Countdown:<i>BUSHED</i> Cheney compares Iraq war to Nixon pardon
By John Amato Tuesday Mar 25, 2008 11:01am
In his excellent Bushed segment, Keith Olberman nailed Dick Cheney over his insane revisionist position on Gerald Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon and the consequences there after. You know, it all worked out for the best and screw you and your polls. We were right to invade Iraq. You'll see after about thirty years or so. OK, you'll all be dead by then, but that's what will happen. I'm never wrong.
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KO: He has compared staying in Iraq to President Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon for Watergate. There it is. Cheney compares Bush going into Iraq to Ford's pardoning of Nixon. Of course Cheney went on to say that history proved Ford correct which is at best---A--Hallucination...
Cheney: Thirty years later, nearly everybody would say it is exactly the right thing to do, that if he'd paid attention at the time to the polls he never would have done that. But he demonstrated, I think, great courage and great foresight, and the country was better off for what Jerry Ford did that day. And 30 years later, everybody recognized it.
And I have the same strong conviction the issues we're dealing with today -- the global war on terror, the war in Afghanistan and Iraq -- that all of the tough calls the president has had to make, that 30 years from now it will be clear that he made the right decisions, and that the effort we mounted was the right one, and that if we had listened to the polls, we would have gotten it wrong.
A typical tactic for warmongering Neocons is to rewrite history so their actions become prophetic instead of destructive. And they usually can count on the media to let their nonsense stand. Well, not this time.
Allowing Nixon to get away with his crimes while his fellow Republicans angrily stewed over the injustice of his downfall is what led to the ongoing usurpation of the constitution under Republican rule...
Allowing Nixon to get away with his crimes while his fellow Republicans angrily stewed over the injustice of his downfall is what led to the ongoing usurpation of the constitution under Republican rule. They believe the president is above the law and the constitution. Why wouldn't they? They do these things and there's no accountability so they do it again the first chance they get, always upping the ante.
Cheney thinks that history vindicated Ford and therefore history will vindicate him too. Not in a million years. History will show that from Nixon to the Codpiece, the Republican Party has been progressively more criminal and more aggressively undemocratic and imperialistic. But the problem is, to quote our Dear Leader(ironically paraphrasing Keynes and not even knowing it) "history ... we’ll all be dead." And unfortunately, a lot of people are dead much sooner than they need to be because people like Dick Cheney know they can get away with murder.
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Mislead the People, Mislead the Sheeple
-Wackiavelli
Maybe if Ford didn't pardon Nixon, we'd already have an answer to just what the extent a presidents powers are.
Funny how they see inherent powers in the presidency but not in the legislative nor the judicial branches.
So!
Unless your one of the rare birds who has a million bucks socked away we're all basically screwed.
So being a volunteer ,myself included (Viet Nam Marine) makes you expendable somehow and dieing for your country is not as hard as ordering these people to an unnecessary war? Would somebody explain to this old jarhead how that bastard Bush's job is harder than dieing a horrible and painful death!
It would be nice to see someone calculate the interest that will have accrued on the money borrowed for the war aftyer 30 years.
#5
You need to be a bush to understand that
In cheney's world, inside his head, a lot of things look different than they do to sane human beings.
He who wins writes the history books!
I hate Libertky Mutual. They failed to fulfill their obligation via home owners policy when my house was robbed back in the 80s. I never forget. What is with the advertising? Do not use Liberty Mutual.
And we've also got John "it's not torture unless there's organ failure or death" Yu telling us that the Democratic primary process is undemocratic.
FUCK ALL OF YOU REICHWINGERS TO HELL!!!!
Will it be worth it to all those Iraqis who died and will have no voice in 30 years and did not ask for this war....?????
Yup,yup...and congress just let's them go on and on and on doing completely NOTHING about it. Two sessions in row. Congress has the power to impeach and the power to cease funding of the Iraqi occupation...but yet they don't. Twice in a row. I guess they are all to busy taking bribes, being lecherous and misappropriating our money. Can you say 'Imperial Presidency'?
Cheney needs to be stopped NOW.
Government Officials Know and Understand.
Including Generals and Admirals.
Vice Admiral John "Boomer" Stufflebeem has joined outgoing US Central Command (CENTCOM) commander Admiral William Fallon.
