Washington: We start the new year with the same old fear: Dick Cheney. The vice president, who believes in unwarranted, unlimited snooping, is so pathologically secretive that if you use Google Earth's database to see his official residence, the view is scrambled and obscured. You can view satellite photos of the White House, the Pentagon and the Capitol - but not of the Lord of the Underworld's lair.
Vice is literally a shadow President. He's obsessive about privacy - but, unfortunately, only his own. Google Earth users alerted the New York Times to this latest bit of Cheney concealment after a front-page story last week about the international fears inspired by free Google software that features detailed displays of things like government and military sites around the world.
"For a brief period," they reported, "photos of the White House and adjacent buildings that the United States Geological Survey provided to Google Earth showed up with certain details obscured." So Google replaced those images with unaltered photographs taken by a private company. Even though the story did not mention the Cheney residence - and even though it's not near the White House - the Times ran a clarifying correction on Tuesday that said, "The view of the vice president's residence in Washington remains obscured."
Fitting, since Vice has turned America into a camera obscura, a dark chamber with a lens that turns things upside down. Guys argue that women tend to stew and hold grudges more, sometimes popping up to blow the whistle on a man's bad behaviour years later, like a missile out of the night, as Alan Simpson said of Anita Hill.
Yet look at Cheney and Rummy. Their steroid-infused power grabs stem from their years stewing in the Ford White House, a time when they felt emasculated because they were stripped of prerogatives. Rummy, a Ford chief of staff who became defence secretary, and his prot\ufffdg\ufffd, Cheney, who succeeded him as chief of staff, felt diminished by the post-Watergate laws and reforms that reduced the executive branch's ability to be secretive and unilateral, tilting power back toward Congress.
The '70s were also a heady period for the press, which reached the zenith of its power when it swayed public opinion on Vietnam and exposed Watergate. Reporters got greater access to government secrets with a stronger Freedom of Information Act. Chenrummy thought the press was running amok, that leaks should be plugged and that Congress was snatching power that rightfully belonged to the White House.
So these two crusty pals spent 30 years dreaming of inflating the deflated presidential muscularity. Cheney christened himself vice president and brought in Rummy for the most ridiculously pumped-up presidency ever. All this was fine with W., whose family motto is: "We know best. Trust us." The two regents turned back the clock to the Nixon era, bringing back presidential excesses like wiretapping along with presidential power. As attorney general, John Ashcroft clamped down on the Freedom of Information Act.
For two years, the Pentagon has been sitting on a request from the Times' Jeff Gerth to cough up a secret 500-page document prepared by Halliburton on what to do with Iraq's oil industry - a plan it wrote several months before the invasion of Iraq, and before it got a no-bid contract to implement the plan (and overbill the US). Very convenient.
Defending warrantless wiretapping last week, the vice president spoke of his distaste for the erosion of presidential authority in the wake of Watergate and Vietnam. "I do believe that, especially in the day and age we live in, the nature of the threats we face, it was true during the Cold War, as well as I think what is true now, the President of the United States needs to have his constitutional powers unimpaired, if you will, in terms of the conduct of national security policy," he intoned. Translation: Back off, Congress and the press.
Checks, balances, warrants, civil liberties - they're all so 20th century. Historians must now regard the light transitional tenure of Gerald Ford as the petri dish of this darkly transformational presidency. Consider this: When vice president Nelson Rockefeller, supported by Ford, pushed a plan to have the government help develop alternative sources of energy and reduce our dependence on oil and Saudi Arabia, guess who helped scotch it? Dick Cheney. Then and now, the man is a menace.
Robert Sturgeon
2005-12-29 09:38:29 EST
On Wed, 28 Dec 2005 14:34:44 -0800, "policy" <*y@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Menace that was, and is, Cheney > > By Maureen Dowd, NY Times
who has obviously gone over the edge...
(hit piece, snipped)
-- Robert Sturgeon Summum ius summa inuria. http://www.vistech.net/users/rsturge/
Bruce Scott TOK
2005-12-29 10:10:05 EST
Robert Sturgeon wrote:
>On Wed, 28 Dec 2005 14:34:44 -0800, "policy" ><policy@hotmail.com> wrote: > >> Menace that was, and is, Cheney >> >> By Maureen Dowd, NY Times > >who has obviously gone over the edge... > >(hit piece, snipped)
A bit juicy I agree, but her characterisation of Cheney is spot on.
Too bad the Press only does its job when doing that is judged "safe".
