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TechnoratiWhy Cheney Really Is That Bad
Karl Rove, interchangeably known as "Boy Genius" or "Turd Blossom," has left the White House. The press conference announcing his decision to resign has been given front-page treatment by most major media outlets, but the fact of the matter is the buzz surrounding Rove's departure is much ado about nothing, especially in terms of coming to grips with the remaining 16 months of the worst presidency in the history of the United States.
Rove is a domestic political marauder, the personification of a conservative movement which lacks a moral compass and has a complete disregard for facts. The master of exploiting mainstream America's predilection for news-as-entertainment, under which the likes of Rupert Murdoch can manufacture headlines out of thin air, Rove helped turn "fair and balanced" into a national joke which everyone laughs at but few actually comprehend. Rove served as the maestro of a political-smear orchestra composed of such intellectually challenged muckrakers as Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, manipulating the NASCAR/professional wrestling crowd's addiction to seedy gossip in an effort to maintain the all-important 51 percent majority needed to win elections.
Perhaps if the Democratic Party had possessed a semblance of organization and cohesion (not to mention a post-Clinton message that could be sold to a majority of America), then Rove would be but a footnote in history, known simply as the man who helped the worst governor in the history of Texas get elected. Even the self-destructive campaign run by Al Gore in 2000, in which he distanced himself from a sitting president who, despite all of his faults, would have defeated Bush in a landslide if the Constitution permitted a third term, was enough to deny Rove his beloved 51 percent-it was Gore, not Bush, who won the majority of votes in that contest. It took a Republican governor of Florida, backed by a compliant Supreme Court, to put George W. Bush into the White House, not any genius on the part of Rove.
"Bush's Brain" may claim that it was his careful manipulation of fiction over fact that carried the 2004 election, in which the term "Swift-boating" became synonymous with political character assassination, but it was the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and the war in Iraq which sank the Democratic Party and its candidate for president, John Kerry. It is very difficult to unseat a president in a time of war, especially when so many Democrats voted in favor of the concept, first by buying into every post-9/11 policy put forward by the Bush administration (find me one Democrat who actually read the Patriot Act in its entirety before it was voted into law) and second by rubber-stamping the lies that led to Bush's decision to invade Iraq in March 2003. Remember, it was Kerry's inarticulate defense of his decision to vote in favor of granting war powers to the president that sank his election hopes, not his Vietnam War record.
Certainly, Karl Rove played a significant behind-the-scenes role in supporting Bush's war policies. The perjury trial of "Scooter" Libby forced the collective of deaf, dumb and blind pseudo-journalists who populate what is known as the mainstream media in America to recognize how pathetically duplicitous and petty the Bush administration could get when it came to defending the policies propping up the so-called Global War on Terror and the awful tragedy of Iraq. Rove's fingerprints were all over the decision by Vice President Dick Cheney to leak CIA officer Valerie Plame's name to the media in an effort to thwart the truth-telling of her husband, former Ambassador Joe Wilson.
But that is about as deep as Rove's involvement in the two issues that will define the presidency of George W. Bush gets. While Rove might be the "genius" behind the kind of winner-takes-all dirty politics that won the Republicans a majority in Texas (and brought down the likes of Tom "The Hammer" DeLay), he was way out of his depth when it came to the reality of national security policy. Unlike unsubstantiated rumors of wrongdoing which can stain a political opponent's record for the brief moment needed to gain political advantage, regardless of what the actual truth is, the never-ending flow of dead American service members from a war based on a foundation of lies cannot be overlooked indefinitely, even by the most subservient of media outlets.
Try as Rove and his political operatives might, one cannot forever suppress the images of flag-draped caskets, row upon row of white grave markers sprouting up in cemeteries across America, or the thousands of wounded veterans left to rot in hospitals, forgotten by an administration that, with few exceptions, never knew war and used the military as an electioneering prop. Eventually, those patriotic Americans who were fooled into believing there was actually some coherent planning behind the global conflict Bush had dispatched their youths to fight and die in were bound to get wise. Rove never had the depth needed to navigate such serious waters.
Being the Brain of the most vapid, intellectually shallow president ever creates an apt epitaph for Rove's tenure at the White House. The Bush administration has never won accolades for its substance. Its best frontman, Colin Powell, self-destructed in front of the U.N. Security Council in February 2003. Powell's nemesis, Donald Rumsfeld, followed suit shortly thereafter, unable to coherently explain where Saddam Hussein had hidden all those WMD we went to war for, and ultimately telling the average foot soldier to pound sand when it came to the lack of adequate equipment needed to fight and survive in occupied Iraq. Bush's singular appeal has been the impression of steadfastness in the eye of the storm, even if the storm is for the most part self-created. For this we must look not to "Bush's Brain," but instead peer deep into the dark recesses of the White House, where we can glimpse the awful "soul" of the president-Dick Cheney.
