Category: Dick Cheney

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Bush Dick Cheney Domestic Policies News Politics Technology

And This Is A Surprise, Why?

Yes, I try to be a good liberal every chance that I can, but honestly, I can’t help but think that this NSA surveillance business is a big yawn. We live in an electronic, connected world. We provide information via phone, cable TV, Internet, e-mail, texts, check boxes (especially after we’ve all thoroughly read the 28 page privacy statement that all website provide us with), billing address is same as mailing address online forms when we buy something, credit card information (stored on a third party server), Facebook, Twitter, Skype, Tumblr, picture sharing sites and on and on and on.

Now we learn that the government, in the name of national security and with the acquiescence of the executive, legislative and judicial branches, has gathered this data (I believe that “scooped” is the reigning cool-person way to describe it) and could use it to discover patterns in our behavior. If they wanted to. It’s disturbing, but I cannot share the outrage. I saw it coming, and when I was a corporate technology trainer in the 1990s, I made a point of warning every student who sat in my class that everything they did on a computer, whether on the Internet or in a Word document, was fair game for any eyes that wanted to pry. This is ever more true today. People ignored or minimized this at their peril. And this was before September 11, when the corporations and government had even less of an excuse to watch us.

Okay, perhaps I’m being naive and obtuse and blind and I’m ignoring dangers that other can clearly see, but I don’t think so. Maybe this article is absolutely wrong, but again, I don’t think so.  Yes, I understand that there’s a difference between willingly giving your data and the government mining for it, and I certainly don’t want the government to get used to taking data that citizens have not freely given it, but in a way, we have.

This is also part of our history, and has been going on since the Alien and Sedition Acts. And the 1917 Espionage Act. When we signed on to Truman’s Doctrine of containing Communism, we tacitly agreed that the government could check that we were loyal. Joseph McCarthy went too far and was too reckless. Richard Nixon did similar things, but he was elected VP and president and had J. Edgar Hoover to both support and threaten him. When they went too far, the Congress reined them in. So it will be today.

The problem now is that the threat of attack is too real and the consequences too terrible to let our guard down for even a second. The Chinese and Iranians are conducting cyberattacks that threaten our systems. How would you like the government to respond? By only following the bad people? That’s like asking the police to only shoot or arrest bad guys. Most times it happens, but when it doesn’t we react with a fury that sometimes ignores facts or circumstances. The same is true today. The NSA’s job is to conduct information-gathering and use that data to find patterns of behavior that might lead to terrorism. To say that they should not be gathering all of the data that they can is counterproductive.

That the press has reported this story based on a whistle-blowers actions shows that our system still works. The government will be held accountable. At this point, that’s good enough for me.

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives and on Twitter @rigrundfest

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Dick Cheney George Bush Tid Bits

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Former U.S. Surgeon General under Ronald Reagan, C. Everett Koop passed away Monday at 96 y.o. I always felt he was one of the most vocal, concerned SGs this country has had in a while. Bet you can’t even name our present SG. Me either. I’ll google it after I finish this little memorial…I remember when Mr.Koop first got my attention as he began regularly sporting that immaculate, crisp, white uniform and the gold-braided dark-blue uniform of a vice admiral, a practice he himself revived (I’ve always loved a man in uniform lol). I was transfixed as I watched his salt and pepper, biblical beard rapidly moving up and down as he raged against the tobacco industry during news interviews regarding his anti-smoking campaign “A Smoke-Free Society by the Year 2000″. He didn’t make any friends of the lawmakers who made big money catering to the tobacco lobbyists. He was an advocate for a strong Aids Awareness program and privacy for Aids victims, and although personally against abortion, Koop did not use his office to dictate to women, what should be their choice as to whether or not to have one. Lost a lot of Repub allies over that one too! God Speed C. Everett Koop, a man of conscience, courage and conviction. Don’t see that too much these days in political figures. ♦

