From Raw Story:
If you don't get punished, you didn't go anything wrong, right?
That's the message Vice President Dick Cheney gave in an interview with CBS' Bob Schieffer on Sunday, suggesting that a president's actions are legal if those actions didn't result in his impeachment.
Asked by Schieffer if he believed that anything the president does in time of war is legal, Cheney said there is "historic precedent of taking action that you wouldn't take in peacetime."
Cheney referenced Abraham Lincoln as an example of another president who "suspended the writ of habeus corpus" during a war, prompting this exchange:
###
SCHIEFFER: But nobody thinks that was legal.
CHENEY: Well, no. It certainly was in the sense he wasn't impeached. And it was a wartime measure that he took that I think history says today, yeah, that was probably a good thing to do.
###
The vice president spent much of the interview defending eight years of the Bush administration's policies, including its surveillance and interrogation programs.
When Schieffer asked if the Bush administration had gone "too far" in its surveillance program, Cheney said no.
"I don’t believe we violated anybody’s civil liberties," he said.
Cheney also urged President-elect Barack Obama to continue the Bush administration’s interrogation policies.
"I would hope [Obama] would avoid doing what others have done in the past, which is letting the campaign rhetoric guide his judgment in this absolutely crucial area," Cheney said. "We were very careful, we did everything by the book, and in fact we produced very significant results."
_________________________________________________
UGH, I keep telling myself there are less than 3 weeks till he is gone.
Showing posts with label Vice President. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vice President. Show all posts
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Friday, October 3, 2008
She Didn't Entirely Suck!
It is now almost 24 hours out from the much hyped and anticipated Vice Presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin. My first instinct was to write my thoughts immediately following the debate. Then, I decided to wait it out and think carefully about what I wanted to say, instead of just giving you some verbal diarrhea about how Sarah Palin sucked and how Joe Biden was amazing. But, I wanted to get all of my thoughts together and sound reasonably intelligent (unlike Ms. Palin).
Last nights one and only debate, feature Delaware Senator Joe Biden and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was by far, the most anticipated debate in my lifetime. To be honest, I was a little disappointed. Deep down inside I want Governor Palin to fall flat on her face and I wanted Senator Biden to wipe the stage with her smirk. But that didn't happen. What did happen was a 90 minute question and answer session, not unlike one of those pesky interviews Palin despises so much. There was almost no direct contact between the two candidates and because of that, I do not believe the audience became as engaged as they were with the first Presidential debate.
It is worth noting that this format did lend itself to Governor Palin. She wasn't challenged on any of her statements and therefore was able to pull off the impossible; looking intelligent. Senator Biden, whom many believed would put his foot in his mouth, did a wonderful job. He obviously knows what he is talking about. He command of the facts is very important and it is worth noting that experience and command of the facts makes him ready, on day one, to step into the Office of the Presidency should something happen to Barack Obama. For me, the most important part of the debate the most riveting moment was when Senator Biden was speaking about his first wife and the tragic car accident that took her life and the life of his infant daughter.
The reason this worked so well is that Governor Palin was trying to paint Biden as someone who is out of touch with "typical" America. Apparently, Palin did not do her homework, as she clearly did not know anything about this tragedy and how Senator Biden would commute back and forth everyday from his Delaware home. Her response to this was to state that she and John McCain were mavericks. It was one of the most disturbing moments of the debate. Obviously, she is not campaigning as a "compassionate conservative."
As I said earlier, Palin did not crash and burn. However, she showed no mastery over the issues. She showed that she could regergitate facts and figures like a robot and that she could down home and folksy. Well folks, I don't know about you, but I don't want folksy. I don't want down home talking. I want a President and Vice President who have a handle on the issues. I want the best of the best and Governor Palin is not the best of the best. She is of mediocre (at best) intellect. We have had eight years of mediocre intelect and look where it has gotten us.
Joe Biden and Barack Obama have the best educations in this country. John McCain graduated at the bottom of his class at the Naval Academy and Sarah Palin went to six colleges in five years. We need the best. If the American people can get past Palin's folksy double-talk, then on Nov. 4th we will be electing Barack Obama as President of the United States.
Last nights one and only debate, feature Delaware Senator Joe Biden and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was by far, the most anticipated debate in my lifetime. To be honest, I was a little disappointed. Deep down inside I want Governor Palin to fall flat on her face and I wanted Senator Biden to wipe the stage with her smirk. But that didn't happen. What did happen was a 90 minute question and answer session, not unlike one of those pesky interviews Palin despises so much. There was almost no direct contact between the two candidates and because of that, I do not believe the audience became as engaged as they were with the first Presidential debate.