The vice president is the single greatest threat to American and international security in the world today. Not Osama Bin Laden. Not the ghost of Saddam Hussein. Not Ahmadinejad or Kim Jung Il. Not al-Qaida, the Taliban, or Jose Padilla himself. Not even George W. Bush can lay claim to this title. It is Dick Cheney's alone. Operating in a never-never land of constitutional ambiguity which exists between the office of the president and the Congress of the United States, Cheney's office has made its impact felt on the policies of the United States of America as had no vice president's office before him. Granted unprecedented oversight over national security and foreign policy by executive order in early 2001, many months prior to the terror attacks of 9/11, Cheney has single-handedly steered America away from being a nation among nations (albeit superior), operating (roughly) in accordance with the rule of law, and toward its present manifestation as the new Rome, a decadent imperial power bent on global domination whatever the cost.
The absolute worst of the rot that has infected America because of the policies and actions of the Bush administration has originated from the office of the vice president. The nonsensical response to the terror attacks of 9/11, seeking a "global war" versus defending the rule of law at home and abroad, taking the lead in spreading the lies that got us involved in Iraq, legitimizing torture as a tool of American jurisprudence, advocating for warrantless wiretappings of U.S.-based communications (regardless of what the Fourth Amendment says against illegal search and seizure), and pushing for an expansion of America's global conflict into Iran-all can be traced back to the person of Cheney as the point of origin.
America today is very much engaged in a life-or-death struggle against the forces of evil. The enemy resides not abroad, however, but at home, vested in the highest offices of the land. Neither Osama Bin Laden nor Saddam Hussein threatened the life blood of the United States-the Constitution-to the extent that Cheney has. Not Hitler, Stalin, Mao or Ho Chi Minh. Not since the American Civil War has there been a constitutional crisis of the magnitude that exists today, threatening to rip the very fabric of American society apart at the seams, courtesy of Dick Cheney.
That Congress today remains relatively mute on this crisis is one of the great mysteries of our time. Perhaps the vagaries of national politics can be blamed. The Democratic majority in Congress appears to have ceded its leadership role to unelected presidential candidates who seem solely empowered to comment on current events, domestic or foreign, and who, out of fear of any misstep which could hurt their chances to seize the White House as their own, refuse to actually take a substantive stand against the policies of the Bush administration. In an effort that is curiously Rovian in the quest for electoral victory, the Democratic candidates (with a few notable exceptions) have been less than bold in their opposition to the heinous policies that are currently in place concerning Iraq, Iran, the war on terror, torture and constitutional violations-unless you count empty rhetoric.
In many ways, the leading Democrats, both those running for office and those currently holding office, are a far greater insult to American values than the conservative standard-bearers for the policies of Cheney. No one of substance takes seriously the manic ranting of the Hannity/Limbaugh/Coulter triad. These Democrats, on the other hand, have mastered the art of compromise to the point that they stand for nothing at all-this at a time in American history when the policies of the administration, derived from the dark abyss of Bush's soul, Cheney, provide the most concrete example of what we as Americans should be standing against.
The Democrats need to stand for something. Cheney has provided the sort of political ammunition that would enable them to fight, and win, a constitutional battle over the heart of America, the kind of defining struggle which I believe the vast majority of Americans would rally around. Unless the Democrats start separating themselves from the policies of the Bush administration, and take an active role in outing and suppressing the true evil that is Dick Cheney, all they will achieve in the coming years is a change in the titular political orientation of America, without the kind of deep-seated break from the failures and crimes of the past six-plus years that have taken our nation, and the world, right up to the edge of chaos.
"Bush's Brain" may be gone, but his "Soul" lives on. It is high time all of America put Dick Cheney fully in the spotlight of collective accountability, purging our nation of this scourge which has harmed us in so many ways. If there is any case for impeachment to be made against any member of the Bush administration today, it can be made against a vice president who has shamed our nation, destroyed our moral standing and broken our laws.
Scott Ritter was a Marine Corps intelligence officer from 1984 to 1991 and a United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq from 1991 to 1998. He is the author of numerous books, including "Iraq Confidential" (Nation Books, 2005) , "Target Iran" (Nation Books, 2006) and his latest, "Waging Peace: The Art of War for the Antiwar Movement" (Nation Books, April 2007).
© 2007 TruthDig.com
72 Comments so far
Show AllScott, thanks for articulating so well what I have understood for years. To hear and see Cheney while remembering his past, his prior pronouncements and actions in office is to know the face of political evil and the heart of our national disaster.
How could this administration have happened in the United States and have been allowed to continue? Only by a public that is half dead, already. Our society has been and is being poisoned from the top down, with the poison continually recycled back up to the top. The poison is not simply capitalism but too many people whose values reduce to utilitarian pragmatism in crassly benighted, ignorant minds and inexperienced hearts.
I was discussing issues of the day with a sweet little lady this morning and I stated that Dennis Kucinich was the only Congressman to bring legislation onto the floor to impeach Chaney. She acquired a look on her face as though someone had just swacked her across her tits with a tire-iron, and then she said, "Why do they want to impeach Chaney?"
At which point I had no recourse.... but to swack her across her tits with a tire-iron.......(just kidding)
MAS 1946: thank you for the kind comment. I assureyou I will continue posting as the "spirit" hits me!
