Cheney is Finally Dead

Dick Cheney, one of the major architects of the Iraq War that killed thousands of people (based on his lies about weapons of mass destruction) is now dead.  Cheney most infamously served as vice president to former President George W. Bush for eight years, in which the two presided over the war, the collapse of the American economy, and numerous scandals (like the administration’s disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans).

Cheney became vice president after the Supreme Court chose Bush in the fall of 2000, legitimizing the Republican Party’s tactics in the state of Florida that invalidated thousands of Democratic votes.  Cheney was regarded by many as the “brains” behind the Bush White House.

It was on their watch that America suffered the worst terrorist attack in the nation’s history on Sept. 11, 2001. While the Bush-Cheney administration received a classified memo indicating that Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida network intended to launch attacks against America, the administration chose not to take any overt action to thwart the terrorist threat.

Almost immediately, the Bush-Cheney administration began pushing for a war in Iraq, based on the lie that Saddam Hussein was sympathetic to bin Laden and was in possession of weapons of mass destruction. Cheney was the front man for the WMD campaign, famously touting the purported use of “aluminum tubes” by Saddam as evidence that he was building a weapons program.  But that was all a lie-- there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

The American invasion of Iraq in 2003 ultimately killed at least 200,000 Iraqi civilians and 4,492 American soldiers, with an additional 32,292 service members wounded. The war cost the American people at least $728 billion and further destabilized the Middle East in ways that still reverberate today.  This debacle was the pinnacle of Cheney’s pathetic career as a leader, and he never expressed regret for his lies and the mistakes that led to the years-long disaster.

In March 2008, ABC News’ Martha Raddatz asked him about the disastrous war.  “Two-thirds of Americans say it's not worth fighting,” Raddatz said, “and they're looking at the value gain versus the cost in American lives, certainly, and Iraqi lives.”

“So?” Cheney shockingly replied.  Raddatz followed up: “So—you don't care what the American people think?”

“No,” Cheney said, “I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls.”  To the bitter end, Cheney didn’t care what people thought of his war-- or the death and destruction it needlessly caused.

Along with pushing the fake case for war, Cheney also advocated for the use of reprehensible and counterproductive military tactics like torture.   Cheney defended the use of waterboarding in a 2014 interview, even though the tactic and other so-called enhanced interrogation tactics had long been internationally condemned and shown to be useless in gathering intelligence.  “I’d do it again in a minute,” he said of his role in creating the country’s torture program. 

In fact, despite its promises, its wars, and its ineffective interrogation techniques, the Bush-Cheney administration failed to capture bin Laden and bring him to justice.  That task fell to President Barack Obama.

The Bush-Cheney team was also in charge when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005, killing thousands as many more residents suffered from a slow and disorganized response orchestrated by former FEMA Director Michael Brown, who had more experience with Arabian horses than natural disasters.

In 2008, as the nation faced an economic crisis triggered by subprime mortgage loans, Cheney made a statement symptomatic of the administration’s uncaring attitude.  “We don't want to interfere with the basic, fundamental working of the markets,” Cheney said.  As a result of that inept indifference, the country and the world were thrown into chaos, and while the Bush-Cheney administration bailed out banks, millions of regular Americans lost their homes and jobs, and the global economy entered what came to be known as the Bush Recession.

When he wasn’t pushing lies about WMD's, promoting torture, and ignoring natural disasters and looming economic crises, Cheney was pursuing leisure activities like “accidentally” shooting his friend.  During a 2006 hunting trip, Cheney shot lawyer Harry Whittington, whose body was embedded with birdshot pellets and who suffered a minor heart attack as a result. Amazingly, when he left the hospital, Whittington apologized to Cheney, his shooter.

In 2011 Cheney released his memoirs, which were poorly received.  Former Bush administration officials and prominent Republicans (such as Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice and John McCain) said at the time that Cheney "did not accurately recount their private conversations"  (i.e., Cheney lied).  When all is said and done, Cheney was a poor leader and a stain on this country's history-- his achievements were primarily based on conniving, cheating and corruption.  If I could attend his funeral, it would only be so that I could tamp down the dirt.  Good riddance!

 

Now It's Time to Remember What Led Up to 9/11

Now that the anniversary of 9/11 is behind us and we have remembered and honored the lost souls and heroes of that day, it's now time to memorialize the president that failed to protect us.  