The Cannibal Cop‘s got his wife crying in court over the fact that she found out he had intentions of eating her too!–and not in the fun way either. The attorneys for Gilberto Valle, 28, a New York City policeman accused of conspiring to kidnap and eventually eat women, argued in his defense saying Valle just has a little fetish and was only fantasizing, nothing to take seriously, although investigators turned up a shopping list of 100 women who he couldn’t wait to sink his teeth into. Valle’s estranged wife, Kathleen Mangan testified to fleeing from their home last year after finding “disturbing material” on her hubby’s computer. I’m sure disturbing was putting it mildly. ♦

Will we begin to hear talk from the White House once again on the prosecution of Dick Cheney and GW Bush, now that’s its been proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that they were in involved in the fabrication of the whole WOMD-War-On-Terrorism-Saddam-Hussein-was-involved-with-911-search-and-capture-of-Osama-Bin-Laden thing, thanks to Rachel Maddow‘s excellent documentary ‘Hubris’? I know one thing’s for sure. All the conspiratorial inferences and cover-up accusations aimed at Hillary Clinton and Ambassador Susan Rice concerning the Benghazi incident, and the litany of bullshit condemnations, indignation and stonewalling on the part of the Republicans during Chuck Hagel‘s confirmation hearings, was just an attempt to get as much spin as possible on their ‘alternate universe conspiracies’ before ‘Hubris’ hit the fan. Guess they thought creating an atmosphere of doubt over President Obama‘s Administration would distract us from the dishonorable Bush presidency. I know the saying goes ‘nothing beats a failure but a try’…but not in this case boys. ♦

Everything you may need to start knowing about Drones: Part I

As an aircraft, the Predator UAV is little more than a super-fancy remote-controlled plane. But this simple design lends itself well to the Predator’s intended functions. Below you can see the placement of components:
  1. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Antenna
  2. Inertial Navigation System/GPS
  3. Ku-Band Satellite Communications Antenna
  4. Video Cassette Recorder
  5. GPS Antennas (Left and Right)
  6. APX-100 Identification Friend or Foe Transponder
  7. Ku-Band Satellite Communications Sensor Processor Modem Assembly
  8. C-Band Upper Omnidirectional Antenna Bracket
  9. Forward Fuel Cell Assembly
  10. Aft Fuel Cell Assembly
  11. Accessory Bay
  12. Engine Cooling Fan
  13. Oil Cooler/Radiator
  14. 914F Engine
  15. Tail Servo (Left and Right)
  16. Battery Assembly #2
  17. Power Supply
  18. Battery Assembly #1
  19. Aft Equipment Bay Tray
  20. Secondary Control Module
  21. Synthetic Aperture Radar Processor/AGM-114 Electronics Assembly
  22. Primary Control Module
  23. Front Bay Avionics Tray
  24. ARC-210 Receiver/Transmitter
  25. Flight Sensor Unit
  26. Video Encoder
  27. De-ice Controller
  28. Electro-Optical/Infrared Sensor/AN/AAS-52(V)1 Electronics Assembly
  29. Front Bay Payload Tray
  30. Ice Detector
  31. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Receiver/Transmitter
  32. Nose Camera Assembly

h/t How Stuff Works

 Later pilgrims…

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Dick Cheney Politics

Republican Congressman Said Dick Cheney Would End Up In Hell

Republican Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina said Saturday that former Vice President Dick Cheney would likely end up in hell because of his role in the Iraq war.

Dick Cheney

At a Young Americans for Liberty conference, Jones said it was impossible under current law to prosecute a president for intentionally manipulating intelligence reports to make the case for war. He explained he co-authored a bill to change the law, but the legislation was killed in committee by his Republican colleague Lamar Smith of Texas.

“I have no malice towards Lamar, I have respect for him,” Jones remarked. “But that again is the problem. Congress will not hold anyone to blame. Lyndon Johnson’s probably rotting in hell right now because of the Vietnam War, and he probably needs to move over for Dick Cheney.”