Someone asked, "Which lobby has our Congresspeople wetting their pants?" I believe dcbeltway was probably referring to AIPAC, the lobby of the Israeli right wing, which enormously powerful and reputedly uses blackmail against members of Congress.
But AIPAC is not alone. The reason Kucinich is virtually alone in standing up consistently for rational and just policies, and the reason he is ridiculed and sidelined, is that Congress obeys not only AIPAC but a whole complex--no longer a "mere" military industrial complex, but a corporate/government/media complex, working as a seamless whole to accomplish the one great, overarching goal of America, the goal for which all else must be sacrificed: further enriching the already rich.
As for Kucinich, he will be "Wellstoned" only if he somehow breaks out of the marginalized position the corporate media has relegated him to. There are probably sets of events that could allow that to happen, despite the fact that Kucinich is a very small man and a vegan, which makes him easy to poke fun at. Unfortunately, I'd lay odds that if some such set of circumstances arises and he surges ahead in reported polls, to the point the MSM are forced to take him seriously...they'll kill him. Probably not a plane crash--more likely a heart attack. I once asked a friend who had been in the CIA if there were ways of inducing a heart attack. He said there were, even back in the Fifties when he "served."
Siouxrose,
I liked your response to RON about emotional IQ, lack of compassion being the explanation to why high mental acuity or high level of education in some persons doesn't mean they can reason out why we're in the mess we are, why W, Cheney et al. are dangerous men, and that control of oil is the real reason for war. It comes to mind as well that lack of compassion is also on the psych. list for sociopath.
Thanks Siouxrose, I always like reading your posts.
tetti_tatti makes an excellent point:
"Each government simply mirrors the people it represents. Hitler would not have risen to power if Germans had not been complacent. They claim they had no knowledge of the atrocities. But, of course, they knew."
Sadly, the situation here in America is that 48% of the voting public still does not understand that Bush is running the country with the intellect of a teenager and that Cheney embodies pure evil. Until a larger percentage of Americans realize this, expect more of the same. Something will have to change radically or we might as well concede to 8 years of Romney.
Some posters on this and other blogs allege that, or wonder if, the oath taken by members of the U.S. armed forces to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic" calls upon those who have taken that oath to "mutiny . . . in the midst of immoral and illicit combat", or "'go out on strike" to protect the constitution", or to "tak[e] up arms against Cheney."
I don't know on what authority anyone relies for this interpretation. In addition to not knowing what authority exists for such an interpretation, the thought seems to me to evoke quite grim prospects. Anyone in the military, whether armed with an M-16, a tank, or a missile firing fighter jet could invoke that interpretation for whatever act of violence he or she committed against any "enemies, foreign or domestic", by whom the actor deemed the Constitution of the United States to be threatened. Not everyone putatively obligated to "take up arms" shares the views of posters on this blog, or on others characterized by similar views, about who are the "enemies, foreign or domestic", of the Constitution of the United States.
I have tremendous respect for Scott Ritter. However, I have never accepted Dick Cheney as the sole instigator of this debacle. What sets this was apart from all others, is that previous leaders were able to fabricate a more plausible sense of urgency for war. It is often said, and I believe, that George Senior silently encouraged Saddam to invade Kuwait. We then had tremendous support, financial and otherwise to enter Iraq, quickly wipe out the budding nuclear weapons facilities, and leave.
My theory is that George Junior entered this Presidency with truly half a brain, absolutely no judgment and a hefty dose of delusions. He remembered the "good times" when his father had 90% approval ratings. He felt that his father's Presidency was tainted by the oft repeated idea that Senior "didn't get the job done." (Saddam still in power). Junior, I have read, entered the Presidency chomping at the bit to invade Iraq again. Perhaps he wanted to show that he could get the job done. His simple mind jumped on the "opportunity" that September 11 provided. Apparently, and shockingly he didn't need to provide much evidence for his preposterous claim that linked Saddam to Sept. 11.
Politicians remembered how popular the first war was and they were (almost) all afraid to vote against the war.
The President had surrounded himself with idiots, as all delusional people must do. He had no idea the war would drag on like this.
I can't figure Dick Cheney out, however much I try. What exactly does he stand to gain from this war? The oil possibility doesn't complete the picture. Is he insane? Did he sell his soul?
He seems to be more evil whereas Bush seems to be more stupid, but I think this is Junior's war.
Dennis Kucinich. Dennis Kucinich is one congressman who read the USAPATRIOT act before it was voted into law. Congressman Kucinich voted against the act. Give credit where credit is due, dammit.
I'll second that. And the other 2 post I seen above mentioning Kucinich. Not only voted against this act, but has been right about everything else towards this administration and the rubber stamping bodies of government. Everyone just keeps looking over Kucinich. Anyone else here on his site? Seems he won the poll for the last debate. I was rather shocked after voting and the page came up with him leading by more then 1100 votes. Well abc deleted that poll and started another. I guess they didn't like the outcome. I guess Obama gave the new one a good run, but as Kucinich over took him again, low and behold, it disappeared again. Imagine that! Hey CD!! how about a story on that one!!! Being no other news media is going to cover it. I highly doubt abc will cover their own cover up of a democratic poll.
