Cheney's Mouth

Last week, in the aftermath of Joe Lieberman's well earned defeat in the Democratic primary in Connecticut, "Dick" Cheney said, in a telephone conference call to reporters, essentially that it was sad that the Democrats were rejecting an aggressive stance against al Quaeda and giving in to the terrorists.
"Dick" Cheney likes to talk tough and shoot at people. Why he dodged the draft in his youth I cannot explain because he certainly seems to like war now. But "Dick" has gone far over the line on this one. The administration's alleged war on terrorism has violated the rights of law-abiding Americans. (And don't let anyone kid you: There's no need to keep legal eavesdropping programs a secret. The Coward in Chief and "Dick" and their minions were worried that even the special court empowered to authorize secret eavesdropping wouldn't go along with their program.) It has directly and indirectly led to the deaths of innocent people and the warrantless incarceration and torture of others. It has strengthened the argument of every anti-American group in the world, and it has led uncounted people in the Middle East to believe that they need to defend themselves against American aggression by joining al Quaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, or some other terrorist group. But all of this aside, it is not the only approach to ending terrorism. In a democracy, people of good will are permitted to engage in reasoned disagreement--a fact that "Dick" and the Coward in Chief have never wanted to acknowledge.
I realize I don't cut "Dick" or the Coward in Chief much slack. If they demonstrated good will and reasoning, I would treat them very differently in what I say and write. But they are evil men who seek only their own power and believe that they will somehow enhance it by promoting conflict instead of seeking to promote peace. So much for an administration that was supposed to be led by uniter, not a divider. What "Dick" expresses, presumably with the approval of the Coward in Chief, is a position that Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein expressed toward disagreement. They and their minions have become what they claim to hate, and they present an unflattering representation of American freedom.