On Tuesday, former Vice President Dick Cheney and his daughter, Liz, appeared on The Rush Limbaugh Show to discuss Iraq and basically trash the President. The Cheneys have had a pretty rough go of it media-wise since co-writing an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal last week claiming that President Obama is solely to blame for the recent troubles in Iraq. Fox News’ Megyn Kelly famously tore the ex-Veep apart regarding his claim that Obama has been frequently wrong regarding Iraq, as she pointed out that Cheney has made many incorrect statements about the war during his tenure in office.
An appearance on ABC’s This Week didn’t go much better, as even Jonathan Karl gave Cheney a tough interview and pushed back on many of his claims. On top of that, The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart and numerous columnists and reporters have ripped apart the former Vice President for having the temerity to even show his face and try to criticize this administration considering his own track record. However, Dick Cheney and his loving daughter were able to find one safe haven to spew their dangerous and idiotic rhetoric, and that was El Rushbo’s show.
During the interview, which was more like a ‘Blame Obama’ whine fest, Limbaugh and both Cheneys claimed that the president is purposely trying to “take America down a notch,” weaken the economy and hurt the United States’ presence in the international community. Essentially, they are playing into the birthers’ conspiracy theories that Obama doesn’t believe in ‘American exceptionalism’ and that he is actually working to harm the country in order to make it pay for years of imperialism and colonialism. The fact that we have a former Vice President, along with his daughter, intentionally placing these ideas into the conversation is absolutely disgraceful. Based on what was said during this interview, it is apparent that the Cheneys new think tank, Alliance for a Strong America, is nothing more than a refuge for right-wing nut-jobs to gain ‘legitimacy’ for their crazy stories and conspiracy theories.
Below is just a sampling of the crazy that was witnessed in the interview:
RUSH: You bet. Now, you guys have formed a group, a think tank. I want to know what it is. It’s called the Alliance for a Strong America. I can pretty much guess why you’ve decided to do this now, but I want you to tell me why you’re doing it, if there was one particular tipping point or issue that made you finally throw down the gauntlet and say you just had to do this.
DICK CHENEY: Well, I think one of the things that stimulated our thinking, Rush, and sort of brought it to a head — we’ve been thinking a lot of this for some time — is Liz and I took a trip to the Middle East a couple months ago and visited with a lot of friends out there, people I dealt with 25 years ago during Desert Storm. And we came away from that experience thoroughly depressed at the perception they have of the United States, in particular of the Obama administration. Lack of trust, lack of confidence in our leadership or our willingness to keep our commitments. Just a decided diminution of the ability of the United States to influence events in a key part of the world, for all kinds of reasons.
RUSH: They volunteered this, or did you interview them?
DICK CHENEY: I think it’d be fair to say they volunteered it. These are people I’ve known a long time and that I’ve kept up with over the years, and they all agreed to see us in advance. Liz worked that part of the world extensively when she was at the State Department and previous administrations, and you just came away with this sense of weakness, of lack of trust and confidence in the US; that the role that we historically have played as sort of the leading nation in terms of maintaining the peace and stability in the world was gone.
…
RUSH: Well, I was happy to hear Dr. Krauthammer suggest that Obama is managing a decline. I’ve been worried about this for three or four years, and I’m gonna go a step further. I don’t think he’s managing a decline, ’cause I think the natural tendency of the United States economy — for example, like an airplane. The natural tendency is to grow. You have to sit on this economy if you want to suppress it.
The natural tendency of the American people is to expand, to grow, to improve themselves and everybody around them. Same thing with foreign policy. Some of this stuff doesn’t seem like it’s part of a natural decline. My fear is that this goes far beyond managing and is, in fact, purposeful because of a distorted view of this country that the president and people like him have about this country.
Being unjust and immoral and, “We have no business, we’re colonialists, we’re imperialists!” We fight now kidnapped girls in Nigeria with hashtags and we want people to take us seriously? You know, some of this stuff is just beyond belief. So it’s good that you’re doing this, but what is the practical application of your group? Who’s gonna join? What are you gonna do?
LIZ CHENEY: Well, there’s a number of different things. First of all, it’s clear to us that we’ve got the problem that you’re laying out, which is absolutely right. I think the president’s actions are very intentional. He wants to take America down a notch. He doesn’t believe in American exceptionalism. So what we’re doing initially is we’re gonna be a place where people can come to get ammunition, frankly, to make the arguments.
To be able to say, “Wait a second, this is why American power matters.” We want to be a place that can help to buck people up, to lay out the policy discussions, to lay out this side of the policy debate, so that people’s voices can be heard. People can sign up on our website, which is StrongerAmerica.com, in order to get information about all the important national security issues of the day.
Usually, you try to at least beat around the bush and not come right out and say that you think a President is trying to deliberately bring the country down. Let alone do you say you’ve created a group where people can get “ammunition” to use when trying to defend their crazy second-rate theories about the President. Yet, here you go. This was broadcast on hundreds of radio stations and listened by millions of people. Extremely dangerous and outlandish rhetoric of this type has no place in our national conversation.
Image: Salon
Justin Baragona is the Managing Editor at Politicus Sports as well as Senior Editor at PoliticusUSA. He was a political writer for 411Mania.com before joining PoliticusUSA. Politically, Justin considers himself a liberal but also a realist and pragmatist. Currently, Justin lives in St. Louis, MO and is married. Besides writing, he also runs his own business after spending a number of years in the corporate world. You can follow Justin on Twitter either with his personal handle (@justinbaragona) or the Sports site’s (@PoliticusSports).
