Cheney Calls the President of the United States "WEAK"

[CRM114]

I suppose we've all seen the egregious remarks by the grumpy old man, Dick Cheney by now. Apparently, he sees fit to go on the Sean Hannity show (his personal cabin boy apparently) and not only berate the President but calls him WEAK after 90 days in office. Is he insane? Here are his comments:

Originally Posted by DICK Cheney

“I think you have to be very careful. The world outside there — both our friends and our foes — will be quick to take advantage of a situation if they think they’re dealing with a weak president or one who’s not going to stand up and aggressively defend America’s interests."

And here is Andrew Sullivan's column which sums up my feelings as well:

The one thing you saw most plainly in the Plame affair is how obsessed Dick Cheney is with public image, the chattering classes and spinning stories that might reflect poorly on him. The act is the elder statesman, authoritatively reviewing the world scene, soberly making judgments, calmly explaining it later to those pesky people who are required to elect you every four years. The reality is a man who lost it on 9/11, leapt immediately to apocalyptic conclusions, and then, as the dust cleared, was unable to go back on the war crimes he had authorized and so dug in ever more deeply to justify them. I don't think anyone begrudges that kind of misjudgment at the beginning, although one would have hoped for calmer heads in a crisis, but the attempt to institutionalize the torture of first resort into an entire program of black sites, torture manuals, Orwellian euphemisms, and legal fantasy was bound, like the institutionalization of Gitmo, to collapse under any successor who actually wanted to return the US to the rule of law and the world of civilized nations.

Did Cheney believe he could hide all this for ever?

Did he believe that hundreds of randomly seized human beings could be consigned to the black hole of Gitmo for ever? And was he really going to launch this kind of appalling attacks on his successors whenever they tried to move past this stuff or be forced, by the law itself and the Geneva Conventions, to investigate and prosecute violations of core human rights?

The ratcheting up of the rhetoric - “I think you have to be very careful. The world outside there — both our friends and our foes — will be quick to take advantage of a situation if they think they’re dealing with a weak president or one who’s not going to stand up and aggressively defend America’s interests" - is particularly Weimar. He's lashing out now, and using his surrogates to write chilling op-eds defending all of it. I see this as a sign of weakness, not strength. Obama draws these people out like moths to the flame.

That flame is the truth. Let us see it all.

When Gore lost, he went away. He came back years later and blasted the President. Here is Dick, freshly removed from office, and he publicly humiliates the sitting President?

[Venusian]

why does anyone still give cheney air time?

[wendersfan]

Odd thing is, I don't remember Cheney being this much of a tool before he was vice-president. He seemed like a decent enough guy as a member of Congress and a cabinet secretary.

[Red Dog]

If only he were weak. A weak executive branch would be a refreshing change.

[Goldblum]

I can see how he could say weak in terms of moral character, but considering how many executive orders the guy has passed, I cannot think of him as weak. If only...

[kvrdave]

It's bad form. I remember Bush I being absent when Clinton took over and it was the right thing to do. Clinton made a few pot shots at Bush II. Bush II has been silent, which is what a president should do, imo. Cheney should follow suit.

[orangecrush]

agreed

[awil1026]

Sounds like Cheney Bot needs a firmware upgrade.

[JasonF]

Originally Posted by wendersfan

Odd thing is, I don't remember Cheney being this much of a tool before he was vice-president. He seemed like a decent enough guy as a member of Congress and a cabinet secretary.

I think Vice President Cheney may have been one of those people who were irreperably damaged by September 11. While I disagree with the idea that "9/11 Changed Everything," it clearly did change everything for some people.

[Dr Mabuse]

Originally Posted by wendersfan

Odd thing is, I don't remember Cheney being this much of a tool before he was vice-president. He seemed like a decent enough guy as a member of Congress and a cabinet secretary.

The crap he and Donald Rumsfeld pulled in the Ford administration was not 'decent'. That's why Cheney wanted his old pal back with him to 'do it again' under Bush, and they did, they ran the show.

Cheney needs to shut his big, arrogant mouth and go away.

Couldn't he be shooting someone in the face somewhere or something?

