Did Cheney use bomb plot foreknowledge to bash Democrats?
Speculation is percolating that Dick Cheney used his knowledge of the British plot investigation to bash Democrats, knowing the information would soon be made public (although he and Bush did not know when the British would announce it.) Cheney took the highly unusual step, after the Lieberman defeat, of calling together a news conference of reporters while on vacation in order to excoriate Democrats as being weak on national security:
“[Lieberman's defeat showed ]the direction the party appears to be heading when they in fact purge a man like Joe Lieberman, who just six years ago was their nominee for vice president [over his support for the war on terrorism.] What is particularly disturbing about it is from the standpoint of our adversaries … They clearly are betting on the proposition that ultimately they can break the will of the American people in terms of our ability to stay in the fight and complete the task. [He wondered if] the dominant view of the Democratic Party [is] the basic, fundamental notion that somehow we can retreat behind our oceans and not be actively engaged in this conflict and be safe here at home.”
There are just so many things wrong with this. First, who does Cheney think he is, calling a news conference after a primary being held by the other party in order to comment on it? Second, it’s good to know how disgusted Cheney feels about the hundreds of thousands of people who turned out to vote for Lamont; it’s not the “party” that’s knows Iraq is a failure–it’s the American people who are coming to their senses. Doesn’t he read the polls? Third, it sure is an odd coincidence that Cheney would come out swinging at Dems over national security, knowing fully well of the unfolding plot in Britain, when you really haven’t heard much from him otherwise during this election season.
Maybe it’s not a coincidence, in which case Cheney played really dirty.
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