Thursday, February 16, 2006

Shoot First, Dodge Questions Later

I am not the first person to note the bloody symmetry in the events leading up to the Iraq invasion, and last weekend's shooting incident involving Dick Cheney.

If there's one thing the Vice President does well, it's The Big Lie.

According to Wikipedia:
The phrase Big Lie refers to a propaganda technique which originated with Adolf Hitler's 1925 autobiography Mein Kampf. In that book Hitler wrote that people came to believe that Germany lost World War I in the field due to a propaganda technique used by Jews who were influential in the German press. This technique, he believed, consisted of telling a lie so "colossal" that no one would believe anyone "could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously". The first documented use of the phrase "big lie" is in the corresponding passage: "in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility".

Cheney's insistent, carefully phrased assertions regarding Iraqi weapons, the connections between Iraq and Al Qaeda, the culpability of Iraq in the 9/11 attacks, and the "last throes" of the Iraqi insurgency (to name just a few) were echoed as gospel from the right wing megaphone to the mainstream media.

In his post-shooting interview with Fox TV, Cheney did the same thing, pretending that his office was waiting for the facts on the victim's condition before announcing the incident, arguing that the property owner was the right person to handle the matter with the local newspaper, and justifying his utter arrogance and disrespect for the obligation of a public servant to inform the public.

Today, the AP headline reads, "President Satisfied With Cheney's Account."

The gang that can't shoot straight has chosen again to shoot first and dodge questions later.

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Dangerous Dick Cheney

This series of commentaries on the language of politics could have started at almost any moment in the past three decades. That's how long the conservative elements have been hijacking language for their own ends.

But, this weekend comes a rare chance to watch a giant talking points exercise, as Vice President Cheney shoots a member of his hunting party. Put the guy in the hospital, but the news didn't start hitting the headlines for some twenty-four hours after the incident.

Does anything say "irresponsible" as loudly as a friendly-fire hunting accident? And yet, with a day to organize the language, the Cheney apologists are promoting the idea that accidents will happen, and that the victim was more at fault than the shooter.

So, for the next week, while we read and hear of the Vice President's little mishap, please remember to respond with a dose of the truth: Dick "Trigger Finger" Cheney ignored the most basic tenets of gun safety, shot a 78 year-old fellow hunter, and should NOT get off the hook.

Irresponsible, careless, negligent -- all the way to trigger-happy -- these are the terms we should insist on when talk turns to Dangerous Dick.

Remember, this is the man who shattered the decorum of the U.S. Senate, of which he is president, with that famous F*ck yourself.