Patriots, including Generals, Marines and Navy Seals are monitoring this Administration very close. Many are watching for all potentials of harm that the Administration could further cause and inflict.
....... To comprehend what is happening to our Country, we need to fully understand History, the Nixon mob, the Bush Cheney secret energy meeting, Wall Street, Fox News, the Bush Family, Iran Contra and how our intelligence agencies and "the media" have been used and corrupted.
Terry740 @ 5:
Dying is easy. You don't even have to try. But to be a brave, bold leader such as Mr. Bush, well... that takes true courage.
oh shit... now I need to vomit.
By pardoning Nixon, Ford ensured that the murderers of John Kennedy would continue to run the US govt, someday getting the idiot son of one of the conspirators appointed president. This is what Cheney thinks is historic vindication.
some people speaking out:
http://freewayblogger.blogspot.com/2008/03/portland-la-minnesota.html
we need more.
Will Cheney be McCain's vp?
Dick "nobody really elected me so go fuck yerself" Cheney is a vile piece of trash.
"They are in their dying throes, if you will"
"So?"
IF this piece of crud survives, he will be AGAIN part of the next Repug government. These hacks don't go away. Ever. Isn't that somehow so reassuring?
Terry740 @ 5:
Well, he has to screw in light bulbs that don't burn very bright. Actually, they don't burn at all.
Jokes may not be appropriate with your comment. I believe all of you that were ordered to serve deserve the praise for doing as you were told. As "volunteers" you have no choice. If you refuse, you will be placed in prison if you can't get across the border. Warmongering politicians deserve to be placed in prison. Our system will never allow this unfortunately.
Missed it by that much. I think he meant the conduct of the war is comparable to Nixon's impeachable offenses. People will see that clearly in 30 years. Unless the media unquestioningly allow the participants to justify their offensive deeds by obfuscating the actual ends. The lessons of Watergate just keep on giving!
he is so far beneath anyone i've ever lived thru in government.
he makes the days of nixon look warm and fuzzy.
And further
We will be greeted as liberators. (not invaders)
We're making good progress.
We've turned a corner.
Democracy in Iraq will have a 'reverse domino effect' and the Middle East dictators and monarchs will yield.
As the Iraqis stand up, we'll stand down.
History will vindicate us.
Harry Whittington blocked my shot.
Nixon and Cheney have more in common then their first name.
Who profits? http://www.bartcop.com/rummy-cheney-old-days.jpg
Too bad Dick Cheney isn't in his last throes.
Buy Your Share Of Freedom
Acting Patriotic @ 25:
Nice one.
Boy Keith sure hit the nail on the head that time.
I have never in my lifetime seen a group of more delusional people then the bush/chenny administration.
They live in fantasy land and in the process have caused everyone else to live in hell!
I cannot for the life of me understand why republicans hate America and the american people so much?
But is it America and our people or do they just hate everyone?
Must be they hate everyone, look what they have done to the Iraqi people.
If this is how they help people just stay the F**k away from me!
So we shouldn't of listened to the majority and stayed in Vietnam too right?
Or we should've listened to the minority and stayed out of WWII right?
No democracy to see here folks, move along....
It is actually unbelievable that Cheney is still in power.... He should be in jail for lying to get this country into the Iraq war. And if not in jail he should be banished to the far reaches of the empire by now.... this guys is an idiot, scumbag and a criminal.....
this entire war has been a disaster.... absolutely nothing good has come out of it.... an entire country destroyed with 100,000s of dead.... started a regional war between Shia and Sunni.... a huge financial burden on the U.S. where deficits will reach far into the future and the recession will likely be deep because of the war (saying nothing of high oil price and weak U.S. currency that are likely caused by the war).... made the U.S. less safe as a rallying cry to Islamic extremists.... took the eye off catching Osama and focusing on Afganistan and Pakistan, has completely warn down the U.S. military..... etc., etc., etc.... if someone can name me one positive thing to come out of this war I would like to hear it....??
Cheney is just a really stupid political hack... the entire Iraq fiasco was done through decisions that were made for largely political power fighting reasons in Washington.... everything from the small number of troops, to the fight between State and the Pentagon.... the lack of a plan for the occupation... the firing of generals who spoke out... etc. etc. etc.