Republicans have nothing to offer the american people, they would starve kids and
let people go without health care, apparently now they have a plan to privatize social security and outsource it (closing many of the social security offices) they are mean spirited, foul mouthed ugly nasty racists who care only for the big donors and the rest of the people could roll up and die. What person in their right mind votes for them?
Isn’t this special. A fat ass drug addict who got out of serving when it was his time because of a boil on his fat ass and a 5 deferment blood gurgling off the deaths of other people children and they have the nerve to talk shit!!!
I dare any brain dead repubilcant to justify a war criminal and a drug addicted pedophile.
Its really a shame that 2 draft dodging traitors like Rush and Cheney can use the media to point fingers away from their own guilt. Cheney belongs in prison and Limbaugh should hang is fat head in disgrace Cheney has been kept alive by millions of dollars in tax money and has never even once offered thanks . I look for the day when I mourn our losses of brave soldiers lives and celebrate a traitors death…….. Dick Cheney should be in prison and the millions he took from Haliburton should be donated to the widows and children of our fallen heroes
Perhaps the election of Barack Obama will serve one other good. It has brought every racist, bigoted, warmongering cockroach out into the light. So maybe we can stomp them out for one last time. Vote them out and keep them out. Relegate them to history for one final time.
They’re churning their hate machine as high as it can go. They’re showing their true colors. They’re also in a minority and can be handled. It will take all of us but it can be done. Anyone in their base with common sense and compassion are abandoning them. If we show up up in 2014 and 2016 and overwhelm them with votes they will be effectively done.
My promise to anybody reading this, I will vote in any and all elections. I will be there when the polls open. If I have to take water, snacks, strap a diaper on my ass, I don’t care, I will be in that line. You with my brothers and sisters? Hope so.
I stand with you Huck. This slime needs to be eradicated without further notice.
You GO, Huck, many of us are right behind. We need to keep a close eye on daughter dearest, too. If she isn’t a chip off the old block!
Cheney is a multi-millionaire that seems to not be able to find a dentist.
You know if you have to go on Rush Limpballs show to plead your case, you can’t get much lower.
Dick Cheney visited the Middle East with his wife and visited “friends” that he made 25 years ago. What “friends” are these, exactly?
When do we get to shoot them for treason?
We’re with ya, Huck – I’d still like to know how Cheney snuck out of the country a couple of months ago (if he’s telling the truth) without being tracked down and detained for his criminal activities.
Dick Cheney is an unindicted war criminal who has absolutely nothing to offer U.S. citizens. Why is he given a public forum to continue his treasonous verbal assaults on the President?
They are members of the global petro-elite, the world-wide one-percent.
Let’s see two chickenhawks chickenshits:one is drug abusing racist parasite and the other is a war criminal NEITHER ONE OF THEM has ever seen a military uniform really should shut their pieholes.
A visit into the self-righteous, delusional mind of Dick Cheney:
“I believe that Obama is intentionally trying to destroy the social and economic fabric of the United States and that he is deliberately enabling our enemies abroad to gain strength so that America becomes vulnerable to foreign attack.
But I mean it in the kindest, sweetest possible way.”
An essential component of the Cheney clan’s vision of “American Exceptionalism” — a world in which foreign nations quake in fear at the mere mention of the United States.
Well, I suppose they had to go somewhere friendly. They got their butts ripped even on Fox.
What we are hearing is the last rattling death gasps of the bygone era of the Bush Doctrine. The louder they get, the quicker they will die.
Me too Hammerhead…
LiMbum,Cheeney & Boner are the three stooges of the world.
Someone please correct me if i’m wrong. Would what they are saying be considered “Defamation of Character” because they said that this is a fact that Obama is doing this and not just an opinion of theirs?
They are the ones that are purposely trying to hurt the image and reputation of President Obama.
I am offended that I have to read this crap from two of the lowest bottom barrel individuals that America has to offer. What has Rush or Dick ever done to help America or Americans? ZERO.
I was thinking there should be a petition, especially for Dick Cheney, that his visage should be banned from TV and the internet and his name never mentioned again (same for his clone daughter), and if he continues to spout his lies, put him in prison.
We all know Rush is an a-hole and if there is a God, Rush will get his true reward in hell.
Rush and Dick Cheney can kiss my ass.
Who’s hurting America, both of these men should be in prison.
So thinking things through and trying to figure out the best solution to deal with the ISIS issue in Iraq without sending troops is considered ‘Hurting America’
I like to remind everyone here, left and right, what Dick did (and I’m pretty sure Rush took it all in pride like the good little P.O.S. that he is): He (alongside President Dumbass the First) basically lied to the American public and sent our men and women into war on false pretenses.
That, my friends, is hurting America. If anything, those ought to STFU and go back into their little corner and stay there. Let the big boys figure out how to solve this without this turning into Iraq 2.0
One day after Israeli planes struck targets in Syria,
Syria: 4 killed, 9 wounded in Israeli airstrikes
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/06/23/israel-bombs-targets-in-syria-in-response-to-boy-death/
Syrian warplanes attacked targets inside Iraq late on Tuesday, a sign of the broadening conflict.
Syria Sends Warplanes to Iraq, Killing Dozens in Targeted ISIS Attacks
http://news.yahoo.com/syria-sends-warplanes-iraq-killing-dozens-targeted-isis-134145404.html
And the blood gurgling chickenhawk sociopaths want to get involved in this clusterf*ck?
Tell me the definition of insanity again……