Many of us knew this stuff a long time ago... the time for the Press to get going on this was 2002, when it would have made more of a difference. Even 2004, but no they had to wait until after the election was assured.
The Times is merely putting on appearances; they lost their credibility a long time ago. They can still be counted upon to go to bat for the Government, and to criticise only individuals whom have been decided upon to have become expendable.
I used to think that Maureen Dowd was merely another strident liberal, whom I merely disagreed with on several issues. Now it's pretty clear that she has turned into a total kook... :O|
"policy" <policy@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:dov40d$ktb$1@domitilla.aioe.org... > Menace that was, and is, Cheney > > By Maureen Dowd, NY Times > > Washington: We start the new year with the same old fear: Dick Cheney. > The vice president, who believes in unwarranted, unlimited snooping, is so > pathologically secretive that if you use Google Earth's database to see his > official residence, the view is scrambled and obscured. You can view > satellite photos of the White House, the Pentagon and the Capitol - but not > of the Lord of the Underworld's lair. > > Vice is literally a shadow President. He's obsessive about privacy - > but, unfortunately, only his own. Google Earth users alerted the New York > Times to this latest bit of Cheney concealment after a front-page story last > week about the international fears inspired by free Google software that > features detailed displays of things like government and military sites > around the world. > > "For a brief period," they reported, "photos of the White House and > adjacent buildings that the United States Geological Survey provided to > Google Earth showed up with certain details obscured." So Google replaced > those images with unaltered photographs taken by a private company. Even > though the story did not mention the Cheney residence - and even though it's > not near the White House - the Times ran a clarifying correction on Tuesday > that said, "The view of the vice president's residence in Washington remains > obscured." > > Fitting, since Vice has turned America into a camera obscura, a dark > chamber with a lens that turns things upside down. Guys argue that women > tend to stew and hold grudges more, sometimes popping up to blow the whistle > on a man's bad behaviour years later, like a missile out of the night, as > Alan Simpson said of Anita Hill. > > Yet look at Cheney and Rummy. Their steroid-infused power grabs stem > from their years stewing in the Ford White House, a time when they felt > emasculated because they were stripped of prerogatives. Rummy, a Ford chief > of staff who became defence secretary, and his prot\ufffdg\ufffd, Cheney, who > succeeded him as chief of staff, felt diminished by the post-Watergate laws > and reforms that reduced the executive branch's ability to be secretive and > unilateral, tilting power back toward Congress. > > The '70s were also a heady period for the press, which reached the > zenith of its power when it swayed public opinion on Vietnam and exposed > Watergate. Reporters got greater access to government secrets with a > stronger Freedom of Information Act. Chenrummy thought the press was > running amok, that leaks should be plugged and that Congress was snatching > power that rightfully belonged to the White House. > > So these two crusty pals spent 30 years dreaming of inflating the > deflated presidential muscularity. Cheney christened himself vice president > and brought in Rummy for the most ridiculously pumped-up presidency ever. > All this was fine with W., whose family motto is: "We know best. Trust us." > The two regents turned back the clock to the Nixon era, bringing back > presidential excesses like wiretapping along with presidential power. As > attorney general, John Ashcroft clamped down on the Freedom of Information > Act. > > For two years, the Pentagon has been sitting on a request from the > Times' Jeff Gerth to cough up a secret 500-page document prepared by > Halliburton on what to do with Iraq's oil industry - a plan it wrote several > months before the invasion of Iraq, and before it got a no-bid contract to > implement the plan (and overbill the US). Very convenient. > > Defending warrantless wiretapping last week, the vice president spoke > of his distaste for the erosion of presidential authority in the wake of > Watergate and Vietnam. "I do believe that, especially in the day and age we > live in, the nature of the threats we face, it was true during the Cold War, > as well as I think what is true now, the President of the United States > needs to have his constitutional powers unimpaired, if you will, in terms of > the conduct of national security policy," he intoned. Translation: Back off, > Congress and the press. > > Checks, balances, warrants, civil liberties - they're all so 20th > century. Historians must now regard the light transitional tenure of Gerald > Ford as the petri dish of this darkly transformational presidency. Consider > this: When vice president Nelson Rockefeller, supported by Ford, pushed a > plan to have the government help develop alternative sources of energy and > reduce our dependence on oil and Saudi Arabia, guess who helped scotch it? > Dick Cheney. Then and now, the man is a menace. > > >
Robert Sturgeon
2005-12-29 21:00:01 EST
On Thu, 29 Dec 2005 16:10:05 +0100 (MET), Bruce Scott TOK <Use-Author-Supplied-Address-Header@[127.1]> wrote:
>Robert Sturgeon wrote: > >>On Wed, 28 Dec 2005 14:34:44 -0800, "policy" >><policy@hotmail.com> wrote: >> >>> Menace that was, and is, Cheney >>> >>> By Maureen Dowd, NY Times >> >>who has obviously gone over the edge... >> >>(hit piece, snipped) > >A bit juicy I agree, but her characterisation of Cheney is spot on.