History will not look too kindly at these freaks: Cheney, Bush, Rumsfeld, Feith, Wolfowitz, Libby, Rove, etc..... They should all be put in jail for their bad and criminal decision making....
Many books have already been written about Iraq and they are all negative.
When Mr. Cheney finally passes away someday, my reaction to the news will be...............so what!
History will judge his entire body of public service for exactly what it was. Criminal.
Cheney is so over the top, so out there, seemingly so batshit insane that you actually wonder if you heard him correctly that I wonder what's really up. Is he crazy, or is he playing some perverse game of possum?
In dark and compromised moments, I think that Bush is planning to suspend the Constitution and stop the election. For this reason I have been buying commodities futures in pitchforks and torches...
Speaking of how history will view Bush.... In Iraq, Bush has become the new Saddam, employing many of the same tactics. [For example: arming and then pitting Sunni against Shia, giving them money to protect their own neighborhoods.] We're destroying Iraq and cynically calling it "democracy."
The Bushies are also creating a situation with Iran where war could be inevitable. I'm not just referring to the massive military build-up in the Persian Gulf. Bush is using the Patriot Act to financially strangle Iran in an economic "Shock and Awe." But the public isn't being told about this.
From Chris Floyd, Empire Burlesque:
Ha! Country better off after the pardon... no Sir, it was the straw that broke the back of justice being served. Every two-bit criminal like you then apparently thought breaking the law in the name of whatever you want is some noble, Presidential aspiration.
EMPY @ 32:
If he were to be pecked to death by pheasants seeking revenge for their fallen comrades, my reaction would also be, "So?"
But you and I both know that he will live as long as medical science can hold him together. There he'll be, lying in his deathbed with tubes coming out of ever orifice, making little, quacking penguin sounds...and not dying....ever...
Terry740 @ 5:
I think they're trying to argue that the weight of the decision is supposed to be a heavy burden, so he has to cry on God's shoulder and wait for history to prove that he was right. (Sorry, George - thirty years later, your C-average is still a C-average. Your failed leadership of three energy companies will still be there. Your botched management of the Texas Rangers baseball franchise will still be there, too.)
This is why he gets that doofy grin on his face when he plays dress-up, or when crowds cheer. It's why he keeps coming up with labels: Education President, Responsibility President, The Decider, The Commander Guy. He's a screw-up desperately seeking validation of his self-worth, and he knows he's a failure.
Dick Cheney has the arrogance of a despot.
Terry740 Says: "Would somebody explain to this old jarhead how that bastard Bush’s job is harder than dieing a horrible and painful death!"
Terry, Please do not call Cheney a jarhead. 5 deferment dick never served in the military and to call him a jarhead is an insult to all Marines past and present. The only thing Dick Cheney ever served was himself and his corporate criminal friends. Please Feel free to call him anything else you like though.... I prefer War criminal or traitor.
30 years later, now that we trade with a peaceful Vietnam, does Vice President Dickhead think it was the right idea to withdraw from Vietnam?
A POX ON THEE, DICK CHENEY! ya prick.
Oh, and now that al-Maliki is issuing an ultimatum to the insurgents in Basra (lay down your arms or be declared outlaw), the Bushies are saying, "See! They're taking charge! It's a success!"
Right. Lay down your arms or else your actions will be illegal.
And what?
TakeOurCountryBack @ 38:
Terry was referring to himself as a jarhead.
TakeOurCountryBack @ 38:
Terry740 is the old jarhead!
TakeOurCountryBack @ 38:
I think Terry may have been referring to himself as jarhead.
TakeOurCountryBack @ 38:
Terry (ex-Marine) was calling himself an old jarhead.
Of course, by the time 30 years goes by Cheney will likely have passed on to the giant Halliburton in the sky, so it's not like he has to answer to any of this. He's like a guy about to graduate. By the time it's discovered he cheated on his exams, he's long gone with his diploma making big money.
Point taken, My apologies Terry!!
Oh yeah, a person can't offer or accept a pardon without tacitly acknowledging that they're guilty.
booshco will violate the clearest law, and claim it wasn't clear enough.
gw says, US economy will 'come out stronger than ever before' with help of rebates.
