-in-Chief” brainwashed so many people in the military?
2 things.
First, the only thing I slightly questioned in here was when you said
“The fact is that Bush and Cheney misled the public when they implied that Iraq was involved in the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Iraq had nothing to do with the attacks. That was the work of Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda team.”
I agree we were misled but the more and more it’s looked into about 9/11…the more and more the facts point to this corrupt administration who had an agenda before they entered office. Why is Flight 93 still listed as an active plane? How is it possible that 9 of the supposed hijackers are still alive and well? How did 2 planes disintegrate (the only 2 planes ever to supposedly disintegrate)? Interesting how the 3rd steel building to ever collapse because of an “internal fire” was the World Trade Building 7. The first 2? The Twin Towers.
I don’t think Bush/Cheney/etc should be impeached, but more than that - they should be tried for treason against this country.
my second order of business is…
why aren’t you running for office again?
George McGovern, whose creditability is virtually unimpeachable, is correct. We have never experienced a presidency such as this. The degreeof their abuses and slander used to discredit opposition eclipses the Lewenski scandal, & poses more dangers than the Watergate violations. The unprecedented character assassination of Senatore Max Cleland, a triple Veitnam amputee, for sponsoring an inquirey into 9/11 which Bush opposed, is only an example.
Until the populace emerges from their apathy/ignorance and forces our legislatorsrs to end this administration’s disasterous sellouts and misadvdntures, there will be no reforms.
Look at the issues of the 1970s and the positions of the conservatives
Then, like always, history has proven the liberals correct and the conservatives wrong
It’s the only constant in American history
I supported McGovern for his long established truth-telling and concern for regular people
I support Dennis Kucinich for the same reasons
Haliburton is the only winner in this war.
Do you think Cheney or his cronies would front-run an equity position before contracts are publically announced? Do drug dealers sell girl scout cookies?
There needs to be a law that prohibits US officials from profiteering on a war. Insider trading on Wall Street is outlawed for these very reasons.
I find it extremely depressing that such a large number of Americans can be some ignorant as to support a Bush/Cheney administration and the bungling wars that they have started. As McGovern aptly points out, he bravely served in ww2, whereas both Bush and Cheney have avoided military service like the plague. It is thus sickening that these slimeballs can run people like McGovern’s name through the mud for being “cowardly” or “anti-troop” and get away with it in mainstream circles. It’s time for a democratic candidate in ‘08 who will bravely speak the truth, and put an end to the Iraq debacle! I just hope that enough mediocre-mainstream Americans can be big enough to listen to this truth.
Who would have thought Nixon would resign in ‘72? People who say an impeachment of Bush has marginal probability don’t understand the circuitous means by which something like that happens. If it does, it will be due to some as-yet unrevealed congressional testimony, and the probability of impeachment equals the probability that something devastating will emerge — that is, it is completely unknown, yet totally possible. If that doesn’t make sense to you, think about it.
RichM April 24th, 2007 9:04 pm
“It’s interesting that McGovern’s article may come across to many as a breath of fresh air. He does indeed make many fair points in it. But one shouldn’t get too enthusiastic about him, because he, too, is just a Democrat, and he’s not telling the truth about the Democrats here.
He says “The Democrats are right. Let’s bring our troops home from this hopeless war.” This is an flatly false representation of what the Democrats are trying to do. They are posturing as “opponents of Bush,” playing games with “non-binding timelines” & various loopholes, while approving $100-plus billion to CONTINUE the war. They could immediately stop the war if they wanted to, simply by filibustering an appropriation bill. It only takes 41 Senate votes to do that, and they have 51.”
Actually since the Dems are in charge they don’t have to wait to filibuster the appropriations bill. They can block it in committee and prevent it from ever reaching the floor for a vote.
Lobo Gris
europeanstudent April 24th, 2007 2:37 pm
“Okay folks, if you don’t mind a non-American joining in the discussion: here’s my little penny.”
Thanks for your input and rest assured there are more than half of us in America that can hardly wait for Bush and Co. to be out of office, the sooner the better.
Lobo Gris
Congrats Mr. McGovern on speaking out. It’s just a shame that more Dems aren’t willing to do so, and even sadder that they seem unwilling to take any action against two of the most prolific violaters of the Constitution to ever hold the two highest elected offices in the land.
Lobo Gris
To Dick Cheney: go bush yourself!