BUGS BUNNY: Excellent analysis. Maybe I am an optimist but I believe a time will come when the legal gymnastics orchestrated by this sorry lot is rescinded and therefore the fears that you viably construct around the present status of "unitary executive" will become null and void.
KIVALS: Makes you wish Delay followed his true calling, that of pesticide man watching insects roll over and die as he sprayed toxic substances on them.
RON: Have you heard of "emotional IQ?" Just because an individual has an intellect capable of rigorous inquiry hardly means they are emotionally sane, considerate or spiritually mature. I know several people with ph.Ds who cannot spell and truthfully are quite limited in their assessment of arenas outside their myopic zone of expertise. History is littered with intelligent people who made very bad choices because they didn't have an iota of compassion for their fellow man. Ever wonder why compassion is the chief teaching offered by the Masters?
tetti_tatti says it all:
Cheneybushsluts could NEVER have stolen power, much less keep it for seven years were Americans not the lemmings and zombies they are.
I am proud to have been in the Ritter camp from day one, and everything that he says today I and millions of other spoke loudly after the 2000 coup d'etat...to friends, family, co-workers, etc. After 911 we said it again, but everyone was by then too terrified of the obvious truth.
The inescapable truth is this: America's soul is terminally ill. Cheney is the reflection of that soul, nothing more or less. Only a modern-day FDR like Kucinich can bring this country back from the brink. But I suspect Dennis will be "Wellstoned" if he dares to even try. DK is fearless, like Senator Wellstone. Therefore he will be eliminated.
Meanwhile, Poet makes a fine point: When will true patriots step up to the plate?
Count me out...I abandoned the USA for good last year. But the rest of our world continues to hope that Americans en masse will re-discover their will to resist tyranny -- and will finally recognize the fact that unspeakable crimes against humanity have been(and will continue to be) perpetrated in their name.
Great exposé, but this topic deserves a much broader discussion. Each government simply mirrors the people it represents. Hitler would not have risen to power if Germans had not been complacent. They claim they had no knowledge of the atrocities. But, of course, they knew.
Americans know their government is mass-murdering millions just so they can keep driving their SUVs with cheap gas. It doesn't bother them, if it did, they would somehow, anyhow, stop Cheney. Such bankrupt moral environment is the perfect breeding ground for a bacteria like Cheney. He's simply the embodiment of Americans society.
Many responders (truely) see themselves (USA citizens) as victims of their government (Cheny/Bush). Even though they(victims) are in the majority they don't appear to have the wherewithall to do anything about it. I used to believe that if six million jews had all went out and bought a rifle then the second world war would not have happened, I now discard that belief.
Over 1,000,000 people(children/women/men) are dead(murdered) in Iraq on account of the government of the USA.
The people of the USA(and the World) have a major problem here. way past time for regime change, I say.
I would like to know how Scott Ritter analyzes the change in Cheney apropos the talk he gave in 1994 that appeared in YouTube, versus his pro-war stance not many years later (and now). If he was able to predict chaos then, as a reason to refrain from invading Iraq, what happened to change his mind? Or was it all to "save" the war for when we would have a Republican White House? Is Cheney capable of seeing anything clearly or is everything he says based on a ruse?
Cheney continually demonstrates for the US public that there are an infinite number of degrees of evil. Surely Reagan was evil, wasting money on the military and cutting social services, getting support through demagoguery of policies that would harm the majority of Americans over the long term. And surely George W. is more evil, a simple-minded and lazy frat-boy drunkard and addict, having the audacity to run for the most important job in the world, lying and cheating to secure it. And Bush rarely questioned Cheney's diabolical plans, as it was easier to just assume that Cheney was following the free market religion Bush faithfully follows, and so that everything would work out in the end.
But Cheney is more evil still, smart enough to know the free market religion is just a giant scam to get the semi-literate to play along as he channels as much money and power to himself and his cronies as he possibly can for as long as he can. If Cheney could make a million bucks and leave the world peaceful, healthy, and happy, or make a million and one bucks and leave it in war, misery, and poverty, we all know what he would choose. In modern American politics, Cheney really only had one peer in evil, and that was Tom DeLay.
dcbeltway, I have been wondering what the lobby is that causes Congress to pee itself for awhile. Our own congressman who talked so boldly and confidently about taking every possible step to get the US out of Iraq had folded like a deck of cards with pants obviously wet and also brown. WHAT LOBBY IS IT, AND HOW CAN IT BE STOPPED?
Any third grader knows why Cheney really is that bad.
Scott, may I add my thanks and accolades to those above for your steadfast voice of reason throughout this disaster.
Our son served, Recon, in the first Gulf conflict in '91; daughter refuses military service at this time.
Is it even conceivable that the armed services would "go out on strike" to protect the constitution, or just a dream to which we owe no credence?
Oh, Karl Rove has left the White House.. Is that somehow special?