[kvrdave]

Originally Posted by Dr Mabuse

Couldn't he be shooting someone in the face somewhere or something?

Yeah, but with a 20 ga.

[jhagler]

I say to Cheney the same thing I say to Carter, Bush, Clinton, and any other former Presidents and VPs: "Thank you for your time in office, but SHUT UP when it comes to commenting on anything the current administration is doing." It is low class, and used to be verboten, but for some reason most of these guys feel the need to pop off.

[classicman2]

Originally Posted by DICK Cheney
“I think you have to be very careful. The world outside there — both our friends and our foes — will be quick to take advantage of a situation if they think they’re dealing with a weak president or one who’s not going to stand up and aggressively defend America’s interests."


In the above where does Cheney call Obama weak?

[kvrdave]

I saw that as well, but still, he should be silent, imo. And I do think Obama is weak in this regard.

[classicman2]

I don't believe ex-presidents & vps should be silent.

I think it's perfectly legitimate from them to air their views about foreign & domestic policy. Clinton certainly did. I thought much of what he had to say was constructive.

They should, IMO, stop short of being openly critical of the current president's policies.

[Venusian]

Carter hasn't been silent for a while.

[kvrdave]

Originally Posted by classicman2

I don't believe ex-presidents & vps should be silent.

I think it's perfectly legitimate from them to air their views about foreign & domestic policy. Clinton certainly did. I thought much of what he had to say was constructive.

They should, IMO, stop short of being openly critical of the current president's policies.

I think Clinton thought he could pull more tail if he was on the news.

[Numanoid]

I'm sure Sean Hannity came to Obama's defense. Right? Because I remember a few years ago, Sean saying how we shouldn't be attacking the President in a time of war, that it's treasonous, etc.

[kvrdave]

Originally Posted by Numanoid

I'm sure Sean Hannity came to Obama's defense. Right? Because I remember a few years ago, Sean saying how we shouldn't be attacking the President in a time of war, that it's treasonous, etc.

Undoubtedly the only example of hypocricy we can come up from all sides.

[sracer]

Originally Posted by CRM114

I suppose we've all seen the egregious remarks by the grumpy old man, Dick Cheney by now. Apparently, he sees fit to go on the Sean Hannity show (his personal cabin boy apparently) and not only berate the President but calls him WEAK after 90 days in office. Is he insane? Here are his comments:

Originally Posted by Dick Cheney

“I think you have to be very careful. The world outside there — both our friends and our foes — will be quick to take advantage of a situation if they think they’re dealing with a weak president or one who’s not going to stand up and aggressively defend America’s interests."

That's a bit of a stretch. Cheney didn't call Obama a weak president. He simply explained what other world leaders will do based on their perception of Obama.

I wish that regardless of our views we could use common sense and not hyperbolize everything.

[classicman2]

Quoting Big Daddy: 'There's a powerful odor of hypocrisy emanating from this forum.' Oh, he said mendacity, didn't he? Well there is a powerful odor of hypocrisy anyway.

[CRM114]

Huh? "if they think they’re dealing with a weak president" is not clear enough for you?

Why would they think that? Because Cheney thinks he is? Wow. I posted a column by a conservative by the way. Did you read that far? No one has common sense but you and Sean Hannity I assume?

[Mordred]

Originally Posted by classicman2

Originally Posted by DICK Cheney
“I think you have to be very careful. The world outside there — both our friends and our foes — will be quick to take advantage of a situation if they think they’re dealing with a weak president or one who’s not going to stand up and aggressively defend America’s interests."


In the above where does Cheney call Obama weak?

Exactly. At least in the context of that blurb he doesn't even imply that Obama is weak or say anything negative about the guy. It's very easy to read that as actually saying Obama is the opposite of weak. Of course, I don't know what "I think you have to be very careful" was referring to so maybe that changes things slightly.

Cheney needs to not comment on the current administration and the media needs to stop trying to invent things.

[Venusian]

Originally Posted by sracer

I wish that regardless of our views we could use common sense and not hyperbolize everything.

Welcome to the Politics forum. Hope you enjoy it here

[Dr Mabuse]

Originally Posted by Venusian

Welcome to the Politics forum. Hope you enjoy it here