To George W. Bush: ram it up your cheney!
What a great essay– in every way.
Kival:
Don’t count your Senators until all the evidence is hatched before Congress and the American Citizen.
ezeflyer:
Thanks for the Lincoln quote, I’ve been wanting to use it in a trilogy with Eisenhower’s warning against the Industrial complex and one on a placard in downtown Detroit by Hazen S. Pingree with a similar warning.
About 1980 McGovern made a statement to the effect that if we spent the cost of a single aircraft carrier on developing solar energy, we could produce renewable electricity that was cost-competetive.
I’ve tried googling the statement with no luck. Does anyone remember the specifics?
puck twain,
I know it is impossible to predict how events would unfold once Impeachment proceedings are started, but there is a big risk for the Democrats and they may have to pay a price if the effort is not successful, and that matters. I am probably as far to the left, and despise the Bush criminal gang as much, as anyone here, but I refuse to accept that the Democrats are as evil as the Republicans.
There are an infinite number of degrees of evil, and Bush and his gang and some other Republicans are light years ahead of the Dems (except for Lieberman) in that score. The Bush gang and some other Republicans (e.g. Giuliani, Gingrich) threaten us with fascism, virtual enslavement, and even human extinction (in their determination to rob others of natural resources, they are willing to risk nuclear war). They rival anything in human history in their danger to the welfare of the human race.
So I cannot join other progressives in condemning Democrats for being cautious about Impeachment.
Being that Cheney’s name is in the title of this article, I thought I would post another article dealing with Cheney. That is, H. RES. 333, 4/24/2007 — Impeachment
Ken
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c110:1:./temp/~c110ZzbYJk::
Note: The link above is for the Library of Congress’s document website (THOMAS). I mention this because it may be necessary to search and find the actual link to the resolution rather than using the one I posted.
Ken
I consider Cheney is nothing more than a lap dog for Bush. He never actively served in any war; he got student deferments. So, what makes him an authority on war. By the way, where are the WMDs that he raved about before attacking Iraq. Oh, yes, I forgot, Shrub , Cheney & the SS which are their core spporters are bringing Democracy to the area. Does one think that the Iraqians love us or care when their lives are being uprooted? Invaders are invaders, no ifs or buts. Or is it the oil that make the sacrifice of American lives worth it. Maybe, compulsory draft service should come back. Then, the war would not be popular among their core supporters.
You know what George?
I understand you endorsed Hillary Clinton.
Maybe you should tell her.
Your actions certainly speak louder than your words considering how the Clintons have destroyed the viability of the Democratic party with their “New” Democrat” policies of triangulation and capitulation. Now the party is totally useless as any bulwark against the increasing radicalization of the Right. Instead of any progression ofn issues the Democrats can barely check the destructive agenda of the Right.
Shame on you.
Vern — shame on who? I couldn’t tell from your note.
Anyhow, I agree there needs to be some checks. Checks and balances, you know?
Ken
Mr McGovern writes a good defence, as I would expect from a former politician. Punch and counterpunch is the American way in politics. But read closely, and do some historical research, and you will see that he does not address the real, underlying issues. The question is: why is America always so eager to go to war and kill people? Why have the same people who opposed the Nam war been led down the garden path to the Raq war? This is the crux of the American ideal: an ideal for Americans, a huge problem for the rest of the world. McGovern opposes the wars, because he opines the wars weakened America. Notice how the selfish vein of America continues. He does not say he opposes war becuase he opposes mass killing of innocent people. His stance is a political one, not a moral one. It is the same stance Bush/Cheney use to increase the war - America’s self interests. Americans have proven themselves in the last 100years to have no morals. Me first, and be damned with the rest of you - this is the true American ideal. The gov’t propaganda machine ensures Americans are never told the truth of their actions, and ensures they remain entirely ignorant of the rest of the world. Indeed, even her own instutions such as National Geographic lament the poor education most Americans receive - but such is the government’s intended result, disguised in the form of patriotisma nd budgets. In America, it is much easier to get a scholarship for football, than one for science. Presidents and candidates come and go, but the actual results remain the same: each generation goes to war. Until American ideals change, we will not see a change in terrorism or despotism - nor in world poverty and hunger for that matter.