Slime ball, scum bag leaves whore house....but scumbag vice pres.
and scumbag pres are still there!!!!!???
talk it up talk it down....these jack offs ( the total administration) are way over due to be the hell out of there!! Who gives a fuck about the timing of when who goes. Each minute one of these fraudulent specimens of humanity is in office is an eternity of sufferng for real people of the earth. Fuck George Bush, Dick Cheney , Gonzalez and the whole Chamber of fucking Commerce.
EVIL BASTARDS ALL!!!!!!!!!
Check out Mike Gravel, presidential candidate
http://www.gravel2008.us/
He spoke the truth in the Vietnam War, and he seems to be speaking truth about the Iraq War.
One of the reasons Americans don't march through the streets demanding impeachment of the vice-president is because they don't understand "what's in it for me".
After they lose their addiction to material consumption, the jewel of the American crown, the people can give up slave duty to the capitalist, militarist, imperialist, zionist machine, and enjoy a peaceful, leisurely, and productive life like many others in this world.
OBAMA/KUCINCH 08 !!!!!!!!!
Cheney is by far a disgrace, but one should not forget that Bush is the one who repeatedly vetoes any legislation he deems necessary for his wealthy backers. He may not be the evil genius that Cheney is, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to recognize when your veto power prevents medical care for children. Bush has repeatedly vetoed so many bills that cover health care, envionmental laws, and other social services. He was or is the one who wants to take Social Security out of the government and throw it to the wolves. Both Bush and Cheney should be made to answer for their dismemberment of our Constitution. Both are equally guilty and despicable.
Robert asked what MSM means. Main Stream Media, used by both the Right and the Left with somewhat different critiques in mind...
Others have pointed out that MSM is a misnomer, since it does not represent the MAINSTREAM. Some suggest Corporate Media is a better catchphrase...
Dear Mr. Cheney has long been above our democracy. Our co-president and commander'n thief was always too much for Bush, not that that excuses our blundering prince.
Cheney's place in history will be unique, as he is the only one I know of, who after having already attained high office, then effectively staged a coup d'etat for the benefit of those who will follow.
If you remove the checks and make it easy for a real fascist to wield great power, eventually one of them will make a grab for it. Cheney's true malevolence is in having worked so diligently and persistently to subvert our democracy ...for the benefit of an undetermined office holder in the future.
Were you to offer that enhanced unitary (unchecked and unaccountable) power to a saint, he wouldn't use it. Which leaves us, fellow americans, to contemplate the kind of persons ...who would.
Americans during this administration have always found it hard to believe that other americans would undermine and in fact betray our constitution and our freedoms. We say to ourselves "Can't be! Doesn't everyone want to be free?"...and refuse to believe it is happening.
Once it was said that "It couldn't happen here.". No ...that couldn't.
But something else could.
So be worried more for your children's and grandchildren's America, unless of course you believe, as apparently Dear Mr. Cheney does, that a saint will be attracted to all that power.
Robert Goldsborough, MSM = Mainstream Media. But I prefer what someone on CD called it, the Corporate Media. A more accurate description. Does that clarify it for you?
daveg posted on the McGovern story: It's like watching a train wreck in slow motion…
He is so right.
Thank you, Scott Ritter, for telling it exactly as it is. This country is like a train headed full speed toward the bridge that is gone. Somebody put on the brakes!!
The one correct thing Bush has done in the last 6 years is to give his little clown, Rove, the handle,"TURD BLOSSOM". So nice to be able to agree with somrthing he did.
"...Unless the Democrats start separating themselves from the policies of the Bush administration, and take an active role in outing and suppressing the true evil that is Dick Cheney, all they will achieve in the coming years is a change in the titular political orientation of America..."
It's worse than that. There won't be an "America" in the sense that you think of it (The land mass named for Amerigo Vespusci will remain). The Democrats have, in the past couple of months proven themselves unworthy of the electoral victory they got in 2006. I have worked and voted for Democrats many times over my lifetime. I helped call work for Webb in Virgina to get rid of the Macaca candidate. There may be a few Democrats with courage and principles, but the various factions of the party, especially the DLC, are worthless. That the front-running candidates would even think that a nuclear strike (undoubtedly a first strike) on Iran should be "on the table" is all one needs to know to know that they are a party unworthy of the support many of us have given them over the years. Their caving to rewrite laws to make illegal spying legal was really the last straw.
Some pro Bush people reading this might be exalting, that would be too bad. They need to think harder about where their country is headed. What could possibly help. I joked to a friend that maybe Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich should run on the same ticket in hopes of united the people on all sides of the spectrum who are disgusted with the way things are. The media would love to make fun of them - because that is all the media is good for now - but it might still work by ripping a big enough chunk off both major parties. If we can't have third party candidates, we need to try some kind of fusion candidates to disrupt the existing system, hopefully sink it.