It is worth noting that this format did lend itself to Governor Palin. She wasn't challenged on any of her statements and therefore was able to pull off the impossible; looking intelligent. Senator Biden, whom many believed would put his foot in his mouth, did a wonderful job. He obviously knows what he is talking about. He command of the facts is very important and it is worth noting that experience and command of the facts makes him ready, on day one, to step into the Office of the Presidency should something happen to Barack Obama. For me, the most important part of the debate the most riveting moment was when Senator Biden was speaking about his first wife and the tragic car accident that took her life and the life of his infant daughter.
The reason this worked so well is that Governor Palin was trying to paint Biden as someone who is out of touch with "typical" America. Apparently, Palin did not do her homework, as she clearly did not know anything about this tragedy and how Senator Biden would commute back and forth everyday from his Delaware home. Her response to this was to state that she and John McCain were mavericks. It was one of the most disturbing moments of the debate. Obviously, she is not campaigning as a "compassionate conservative."
As I said earlier, Palin did not crash and burn. However, she showed no mastery over the issues. She showed that she could regergitate facts and figures like a robot and that she could down home and folksy. Well folks, I don't know about you, but I don't want folksy. I don't want down home talking. I want a President and Vice President who have a handle on the issues. I want the best of the best and Governor Palin is not the best of the best. She is of mediocre (at best) intellect. We have had eight years of mediocre intelect and look where it has gotten us.
Joe Biden and Barack Obama have the best educations in this country. John McCain graduated at the bottom of his class at the Naval Academy and Sarah Palin went to six colleges in five years. We need the best. If the American people can get past Palin's folksy double-talk, then on Nov. 4th we will be electing Barack Obama as President of the United States.
Pundit Round-Up From Americablog
Here is a complete rundown of the pundits from last nites VP Debate. I will have a post-mortem later on today.
The reviews are in. Biden won.
John Aravosis (DC) · 10/02/2008 11:42:00 PM ET · Link
Make a comment · reddit · FARK · Digg It! · Stumble It!
Huffington Post Ex-Bush Officials: Biden Won The Debate: Said Torie Clarke, who worked with McCain back in Arizona and with the Bush Administration's Department of Defense, had the following remarks on ABC: " I think Joe Biden had his best night tonight. He came with one mission, and that was to go after John McCain, and he did it, backed up by facts. I think he did a better job tonight of tying McCain to the Bush administration than Obama did last week. Matthew Dowd, who worked for George Bush's communications team while in the White House, followed Clarke and he too agreed that the Delaware Democrat took the evening.
ABC Dowd 10:52 PM: “I think fundamentally the American public came away with this tonight, just like they came away with the debate last night, saying, you know, I'm leaning in Obama and Biden's corner, and this didn't change my mind.”
Gibson: I'm amazed that we have agreement from all three of you.
CNN David Gergen 10:05 PM: People underestimating how good Biden was, Biden “was really good”
CNN Alex Castellanos 10:38 PM : "The second part of the debate, you know Republicans aren't going to win debates on Iraq, I don't care who you put on that stage tonight, we're not going to win debates on Iraq and we didn't tonight. But overall, we've had a rough week as Republicans. You know, this has not been our best week."
CBS Bob Schieffer 10:35 PM: “I must say, I thought Senator Biden had a very good night. He seemed comfortable with the facts, it was clear he has dealt with these issues over the years, I thought he put his experience on display in a very good way.”
MSNBC Chris Matthews 10:35 PM: "Not only did she say I'm not going to do any more interviews, it seemed, but she was saying, I'm not going to listen to uh Gwen Ifill tonight. She said I'm not going to uh give the answers the moderator wants to ask for. What an extraordinary statement. I'm not going to play by the rules and when I get elected I want more power in the office than it's had before. Hmm.. Not too much humility here."
CBS Bob Schieffer 10:35 PM: “I must say, I found it a little disconcerting, time and again, Governor Palin would just choose not to answer the question and launch into some dissertation, sometimes talking points, and not really address what Gwen Ifill had asked her.”
PBS David Brooks 10:39 PM: "When he talked about his family and the death of his wife, that is a moment people remember, what they remember about the debates is the moment when you think you see the person and that was a moment where I thought you saw Joe Biden."
MSNBC Andrea Mitchell 10:38 PM: "She didn't answer the questions. And, in fact, she would say, I want to talk about taxes, which hadn't even come up."