McGovern has a peace plan for Iraq. It is thorough and workable, but invisible. The media features talking heads who assert we can’t pull out because — fill in the blank. But I have heard NONE of them venture to talk about McGovern’s plan or Kucinich’s plan for getting out of Iraq and bringing peace to Iraq. Both plans show a way forward and a way out. Both have us keeping our hands off of Iraq’s oil.
Why are these peace plans not discussed?
macchendra:
Cheney the Chickenhawk. Or, as we like to say, Cheney the Chickie Hawk, the Oil Daddy, the Libby Luvr, the Dream Despot. We’re just Impeachy Keen for him.
http://www.bleedingheartsclub.com/index_files/sweetheart.htm
Pay attention to Kucinich as he pushes through articles for Impeachment. Tell everyone you know to do the same. Vote Peace ‘08.
I first met George NcGovern in the fall of 1960
when he came to our town as part of his campaign for
US Senator from South Dakota. Senator Humphrey was
there speaking on his behalf. As a young Lutheran
pastor I had been asked by one of our members to give
the invocation and benediction at the rally. At first
I said, “No.” But after a day of thinking about it
I told my wife that if I had been asked to do the same
at the Republican candidate’s rally, it would have been
OK in that political climate. Being a life-long
democrat I decided to be part of McGovern’s rally.
The experience was enormously positive, and I have
respected McGovern highly ever since. Worked some
in his 1972 campaign.
I am glad that, in his present article, McGovern
speake clearly about his World War II flying experience
and, shedding modesty, refers to his highly praised
and acknowledged heroism. No chickenhawk here!
After all these years, I wish I could speak to him
personally. I doubt that he remembers the night he
was in the town of Britton, but I always will and treasure the memory.
In the present war climate, his sanely patriotic
voice is needed desperately.
Reid
Remember how “Dick” Cheney came to be vice president? He tricked GWB into asking him to vet all v.p. candidates, which he did, finding something unworthy about each one. So he volunteered to be the veep. No one vetted him. Kind of like Tom Eagleton didn’t get vetted by the Dems but did by the Reps, which brought down the McGovern candidacy. I’ll never forget it, because I had the great honor of being on Sen. McGovern’s advance staff. I actually thought, on election night, that he was going to win.
Lobo Gris(’blue-ish grey wolf’ in Portuguese or Catalan),
You’re welcome, and thank you as well.
Here’s another comment, though. You write that “more than half of us in America […] can hardly wait for Bush and Co. to be out of office, the sooner the better”, but I do not think that ‘the problem’ is just with Bush & Co.
When one day there will be some other US Administration, will they actually get rid of some of these anti-constitutional laws that have been introduced down/up there over the last couple of years, or will the Supreme Court overturn such laws?
I think that what has been ‘happening’ to human and civil rights over there is not exactly isolated from what has also been ‘happening’ in some parts of Europe. Of course the example - whether good or bad - the USA sets has a big impact on the world’s countries, but at times some of the European countries - such as the Netherlands, which is where I live, study and work - in some respects is straits more dire than the USA. We do not have the Guantanamo torture camps, nor do we have the militarism to the extent the US has. Yet, for example, we do have mandatory RFID computer chips in all of our new pasports and ID cards. The extent of surveillance being introduced by means of using new technology in some of the European countries (especially the UK) is a phenomenon that will prove to be a challenge to freedom-loving people over here.
We do not have a prominent and well-organised civil liberties organisation such as the ACLU in Europe, even though the European Union is gradually being transformed into a super state. Our populist - and sometimes even neo-fascist - outbursts have often been temporary and national phenomena, and exactly because of such movements being nationally isolated ones, totalitarian-minded people in Europe(I am writing of the last 30 years, because before that we still had Franco in Spain(until ‘75), and a dictatorship in NATO-member Portugal(till ‘73)) have thus far not been able to seize too much power.
I think that there are sociological and economical forces at work that make the Bush regime a series of highly unfortunate symptoms of a ‘disease’ that goes much deeper, and one that is not exclusively American.
Still, better leaders in DC would be a good change.
Good luck and ‘may the force be with you’,
European Student
Too bad most Dems don’t have the balls of this man, (as evidenced by this great take down of Darth Vader) — a decorated war veteran and one of the most decent and classiest individuals ever to run for public office.
Just think of how different the world might be today if we had elected him President in 1972.
Senator McGovern was my first ever vote and to this day by far the best one I have ever cast. Even if he were running today I would quit my job and campaign for him.