More than anything Dick Cheney wants to start World War III. Iraq was just an Hors d'Å“uvre, Iran will be the soup before the meal and then he will do all he can to broaden the conflict with Russia and China as his main meal. Of course this means a draft. Cheney loves to feast on spilled blood, he gets immense pleasure from it and it may even approach something of a "sexual" high. Cheney seems like the kind of creature that sees a challenge when labeled "America's worst president ever", thinking of ways to go down with an even more "honorific" title, maybe "most vile, despised, evil human of the last 2,000 years". Maybe even Hitler would have to go down a notch to satisfy Cheney's ego.
"Ritter" in German means "rider"/"horse-man" as well "knight". A "Ritter" was also the lowest ranking title of nobility in German-speaking lands. Scott Ritter is our White Knight coming to our rescue in our fight against the dark forces of evil. He may not win, he may go down, and America and humanity with him, but he has surely earned his place in Valhalla, while the man this article is about has earned his place in Hell. I salute you Scott Ritter, Semper Fidelis!
Ron,
Maybe your friend is one of those idiot savants like rain man.
There's no one better, in my mind, for president than The Honorable Dennis Kuchinich. My good Democratic friend however, tells me "this country is full of right-wing rednecks who would like nothing better than their Republican nominee to run against Congressman Dennis Kuchinich. Just like Nixon wanted to run against George McGovern because he would be easy to beat"
This kind of thinking makes me want to cry.
The media wants us to think that it's either Obamo or Hillary, they won't even mention that Kuchinich won the debate last Sunday.
Excuse my ignorance, I see MSM but I don't know what it stands for, something to do with the media I suspect.
WHY BLAME BUSH OR HIS HENCHMEN?
The unprecedented atrocities by this arrogant zealot and his henchmen, include stolen elections, disastrous war on our environment through manipulation of science, intimidation of congress with unprecedented character assassinations (ie branding a triple amputee Viet Vet for supporting an inquiry into the causes of 9/11), a grossly misguided war, & the list goes on.
Blame falls mainly on those who helped the Bush team seal the elections, and the apathathic populace who then stood by while congress allowed them to inflect more damage on our republic, and the world, than any administration in our history.
kittyladyoregon:
THIS IS IMPORTANT! The bill proposed by Kucinich to impeach Cheney is H RES. 333! ( that's HOUSE RESOLUTION) They have already passed H R 333 ( THATS HOUSE RULE ), which has to do with excluding returning vets from having to pay taxes. My Rep's ( Tom Allen) intern told me that HR 333 had been passed and the bill to impeach had gone by the wayside for lack of support!
I researched it at the Official House of Reps. site and discovered, that her information was incorrect, that H RES 333 was alive and collecting; 20 supporting it, at the recess including 6 judicial committee members from both side of the aisle!
When we had a recess meeting with Mike Michaud, we discussed it, I set everyone straight...and hopefully when he goes back to DC he will also support it. We also discussed wherther the similarity in name was "planned" or coincidental.
Hey. Don't assume the pro-wrestling crowd is all about Bush or Republicans or even Democrats for that matter. I know a few who aren't particularly political, but wouldn't vote for Reps, and some not even Dems.
http://www.poclad.org
Scott: I know a fellow with a Ph.D. in math who despises sports, has no idea what NASCAR is, would not watch a second of pro wrestling, is a strong believer in science and evolution, yet he subscribes to Ann Coulter's newsletter, thinks Rush Limbaugh is a great, great man, and idolizes Sean Hannity. He would slug you for dissing the sainted Cheney and he thinks Bush should be chiseled into the available space on Mt. Rushmore. I wish you - or anyone else - could tell me where he is coming from. How can such a brilliant mind - and this guy's intellect is world class - be a warmongering Republican? He is anticipating with delight the coming war with Iran. What is going on? Idiots I can understand. This guy befuddles me. Any thoughts?
A government run by an insane, isolated, megalomaniac needs a Brutus. So, anyone?
Go Scott Go. If only the Bush admnistration had listened to you instead of Bush's "advisors" we would NOT be in Iraq today.
If computer hacks can hack into computer systems, can't someone do something about whatever CHIPS allow Cheney's DEAD heart to still beat? Impede that electric flow and thousands, possibly millions of lives get saved. Here is where scientific progress has cost mankind severely.
George W. Bush hahaha good choice of screename! Somebody ought to register as Dick Cheney too on commondreams.
sungoddess its cause they are afraid of a certain lobby that pushed them into war and is lobbying hard on iran. I used to work on the hill and everyone there pisses their pants over this lobby.
A very fine article, as always. I doubt that
you are ready to join "the impeachment crowd,"
as you dismissively called the protesters who were arrested in Chairman Conyers' office. But
perhaps now you can begin to understand their
frustration, and that of all of us who watch in
helplessness as the republic is dismantled piece
by piece while the opposition party, and the very best among them, mumble and fumble, or
worse, turn their heads away, as this renegade
administration piles new crimes on old.
The nonsensical response to the terror attacks of 9/11, seeking a "global war" versus defending the rule of law at home and abroad
The non-response to the 'terror attack' of WTC 7 had me puzzled. Why was Building 7 targeted on Sep 11, 2001?