What drugs is that guy on?
Bill @ 45:
I'd like to see him tried and convicted for his crimes after leaving office so there's no hope of a pardon (immediately).
ysbaddaden @ 47:
No, Bushies claim the "Unitary Executive" makes them above the law.
I don't believe anyone died as a result of Nixon's pardon . . .
Shadowgm @ 44:
How about calling mccain the old bedpan?
This is why their only hope is doing whatever they can to get their new BFF McInsane elected so they can be pardoned and ride on off into the sunset scott-free.
John Amato wrote: "OK, you’ll all be dead by then, but that’s what will happen. I’m never wrong."
Cheney won't be dead. He'll just be operating through his latest rebuild.
No, no...I don't think this is about comparing the two. I think Cheney brought up the pardon because he wants to subliminally "remind" us that the country would be traumatized by an impeachment of George Bush (or Cheney himself.) He can't say that directly without seeming to give credence to the impeachment idea, so he brings it up in this nonsensical way. It is indirect and the more effective for it. The man is not stupid. Watch for more of this in weeks to come. I don't know how they'll do it, but they will.
Terry, Thanks for your service! It is the bush/cheney's of the world who will not feel a thing...it is the families and vets who gave and pay all.
Shadowgm @ 44:
We have a saying " Once a marine always a marine" , I refer to myself as a former marine.
Gerald Ford's pardon of Nixon made possible, perhaps inevitable, today's neocon nightmare. Finally, somebody on TV has spoken the truth about Ford's day of national betrayal.
If you let criminal behavior go unpunished, it will continue and get worse. Is that so hard to understand?
If they don't pay for their misdeeds, they will continue to mislead.
Digby's exactly right as usual. The Nixon gang became the Iran-Contra gang became the Bush gang - in some cases, literally. There have been reports that the Bushies took the lesson of Iran-Contra as, "Don't get caught," and then there's Rick Perlstein's anecdote about meeting at least one conservative pundit type or power player who said he'd never liked Nixon until Watergate. These are far-right authoritarians, with horrible judgment, disastrous policies, and criminal incompetence.
There's no place for forgiveness in the political sphere where there's no remorse and no atonement. There's no place for bygones and fuzzy "they all do it" discussions; what we need is court trials or at the least definitive judgments of guilt and blame. These people will never stop voluntarily, and anyone who watched Frontline's "Bush's War" knows that Cheney especially will let people die, screw over Iraq and the U.S. merely to get his own way, in some cases just to settle a personal grudge.
Earth to DICK:
Felt the same way 30 years ago as I do now. Nixon should've had the book thrown at him. The circumvention of that process by Ford emboldened the idiots who have expanded Presidential power and reach into moronarchic proportions.
Hey DICK -- exactly HOW MUCH MONEY do you need? How many body bags need to come home from Afghanistan and Iraq?
You know, as a volunteer (for a food drive, a public television fundraiser, as a political envelope-stuffer, etc), if I decide I don't want to volunteer anymore and walk out the door, there aren't any consequences. As a volunteer, I can say "I can only stay an hour or so" and there isn't an issue.
As a soldier back from Iraq, I wouldn't have that option. So I'm not sure if the term "all-volunteer" army is even close to accurate.
I do wish I could wave this speech in Cheney's face 30 years from now and say, "nope, we still think you're a twit". It's a shame he'll have suffered a major myocardial infarction long before then, leaving the rest of us with this stinking mess.
Strange Fact of the Day: a "twit" is the proper term for a pregnant goldfish.
>Allowing Nixon to get away with his crimes while his fellow Republicans angrily stewed over the injustice of his downfall is what led to the ongoing usurpation of the constitution under Republican rule…<
DING!
All these shitheads were young brownshirts working for Nixon back then. Thanks for nothing, Ford.
Bananaphone @ 64:
Must be why Monty Python liked that expression.
I always thought it was a censored version of calling someone a twat.
Don't get me started about the etymyology of twat
You wouldn't like it.
So Cheney equates 4,000 American men and women's deaths in Iraq as being OK, compared to the pardoning of Nixon, in which how many people died, Dick? Like, NONE? Rather than history vindicating these idiots, Bush and Cheney will go down as no better than Benedict Arnold or John Wilkes Booth.
ysbaddaden @ 53:
I meant chainey.