It's a pile of bullshit.
(rest snipped)
-- Robert Sturgeon Summum ius summa inuria. http://www.vistech.net/users/rsturge/
Policy
2005-12-29 21:07:41 EST
"Robert Sturgeon" <rsturge@inreach.com> wrote in message news:b459r11ckdkpt4pt07ve6mt77c54qlnpo8@4ax.com... > On Thu, 29 Dec 2005 16:10:05 +0100 (MET), Bruce Scott TOK > <Use-Author-Supplied-Address-Header@[127.1]> wrote: > >>Robert Sturgeon wrote: >> >>>On Wed, 28 Dec 2005 14:34:44 -0800, "policy" >>><policy@hotmail.com> wrote: >>> >>>> Menace that was, and is, Cheney >>>> >>>> By Maureen Dowd, NY Times >>> >>>who has obviously gone over the edge... >>> >>>(hit piece, snipped) >> >>A bit juicy I agree, but her characterisation of Cheney is spot on. > > It's a pile of bullshit. > > (rest snipped) > > -- > Robert Sturgeon > Summum ius summa inuria. > http://www.vistech.net/users/rsturge/
Anything the christian fundamentalists dont like is bullshit.
Gunner Asch
2005-12-29 21:41:14 EST
On Thu, 29 Dec 2005 18:07:41 -0800, "policy" <policy@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >"Robert Sturgeon" <rsturge@inreach.com> wrote in message >news:b459r11ckdkpt4pt07ve6mt77c54qlnpo8@4ax.com... >> On Thu, 29 Dec 2005 16:10:05 +0100 (MET), Bruce Scott TOK >> <Use-Author-Supplied-Address-Header@[127.1]> wrote: >> >>>Robert Sturgeon wrote: >>> >>>>On Wed, 28 Dec 2005 14:34:44 -0800, "policy" >>>><policy@hotmail.com> wrote: >>>> >>>>> Menace that was, and is, Cheney >>>>> >>>>> By Maureen Dowd, NY Times >>>> >>>>who has obviously gone over the edge... >>>> >>>>(hit piece, snipped) >>> >>>A bit juicy I agree, but her characterisation of Cheney is spot on. >> >> It's a pile of bullshit. >> >> (rest snipped) >> >> -- >> Robert Sturgeon >> Summum ius summa inuria. >> http://www.vistech.net/users/rsturge/ > > > > >Anything the christian fundamentalists dont like is bullshit. > Its utter bullshit.
Gunner, Buddhist
"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire. Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us) off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give them self determination under "play nice" rules.
Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you for torturing the cat." Gunner
TwistyCreek
2005-12-30 00:58:47 EST
policy wrote:
>>>>> Menace that was, and is, Cheney >>>>> >>>>> By Maureen Dowd, NY Times >>>> >>>>who has obviously gone over the edge... >>>> >>>>(hit piece, snipped) >>> >>>A bit juicy I agree, but her characterisation of Cheney is spot on. >> >> It's a pile of bullshit. >> >> (rest snipped) >> >> -- >> Robert Sturgeon >> Summum ius summa inuria. >> http://www.vistech.net/users/rsturge/ > > Anything the christian fundamentalists dont like is bullshit.
It's a heaping pile of steaming bullshit.
I'm an Atheist.
Stan De SD
2005-12-30 07:05:17 EST
Sounds just as plausible, fruitcake...
Gio Medici
2005-12-30 09:57:20 EST
Robert Sturgeon <rsturge@inreach.com> wrote:
>>>> Menace that was, and is, Cheney >>>> >>>> By Maureen Dowd, NY Times >>> >>>who has obviously gone over the edge... >>> >>>(hit piece, snipped) >> >>A bit juicy I agree, but her characterisation of Cheney is spot on. > >It's a pile of bullshit.
The part about Nelson Rockefeller being a good guy is pretty funny. But that's how it goes with politicians and their ass-sucking remora...... a poison pill in every sundae.