Thursday, January 25, 2007

Why I Don't Like Dick Cheney, Part 1139-B

I do pretty well controlling the rage and sorrow I feel about the Iraq War, but every now and then, something sets me off and I shed a tear or feel some intense anger. The former happened during a report on the Imus show when an NBC reporter described being in a military hospital in Baghdad watching badly wounded American soldiers stream in.

The detail that got me was a new class of injury. Apparently it is not uncommon to have soldiers show up who have been wounded for the 5th time by an IED. 5 different times the vehicle they've been in has been hit with an explosion hurting them badly enough to need hospital treatment.

The medical people are starting to see an accumulative effect like a football player who has suffered too many concussions. We have a new long-term mental condition from these repeated exposures to the shock waves of a roadside bomb. The report was set over MSNBC video of freshly wounded soldiers in pain in the Baghdad hospital, and it got me.

As far as the rage goes, nothing sets me off more than Mr Deferment himself - our phony, tough-guy Vice President. Imus is 100% right when he speculates how our people would face being hanged. Would they show as much courage as Saddam? Imus thinks Rumsfeld would but Cheney would curl up like a sobbing, trembling little baby and I think he's right. Dick Cheney is the worst kind of mean - a cowardly bully who feels a greater sense of personal importance from getting other people hurt.

The recent detail that got me was some evidence in the Scooter Libby trial. Scooter was concerned he was being set up so he complained to Cheney. The Vice President made the following note: "Not going to protect one staff [and] sacrifice the guy that was asked to stick his neck in the meat grinder because of the incompetence of others."

No, Dick, it is not Scooter or any of your colleagues at the White House who've been asked to stick their heads in a meat grinder. That fate has been assigned to our soldiers in Iraq, and it is their flesh that is literally being ground up in this insane war. And the phrase "because of the incompetence of others" should have a familiar ring to it, because it was your incompetence and need to be a phony-macho, chicken hawk that got these young people's limbs blown off. Yes, the Iraq war is a meat grinder, but you don't have to fear. Your plump pale body is back in Washington, safe from the carnage.

11 Comments:

At 8:44 PM, Blogger LaurelhurstDad said...

Thank you for an excellent post.

 
At 10:13 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Dick Cheney is the worst kind of mean - a cowardly bully who feels a greater sense of personal importance from getting other people hurt."

Seek help, Bill. Your festering hatred and irrationality regarding Bush/Rumsfeld/Cheney is seriously not healthy. I'm serious about this. You are so far beyond any form of irrational hatred that right-wingers had for Clinton that I really think it is becoming an illness.

In general, you seem like a nice, amicable guy, Bill. I really hope you either seek help or this goes away with the passing of this Administration.

 
At 10:26 PM, Blogger Bill McDonald said...

Oh, I guarantee when these people go, I will return to my former self. I haven't enjoyed this at all. I believe government should be a distant backdrop to our lives. Having these people become so much of the story is not just a threat to our country - it's been a huge waste of time.

 
At 8:12 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Remember Halliburton and ExxonMobile, it's not for nothing our kids in Iraq are getting shredded. Dick Cheney's pals in energy and defense are making bundles from the pain and suffering of the troops.

 
At 8:36 AM, Blogger Bill McDonald said...

I think hating Cheney isn't the right term for it. He's sick. It'd be like hating someone with a mental problem.
I tell you what I did hate yesterday. They had a video of one of the soldier's arms and it had no bone structure left. It wasn't bleeding that much but it was swollen and curved. It was hanging there like part of a jellyfish.
I hated seeing that.

 
At 3:02 PM, Blogger LaurelhurstDad said...

Let's get the Cheney supporters to make a list of Cheney's pronouncements that were true. Like ‘last throes’, ‘greeted as liberators’, etc. Stock phrases like ‘I love my daughter’ don’t count, only statements about the war and other Cheney/Bush debacles. I expect a short list.

 
At 9:35 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"At least this much is clear: Had the decision belonged to Senator Kerry, Saddam Hussein would still be in power today in Iraq."

"Had the decision belonged to Senator Kerry, Saddam hussein would still be in power today in Iraq. In fact, Saddam Hussein would almost certainly still be in control of Kuwait."

There's just two. Should I keep going?

 
At 9:55 AM, Blogger Bill McDonald said...

Test comment.

 
At 10:52 AM, Blogger Bill McDonald said...

Butch, If I were taking your side in this, I'd avoid mentioning Kuwait. There are two many similarities between Saddam's invasion of Kuwait and our invasion if Iraq. The Doctrine of Preemptive Strikes is a crime. It's also called the Bush Doctrine so quess what that means?
When you bring up Kuwait, you also remind everyone of the senior Bush's warnings about going into Iraq - warnings that came true. Of course, they were written in a book so there is a good chance George never saw them.
Actually, that's a cheap shot. We already know George didn't consult with his father - he consulted with a higher father.
At any rate, Kuwait is not a good topic for you. The mission to eject Saddam went great, the mission was accomplished quickly, and then the troops came home.

 
At 12:40 PM, Blogger LaurelhurstDad said...

Butch, those are not predictions. I could say that if Kerry had been elected, the US would not be despised by so much of the world, and great things could have been accomplished with the billions we otherwise wasted killing tens of thousands of innocent people in a country we had no reason to invade.

But that's not the point. As you mature, and expose yourself to ideas that come from sources other than Fox, you may come to understand the difference.

 
At 6:29 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bill, I emailed this column to a very conservative friend of mine who often sends me articles written by a conservative pundit with whom I disagree.
Surprisingly, I received a reply from her stating that she had to agree with your conclusions. It was a very moving and conscientious presentation of how many of us believe. Thank you.

 

Post a Comment

<< Home