Is this his pa?
http://artfiles.art.com/images/-/Lon-Chaney-Photograph-C10103826.jpeg
ysbaddaden @ 66:
twat
1656, of unknown origin. A general term of abuse since 1920s.
The T-word occupies a special niche in literary history, however, thanks to a horrible mistake by Robert Browning, who included it in 'Pippa Passes' (1841) without knowing its true meaning. 'The owls and bats,/Cowls and twats,/Monks and nuns,/In a cloister's moods.' Poor Robert! He had been misled into thinking the word meant 'hat' by its appearance in 'Vanity of Vanities,' a poem of 1660, containing the treacherous lines: 'They'd talk't of his having a Cardinalls Hat,/They'd send him as soon an Old Nuns Twat.' (There is a lesson here about not using words unless one is very sure of their meaning.) [Hugh Rawson, "Wicked Words," 1989]
C'mon, people, haven't you figured it out yet? Watergate, Iran-Contra, Bush 43: Anything goes.
Though I wonder if that would be different had W. cheated on Laura with an intern...oh, well, guess we'll never know! (A female intern, of course, no big deal if it were a guy, not in the Gay Old Party).
John Hall @ 70:
Hey ,he's a Repugnic . He would spew anti-gay rhetoric while toe tapping with an male intern.
Cheney's right: the polls taken right before the war that said "rah! rah! let's get those bad people" were WRONG. He shouldn't have listened.
And thanks for blaming the public, dick. It's not like you hadn't been planning this for years and years.
Dr. Acula @ 62:
a reporter once asked JD Rockefeller how much money was enough. His answer: just a little bit more.
They're never satisfied.
Anonymous Hussein @ 69:
Actually there's also been some linkage to the ancient Egyptian term tuat, meaning the underworld. It may be a stretch, but considering that in many ways their underworld was womblike, who knows? Of course this is in the Ra rites of his barque of a million years, in their sacred text Book of the Am-Tuat, as opposed to the Osirian rites found in the papyrus On Coming Forth Into the Light, translated by E A Wallis Budge in his text The Egyptian Book of the Dead.
Maybe Roberet Browning knew what he was saying when he wrote of cowls and twats considering the history of Aix-en-Provence, Loudun and other possessed convents.
All Bush demonstrated was great cynicism, in passing contracts and wealth to his oil and munitions cronies; and great selfishness/hubris; he knew a wartime president can get away with everything they want to impose (dictator-style) on the nation and the cowed, spineless Democrats.
Cheney pulled his punch about Nixon's pardon. Sure, he approved. But Nixon was the only one to walk. Doubtless Cheney believes the Trickster and/or Ford should have pardoned the whole rotten lot of them. Of course, had Nixon done that, the outcry would have prohibited Ford then throwing him a rope. One thing you can bet your bottom dollar on- like his old man, the Boy King will won't hesitate to shower his racketeers with get out of jail cards.
Phillip @ 31:
No my friend, not jail. They should be shot for high treason.
Shadowgm @ 41:
I've been thinking about exactly this same "moment" in this process.
If this ultimatum is NOT MET...
Does that mean that we see the commencment of an all-out shooting war between Sunni and Shia????
Does this mean that they peacefully negotiate a settlement (now that McCain's SURGE has made the streets so much safer???
Does it mean that American Soldiers will run out into the middle of the streets... and start yelling "Over MY DEAD BODY..." and THEN the shooting starts!!
One more question: When does John McCaine hold his presser explaining what the fuck he thinks we should do now... for the next hundred years?
A nitpick, but out of respect:
Headsup to the Olberman website: It's "Gerry" Ford, not "Jerry" (his name was Gerald) and he was particular about the spelling.
CafeenMan @ 15:
oh god damit jarhead !dont you understand anything? its much harder dieing when you got all that money! and besides babs would bust her enama bag if georgie bought the farm!!!!
There is no question in my mind that the recent reappearance of the cheney rhetoric is solely to mitigate the sheer insanity of mccain's pronouncements regarding the ABSOLUTE SUCCESS of the Iraq war and occupation.
Unfortunately, the repukes do not understand that the vast majority of Americans, both repuke and demoquack, consider cheney an evil person at best, with a lot wanting to see him hanged as a convicted war criminal.
