Mood: incredulous
Topic: "Wyomin' Gloamin'" (2)
Dick Cheney stated on "Meet the Press" that he did not know who authorized the mission that resulted in Joseph Wilson being sent to Africa. Sworn testimony in Federal Court documents now that Cheney, himself, commissioned the mission. Dick Cheney also stated on the same television show that he did not have any personal knowledge of the identity of this Joseph Wilson. Sworn testimony today revealed that Cheney and his assistant, Scooter Libby, charged with perjury, were briefed at exactly the same moment by the same person that not only was Wilson commissioned by the CIA for the assignment, but that his wife, Valerie Plame, was an operating agent of the CIA.
What makes all of this important is that Cheney, and Frodo has no capacity to judge his motivations, directed others to reveal, surreptitiously, that Wilson's mission was authorized by Wilson's wife, who was an employee of the CIA. The concomitant result is that Wilson's report was not used to contradict the allegation that Iraq was seeking nuclear materials in order to build a bomb. Wilson's report, of course, has proven to be correct, and Plame's identification has totally compromised her capacity to perform as she has been trained.
Under the absolute best of circumstances, Dick Cheney, for whatever reason, suppressed information which could have been used to prevent the United States from initiating a Pre-Emptive War against the existing Iraqi government. Cheney, in his own defense, argued on CNN yesterday that the War was fully justified, and that the United States action is unquestionably in our best interest.
The facts are that 3,069 American troops are now dead. Dick Cheney has not attended one single funeral. More than 30,000 Iraqis died from combat-related injuries within the past year (note: every source reports figures higher than this, save one, so Frodo uses the most conservative figure possible). The length of time that US troops have been deployed in conflict has now exceeded the length of deployment experienced by American troops during World War II. Two American soldiers have received, posthumously, the Medal of Honor for their action against whomever it is that we are fighting in Iraq. Paul Bremer, George Tenet, and General Tommy Franks have all received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for their participation in the planning and implementation of this military disaster.
Frodo would make the assumption that the planning of the War, and the implementation of the Recovery, were superior to the performance of American troops. Surely, since the planners and implementers lead in medals three-to-two. It deserves a special Frodo note that the actual value-cost of a Medal of Honor is somewhat less than $20. The components of a Presidential Medal of Freedom, on the other hand, exceed $600.
Frodo might also assume from much of the factual data above that Dick Cheney bears much of the responsibility for both the initiation and the continuing conduct of the War which has cost the United States far more than $400 Billion, and has created an Anti-American animosity which unquestionably exceeds that of any other point in out national history.
He got pissed off at Wolf Blitzer because a question was raised about his personal relationship with his pregnant daughter, an avowed lesbian.
Isn't it about time somebody asked some questions about just what makes this character tick? In open testimony today, Senator Joseph Biden charged that Cheney has been proved wrong on every single statement he has made about this obscene disaster facing our nation. Similarly, Senator John McCain, a fellow Republican, charged that the President has been ill-served by his reliance on the advice of this Vice President.
Frodo has spent time considering what public servant exactly, in all of American History, has performed so unsuccessfully in his role as to compare to that of Dick Cheney. Given his limitations, Frodo can only come up with one other who has truly done damage to his country at a level which even remotely compares to what Dick Cheney has wrought.
Wanna guess? Gee, ain't we lucky? Two at the same time, and Rumsfeld is a close third.