So… Vice President Dick Cheney is back in the news. Ahhh, how the fires in Temple Vesta burn a little brighter when he is on the stage. Is it that gravelly, baritone voice? The slightly crooked, snarl of a smile? Or is it that he’s a brilliant man – love or hate his policies? Maybe it is the fact that he can still make a girl nervous? No, I don’t mean me – the last time Cheney made me nervous was on the parade field at the Pentagon in early 1993. (Talk about a lifetime ago. He still had hair, Frank Kelso was still the CNO, and… the parties on the Hill were bartended by folks with who honored their non-disclosure agreements.)
But I digress….. Cheney made another, very important girl jumpy last week. After making comments (from Tokyo) regarding the Democrats advocacy for “redeployment” as a validation of Al Qaeda’s strategy to break American will for the fight, Madame Speaker Nancy Pelosi was incensed, and announced publicly she was going to tell on the Vice President. She was going to call the President and boy, she meant business.
Democrats came out of the woodwork to criticize Cheney. For years they have tried to make Dick Cheney the bogeyman. He is not. He is just an All American Bad Ass of the Republican Right. He is the reason many conservatives chose to vote for George Walker Bush in the first place. Rewind your mental clocks to late 1999 and 2000. Dick Cheney was the Man. I can’t think of a single person who had anything but respect for the man. Except for the tin foil hat wearing people afraid of the Trilateral Commission. While times have changed… many serious conservatives are starting to come around to a simple truth… Dick Cheney is the lone grown up in Bush’s War Council. And Condi Rice, however pedigreed, does not possess the gravitas necessary to command American diplomatic efforts.
Since the “Tokyo Incident” earlier this month, Cheney has visited with Australia’s Prime Minister John Howard primarily to thank him as well as Australia’s citizens for standing with the United States in the Global War on Terror. He delivered deeply fascinating remarks about China on this trip as well. On the route home, Cheney’s plane apparently had an electrical “glitch.” Apparently, Pakistan and Afghanistan are close enough for a fly-by visit.
Which made today’s news cycle decidedly more interesting than just scaring Nancy Pelosi. Cheney dropped in on Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf. Just in case ol‘ Pervez thought we were running from the fight, Dick made an appearance to let the Pakistanis know… America is “concerned” and has “apprehensions” about the resurgence of Al Qaeda in the border areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan. (Editorial translation: Hey, you little jackass, we still have enough bullets to beat YOUR ass. Get back to work.)
And, if that was not enough, Big Dick Cheney made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan. I love this man. No drama, no theater – just a secret visit to enable some real dialogue with the men on the front lines. I don’t give one whit about some soft-handed analyst’s opinion from Pelosi’s staff thinks. The men fighting this war are the only people we need to listen to. Policy and politics need a STRONG INFUSION of reality on the ground.
I love Military & Clandestine Operators who do the Reconnaissance and Intelligence gathering. I can’t think of a single line of work more inherently masculine and heroic.
I love that Dick Cheney has enough intellectual curiosity to meet with these men. As an aside, it is extremely important to note WHY I think it is important. The men who operate in any dangerous, in-theater clandestine operation are the only people with real information about the capability of an enemy on the ground. Yes, the diplomatic corps and their security folks will tell you differently. I have met just ONE diplomat worthy of unquestioned confidence. Most are looking for their next job with a high paying contractor. Special Forces & Clandestine Operators from many, many agencies are not there to interpret. They gather proof, hard data, and tangibles. Sometimes that is weapons information. Sometimes it is mapping or geospatial data. Sometimes it is an enemy troop count. They are highly intelligent men. And they are the true heroes of any age, any historic event. They are all iconic and beautiful and complicated and selfless in their devotion to freedom.
I hope Cheney returns to American soil with a dose of reality for President Bush. Armor up.
— Media Lizzy
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