The criminal's words are thus taken more as comedic, rather than as reality.
If Dick is trying to plant the subliminal idea that pardoning Nixon was a good (and patriotic) thing to do, then I guess he and Shrub are planning to do it, too.
Nixon was given a BLANKET PARDON for any crimes he 'MIGHT' have committed during his tenure! This is essentially the same thing Bush is pushing for the telecoms. Blanket immunity for anything they MIGHT have done, and blanket immunity for things they haven't even been charged with. In Nixon's case, it meant that if somebody found out in 1975 that he was drowning babies in the basement of the White House, and selling LSD out of the Oval Office in 1971, he's immune from prosecution.
So, I guess on Bush's last day in office, he plans to give a retroactive, blanket pardon to about 500 people for what they MIGHT have done during his term in office.
I remember a couple of attempts on Ford's life after that pardon. Admittedly, by some rather crazed folks, but even so. Now we have a democratic congress that can't even work up the nerve to investigate or impeach. This country is circling the bowl...
Has Dick Cheney been right about anything?
heheh I enjoyed the "Thanks DICK" at the end
I too would like to say, " Thanks Dick" .
He has to die someday, doesn't he? What's wrong with today?
ERIC FOREMAN: (Takes off his trenchcoat, leaves on mask and runs) Pee-pee wee-wee! Pee-pee wee-wee!
(RED FOREMAN looks distracted, then re-focuses his gaze at the podium)
RED FOREMAN: Tell me something Jerry, how the hell could you pardon Nixon?
-end scene-
Ford made a decision that taints the office of the Presidency to this day.
I think Cheney is just looking ahead to his own pardon come January '09...
Liberal AND Proud @ 24:
Yes, they do. Cheney was in the Nixon Administration. Started out there from what I understand.
"in 1969, Dick Cheney joined the Nixon Administration - serving in a number of positions at the Cost of Living Council, and later the Office of Economic Opportunity. When Nixon was forced from office, Cheney helped Vice President Ford make the transition to the Oval Office and in 1975, Cheney became President Ford's White House chief of staff.
Cheney's reference to the erosion of presidential powers thus appears to relate to the Nixon presidency and Watergate, and then to the Reagan presidency and Iran-contra. Accordingly, one might at first wonder if he was referring to the Independent Counsel Law. But that law has expired. So while no law eroded presidential powers more, nor made it more difficult for the president to do his job, than the Independent Counsel law, that law cannot be Cheney's target.
Nixon's Treatment Of Congress, and How It Likely Informed Cheney's Views
What then is Cheney's target? History suggests that it is probably what he sees as the expansion of congressional power vis-a-vis the president. Besides the folly of the Independent Counsel law, this perception is probably what bothers Cheney most - and what he would most like to remedy.
Cheney watched Nixon "throw down a gauntlet to Congress, the bureaucracy, the media, and the Washington establishment and challenge them to epic battle" - to quote the disgraced former president's memoirs. But for Watergate, Nixon would have succeeded." http://hnn.us/articles/printfriendly/1192.html
If we are lucky they will have more in commen and Hillary Clinton can pick up where the young hillary Rodham left off.
She can find the way into prosecuting these thugs. Her research in the Impeachment hearings discovered the precedent that would have allowed Impeachment to go through and forced his resignation.
I'm always amazed that no one brings this up.
Maybe they can't condemn her as heartily with this... which I consider deserving of creds and a little respect.
My take is this is why the neo-cons have been after her for fricking EVER!
Does Cheney strike you as someone who forgives and forgets?
nah
didn't think so.
jimt @ 84:
I sometimes think that when they see what the neo-cons have put Hillary Clinton through over the last 15 plus years they get a little bit of the heebeejeebees.
Clinton made a very big mistake as a 26 year old. She found the necessary info during the Impeachment investigation proceedings that gave the legal justification to begion the Impeachment process. This is what forced the resignation. She has been paying for that for a very long time.
It must gall them that she won't lay down and die for them when they have done everything they could.
For that and her role in Nixon's leaving office she has my undying gratitude. She has earned street creds and a little respect for that alone.
I know, I'm a lone voice crying in the wilderness.
;-)
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