Jones initially voted in favor of the Iraq war in 2002. He infamous called for “French fries” to be renamed “freedom fries” after France refused to support the U.S. invasion of the country.

The conservative Christian turned against the war after witnessing American casualties and once it became clear Iraq was not building any weapons of mass destruction.

h/t Raw Story

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Barack Obama Dick Cheney Politics

Dick Cheney Humor – Claims President Obama is “One Of Our Weakest Presidents”

As you read this, keep in mind that the worst terrorist attack on American soil happened under the watchful eyes of Dick Cheney and George Bush. And keep in mind that President Obama’s foreign policy on terrorist have led to more legitimate terrorists captured and or killed in four years, than in Bush’s entire eight years.

With those two facts in mind, read the humor of Dick Cheney.

“Obviously am not a big fan of President Obama,” the former vice president told ABC News. “I think he’s been one of our weakest presidents. I just fundamentally disagree with him philosophically. I’d be hard put to find any Democratic president that I’ve disagreed with more.”

Even Jimmy Carter, Cheney was asked? “Yes,” he said.

Of course, the feeling is no doubt mutual; Obama and his backer say the policies of Cheney and President George W. Bush in Iraq and elsewhere lowered U.S. standing in the world.

Cheney did give Obama credit for the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in 2011, but said the intelligence that led to that action came from programs developed from the Bush administration.

He also criticized Obama’s decisions to withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan.

“We should not be running for the exits. We should not be turning our backs on our friends in that part of the world,” he said.

Cheney will not be delivering a critique of Obama at next month’s Republican convention; ABC reported that he plans to skip the proceedings.

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Dick Cheney Mitt Romney Politics Terrorism

Dick Cheney Says Mitt Romney Is The “Only” Candidate To Trust On Foreign Policy

Mitt Romney – the man whose only foreign experience has to do with his offshore bank accounts betting against the United States dollar and his marvelous ability to ship American jobs overseas – got the seal of approval from Dick Cheney as America’s only hope to deal with foreign crisis.

This approval, coming from the same Dick Cheney who was part of the Bush Administration that allowed the biggest terrorist activity on American soil and who plunged America into debt by starting a trillion dollar war with a country on the guise of Weapons of Mass Destruction.

David Edwards writes: During a Wyoming fundraiser, the former vice president said that his experience in Washington taught him that every president would have to deal with an international crisis that could mean sending U.S. forces into harm’s way.

“When I think about the kind of individual I want in the Oval Office in that moment of crisis, who has to make those key decisions, some of them life-and-death decisions, some of them decisions as commander-in-chief, who has the responsibility for sending some of our young men and women into harm’s way, that man is Mitt Romney,” Cheney said, according to The Associated Press.

For his part, Romney called Cheney a “great American leader,” but avoided mentioning to former President George W. Bush until a question-and-answer session when he contrasted President Barack Obama’s policies with Bush’s “freedom agenda.”

While Cheney has not been a vocal presence during the 2012 campaign season, he may have good reason to trust that Romney will be hawkish on foreign policy.

“Of Romney’s forty identified foreign policy advisers, more than 70 percent worked for Bush,” The Nation’s Ari Berman pointed out in May. “Many hail from the neoconservative wing of the party, were enthusiastic backers of the Iraq War and are proponents of a US or Israeli attack on Iran.”

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Massive Protest In Canada For “War Criminal” Dick Cheney. Video

On a recent visit to Canada, former vice president Dick Cheney was greeted with chants of “war criminal,” as Canada’s residents expressed their displeasure in the actions taken by the Bush Administration in Iraq and their blatant violations of the Geneva Convention through the Administration’s torture policy.