George W. Bush and his foreign policy principals were first warned in January 2001 by CIA Director George Tenet and counter-terrorism czar Richard A. Clarke that they needed to take immediate action to counter terrorist groups such as Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda.  Both Tenet and Clarke, holdovers from the Bill Clinton administration, felt that their warnings were not being taken seriously. Clarke sent national security adviser Condoleezza Rice a memo on January 25 requesting an urgent National Security Council meeting on tackling the al Qaeda threat with an outline of a plan to do so.  But when such a meeting finally happened in April 2001, the nature of the threat was dismissed by Bush’s national security team.  Instead, they suggested the focus should be on “Iraqi terrorism,” according to Clarke’s 2004 book, “Against All Enemies.”

In May, the CIA began to warn of an al Qaeda group inside the United States plotting attacks.  On May 1, the CIA Daily Brief warned of a potential attack from “a group presently in the United States.” Another warning of an “imminent” attack came on June 22.  Senior administration officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, dismissed these as a possible disinformation trick by al Qaeda, a Muslim militant group.  The CIA continued to send warnings, including a June 29 memo and then another in the Daily Brief on June 30 titled “UBL [Usama Bin Laden] Threats Are Real.” Bush replied to this briefing with the infamous line, “All right. You’ve covered your ass.”

An August 6 President’s Daily Brief titled “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US” outlined historic intelligence on al Qaeda’s activities, including the thwarted millennium bomb plot and bin Laden’s alleged consideration of crashing hijacked planes into buildings before stating:

"FBI information since that time indicates patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks, including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York."

This was the 36th time the CIA had warned Bush about imminent threats from bin Laden and al Qaeda, according to journalist Barton Gellman’s “Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency.”

Near the end of August, Tenet received a report titled “Islamic Extremist Learns to Fly.”  Around this time, Zacarias Moussaoui, a French citizen later alleged to be the 20th 9/11 hijacker, was arrested for overstaying his visa in Minnesota after his flight instructor became suspicious of his desire to learn to pilot large commuter jets before gaining any other flying skills.  One week later, the CIA warned embassies in Paris and London of “subjects involved in suspicious 747 flight training,” referring to Moussaoui as a potential “suicide bomber.”  Aside from Moussaoui, another potential hijacker, Mohammed al-Qahtani, a Saudi citizen, was denied entry to the U.S. on August 3.

Throughout that summer, many more warnings came from the CIA, the FBI, the Federal Aviation Administration and other agencies about an an imminent attack or other suspicious activity indicating the potential of a terrorist plot.  By the beginning of September, the Bush administration eventually came around to discussing and elevating some of Clarke’s and Tenet’s concerns. But if they’d taken them seriously sooner, could the attacks have been prevented?

Even if it’s impossible to say the attack could have been prevented, history suggests something more could’ve been done.  Journalist Peter Beinart examined whether the 9/11 attacks could have been prevented in 2016, after Trump blamed George W. Bush for failing to protect the United States on 9/11. 

Beinart documented how Clarke’s warnings to the Clinton administration of imminent al Qaeda attacks in December 1999 led to daily meetings between the Attorney General, the CIA, FBI and ultimately to the Clinton administration's success in foiling the January 1, 2000, millennium plot to blow up Los Angeles International Airport and other international targets. 

But Bush failed to maintain this vigilance when he came into office or act on specific intelligence when it was staring him in the face. To make matters worse, Bush's response to 9/11 proved to be even more disastrous.  Bush's Justice Department began crafting legal justifications to create an illegal torture regime and an illegal surveillance state.   The invasion of Afghanistan seemed to be a swift success, but the Bush administration’s decision to use a light force and rely on local militias to go after bin Laden at Tora Bora allowed the mastermind to escape. 

The Bush administration then infamously use lies about weapons of mass destruction to fuel their push for a new war in Iraq.  The U.S. would take on the “Axis of Evil” of Iraq, Iran and North Korea, none of which had anything to do with 9/11, and remake the world. New York Times columnist and Iraq War evangelist Thomas Friedman told PBS’s Charlie Rose that the purpose of the Iraq war was to tell the Muslim world to: “Suck. On. This. . . . We could have hit Saudi Arabia.  We could have hit Pakistan. We hit Iraq because we could.”

Conviction-Starved Gitmo Tribunal Turns On It Own

The Guantanamo Bay military tribunals have finally won their first conviction without a plea deal since 2008. Only it wasn’t a terrorist who was convicted – it was a one-star Marine general sticking up for the rights of the accused to have a fair trial.

In defending the principle that attorneys ought to be able to defend their clients free from government surveillance, Brigadier General John Baker was ruled in contempt of court and sentenced to 21 days in confinement. He also must pay a $1000 fine.

