Today, Newsweek editor Jon Meacham took valuable bandwidth away from some variation of Keyboard Cat with his latest meth-induced (I hope that’s the excuse) musing. Meacham believes that the best thing for this country is to get Dick Cheney back into 1600 Pennsylvania Ave or just to have him run to, you know, see what this country really believes. Yes, that’s right: according to Meacham, the equation of Cheney + White House = Great Idea.
Now, I could be insane and this could be satire but I don’t think so. If it is, I'm one of those "latte spitting liberals" even though I don't drink lattes. After barely a year to clean up 8 years of malfeasance, we need to test Barrack Obama’s competency/popularity with a presidential race against a war criminal? Is Meacham on Cheney’s payroll now? Or does Meacham sincerely believe that Cheney “is a man of conviction, has a record on which he can be judged”? If by “man of conviction” he means “a guy who lies/spins better than anyone I know” and “the record on which he can be judged” is one of a deferment king/college dropout/chicken hawk who starts wars to line his pockets, then yes I would agree.
Meacham got this idea in his head, as he plainly states in the beginning, from Liz Cheney who was laughed at for mentioned that her Dad should run for president. So…a running joke on TV got Meacham “thinking.” He gets paid for this kind of insight? Seriously? Wow. I mean, when I was eight-years-old, I wrote a story about my dad being as strong as an ox. It wasn’t true but he was my dad. You really think Liz is going to say mean things about daddy?
Meacham needs to realize why Barrack Obama is president: because Dick Cheney was (vice-)president for 8 years. Now, he wants to give credence to a guy who crapped all over the Constitution, lied straight to our faces, jeopardized a woman’s CIA cover because of some personal gripe, then when out of office began to preach about government accountability and “dithering.” (What Meacham’s 2012 star calls “dithering” I call “care consideration of lives” – something that the previous administration never cared about). Years of obvious self-esteem issues played out against two foreign countries without even thinking about how to leave is credible foreign policy?
Meacham, really thinks because what the Tea Party-goers think, what Michelle Bachmann raves about, and where Gov. Rick Perry “thinks” this country is going is a valid reason to bring up an election that is three years away? Those people's thinking is what keeps us going backwards. The entire world is progressing while we regress. We no longer can cater to the likes of Dick Cheney and his “harder-line elements of the Bush world view.” Look where it got us. It is time for dialog, thought and intellect. Enough with the emotions, public relation initiatives and closed mindedness.
What you should be doing, Mr. Meacham, is figuring out why Cheney’s idea of fighting endless wars at a few trillion dollars a pop is better than legitimate health care reform for the people of this nation. I’ll tell you why: war makes Cheney look tough -- and makes 'em money.
Keep up the mediocre work, Mr Meacham.
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Kerry Lauerman
Joan Walsh
Salon.com
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