Dick Cheney appeared at The Vancouver Club, where attendees paid up to $500.00 to hear him speak. Referring to Mr. Cheney, one protester called him a terrorist, saying;

“…well you can say the The Vancouver Club is harboring a terrorist and a war criminal tonight cause I think crimes of state, can also be acts of terror. Terrorizing people in Iraq, terrorizing detainees and prisoners… so to borrow some of the rhetoric of the Bush Administration, they are harboring a terrorist.”

To block the entrance to the building where Cheney was giving his speech, protesters sat in the road and literally held the legs of attendees trying to gain access while police struggled to keep the pathway clear.

This should be Dick Cheney’s welcome everywhere he goes.

Watch the not-so-hero’s welcome below.

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Dick Cheney Politics

Yes, Ron Paul Is Right

It’s not often I’ll agree with Ron Paul. The Republican/Libertarian has, by the very nature of his ideology, suggested that the only role government should have is an invisible one. He also criticizes the Civil Rights Act of 1964, fought for an end to all regulations on businesses, and as recently as the last Republican debate, suggested that airlines are best equipped to stop terrorism. All things I strongly disagree with.

But on his website, Ron Paul wrote about his feelings on the 10th year anniversary of September 11th, and something he said had me nodding in agreement. He said;

 We should never forget those in our government who used the worst terrorist attack in our nation’s history as an excuse to launch completely unrelated wars, to do unprecedented damage to Americans’ historic liberties, to run roughshod over the Constitution, and to betray the Founders’ vision by savaging some of our most deeply held values.

A clear swipe to the Bush Administration who, instead of using the opportunity of September 11th to get the terrorists responsible for killing almost 3,000 people, preached fear to the American people and began a war with Iraq, a country that had no link to the destruction caused by Osama Bin Laden.

The war in Iraq ended up costing the lives of thousands of American troops, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives, and over $1 trillion. But war is a business, and someone made millions from the decision to use September 11th as the reason to invade Iraq.

Dick Cheney – the Vice President in Bush’s Administration, and one of the most influential voices for the war in Iraq – was CEO of a company call Haliburton. Dick Cheney insisted that he severed all ties with Haliburton in 2000, but after the war started in Iraq, Haliburton was awarded no-bid contracts worth millions for “rebuilding Iraq.”

In 2004, Cheney appeared on Meet The Press and was asked about his relationship with his former company, to which more denials were given. But Time Magazine uncovered internal Pentagon emails proving that Cheney was not being the least bit honest. According to the report, the emails showed that these no-bid contracts were going through Cheney’s office. From the report;

The e-mail says Feith approved arrangements for the contract “contingent on informing WH [White House] tomorrow. We anticipate no issues since action has been coordinated w VP’s [Vice President’s] office.”  Three days later, the Army Corps of Engineers gave Halliburton the contract, without seeking other bids.

So yes, in this particular case, I wholeheartedly agree with Ron Paul. The war in Iraq was not one of necessity, but one of choice. There were billions of dollars to be made, and no-bid contracts by unscrupulous government officials was the way to do it.

And the lives lost in the process? Cheney recently said that if he had to do it all over again, he wouldn’t change a thing. In other words, in war you lose some then you lose some more. But the profits gained… priceless!

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Barack Obama Condoleezza Rice Dick Cheney Osama bin Laden Osama BinLaden Politics United States Waterboarding

Torture Had Nothing To Do With Finding Osama Bin Laden

We have all heard their claims, that former President George Bush is equally responsible for bringing down Osama Bin Laden as our current President, Barack Obama. And these Bush lovers credit the torturing and water-boarding of prisoners as the only pathway that led to Bin Laden.

Are they right? Is the Obama administration wrong for ending torture and abiding by the rules in the Geneva Convention – a treaty that America is a signatory to? A treaty that clearly states in Article 27;

Protected persons are entitled, in all circumstances, to respect for their persons, their honour, their family rights, their religious convictions and practices, and their manners and customs. They shall, at all times, be humanely treated, and shall be protected, especially against all acts of violence or threats thereof and against insults and public curiosity.

