Cheney: "the administration did not get a lot of credit for the stuff that did not happen"

[sabra]

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=30191&s=rcmc

<snip>

“My job in its purest sense,” he explained, “is advisory. The nature of the job I have is that I’m not in charge of anything. . . . I advise the President. But I can’t talk about it.” He said if he did talk about it, he would no longer be asked for his advice. The private nature, however, causes suspicion, particularly in this political age. He said he believed that, after 9/11, the first obligation of the administration was to make sure we did not get hit again. “That meant making tough decisions.” A lot of those decisions, in order to be successful, had to be highly classified. Secrecy was important to have a successful policy, but it played right into the ‘Cheney is secretive’ image. None of that helped his image.

At the end of eight years, Cheney pointed out, the administration did not get a lot of credit for the stuff that did not happen. We’ve ended up in a situation where critics label everything the administration does as “torture.” “That word,” he sighed, “is used with reckless abandon.” Cheney was asked to assess whether President Bush and he would be leaving the Presidency in a stronger position than they found it. He thought so.

“Our system works best in this day and age with a strong executive,” he affirmed. He went on to say he thought the present administration had enhanced the ability of the President to do what needs to be done in the war given the circumstances. They made a conscious decision that they could not chance weakening the Presidency as happened after Vietnam. As a result, they made the decision to fight all the way to the Supreme Court on issues like the energy task force. Cheney said people told him if he had nothing to hide about the task force, why bother hiding. He said that wasn’t the point. “Henry Waxman does not tell me who he meets with” so why should I have to tell him who I meet with, Cheney argued. “You’ve got to be prepared to do these sorts of things to defend your turf.”

Those decisions involved putting together policies on enhanced interrogation techniques and other policies related to the war on terror. Cheney said the administration did in depth study on the precedents involved, including looking at what the Roosevelt Administration did during World War II, much of which was upheld by the Supreme Court. Fast forward fifty years and the Supreme Court looked again, determined the White House needed Congressional approval for military commissions, then decided they still did not like military commissions after the White House obtained that approval. There was clear frustration in Cheney’s voice describing the matter.

[kenny blankenship]

1. The Earth did not fall into the Sun after being struck by an asteroid

The Ebola virus did not go airborne, killing 100s of millions. Cows did not learn how to use guns.

We did all right.

[BR_Parkway]

2. I'm not getting any interest on the million dollars I never had in the bank

what's your point Dick?

[county worker]

3. A heard of wild elephants didn't attack New York so the administration must have done it's job!

How can you prove that because nothing happened it was because of something you did? We must be really dumb to fall for that unless there is evidence of cause and effect not just legacy building!

[spanone]

4. dear mr chenee, 911 happened on YOUR WATCH. no one elses.

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

5. We were spared a Cloverfield-like attack. nt

[dbonds]

6. It got a lot of credit...

It got credit for the children not being educated.
It got credit for New Orleans not being rebuilt or proper aid.
It got credit for no weapons of mass destruction being found in Iraq.
It got credit for no government being created in Iraq for 4 years.
It got credit for no action being taken to stop the recession/depression.

[sinkingfeeling]

7. You know, Dick, neither did I. I didn't get any credit for not completing my

college degree. I got none for not coming up with the cure to cancer. Nada for not solving the current economic crisis..... etc.

[Enrique]

8. "what about all the lawyers I didn't shoot in the face?" n/t

[librechik]

9. umm--people don't usually get credit for stuff that DIDN/T happen

obviously, he can't brag about any of the stuff that DID happen, though.

I guess he's better staying in the realm of imagination.

[burythehatchet]

10. Job #1: Make sure 9/11 happens. Job #2: Make sure it never happens again

what a dick

[Johonny]

11. Our system works best in this day and age

given that he leaves office after being the worst executive in American history, isn't safe to say what ever he says is likely wrong. Any one else think the system is working the "best" it has in their lifetime? didn't think so.

[WI_DEM]

12. Dick, terrorism has been around since the beginning of time, so you didn't let another 9/11 happen

BIG FUCKING DEAL! You let it happen once and that was enough.

[Solly Mack]

13. Typical..expected

So fucking obvious

[surrealAmerican]

14. Well, I, for one, am willing to give them credit for ...

... the things that didn't happen:
1. We didn't avoid a major terrorist attack.
2. We didn't improve the educational system.
3. The economy didn't improve.
4. We didn't rebuild New Orleans.
5. We didn't follow the Geneva Convention.
6. We didn't invest in infrastructure.
7. We didn't do anything to address global warming.
8. We didn't build on the surplus to save the country from a future (now present) crisis.
... the list just goes on and on.

[DailyGrind51]

15. No meteors either!

[Caliman73]

16. Yeah it's so much more efficient to govern without the consent of the governed.

Listening to Cheney speak about his frustrations with the Constitution is like listening to a sexual predator say, "You know it would have been so much better if the woman just thanked me for raping her."

Critics label the torture that the administration approved as torture, no more, no less. I am sure that our intelligence forces were able to extract information without breaking laws as they have done in the past to protect our interests. The bullshit started when the administration started trying to redefine concepts that had been in place for decades in order to fit their narrow views.

“Our system works best in this day and age with a strong executive,” JHC is this a quote from Cheney or the freaking emperor from Star Wars.
That is complete and utter bullshit as well is completely against the Constitution. Our system is not designed to move with ruthless efficiency like a dictatorial power. It is designed on purpose to be loud and messy, because it is founded on the principle that the citizens have a say in what is best for us. Cheney and the rest of the Bush administration subverted the rule of law and they want us to thank them for it. They think that somehow history will see them in a positive light. The most positive light they should hope for is that their era of decline is ignored one day as merely a dark chapter in our history.

[Uzybone]

17. Zombies did not rise from the catabombs and kill us

Thanks Cheney.

[onethatcares]

18. will anyone ever ask him the question

"Why was the administration rejecting all the information pertaining to the terrorist attack of 9/11/01"?

I would pay to see the vein in his temple explode trying to answer that one.

[opihimoimoi]

19. That Fuck Face was supposed to take over the Hart Rudman Anti Terrorist Plan...and DIDN'T

Not even 1 meeting till after 9/11

That Fuck Face Failed to thwart 9/11....3500 peeps died because of his Malfeasance

And worse...they all had a SERIOUS WARNING abd did nothing...not even tell Us the American people....they let us down...Cheney did..

and now he got the nerve to skip all this crap? and tell us a revised version?....No No he is not to be believed...he is a fraud and a selfcenterted POS