The shocking development at Guantanamo, described as a “national disgrace and an embarrassment” by the executive director of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, came on the same day President Donald Trump proposed sending accused New York terror suspect Sayfullo Saipovtot Guantanamo.  As a lawful permanent resident, Saipov is ineligible for a war-crimes trial under the 2009 Military Commission Act, which limits the court to  non-Americans,

“The military commissions are willing to put people in jail for defending the rule of law,” Jay Connell, who represents another Guantanamo detainee facing a military commission, told reporters. “If they’re willing to put a Marine general in jail for standing up for a client’s rights, they’re willing to do just anything.”   More details are here.

Lifting the Veil of Bush-Era Secrecy

On a snowy afternoon in February 2004, an FBI agent came to Nick Merrill’s door, bearing a national security letter (NSL).  At the time, Merrill was  running a small internet service provider (called Calyx) on Manhattan's west side. 

The NSL demanded details on one of his company’s clients-- including cellphone tower location data, email details and screen-names.  If Merrill even talked about the NSL with his girlfriend or a lawyer, he could go to jail on "national security" charges.

NSL's were sparingly used over the years, but the Patriot Act vastly expanded what an NSL could be used for, and the FBI began rapidly abusing the tool, issuing nearly 57,000 in the most recent year.  After n 11-year battle with the FBI, Merrill can now finally tell his story to the public.

With the ACLU, Merrill went to court to challenge the constitutionality of the letter, and its associated gag order.

The case, in which Merrill was listed as a “John Doe” because of the terms of the order, was against the attorney general, John Ashcroft, FBI director, Robert Mueller, and FBI senior counsel Marion Bowman.

The same year, a district court judge, sided with Merrill against the federal government, finding that the letter violated his fourth amendment rights. A year later, in response, Congress amended the statute. Merrill went to court again; again, the district court struck down the law.  In 2008, a second circuit judge affirmed that decision.  The FBI eventually decided it no longer wanted the information it had demanded and dropped its demand for records-- but it continued to challenge Merrill's right to disclose the letter and publicly discuss his case.

In 2014, a federal judge in New York finally ruled that the gag order be completely lifted.  After waiting out the period in which the Department of Justice could appeal, Merrill finally received permission to publish the full, un-redacted version of the letter.

It has taken a long fifteen years-- but we are another step closer to unraveling the tortured legacy of the Bush administration.

More Faux Outrage

Tempest In A Coffee Cup

A Chip Off The Old [Dumb] Block

Dad asks: Is our children learning?

Jenna Bush Hager, daughter of former President George W. Bush, accidentally registered as a member of the Independence Party in New York, the New York Daily News reported.   Mission Accomplished!

There have been howls from media watchers ever since the Today show gave the goofy but earnest Bush progeny a job as a special correspondent just months after her father left the White House.  How fair can this world be when so many journalism school graduates still struggle for full-time work when Bush spawn continue to remain on-air?

The blonde Bush was widely ridiculed over her initial broadcast from Yellowstone Park, where she fumbled over her words ("woof-watching") and read her less-than-a-minute-long report straight from paper.  For many folk, it is actually very touching to see a kid so resemble her doofus father.

More Shit From An Asshole

Thanks To You, Asshole, Nobody Has Any Privacy Anymore-- Join The Club!

Thanks to Wonkette, we have a new reason to add to the endless list of why George W. Bush can fuck himself.  In the hardest-hitting interview since Sarah Palin was asked to name stuff she reads, Bush  slammed Guccifer, the hacker who intercepted the Bush family’s emails and revealed some of Bush’s paintings:

“I was annoyed. It’s an invasion of one’s privacy,” he said. “And yeah, I was annoyed. And nor do I want my paintings to get out.”

We'll leave the rest to Wonkette, in one of their classic screeds:

"See, back in oldey-time times, we have vague memories of Bush — who can fuck himself — not giving much of a damn about privacy. Like that time his administration spied on Quaker anti-war protesters, who were against his stupid war and therefore had surrendered their right to privacy because of how they were against his stupid war. He used this ridiculous thing called the Super Duper Jesus Bless America PATRIOT Act  to listen to phone calls and read email and spy on whatever American his administration deemed The Enemy, even though he’d already secretly ordered the NSA to do that anyway, without warrants, which are things you are supposed to obtain in order to do spying, but that’s just a dumb legal thing, and legal things ceased to matter under Bush because of 9/11 9/11 9/11 terrorist terrorist terrorist 9/11.  