If we listen to the likes of Dick Cheney and Condoleezza Rice, we would be led to think that torture is the best thing since slice bread. But branch out a little and listen to others in the business of getting intelligence, and you’ll understand why torture or “enhanced interrogation,” loses its effect after a while.

Forbes today released an interview with a top United States interrogator in Afghanistan, who claimed that “torture played no role in locating Osama bin Laden.” According to the report, this interrogator refers to the support for torture made by former Bush administration officials as “propaganda [that] degrades our intelligence operations more than any other factor I can think of.”

He continues;

“Listen, water-boarding and/or other coercive techniques did nothing to contribute to our attempts to track down UBL (Usama bin Laden). What did succeed was weeks, months and years of diligent, laborious, and dedicated work – all within the bounds of legal and ethical boundaries…No torture, no waterboarding, no coercion – nothing inhumane – is considered a useful tool in our work.

I cannot even count the amount of times that I personally have come face to face with detainees, who told me they were primarily motivated to do what they did, because of hearing that we committed torture. Even the rumor of torture is enough to convince an army of uneducated and illiterate, yet religiously motivated young boys to strap bombs to their chests and blow themselves up while killing whoever happens to be around – police, soldiers, civilians, women, or children. Torture committed by Americans in the past continues to kill Americans today.”

But why would Cheney and Rice listen to anything an interrogator says? Torture was their policy. It had nothing to do with American exceptionalism, finding terrorists or saving the lives of American troops deployed abroad. It was their interrogation practice of choice.

Torture violates the very  moral fabric of who we are as Americans and admitting it was wrong means their policies were wrong as well. And that is what it all boils down to… politics 101.

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democrats Dick Cheney Politics Republican Ronald Reagan United States

Reducing The Deficit Is Not In A Republican’s D.N.A

Republicans have fooled Americans into thinking they’re all for cutting the deficit. And if you listen to them long enough and fail to do the most minimal of research, you will tend to believe the lies. But here’s a little breakdown from Robert J. Elisberg that shows how concerned Republicans were when the deficit exploded… under Republican Presidents.

During the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, the national debt increased a combined 35.6%. It was the largest debt increase in U.S. history. Mr. Reagan alone tripled the national debt from $997 billion to $2.85 trillion.

Yet Republicans didn’t complain, didn’t rise up in anger, didn’t revolt. In fact, what Republicans did do was lionize Ronald Reagan as a patron saint, the near-God of conservatives.

Under George W. Bush, the national debt increased by a combined 27.1%. The U.S. budget went from a $128 billion surplus to a $482 billion deficit. The national debt doubled from $5.7 trillion to $10.7 trillion.

And there was no outcry by Republicans. Republicans didn’t complain, didn’t rise up in anger, didn’t revolt. Even when Vice President Dick Cheney was quoted, “Reagan proved deficits don’t matter.” Republicans didn’t complain.

In Bill Clinton’s administration, the national debt decreased. It went down by a combined 9.7%. Further — he balanced the U.S. budget.

And yet Mr. Clinton didn’t become a hero to conservatives, even the vaunted fiscal ones. The mere mention of his name still today causes body twitches.

Consider, too, that in every full administration since Nixon-Ford in 1973 up through George W. Bush in 2008 — EVERY national debt increase in America has occurred during a Republican administration. And EVERY reduction of national debt has occurred during a Democratic administration.

To this day, Republicans — that party of supposed “fiscal responsibility” — slam the Jimmy Carter presidency for incompetence. Yet the national debt went down 3.3% during the Carter administration.

Yea, there are those who refuses to do the google, and see for themselves. These are the unfortunate souls who still put their belief in the promises of the Republican party that they will “reduce the deficit.” But history is more than a subject taught in school, it also teaches us that those who fail to understand their history, tend to repeat it.

Read the rest of the article here

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