I still don't really understand why the Democrats have become such wimps! Is there a reason for non-action? Are they afraid? What is happening?
I sure would like to get some answers. Maybe Scott Ritter has a clue.
Wow - what he said! If only the Democrats were reading this and paying attention. I will forward this one far and wide!
Thank you Scott, you are one of the reasons I knew this was an illicit invasion.
Poet has a point there. Are you exempted from taking up arms against Cheney because you are only a former marine? If Cheney through his mouthpiece declares martial law what are the chances of a military insurrection?
Dennis Kucinich has already tried to get HR333 through Conyer's committee. This is the bill to impeach Dick Cheney. I guess now we have to keep calling Conyers until he gives in. If any of you are in his district, give him a call and ask why he is doing nothing to the worst enemy this country has.
Thanks to Scott Ritter who has been a lonely voice in the wilderness, as the MSM will not even give him a hearing.
As a law student, I was trained to see everything in shades of gray, not black and white. It is a pretty accurate way to view reality. After all, we all seem to have some redeeming qualities and anyone who claims to have no bad ones is assuredly a liar.
I was trained as well that even confessed ax murders are entitled to a competent defense because preserving the bill of rights and the constitution for them protects it for all of us.
With Cheney and Rove though, I am finally starting to conclude the devil may really exist because those two do seem to personify pure evil. Maybe they do occasionally smile at babies or pretend to dance hip hop, but I suspect even Hitler liked children and dance. He probably imagined he too was saving the world, albeit by warping it to his twisted vision. Nevertheless, he needed to be halted by whatever means were possible as soon as possible.
So too must Cheney and Rove be brought to justice. No excuses are acceptable. This is a struggle for civilization itself as Bush occasionally proclaims and those two are dedicated enemies of civilization, not to mention truth, justice and the American way.
Why not include Bush as evil doers? Sure, his acts result in evil things happening and he does need to be removed from office right away, but because Bush is mentally defective insanity is a defense to his deeds and stupidities.
Scott Ritter writes:
America today is very much engaged in a life-or-death struggle against the forces of evil. The enemy resides not abroad, however, but at home, vested in the highest offices of the land. Neither Osama Bin Laden nor Saddam Hussein threatened the life blood of the United States-the Constitution-to the extent that Cheney has. Not Hitler, Stalin, Mao or Ho Chi Minh. Not since the American Civil War has there been a constitutional crisis of the magnitude that exists today, threatening to rip the very fabric of American society apart at the seams, courtesy of Dick Cheney
************************
Okay former Marine Intel officer, you are aware of the oath taken by a step forward by all active duty servicemen and women to defend the constitution of the US against all enemies foriegn and domestic.
Wth that in mind and in light of your analysis above, do you counsel mutiny on the part of military personnel from flag officers on the joint chiefs to common grunts and their NCO's in the midst of immoral and illicit combat?
I seriously doubt it. (Although I am more than willing to be pleasently surprised!) The answer to that question Scott shows that you too and all your military colleagues with their training, weapons, and mindset (especially the very brainwahed training of the US Marine Corps) are also part of the problem and enabling the likes of Cheney et al.
Given the increased training in "urban warfare" being undertaken by all military services in the good ol' USA shows tht Iraq is not just a warm-up for Iran but that when these brutallized GI's come home and are denied the psyciatric and medical treatment they need, they will be more than ready to do to their fellow Americans what they are currently doing to Iraqis.
Scott, how much worse will it have to get before we all stop saying,"yeah, but" when asked to be part of the solution and not the problem?
millions of people in the streets didn't stop the war. millions of naked people occupying the halls of congress will hold the attention of the Vichy Democrats.
***
The national initiative is the way we restore ***We the People*** at the top of the hierarchy where we belong.
***
It's a legit and badly needed way to go
I wonder what Darth Cheney has in mind for America - selling arms to both the Red and Blue sides perhaps.
backatcha doughy!!!
Americans are sheep. The "tv told me so" crowd needs to be put to pasture.
Kucinich '08
You hit the nail on the head!! It's far past time for heads to roll. Nothing speaks louder to a politician than seeing a substantial loss of votes.
AMEN to happystead
Screw Hillary.
Screw Obama.
Screw all of them.
Scott Ritter for President!
You da man.
Good one, Mr. Ritter,
Glad to see you back on track. Go for it!
I think you mischaracterize Bush when you speak of 'steadfastness'; it is more like indifference. Bush, acting as a preppie stalkinghorse for Cheney and those they front for, is without morals and absolutely bereft of the capacity to care for those who suffer because of his ineptitude.
Cheney hasn't the depth of personality to be "evil"; he is, simply, greedy and careless.
This was a GREAT read. Thank you.
That being said:
THERE IS ONE AMERICAN IN GOVERNMENT DOING AND SAYING ALL OF THIS AND HAS BEEN SINCE THE BEGINNING. HE IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT AND NEEDS OUR HELP TO SUCCEED.
Kucinich IS trying to bring light to everything everyone on this site is bitching about and yet remains overlooked and taken for granted.