He also signed the FISA Amendments Act, which allowed him to make phone companies turn over all their records so he could read your sexts and emails if he thought you were maybe trying to do terrorism. Maybe. Like, if he had a hunch. You know, like how he had a hunch we should invade Iraq, even though he was wrong about that, which is another reason Bush can fuck himself. 

The odds that we will ever know the full extent of Bush’s spying-on-Americans-but-just-the-terroristy-kind  program are, let’s see … carry the one, divide by never … ah, right, zero. But we know he invaded the shit out of the privacy of plenty of Americans, and he didn’t care. No one in his administration cared. None of his supporters cared. Why should you care if the president is listening to your conversations unless you have something to hide, hater? Besides, the security of America, as defined by the assholes who shrugged  at terrorist threats [before 9/11] and then lied us into a war in a country that had nothing to do with anything, trumps your petty little privacy concerns. Hater."

So that is why we (and many, many folks including Wonkette) don't give a flying fuck about Bush getting his privacy invaded.  He can take it like a champ-- just like all the rest of us law-abiding jerks have done since he kicked off a world-wide binge of spying, torturing and human rights abuse.

The Legacy of Bush and Fox News

“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'”

― Isaac Asimov

Gates On The Defense

I've read a lot of reviews, commentary and released excerpts from Robert Gates' new memoir.  I can tell you right up front not to waste your time.  When I read that Gates describes President Bush as a "mature leader" who was intellectually strong and confident in his abilities, any credibility he might have had vanished completely.

Gates also clearly admired Bush for never looking back on it or having second thoughts.  Disgusting.  Tell that to the families of dead, wounded and displaced Iraqis, the thousands of dead and wounded American soldiers.  Yes-- we elected a President who never had the intellectual curiosity or humility to think back on his actions or reexamine his moral compass.

According to his own words, Gates himself was a moral coward who didn't have the balls to come out against DADT on the merits.  He freely admitted what prompted him to lift the ban on gays in the CIA was the feeling that if he didn’t, the courts would do so-- which in his own mind was the worst result possible (Oh, the horrors of judges enforcing constitutional and human rights!)

Gates attacked Reid and Pelosi for saying the Iraq war was un-winnable while at the same time agreeing with Ambassador Crocker that it probably WAS un-winnable.  

Gates also criticized Obama and Biden for not trusting the military leaders--  writing “I was offended by [Obama's] suspicion that any of us would ever write about such sensitive matters.”  Incredibly, he also admits that he felt General Petreaus  might not have been completely trustworthy and may have been politically manipulative at times-- even once being threatened by him during a visit to Iraq.  On top of that, we have a former Pentagon chief writing a book criticizing a sitting President . . . personally, I think all civilian leaders should harbor a natural distrust of the military.  Most recently, the military aided and abetted Cheney and Bush in their misguided war efforts and use of torture.

And Gates himself  in many ways is a re-tread of Robert McNamara-- both long-time Secretaries of Defense who helped further U.S. involvement in unpopular wars.  And after leaving the administration, both put out books blaming the Presidents they were supposedly advising, and absolving themselves of any blame.  Anyone with an ounce of  integrity would have resigned if they found themselves in an untenable situation. Instead, Gates kept "advising" the President and squirreling away little tidbits for a book he hoped would make him rich.

Gates also didn't have nice things to say about Harry Reid.  When he heard the Senate Majority Leader famously declared “This war is lost,” and that “the surge is not accomplishing anything,”  Gates was reminded of a Lincoln quote (which he shared with his staff): “Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage morale and undermine the military are saboteurs and should be arrested, exiled, or hanged.”   Of course, Gates fails to acknowledge any irony in the fact that he himself is criticizing a sitting President during a war (on "terror"), which also undermines military leaders and damages moral.

Gates can't resist wading into the purely political waters either, criticizing the Obama administration for their belief (at the beginning of his term) that "Everything was awful, and Obama and his team had arrived just in time to save the day.”  So where was Gates then, when the Bush administration squandered a surplus, started two wars, invaded a country that had nothing to do with 9/11, left behind a real estate market in meltdown, with an economy on the verge of the worst recession since the Great Depression?

People like Gates, who write books to make money and to defend their own actions (or inaction) and try to defend an inept administration (in which they themselves took part) are nothing more than cowards who deserve little respect.