I’m sure millions of my contemporaries join me in saying “Thank you, Senator for all you have done for this country” — and our deepest condolences on the passing of your beloved wife.
Mr. McGovern:
Why are our best leaders waiting to speak and only do so when they go on the defensive? Is this any way to win the war of words and ideas?
The rest of us have no name recognition, have no vehicle to sound our opposition, other than to stand on streetcorners with signs, write on the internet like this, but you and others can band together and call a national press conference, you can site facts, and you can go on the offensive for us all. What are you waiting for? Right now, as Kucinich has filed to impeach Cheney, you and others can step forward with courage to say you are behind this legislation. You do have a voice, use it more! louder! and remember you are doing it for us.
Coyotita,
I second that.
Ken
But I also think that the changes that are going to occur will come from the bottom up and not the top down, or at least there will be a massive upwell of public sentiment that changes the day. However it starts doesn’t really matter as long as it happens. I’m trying to do my part.
Ken
Republicans or Democrats . . . The difference in minor I have made the decision and am moving on. I’ll try the Libertarian Party. I’m tired of butting my head against a wall. I’ll try another wall . . . at least for a while. Voting for the “Lesser of Two Evils” has run its course.
Great article! Cant cheney and his pet chimp just go away?? Fer Chrissakes both of them are @ 1600 Pennsylvania ave. ILLEGALLY……… Wonder if 5 deferments and AWOL are on eithers resume’?
Delusion can be dangerous and so is greed and fear; if we let these weak human states of mind lead us as too many of our so called leaders are doing, we will lose everything. What does it profit a man to gain the world but suffer the loss of his soul? We can each use these examples of how not to live and actively create and teach new ways of being starting and ending in peace.
Senator McGovern,
You have always spoken truth to power, and that is no small victory. Indeed, you have never been in any sense a loser. I believe impeachment is too good for the Bush administration. I believe the whole disgusting bunch of them should be tried for treason. They lie, they cheat, they profiteer. They are as wicked as Hitler and Stalin and have almost as much blood on their hands. Their Machiavellian dealings with big oil have never come to light, and what is coming to light about sweet deals with war contractors is stunning. Let’s not forget their incompetence in dealing with the aftermath of Katrina. We have gone from a much respected nation to the world’s most hated. The Bush administration has mortgaged our children’s and grandchildren’s future to the People’s Rebublic of China; they have subverted science. They have impeached the integrity of the Justice Department. It is probable they have stolen two elections. These last 6 years have been ruinous. It must end. Now.
Amen to that, Grumbler.
And I believe Sen. McGovern has framed the argument as well or better than anything I’ve read since these criminals began destroying our country.
Thanks, Sen. McGovern, for your efforts.
I voted for Mr McGovern when I was 18 and watched and cried on my my high school History teacher’s TV with a group of other first time voters.I have loved the living of history since. I am going to be voting for Dennis Kucinich. He has spoken truth not only to leaders but to everyone. Never wavers, never stops trying to move us to that better America we say we want. Peace is a world view, too. Kucinich is the opposite of everything we now have. Check him out and see what you think.
Mr. McGovern, as an amateur WW2 historian with special interest in the air war, I am familiar with the risks you took flying missions in B-24
aircraft. They were some of the toughest bombers in the fleet as long as their hydrolic
systems weren’t compromised. Many young airmen died over Europe and the Pacific in B-24. You, sir, are a true patriot and hero, unlike the cowardly loud mouths who now run our country and demean true patriots and heroes. It is a sad day when even a third of our population will support such men as ‘Americas protectors.’ And, by the way, I voted for you in the 72 election. It was the first time I ever got to vote. God love ya, George.
Senator McGovern,
Your article here, and your recent interview in Rolling Stone have made me realize what a great American you are today. I was only 10 during your campaign against Nixon, however, I still remember my parents admiring your strength and courage.
There is no doubt that your candidacy brought the awareness to the World that there was a reasonable solution available
where the Spirit of Detente ended the Vietnam War.
God Bless You, Senator, for your commitment to the Truth, now and then.
I am sort of glad Cheney mussed your hair a little. It is quite enjoyable to see you slap him down so elequently.
72 is not too old to be president (Reagan was elected in 1980 at the age of 69, and served to age 75)….
Care to run again?