KUCINICH needs our help. End the "can't get elected" mentality of the ROVE-era and start talking POSITIVELY about him. He's earned it.
Kucinich '08
Peace to you and yours.
If only the democrats had half the guts and vision of this great man. They are complicit in the crimes of this administration and are worthless.
What a passionate and eloquent essay!
Cheney is certainly the evil soul of this administration. I watched an interview of him with Larry King recently, and Cheney is smoooooth. Even I almost believed he had the nation's best interests at heart.
Of course, his behavior belies his words. I'm not quite sure what Cheney desires, other than money. I suppose he assumes that by dominating the world, he and his buddies will become wealthier. Or maybe he's just a megalomaniac, who seeks power for its own sake.
Maybe Justin Frank, the author of "Bush on the Couch," can "analyze Cheney and tell us what makes him tick.
Dave
Scott Ritter is one of the reasons I can honestly say that I opposed the war before it started and wasn't one of the majority to fall for the administration's lies.
If we want to impeach Cheney, effectively cutting off any ability of Bush to inflict incremental damage to our system of government, I believe it will have to be through a National Initiative, such as Gravel's idea of National Initiative for Democracy.
We can impeach the Vice President without Congressional action as We the People exist outside of and above the government we created. Despite the impression left by the behavior of our elected officials, the government serves at our pleasure, not the other way around.
The national initiative is the way we restore We the People at the top of the hierarchy where we belong.
I generally agree with Ritter's take on Cheney but I wonder what role Rove's plan for winning the 2004 election played in the development of Iraq policies after the invasion. Surely he wanted to run Bush as a war president -- after all the senior Bush had been defeated when he ran as a mere victor, and the insurgency had made Junior's "mission accomplished" moment (more Rovean stagecraft) look ridiculous.
ritter nails cheney most righteously, but let's not forget that other revolving-door bureaucrat donald rumsfeld. wasn't he, in his private life, also a director of bio-port, sole-source manufacturer of those iffy vaccines administered to u.s. troops during gulf war 1? appearance of conflict-of-interest, anyone?
these two crawled out of the muck of nixon's regime and have been happily working the gears and levers of the u.s. war machine ever since, all the while hiding behind sad-face masks and clucking about how peace is just so darn elusive.
Great article. Since long before the Iraq Invasion, Scott has been exposing the lies and distortions fabricated by the Bush-Cheney cabal. He is a modern American hero. We desperately need enough such heroes in Congress to restore our democracy.
Ritter is a fantastic agitator, and they tried to come after him, he was such a nuisance.
Both parties, largely bought and sold, won't attempt to outright bite the hand that feeds them.
As soon as this administration executed their military coup in 2000, war was a given, most Americans knew this. However, most Americans would now, as Ritter says, like to "put Dick Cheney fully in the spotlight of collective accountability," because the war has been on Americans themselves.
Dennis Kucinich. Dennis Kucinich is one congressman who read the USAPATRIOT act before it was voted into law. Congressman Kucinich voted against the act. Give credit where credit is due, dammit.
Excellent article. Scott, you have talent as a word smith.
Scott Ritter, correctly predicted that Saddam had no WMD and was very vocal on this point with every news organization before the war. A true American.
He deserved your respect but, more importantly, he deserves to be seen and heard.
Dick Cheney is not the master, just an agent of the Board. International big business took over the US government and did not tell anyone. The masters of exploitation are not visible.
The best description of Dick Cheney that I've seen (on another board) called him "the premiere revolving door bureaucrat."
When one looks at Cheney's public and private service - his reactionary votes as a congressman, his privatization of the military under Bush 41, his bankrupting of Halliburton and ransacking of its pension fund for his personal benefit, and his creation of the Iraq War - one cannot escape the conclusion that this monster will rank among history's worst predators.
jj
Wow. I went to hear Scott Ritter speak earlier this year at a public library in Escondido, California. I was impressed with him then, and continue to be impressed with him today. He is obviously an intelligent, intuitive, and empathic man who possesses character, conscience, and content--all qualities lacking in the Cheney/Rove/Bush regime. In this essay, Mr. Ritter has written one of the finest factual and thorough accounts of the regression of our nation and its root causes that I have read in a very long time. I wish major newspapers across the country would have the guts to print it.
Scott,
I have great respect for your work as a weapons inspector and as a critic of the failed policies of this administration. Here in the SF bay area, there is a radio commentator on KGO (an ABC affiliate) by the name of Bill Wattenburg who has claimed repeatedly on his show that you are nothing but a paid shill for Saddam Hussein. If this is false, as I suspect it is, he has been slandering your good name for years. I would love to hear you call into his show and defend yourself.
Also check out the new book from Peter Dale Scott, The Road to 9/11 Wealth, Empire and the Future of America. for more on the origins of Cheyney and the pacification program known as the Democratic Party. It has just been published by University of California Press, and will be much harder to dismiss by the Tweedy gatekeepers of The Nation (see Encounter magazine, 1950s).
Scott thanks for exposing Cheney, AIPAC, and the neocons in your "Target Iran" book. Keep up the good work!