posted on January 24, 2002 10:15:33 AM new
"Dick Cheney’s Haliburton, the biggest oil service company in the world, is scheduled to release it’s latest earnings report today, and many insiders are predicting Enron II. Haliburton is on the verge of collapsing in what looks like an almost instant replay of the Enron scandal,including bought-and-paid-for politicians (this time, 98% of the bribes went to Republicans), (gasp, that's not what FOX wants you to think) campaign donors feeding at the federal trough, shady foreign business deals, plunging stock values,SEC investigations, and another bout with Haliburton’s convenient choice of accountants - none other than the document-shredding, Arthur Andersen. Deja-vu, indeed. Cheney’s now-famous penchant for keeping a low profile is going to become much harder to maintain as the story unfolds. But that’s not what I want to talk about.
Dick Cheney is also coming under increasing pressure, even from fellow Republicans, to give a full accounting, and release the documents (sought by Congress and the GAO for months), pertaining to the formulation of his energy policy. Cheney is stonewalling with the ludicrous argument that what influences public policy in an open society is none of our business. He is saying that the people of the United States have no right to know what those who finance campaigns get in return for their money. Cheney's aides and various White House spokespersons are obliged to dutifully repeat the nonsense, but it’s nonsense nonetheless. Specious "executive privilege" arguments did not save Clinton, or Nixon, and the strategy won’t rescue Cheney either. As the pressure mounts from all sides, and it will, it’s going to be much more difficult for the vice-president to remain isolated from the fray in his undisclosed location. But that’s not what I want to talk about either.
I want to talk about the undisclosed location itself; not the where (that’s a secret), but the why! The why is the much more interesting aspect of the Cheney question.
The official story, shamelessly repeated again and again in the obsequious mainstream media, goes like this: The vice-president is out of public view and spends so much of his time in his undisclosed location, in order to preserve the continuity of the government in case anything happens to George W. Bush. That’s the administration’s story and they’ve been stickin’ to it. There is one problem with that story though - it’s patently absurd! Every day, of every year, of every administration, safeguarding the "continuity of government" is, and has been for a long, long time, a full-time job. There is nothing new, or special, or different about that in the Bush/Cheney term. There has not been a single day, not in our lifetimes at least, when a 24/7 contingent of
secret service agents, with plenty of backup and support, has not been on watch, plotting, planning, practicing, and guarding specifically against the exact scenario that we are supposed to believe is unique to Dick Cheney, as if the same concerns weren’t the everyday reality of every other vice-president in the last half-century.
Your b-u-l-l-s-h-i-t detector should be going off, big time. The White House story doesn’t pass the smell test.
So what’s really going on? That’s what I want to talk about.
Here it is: What’s really going on is that Cheney’s low profile is designed to do one thing - and only one thing. It is a ruse to perpetuate the myth that George W. Bush is competent.
Every time Cheney opens his mouth, he makes George look bad. He makes the president look bad, not because he’s disloyal (he isn’t), not because he’s more forthcoming (he isn’t), and not because he is trying to steal the spotlight (he isn’t). He makes George look bad, because he speaks in complete sentences,
correctly uses multi-syllabic words that he actually understands, and gives his audience the unmistakable impression that he is an educated, experienced person whose brain is engaged. That’s why he makes George look so bad. And that is exactly why he spends most of his time out of the public view.
In the early days of the Bush/Cheney occupation of the White House, Cheney was viewed by most observers as the "most influential vice president in history."
From day one, Cheney took control of the Bush Jr. transitional team and hand-picked most, if not all, of the Cabinet. Astute Washington observers routinely note matter-of-factly that Cheney is still the one pulling the strings. Indeed it is Dick Cheney himself, who is the architect of most the administration’s policies, foreign and domestic, including budget, energy, defense, homeland security, etc. etc.... And his penultimate power has not waned over time, in spite of his so-called seclusion.
Add to all this the fact that Cheney actually likes the back seat ("Back Seat" was his security code name during the Reagan/Bush years.) He clearly believes that he’ll have a freer hand to pull the levers and turn the knobs if the public pays less attention to what he’s doing. But even the man behind the curtain needs a great and powerful Oz - a fictional character to distract the gullible masses. That’s why it’s so important to create the illusion that George W. Bush is in charge. That’s why Cheney’s low profile is so important to this administration.
The good news, if you can call it that under the present set of circumstances, is that Cheney's sleight of hand cannot continue. The game is up and the administration knows it. With Enron and Haliburton finally, at long last, sounding wake-up calls to the anesthetized public about the longstanding dangers of special favors and insider access to government, Cheney cannot remain silent. He’s got some explaining to do. There are too many unanswered questions and the puppetmaster's silence is growing ever-more grating. Cheney needs to step up and become accountable. Nothing else will suffice.
It’s time for Cheney to take center stage, because that’s where he belongs. And because the ruse is wearing thin."
posted on January 24, 2002 04:53:16 PM new
I think this is just another story drummed up to fool the public. Cheney's either on life-support, or he's in detox somewhere.
"Sometimes when we touch, the honesty's too much....."
posted on January 24, 2002 08:05:59 PM new"And that is exactly why he spends most of his time out of the public view."
I felt it was because he was hooked to life support machines!
Actually, Cheney served one purpose and one purpose only: to help GW get elected. Without someone competent at the helm; or in this case, behind the helm, not even the most dimwitted Republican would have voted for the Bush ticket. Now that the election is over, he can go back onto life support ...
posted on January 24, 2002 09:42:11 PM new
Helen, what is it with you? Ever since Newt's board opened you've been making digs at those of us that are posting there. Why?