I appreciate that the last Democratic convention made use of Jimmy Carter (another person I admire greatly), and Al Gore…. but where was Senator McGovern? If he spoke I missed it. Why doesn’t the Democratic Party use him, and Mondale more?
Those we would consider Democratic statesmen are good, honest men, and individually and as a group put the Republicans to shame.
I so appreciated this article. It was so good to see someone stand up the the rot that comes out of Cheney’s mouth so eloquently and truthfully.
Thank you, Senator McGovern, for your strong remarks, right on point. I proudly supported you in the 1972 campaign, and you have never let me down. The only way for the people to redeem our reputation as a fair, law-abiding country, is to impeach Bush and Cheney. Sorry, Mrs. Pelosi, but leaving them in office for another year just paves the way for the next president, Democrat or Republican, to abuse the power of the office. More than a strong chief executive, we have a fascist dictator, who has corrupted every value that we hold sacred. It is time the American people stood up for democracy before we lose it entirely.
Run George Run!
Listen to Mike Gravel: http://www.gravel2008.com/?q=node/268
Senator McGovern is as sharp as ever. I remember the many discussions we had back in the day regarding the futility of the Vietnam war when I was attending the University of South Dakota. His daughter Ann was a classmate of mine, and she was stalwart as the criticism of her father for his stance on the war stung her ears.
Of course the Senator was right all along. We had no business being in Vietnam in the first place. George was, and is, one of the most forthright and honest politicians and human beings I have ever known. Always the underdog, but a fighter and teller of the truth with no embellishment. If only we could have the team of McGovern and Eagleton in the White House today. It would be a decidedly different world.
Thank you, Mr. McGovern, for having the courage and fortitude to let Cheney know where it’s at. He and W will go down in the history books as total failures.
I feel privileged to have known you these past 40 years and hope for another 40.
The two biggest mistakes in my political life are having voted for Nixon in 1972 and Reagan in 1980. I have become much less conservative since then, even to the extent of becoming liberal on a number of issues.
In this article McGovern has spoken much that is true, and he deserves to be listened to. I can only hope that his prediction that this administration will be forced out by the end of 2008 turns out to be true.
This Iraq war has been a monumental mistake, starting with the very concept of going to war against Iraq, moving next to the false justifications for the war, and continuing on through almost every phase of the war’s execution.
Furthermore, this administration is a grave threat to the constitution in general, and to the bill of rights in particular, particularly those provision that involve due process of law.
What is troubling is that even though this administration’s popularity is waning I fear that the general public still has no clear understanding of the enormous damage that this administration has done to the country, and not in just one or two areas, but across the board in almost every thing to which they have put their hand.
One final comment: Bush and Cheney are cowards. They both successfully dodged the draft when they were young, in the case of Cheney avoiding military service altogether, and in the case of Bush having gotten himself into a safe position in the Guard by going to the head of the line through his family influence, and then going AWOL for months on end. Now these two cowards send good men and women to die in war for no good reason, but of course their own children are not in the fight. Do I have the moral authority to accuse them of cowardice? I don’t know, having not served in the military myself, but at least I dropped my student deferment in 1970 and faced the draft, something neither Cheney nor Bush did.
“We, of course, already know that when Cheney endorses a war, he exempts himself from participation. On second thought, maybe it’s wise to keep Cheney off the battlefield - he might end up shooting his comrades rather than the enemy.”
OUCH! - Good one George…
I appreciate the preceding comment of Bush and Cheney avoiding military service. Yet they have advanced the cause for death in far beyond the scope of any military engagement in history. Along with the big business conspirators like Haliburton,(Enron)Big Oil Mob-Exx and BP etc., the House and Senate sell outs (both parties) I know we have yet to appreciate the depth of this conspiracy. State sponsored terrorism is the vehicle to end Democracy, The Constitution and Freedom of Religion once and for all. MR. MCGOVERN PUSH IMPEACHMENT NOW!!
In addition to Dennis Kucinich’s proposed impeachment of Dick Cheney, I believe John Conyers has developed a long, long list of the impeachable offences of George Bush.
