My SweetHeart's LTTE to NYTimes

[TomInTib]

To the Editor,

So Porter Goss gets a Distinguished Service Award recognizing achievements of "house members beyond their Congressional Service". After George Tenet's award of a Medal of Freedom for 'bad intel' that led to the war in Iraq on his way out the door, this comes as no great surprise. What did give cause for a double-take was that Dick Cheney also received the same Distinguished Service Award at the same occasion. Some head-scraching confusion and subsequent research ensued.

How does a sitting Vice President earn such an award - which is ostensibly for Congressional achievments (setting aside even the question of why said VP whose poll numbers are sub-terranean needs a medal to make him feel better) - merit this award for his achievements?

Well, apparently the award is well-deserved. Cheney voted against Martin Luther King day - before he voted for it. He voted against the creation of the Department of Education, citing his concerns over budget and expansion of the federal government, citing states' rights. Clearly not the Education Vice President.

Then, showing his keen grasp of international affairs, he supported Reagan's veto against sanctions against South Africa, later saying unilateral sanctions almost never work (Cuba and south Florida votes excepted). Of course, he also voted later against a non-binding resolution for South Africa to release Nelson Mandela from prison because the the ANC refused to denouce a communist element to their faction. During the 2000 Presidential campaign, Cheney said that at the time the ANC was viewed as a "terrorist organization and had a number of interests that were fundamentally inimical to the US". Good thing that our future Vice President had a keen eye for terrorists - it has served us so well.

This would be the same Dick Cheney that conveniently left off Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan and made a bee-line for Saddam Hussein, sitting on the door-step of the CIA while he set up Tenet for his particular "exit-medal".

As a member of the House, Cheney was known for his vigorous advocacy of the petroleum and coal business. In a related story - as in right next to the awards story, in my copy of the NYT - "Gas Prices Unlikely to Drop Soon, Energy Official Says".

Now, may we talk about the (secret) energy meeting that Cheney presided over at the beginning of this administration? Then we'll talk about Halliburton and the Iraq war - and who really profits.