When I first listened to Dick Cheney, he was a representative from Wyoming. He was calm, assertive, conservative, and able to convey a sense of clarity in his foreign policy position. I strongly believe that Dick Cheney understands the concept of being at war with islamist extremists. He knows that they don't put on uniforms and conduct all out assaults using armies and tanks and that they use our weaknesses against us.
I've been dissappointed in Dick Cheney several times. The first time was when he advocated decreasing our defense budget. It took me several years to understand his philosophy of leaner, more responsive armed forces. I disagreed with him on several decisions he made to cancel weapon system's I believed should have been developed. He also became the director of the Council on Foreign Relations, an organization that I believe is based on an evil concept, and one that should be disbanded. I think, however, that Dick Cheney understands, better than most, the world's economic structure and that he needed to run in these circles in order to obtain information. He has always been a information hound, and we need a few of those in our midst.
I think the reason that I like Dick Cheney the most is his strong insistence on state's rights. From issues like gay marriage to health care, Dick Cheney has believed that state's should make their own decisions; a wise philosophy.
The media has consistently demonized Dick Cheney for his relationship with Halliburton. Though he divested his holdings, they latched on to his involvement with the large, private, military contractor, from which he gained most of his personal wealth, like leeches to skin. There are far more interesting things under the surface here than Halliburton, folks. Why is there no outrage that he was the director of the Council on Foreign Relations? Because progressives approve of it, that's why. Why did they not publicize his policy of decreasing our military forces by half? Because they approve of it! The hypocracy of these positions is evident.
The media have to have someone to vilify, and Vice President Cheney is the perfect guy. He's white, he's old, he's rich, and his life started with scandal in the form of draft deferments for the Vietnam War and will end with scandal with the undoubtedly sensational vice presidential papers that will one day be published. It doesn't matter that when you get to Washington D.C., they all have sensational and scandalous secrets that will eventually out, he's a conservative and that's enough.
It will never matter that he understands how to maneuver through the world economic nightmare controlled by only a few of the very rich. It will never matter that while understanding the hideous truth, Dick Cheney managed to float the dangerous waters and hold true to his conservative roots. And it will never matter that he protected the American public from islamic fundamentalist nutcases using what I truly hope were methods of interrogation resembling torture. We put caterpillars in rooms with these monsters, water-board them, and might even bash a few upside the head: well, good for us. And for these efforts, which could not have been very much fun, we have been rewarded with information that has kept us safe.
Dick Cheney is one of those few rich, old, white guys whom I believe have kept us safe, kept our economy from collapsing, and kept true to his conservative roots while navigating the minefields of global finance; so, find someone else to vilify for awhile. We know both the good and the bad about Dick Cheney and we accept that we need someone like him to provide leadership and do some of the dirty work in order to keep the rest of us working, living, and hoping for the future.
No comments:
Post a Comment