FOX News Frank Luntz 10:44 PM: With the Luntz Polling Group was in the Anheuser-Busch Headquarters, When Asked Independent Voters Their Reactions One Voter Said, “she had a presentation about her, but that also annoyed me, too. She catered to kind of an adorability and lacked substance.”
Washington Post (Eugene Robinson): Exactly an hour into the debate, Joe Biden began an answer by saying, "Facts matter, Gwen." To him, maybe. To Sarah Palin, maybe not. The pattern, so far, has been one of Biden presenting facts and Palin countering with… saying stuff. Sometimes she throws in a fact, but mostly she seems to be offering a string of approximate policy positions, encomiums to the American spirit, disputed interpretations of Barack Obama's record and anecdotes from Alaska.
Washington Post (Chris Cillizza): Go Biden Go! Again, very good moment for Biden. The more he talks "Bush=McCain" the better.
Philadelphia Daily News (Will Bunch): Biden points out that Ahmadinjad isn't the surpreme ruler of Iran -- how come people don't bring that up. Hammering McCain on the Spain issue -- the McCain camp really screwed up on the way it handled that one.
Salon (Joan Walsh) How Sarah Palin blew it: Joe Biden and Sarah Palin were talking to two different Americas Thursday night. Actually, that's unfair to Joe Biden; he was trying to talk to everyone. I can say for certain, though, that Sarah Palin was talking to – and winking at – her own private Idaho, and for long stretches of the debate, it was an unnerving experience.
Washington Post: (E.J. Dionne Jr.) McCain's Dicey Gamble: Gambling with his presidential candidacy is McCain's right. Gambling with the country McCain says he puts first is another thing entirely. And last night's vice presidential debate took place at precisely the moment when a majority of American voters decided that having Palin in line for the presidency is more than a little bit scary.
CNN (Bob Schneider): Palin’s answers do not lack confidence, they lack coherence.
Washington Post (Chris Cillizza): She pivots to executive appearance but her answer on the role of the vice presidency was REALLY bad.
TIME: Palin didn’t make any big mistakes, but she also didn’t reassure that she could handle the presidency.
Washington Post (Chris Cillizza): Palin: Worst spot in the debate. Looking down at her notes a lot. Really struggling.
TIME: This closing statement sounds like she's giving a speech to the College Republicans. It's really amateur hour.
Politico (Ben Smith): As this debate has gone on, Palin's gotten more abstract, Biden more concrete.
ABC News (Rick Klein): Palin: "So Joe, there you go again." Anyone else over that line? Couldn't it have been retired with Reagan? Shout-out to third graders at her brother's elementary school? What world were we just in there for a few minutes?
CNN (Bob Schneider): Palin needs to define the terms she uses. Reform, corruption, maverick…these are words that Palin often uses, but she needs to define them.
FOX News (Aaron Bruns): Palin calls the supreme NATO commander in Afghanistan, Gen David McKiernan, “McClellan.” Does it twice.
Politico (Jonathan Martin): Biden explains how McCain is not a maverick On voting for Bush's budgets, health care and education. No dispute from Palin.
TNR: Palin's final quote was from Ronald Reagan, warning that without vigilance, "you and I are going to spend our sunset years telling our children, and our children's children, what it once was like in America when men were free." In fact, Reagan was not warning about a general lack of vigilance about freedom, he was warning what would happen if Medicare was enacted.
The reviews are in. Biden won.
John Aravosis (DC) · 10/02/2008 11:42:00 PM ET · Link
Make a comment · reddit · FARK · Digg It! · Stumble It!
Huffington Post Ex-Bush Officials: Biden Won The Debate: Said Torie Clarke, who worked with McCain back in Arizona and with the Bush Administration's Department of Defense, had the following remarks on ABC: " I think Joe Biden had his best night tonight. He came with one mission, and that was to go after John McCain, and he did it, backed up by facts. I think he did a better job tonight of tying McCain to the Bush administration than Obama did last week. Matthew Dowd, who worked for George Bush's communications team while in the White House, followed Clarke and he too agreed that the Delaware Democrat took the evening.
ABC Dowd 10:52 PM: “I think fundamentally the American public came away with this tonight, just like they came away with the debate last night, saying, you know, I'm leaning in Obama and Biden's corner, and this didn't change my mind.”
Gibson: I'm amazed that we have agreement from all three of you.
CNN David Gergen 10:05 PM: People underestimating how good Biden was, Biden “was really good”
CNN Alex Castellanos 10:38 PM : "The second part of the debate, you know Republicans aren't going to win debates on Iraq, I don't care who you put on that stage tonight, we're not going to win debates on Iraq and we didn't tonight. But overall, we've had a rough week as Republicans. You know, this has not been our best week."