You were invited, but you've chosen not to come over. That's fine but, I really don't understand the pot shots.
posted on January 24, 2002 10:03:12 PM new
Don't bother choco. Helen is very insecure.....a fact which she wears on her shirt sleeve every time she posts, every place she posts (which is every board out there).
I've also come to learn that Helen can be very mean. Something in which she is unapologetic for. She'll deny it, so you won't get anywhere in pointing it out to her.
Take a look around Helen. You have told every poster where to go, and have alienated many at the RT.
Is your conscience working??
"Sometimes when we touch, the honesty's too much....."
posted on January 25, 2002 09:49:32 AM new
I know I've been invited to try other boards, but it wasn't by any 'friendlies.'
I think that Helen, like most of us, at times posts stuff that she should have best kept inside. On the other hand, I sometimes purposely write these nasties out, if only to try to loose some respect from other posters. I find that Helen is always ready to jump in there and give a hand in any situation. Even if she occasionally flubs it, it is always welcome in my book. And if she ever feels like telling me off, I'll remember all of the times that she's been there for me like a real trooper and take it all with a grain of salt ...
posted on January 25, 2002 10:57:36 AM new
Oh please. You and your come-backs Helen. Can you not look inward and see that I might have a point? You send people to other boards (where they'd feel more comfortable, in your words) like you're the owner of the RT or something. When they go to those boards, you're on their tails posting about how bad they are. It gets stale.
I like you Helen, but you have a mean streak that's unpredictable. You used to be fun, but now you're not. Maybe your personality changed when Bush got elected....who knows?
Yes, Borillar, we all say things we regret on these boards, but usually we have the decency to apologize for our mistakes if they've hurt someone.
And unlike you krs, some people do make friends here, but of course, you wouldn't recognize one if it hit you in the face.
"Sometimes when we touch, the honesty's too much....."
posted on January 25, 2002 12:29:51 PM new
" some people do make friends here, but of course, you wouldn't recognize one if it hit you in the face."
Oh no, you're quite wrong about that as I'm fully aware of the possibility. But many people in boards attest to a very false friendship with people all the time they attempt to cut their throat, as you do, kd, and even more choose friends with little consideration to the meaning of the word, which fact accounts, I'm sure, for your feeling that you have a friend at all, kd.
I can't imagine anyone wishing a friendship with anyone who would take it upon themself to issue forth a hypercritical body of psychobabble BS without one single qualification to do so, in a public place in the name of a supposed friendship as you have just done, kd.
You can mask ignorance by keeping your yap shut, kd--word to the wise. I'm afraid that if you don't do that I may start calling you muriel from a force of recognition. So, you see, with that I am as friendly as you, eh?
posted on January 25, 2002 01:36:39 PM new
Huh? Aren't you being a bit dramtic krs? Real friends tell you the truth, not what you want to hear.
I've attempted to cut people's throat?? And I need qualification to post?? Are you being serious? The things you are attempting to say are stupid with no merit.
"Sometimes when we touch, the honesty's too much....."
posted on January 25, 2002 02:57:32 PM new
my my my the bickering never stops...now that i am gone you must turn on each other for the daily bowel festival...
posted on January 25, 2002 03:19:00 PM new
"If it were, I'd have it backwards in a mirror..."
This explains so much about your cognitive abilities (or lack thereof). Ken, in the future, try holding the newspaper, book, etc. in front of your face -- eliminate the mirror in other words, and you should notice a dramatic improvement.
Shut up, Chococake! Boardwars are fun
And with the arrival of Artdoggy, one ought to be in full swing any minute now. (What happened -- did Crystal ban you again?)
posted on January 25, 2002 03:36:07 PM new
I have not been banned--I have been singing to the troops in Afghanistan. My smooooth liquidy voice encouraged them to fight harder longer and faster.
posted on January 25, 2002 03:45:12 PM new
Any words not tatooed on my crotch would be wasted on you, pat; I had forgotten that about you.
From another place:
"Look "viper", take your dumb rant and aim it somewhere else. The guy asked, and so didn't know, and I and others let him know. Nothing that I said is meant to instill fear; it
is instead wholly a matter of the realities of working law - laws which you yourself posted unwittingly perhaps, but if not unwittingly then in full agreement with each of them.
Neither of us knows where Gregg is. Even though you didn't go to college you must have heard that it's easier to obtain licensing and permitting for such activities in
St.John, AZ than it is in Hoboken, NJ. Perhaps instead of a revolutionary tirade you might offer location specific information which has to do with Gregg's situation? I didn't think so--soapbox permits don't allow for such as that, do they?"
posted on January 25, 2002 03:48:01 PM new
dick cheney is not named dick for nothing. Enron has a sex dungeon that no one knows about, you know how much republicans like to get tied up and spanked. He is in the sex dungeon all tied up. I know I have a special pass to go and spank him on wednesday nights. Its called spank the monkey night. I fill my bra with all the savings I can hold! I get paid well.
posted on January 25, 2002 04:02:20 PM new
My friend Lucifeen has somthing to say, she is my inner demon child ....go ahead lucifeen type....grooooan head spin, foaming mouth purple eyes Listen all you pathetic frustrated poli-sci majors, forget it, all your little chats spats and longwinded posts avail you nothing, it is just lost in the Sand box of life. Bitter and addicted to chatrooms ez boards and threads, you weave your little tiny world of self importance to noooooooo avail. Just air choppers you are all just air choppers cackle hahahahahah heheheheeheheh hahahahahhaah cackle hehehehe
posted on January 25, 2002 04:18:41 PM new
i am marketing enron panties on ebay. The crotch in lined with a soft 100 bill and there is a hole in the back, so you can bend over get s c r e w e d and never have to take them off, or even look behind to see who is doing you.