I have written Tim Russert to ask that he interview Dennis Kucinich as part of his “Candidates” series on Meet the Press (each person gets an entire hour). After the Democratic debate a week or so ago, Russert spoke dismissively of Kucinich, proving that he does not equate peace-building with strength. Who is stronger -Bush or Gandhi? Bush or King? Bush or McGovern? Bush or the patriots of eastern Europe who overthrew the Russian empire without violence? Maybe others would like to write Russert as well and urge him to give Dennis K. his hour. Imagine what America might be like with a candidate that actually believes peace is a process and would institutionalize its use.
Every country gets the leaders it deserves. That is why the American people are sufficiently ignorant to ignore the impression that they will end up as a failed state.
wow. what an indictment of the republican manipulation machine. mcgovern dont like cheney. i find it interesting that mcgovern predicts the presidential resignations like he does. that is someone pretty sure of himself. its good to know that mcgovern can see the wheels turning on governmental oversight, finally. man, to be bush and cheney in the history books. time to write those books i guess.
i find it odd, that cheney was in the adm with the only president ever to resign, and now he is again in the worst adm ever in the history of our country , some track record
George McGovern is a hero. Winner of the Distinguished Flying Cross, and and honest man who has been the true carrier of the liberal banner for his entire political career. We owe him very much.
In his farewell speech to the american people, Eisenhower warned of the dangers that the military/industrial/complex would bring if left intact after the war. JFK delivered a speech warning americans of the dangers of secret societies that existed in the halls of congress. He also was dismantaling the CIA because it had turned into a rogue agency so secret it had no congressional over sight. Plus he signed a bill to allow the US Government to once again print our own money backed by actual gold instead of borrowing fiat currancy fron the federal reserve ( private bankers ). The combination of these actions and the fact that he was about to pull all american military out of Viet Nam are the reasons John Kennedy was gunned down in Dallas in a conspiracy endorsed by Lyndon Johnson. Recent testimony by Johnsons Mistress clearly shows that Johnson was involved. Kennedy was the hope for America and people could see that he was good for America and good for its citizens. He stood up to the cabal that controls from behind the curtain and he paid with his life.
That same secret cabal now owns all mass media and therefore controls most americans minds. People who get thier information from newspapers, television, books, and magazines only get what Rupert Murdoch wants them to know and what he wants them to think. The internet is the only source left where truth can be found. As long as mass media is under this control, there will be no truth known to the voting public for them to make correct decisions or even to be aware of this countries fall to corporatism, police state, and eventual enslavement.
The Plan for the New American Century written by the neocons called for aggression in the middle east to secure resources. It called for military buildup. It called for increased government control over the people. The neocons say in the document that the American People would never support these goals unless there was an event like a “New Pearl Harbor”.
Problem-Reaction-Solution. Bush was placed in office by the supreme court and shortly thereafter 911 was orchrastrated to provide that needed fear and anger and allowed the death of the constitution and bill of rights. It allowed the invasion of two countries securing oil and drug resources ( both billion dollar businesses ). The plan is on course and Iran will be the next victim of technology that rains from the sky and destroys all living things. Every day more and more news articles talk about Iran supplying weapons and training against US Soldiers. All hype meant to prepare americans for the attack on a non-threatning country to secure oil and to satisfy Israels desire to eliminate arabs. Zionism is behind the evil cabal that has ran the world since world war One. Why doesn’t anyone wonder why those Israelis were dancing and laughing while filming the towers burning? They were mossad agents who were released quietly and escorted home to Israel. AIPAC controls congress. That has to stop before we can ever regain control of our country again. Fact of Life.
Kucinich’s Resolution to Impeach Cheney:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c110:1:./temp/~c110Ea6Ds1::
New poster here~ Great article. Thank you, Senator McGovern, for speaking the very same truth that millions of us speak.
However, just writing articles is not enough — especially when the media is often as guilty as this administration for passing on lies as truths.
We need your help, Senator, and the help of every “celebrity” who is trustworthy, influential, and courageous enough to STAND UP AND FIGHT BACK!
Senator McGovern,
You sound marvelous! How is your health? What are you doing over the next 5 or 6 years…? We, the American people, might want to employ you…
Dear Senator McGovern;
Great words from another Great - important person!
Thank you for taking the time to help us ‘Better (and repair) this country’ - from all the damage that has been deluged upon us over these recent, painful years of Conservative, corruption-style government!
Yours is one of the many “important voices” - we urgently NEED to be hearing from - these days!
I still have my “McGovern for President” window sign from 1972. I think it’s time to put it back in the window :).