Rejected Exhibits for the George W. Bush Library

The George W. Bush library opened last week, and what didn't make the news was the original lineup of exhibits that were scheduled to appear, but were rejected.  In case you were interested, here's what didn't make the final cut for inclusion in the library:

* The Alberto Gonzales Room: where you can't remember any of the exhibits.

* The Hurricane Katrina Room: It's still under construction.

* The Texas Air National Guard Room: where you don't even have to show up.

* The Walter Reed Hospital Room: where they don't let you in.

* The Guantanamo Bay Room: where they don't let you out.

* The Weapons of Mass Destruction Room: Nobody has been able to find it.

* The War in Iraq Room: After you complete your first tour they can force you to go back for your second, third, fourth or fifth tour.

* The K Street Project Gift Shop: where you can buy an election or, if no one cares, steal one.

* The Men's Room: where you could meet a Republican senator or two. Just tap your feet!

A Veteran's Dying Words To War Criminals Bush & Cheney

Days after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, 22-year-old Tomas Young joined many other young men and decided to enlist  in the military to avenge the deaths of  nearly 3,000 Americans.  Three years later, Young found himself not in Afghanistan (where George W. Bush had told the nation the terrorist plot had originated) but in Iraq instead.

Only five days into his first tour of duty, Young's convoy was attacked by insurgents. A bullet from an AK-47 severed his spine; another struck his knee. Young would never walk again.  Over the next nine years, Young suffered a number of medical setbacks which have led to the gradual deterioration of his body.  Young's injury led to his becoming one of the most vocal veteran critics of the Iraq War. 

On the 10th anniversary of the war, Young has released his most powerful criticism yet-- in what he says will be the last letter of his life.  Due to his worsening condition, he has checked into a hospice and plans to stop taking all nourishment and life-extending medications in April.  The following is an excerpt from his powerful condemnation of George Bush and Dick Cheney, whose lies led to the deaths of 180,000 people and the loss of over $2 trillion dollars.

I write this letter, my last letter, to you, Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney. I write not because I think you grasp the terrible human and moral consequences of your lies, manipulation and thirst for wealth and power. I write this letter because, before my own death, I want to make it clear that I, and hundreds of thousands of my fellow veterans, along with millions of my fellow citizens, along with hundreds of millions more in Iraq and the Middle East, know fully who you are and what you have done. You may evade justice but in our eyes you are each guilty of egregious war crimes, of plunder and, finally, of murder, including the murder of thousands of young Americans—my fellow veterans—whose future you stole.

Your positions of authority, your millions of dollars of personal wealth, your public relations consultants, your privilege and your power cannot mask the hollowness of your character. You sent us to fight and die in Iraq after you, Mr. Cheney, dodged the draft in Vietnam, and you, Mr. Bush, went AWOL from your National Guard unit. Your cowardice and selfishness were established decades ago. You were not willing to risk yourselves for our nation but you sent hundreds of thousands of young men and women to be sacrificed in a senseless war with no more thought than it takes to put out the garbage.

 Read Young's entire letter here.

The Art of Hacking

A hacker, known by the pseudonym Guccifer, hacked into the email accounts of several members of the Bush family, including President George W. Bush's sister, and published a cache of private emails and photographs online. The emails reveal that the Bushes were highly concerned about the health of George H.W. Bush, who was recently released from the hospital following a week of intensive care. The most intriguing images, which have been the subject of some easy mockery, are of painted self-portraits done by George W. Bush, including one of him in the shower and one of him in the bath.

 

Guccifer seems unconcerned by the potential repercussions for his daring hack, telling the Smoking Gun that he's been under federal investigation for a long time. "I have an old game with the fucking bastards inside," he added. "This is just another chapter in the game."

Bogus Benghazi Brouhaha

Another Gitmo Conviction Thrown Out

A U.S. appeals court has quashed the conviction of Osama Bin Laden's former driver, who had been jailed in Guantanamo Bay for giving material support to terrorism.

Like most of the eight years of the Bush administration, Salim Hamdan's conviction was a farce.  Hamdan admitted working for Bin Laden  in Afghanistan from 1997 to 2001 for $200 a month as his driver-- but said he worked for wages, not to wage war.  The appeals court rejected the government's charge that he had conspired to carry out the 9/11 attacks, ruling that Hamdan's actions did not constitute war crimes.

Cheney Won't Be Needing Passport Any Time Soon

Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, complicit in war crimes committed by the George W. Bush administration, canceled an upcoming Toronto speaking appearance due to "security concerns" over recent events in Canada.

