Veep Debate

Commentary on the veep debate.

Cheney: The effort that we've mounted with respect to Iraq focused specifically on the possibility that this was the most likely nexus between the terrorists and weapons of mass destruction.

Ah. So Iraq was attacked based on the possibility that it was the most likely place where terrorist could get WMD. Well, I'm satisfied. I guess it doesn't get any more iron-clad than that! Ohhh, but Iraq didn't have any WMD. Oops!

Cheney: The biggest threat we faced today is the possibility of terrorists smuggling a nuclear weapon or a biological agent into one of our own cities and threatening the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans.

And this is why the Bush maladmin is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a missile defense shield? To prevent against a terrorist walking across the border with a nuke in a briefcase?

CHENEY: The senator has got his facts wrong. I have not suggested there's a connection between Iraq and 9/11

In September (2003), Cheney said on NBC's "Meet the Press": "If we're successful in Iraq . . . then we will have struck a major blow right at the heart of the base, if you will, the geographic base of the terrorists who had us under assault now for many years, but most especially on 9/11."

Seems like a pretty strong suggestion of a connection between Iraq and the terrorists responsible for 9/11 to me.

...on March 24, 2002, Cheney again told NBC, "We discovered . . . the allegation that one of the lead hijackers, Mohamed Atta, had, in fact, met with Iraqi intelligence in Prague."

It turned out there was no evidence that Atta had left the U.S. to meet with Iraqi intelligence, but once again, it's a pretty strong suggestions of connection on the part of Cheney.

Ifill: Tonight we mentioned Afghanistan. We believe that Osama bin Laden is hiding perhaps in a cave somewhere along the Afghan-Pakistan border.

If you get a second term, what is your plan to capture him and then to neutralize those who have sprung up to replace him?

Why wait until a second term? Shouldn't the question be, "Why haven't you yet captured bin Laden and neutralized those who have sprung up to replace him"? Shouldn't the question be, "Why do you think you deserve a second term when you've failed, in three years, to capture bin Laden"?

Ifill: You two gentlemen are pretty well off. You did well for yourselves in the private sector. What can you (Cheney) tell the people of Cleveland, or people of cities like Cleveland, that your administration will do to better their lives?

Again, why are questions being asked of Cheney as if he's had no first term in office? Why not ask, "What has your administration done to better their lives? or Why hasn't your administration been successful in bettering their lives?" Why is the Bush-Cheney administration's track record not being asked about?

Cheney: And the president, his first legislative priority was the No Child Left Behind Act. It was the first piece of legislation we introduced.

Of course, he didn't fund it.

Cheney: And they have the opportunity to move students out of poorly performing schools to good schools.

In other words "vouchers". But why not turn those poorly performing schools into well performing schools? Oh, right, because that wouldn't appease your Fundie base by using tax dollars to fund Christian schools, thereby forcing all citizens to, in effect, support religious tenets to which they may not adhere.

Cheney: We also dropped 5 million people totally off the federal income tax rolls, so they no longer have to pay any federal income tax at all.

Is that because they no longer have jobs? Is this the old, "those jobless people are lucky! They don't have to pay taxes!" theme? Besides, what does removing people from the tax base do? It chokes the income of the federal government. How do you pay for a $200 billion war when you've given tax cuts to the rich and removed 5 million people from the tax rolls?

Cheney: They (Kerry-Edwards) talk about the top bracket and going after only those people in the top bracket.

Well, the fact of the matter is a great many of our small businesses pay taxes under the personal income taxes rather than the corporate rate. And about 900,000 small businesses will be hit if you do, in fact, do what they want to do with the top bracket.

That's not smart because seven out of 10 new jobs in America are created by small businesses.

I'm assuming that it would be too much of a burden for small businesses to pay taxes at the corporate rate. So create a new tax rate for small businesses and quit letting the über-wealthy in this country avoid paying their fair share by hiding behind small businesses.

On the subject of a Constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage:

Cheney: And the fact is that the president felt that it was important to make it clear that that's the wrong way to go (allowing gay marriage), as far as he's concerned. Now, he sets the policy for this administration, and I support the president.

(snip)

Kerry: Now, as to this question, let me say first that I think the vice president and his wife love their daughter. I think they love her very much. And you can't have anything but respect for the fact that they're willing to talk about the fact that they have a gay daughter, the fact that they embrace her. It's a wonderful thing. And there are millions of parents like that who love their children, who want their children to be happy.

(snip)

Ifill: Mr. Vice President, you have 90 seconds.

Cheney: Well, Gwen, let me simply thank the senator for the kind words he said about my family and our daughter.
I appreciate that very much.

Ifill: That's it?

Cheney: That's it.

In other words, "I love my daughter very much and think it's bullshit to try to ban gay marriage, but my loyalty is not to my daughter or to the American people, or the to U.S. Constitution, but to the Republican party. Therefore, I abstain from giving my thoughts on this subject".

Cheney: Some people say we should wait until we are attacked before we use force. I would argue we've already been attacked. We lost more people on 9/11 than we lost at Pearl Harbor.

That's right. So, when Japan attacked us at Pearl Harbor, we retaliated by invading and occupying China. Oh, wait. No, that would've been ridiculous! And that is why, when we were attacked by terrorists, most of whom were from Saudi Arabia and none of whom were from Iraq, we did not invade Iraq. Except that we did. How silly of us.

Cheney: I think it's important for us to try (for bipartisanship). I believe that it is essential for us to do everything we can to garner as much support from the other side of the aisle as possible. We've had support -- we had our keynote address at our convention was delivered by Zell Miller. So there are some Democrats who agree with our approach.

You all remember Zell, of course? The Hell Hound from the bowels of the Conservative Reich. Yes, what a shining example of bi-partisan politics he is. If Zell is what passes for a Democrat in Georgia, I can't even imagine what their Republicans must be like!

Cheney: We saw on 9/11 that the next president -- next decision a president has to make can affect the lives of all of us.

Indeed! We saw how, when a president decides to do absolutely nothing with the specific knowledge about how and by whom we'll be attacked, our lives are affected.