CBS Bob Schieffer 10:35 PM: “I must say, I thought Senator Biden had a very good night. He seemed comfortable with the facts, it was clear he has dealt with these issues over the years, I thought he put his experience on display in a very good way.”
MSNBC Chris Matthews 10:35 PM: "Not only did she say I'm not going to do any more interviews, it seemed, but she was saying, I'm not going to listen to uh Gwen Ifill tonight. She said I'm not going to uh give the answers the moderator wants to ask for. What an extraordinary statement. I'm not going to play by the rules and when I get elected I want more power in the office than it's had before. Hmm.. Not too much humility here."
CBS Bob Schieffer 10:35 PM: “I must say, I found it a little disconcerting, time and again, Governor Palin would just choose not to answer the question and launch into some dissertation, sometimes talking points, and not really address what Gwen Ifill had asked her.”
PBS David Brooks 10:39 PM: "When he talked about his family and the death of his wife, that is a moment people remember, what they remember about the debates is the moment when you think you see the person and that was a moment where I thought you saw Joe Biden."
MSNBC Andrea Mitchell 10:38 PM: "She didn't answer the questions. And, in fact, she would say, I want to talk about taxes, which hadn't even come up."
FOX News Frank Luntz 10:44 PM: With the Luntz Polling Group was in the Anheuser-Busch Headquarters, When Asked Independent Voters Their Reactions One Voter Said, “she had a presentation about her, but that also annoyed me, too. She catered to kind of an adorability and lacked substance.”
Washington Post (Eugene Robinson): Exactly an hour into the debate, Joe Biden began an answer by saying, "Facts matter, Gwen." To him, maybe. To Sarah Palin, maybe not. The pattern, so far, has been one of Biden presenting facts and Palin countering with… saying stuff. Sometimes she throws in a fact, but mostly she seems to be offering a string of approximate policy positions, encomiums to the American spirit, disputed interpretations of Barack Obama's record and anecdotes from Alaska.
Washington Post (Chris Cillizza): Go Biden Go! Again, very good moment for Biden. The more he talks "Bush=McCain" the better.
Philadelphia Daily News (Will Bunch): Biden points out that Ahmadinjad isn't the surpreme ruler of Iran -- how come people don't bring that up. Hammering McCain on the Spain issue -- the McCain camp really screwed up on the way it handled that one.
Salon (Joan Walsh) How Sarah Palin blew it: Joe Biden and Sarah Palin were talking to two different Americas Thursday night. Actually, that's unfair to Joe Biden; he was trying to talk to everyone. I can say for certain, though, that Sarah Palin was talking to – and winking at – her own private Idaho, and for long stretches of the debate, it was an unnerving experience.
Washington Post: (E.J. Dionne Jr.) McCain's Dicey Gamble: Gambling with his presidential candidacy is McCain's right. Gambling with the country McCain says he puts first is another thing entirely. And last night's vice presidential debate took place at precisely the moment when a majority of American voters decided that having Palin in line for the presidency is more than a little bit scary.
CNN (Bob Schneider): Palin’s answers do not lack confidence, they lack coherence.
Washington Post (Chris Cillizza): She pivots to executive appearance but her answer on the role of the vice presidency was REALLY bad.
TIME: Palin didn’t make any big mistakes, but she also didn’t reassure that she could handle the presidency.
Washington Post (Chris Cillizza): Palin: Worst spot in the debate. Looking down at her notes a lot. Really struggling.
TIME: This closing statement sounds like she's giving a speech to the College Republicans. It's really amateur hour.
Politico (Ben Smith): As this debate has gone on, Palin's gotten more abstract, Biden more concrete.
ABC News (Rick Klein): Palin: "So Joe, there you go again." Anyone else over that line? Couldn't it have been retired with Reagan? Shout-out to third graders at her brother's elementary school? What world were we just in there for a few minutes?
CNN (Bob Schneider): Palin needs to define the terms she uses. Reform, corruption, maverick…these are words that Palin often uses, but she needs to define them.
FOX News (Aaron Bruns): Palin calls the supreme NATO commander in Afghanistan, Gen David McKiernan, “McClellan.” Does it twice.
Politico (Jonathan Martin): Biden explains how McCain is not a maverick On voting for Bush's budgets, health care and education. No dispute from Palin.
TNR: Palin's final quote was from Ronald Reagan, warning that without vigilance, "you and I are going to spend our sunset years telling our children, and our children's children, what it once was like in America when men were free." In fact, Reagan was not warning about a general lack of vigilance about freedom, he was warning what would happen if Medicare was enacted.
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