In the last several weeks, Human Rights Watch had been urging the Canadian government to bring criminal charges against Cheney, due to his role in the torture of detainees.  His last visit to Vancouver had been marked by demonstrations as well.

Cheney was scheduled to speak at the Metro Toronto Convention Center next month, but spokesman Ryan Ruppert said Cheney had "decided it was better for [his] personal safety [to] stay out of Canada."

A Decade Of Shame Lives On

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the opening of Gitmo (the infamous U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay)

Gitmo received its first 20 detainees on January 11, 2002, as part of the initial stages of Bush Jr's global 'War on Terror.' Over the next ten years, 779 prisoners would be transfered to Guantanamo, labeled as "illegal enemy combatants," a definition permitted the U.S. to hold them indefinitely without charges and subject them to illegal torture. Only one of the remaining 171 detainees at Guantanamo faces formal charges.

President Obama had promised to close the facility after taking office -- calling it a "betrayal of American values." Yet almost four years later, the Obama administration has failed to deliver on that promise. "Human rights groups and lawyers for prisoners are dismayed that Obama [not only] failed to close the prison, but [that he] has resumed military tribunals at the base and continues to hold men like [Suleiman] al-Nahdi who have been cleared for release," the Associated Press writes. "Critics are also angry over the president's Dec. 31 signing of the National Defense Authorization Act, which includes a provision allowing indefinite military detention without trial."

Today, 171 men remain detained at Guantanamo Bay. 36 are set to face trial on war crimes charges; 46 are considered too dangerous to be released but cannot be prosecuted because the evidence against them was obtained by illegal torture; 57 men from Yemen are held because the U.S. does not want them to return to their unstable country; and congressional limitations (written into Defense appropriation bills) are preventing the release of 32 others.

A Letter From Dick Cheney

Dear Readers:

I was a huge war hawk, happily sending other people's kids to war, but I "had other priorities in the '60s than military service" and got five deferments.

Saddam Hussein was a friend before he was an enemy.

I happily did business with Iran, Libya and Iraq as CEO of Halliburton.

I held secret White House meetings with oil companies to expand their influence and profitability, and suppressed information about the health effects of global warming.

As a Congressman I opposed the Department of Education and economic sanctions against South Africa's apartheid government.

I started a trillion-dollar war based on cherry-picked intelligence and outright lies, including "There is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt that he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies, and against us."

I said that "There's overwhelming evidence that there was a connection between Al Qaeda and the Iraqi government."

I insisted that the war would be over in less than six months.

I warned in late 2004 that if John Kerry won the election, "…we'll get hit again, and we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating."

I supported the torture of human beings. I still do.

I stayed on vacation for days after hurricane Katrina hit.

I had no objection to tossing the writ of habeas corpus into the garbage disposal.

I couldn't find Osama bin Laden

I responded to the American people's concern about the Iraq war with: "So?"

I drank a beer and then shot a lawyer friend in the face because I wasn't following proper gun safety rules. I never apologized.

I told the FISA court to go fuck itself---we can spy on Americans without a warrant anytime we feel like it.

I left office with a 13 percent approval rating, for which you can all go fuck yourselves, too.

Now buy my book, suckers!

(Courtesy of the Daily Kos)

Cheney Needs To Be Taken To Task

Now that Darth Chaney will soon be out hawking his memoirs on a book tour, I think it's about time that reporters start pressuring him more on questions that he failed to deal with in his self-serving, history-rewriting book.  Some suggestions (several of which courtesy of HuffPo):

How can you possibly not call waterboarding torture? And just how involved in it were you?

Why torture detainees if it doesn't even work?

Do you fear being charged with criminal conduct?

Do you fear being charged with a war crimes?

The United States has prosecuted individuals who engaged in waterboarding, so why is there now an exemption from those in the Bush administration?"

When do you plan to travel outside the United States next?

What do you consider a violation of human dignity, exactly?

Did you tell Scooter Libby to leak Valerie Plame's identity as a CIA agent to the press?

What agreement did you have with Karl Rove to divide policy responsibilities?

Just how much surveillance do you think the government can do without a warrant?

Who was really in charge the morning of 9/11-- you or Bush?

How much did you have to drink before you shot your friend in the face?

How much did you know about Halliburton's massive bribery scheme in Nigeria?

Why did you allow Pakistan to airlift Taliban and Al-Queda officials out of Kunduz in 2001?

Why did you and Bush fail to capture or kill Bin Laden at Tora Bora?

Why didn't you and Bush take the threat of a Bin Laden attack more seriously the month before 9/11?