Dick Cheney Lied -- to a Republican

Of course, the Wall Street swoon is bigger news. But bigger news as well were the somewhat newsworthy revelations in Bob Woodward's book -- bigger because Woodward is a journalistic celeb who gets to flack his wares on 60 Minutes.

His WashPost colleague Barton Gellman, though, scored the bigger news story, even though his own newspaper didn't seem to think so -- relegating the story to page A19. In his new book on Vice President Cheney, Angler, Gellman reports a new twist on the old story of administration officials trying to tie Saddam Hussein to 9/11, and the most newsworthy thing about the report is the source: former Republican House Majority Leader (and onetime Newt Gingrich ally) Dick Armey:

The threat Cheney described went far beyond public statements that have been criticized for relying on "cherry-picked" intelligence of unknown reliability. There was no intelligence to support the vice president's private assertions, Gellman reports, and they "crossed so far beyond the known universe of fact that they were simply without foundation."

Maybe that's Cheney's new charity, the Without Foundation. But the kicker is Armey's quote:

"Did Dick Cheney . . . purposely tell me things he knew to be untrue?" Armey said. "I seriously feel that may be the case. . . . Had I known or believed then what I believe now, I would have publicly opposed [the war] resolution right to the bitter end, and I believe I might have stopped it from happening."

Comments

[twofish]

I don't care whether Obama as President will increase troop strength in Afghanistan (a bottomless pit) or invade Pakistan looking for Bin Laden (who's no doubt long gone). I want to know whether he will have the cojones to invade places like Paraguay and Dubai to bring these Repiglican war criminals back for trial.

[GonzoFactor]

There's really nothing wrong with Cheney's conduct that a life sentence in maximum security couldn't atone for.

[HockeyMom]

Dick Armey seems to be cleaning his plate now. Where was his backbone then? I don't believe a thing he has to say. Rats leaving the boat is all I see.

[OgreDaddy]

Folks, it's called TREASON!!!

You do not send troops into harms way based on a lie, but they did and now so many families
suffer the consequences.

The fact is that Cheney could care less about the boots on the ground.
They are merely expendable pawns in his twisted agenda to profit from bloodshed.

[sueno]

Darth Vader Cheney has ruined this country while money piles up in his and Bush's bank account.
Yet, I have to read about his antics in a book, that I can't afford and stand by and painfully
watch someone who should be convicted of war crimes, laugh and walk away-
Cheney just didn't lie to the GOP, he lied to us all! Kids are dead fighting for his benefit!
The slime needs to be imprisoned period.

[JayWilliams]

Lying is neither criminal nor immoral unless it is about sex.

[krocklin]

Lying is just not a crime or even an offense worthy of investigation unless its a cover up during an investigation of a crime, no matter how minor. If it leads directly to a war with severe consequences to the welfare of America or the human race, that's no matter.

There SHOULD be a law, carefully defined, where blatantly false statements with the intent to deceive and win votes in congress could be used to prosecute - but there isn't.

If you take bribes, or fail to report a book deal, you can be ousted from an elected political position, but if you are as destructive as Cheney there is no legal liability.

[michiganfan]

Actually, it is a crime to lie to Congress. My understanding is that this was part of official closed-door briefings of a Congressional committee. Whether he was under oath or not, it is still a crime to lie to Congress.

[BARRISTER]

Dick Armey needs to speak out Publicly now. He needs to STOP the Neocons and their surrogate, McCain!!!


Speak NOW Dick!!! Save America!!

[tarlipps]

Reminds me of that song Johny Rivers did "The Snake"

"I saved you!" cried that woman
"and you've bitten me but why?"
"you know your bite is poisonous
and now I'm gonna die."

"Ha ha, shut up, silly woman."
said that reptile with a grin.
"You knew darn well I was a snake
before you took me in."

and sssssssssssssssssso it goes.

[Harry Shearer - Huffpost Blogger]

Written and originally performed by the great Oscar Brown Jr.

[HockeyMom]

wonderful! You hit the nail on the head.

[breakingpoint]

Angler aka dick cheney
1. a person who fishes with a hook and line.
2. a person who gets or tries to get something through scheming.

[SamEllison]

Everybody is looking to create their own narrative, Phil Gramm included.

[Bitsko]

Thanks for the info, as well for mentioning Dick Armey, the all-time champion Republican name.

[LizM]

With every published book exposing members of the Bush administration for the incompetents and/or criminals that many of them are, I am beginning to uderstand many things, not the least of which is how we ended up in Iraq.

There were more than a few honorable - yes, I said honorable! - Representatives and Senators in the US Congress who voted in favor of the October 2002 resolution authorizing the use of US military force in Iraq (AUMF) because they understood what the AUMF was really all about and that it represented the most effective way to avoid war. And, in the hands of a capable and competent President and foreign policy team, passing the AUMF resolution would have done just that. That is why their votes in favor of this resolution cannot be equated with a "vote for war".

...continued...

[LizM]

...continued...

What these members of Congress failed to grasp, and where their judgement let them down, was that the neocons who were obviously playing a role in this administration had already taken full control over the executive branch to the point that there was NO ONE left who had an honorable bone in their body.

(But, just to be clear, I am sure that there are many who did vote for the AUMF who actually did see their vote as a "vote for war". Those members of Congress failed on a number of levels and they did not fundamentally understand what the AUMF resolution was all about or the context within which that vote took place.)

It is my fervent hope that the crimes against the constitution that have been perpetrated by this crew will see the light of day and that we will have accountability in the truest sense of the word.

Hey! Just one more reason to GET UP! and support Obama/Biden and help this ticket prevail in November.

[RepugsOut08]

And now we have a VP candidate, who is Dick Cheney with lipstick, sending her son and his comrades off to Iraq, imploring them to seek revenge on the ones who attacked us. The more things "change," the more they stay the same it seems.