Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Dick Cheney

The earliest example of Dick's hypocrisy relates to his (non) involvement in the Vietnam War. Although a vocal supporter, he applied for, and received, five draft deferments, later stating "I had other priorities in the 60s than military service."

After he hooked up with Rummy and did a number of questionable things during the Nixon administration, he got elected to Congress, where he voted against both a national MLK holiday and a congressional resolution to free Nelson Mandela. And before becoming vice president, he was, of course, the CEO of Halliburton, possibly the Iraq War's biggest winner.

I could go on and on, but it's the absolute contrariness to the human spirit that really peeves me. It's the sacrifice of the means for the ends -- and the ends not being wisdom or sacrifice, but of selfishness and power. Do you think Baby Boomers did what they did because it was the right thing to do? No. They did it because they could live more securely.

And what did all this selfishness and ambition secure Dick besides four heart attacks? And besides a blurred image of the Vice President's house on Google Earth...seriously (Note: the White House is not blurred out, but the Vice President's house is)?

It's the lack of caring, the lack of magnanimity. If you asked a Baby Boomer in the 60s what they thought about the government's lack of caring about their life choices, they would have no doubt answered "So?" When ABC News asked Dick in 2008 how his assessment comports with two-thirds of the American public saying the Iraq War wasn't worth it, his reply was "So?" A lot can happen to a group of people in forty years, but certain individuals never change.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Dick Cheney's so not my favorite.