LabouredSubterfuge
Member
Some hardcore trollin' in this thread.
Are you not entertained?
Some hardcore trollin' in this thread.
I completely agree with you, but then you have to blame congress a bit too. Look, I'm not trying to absolve Cheney of responsibility here, I'm only reacting directly to the comparison of Cheney and Osama. I agree, the Bush years were horrific on civil liberties (Gitmo and the PATRIOT act are enough proof of that without things like the FISA law update and even ignoring the torture).Who wrote the AUMF? It's difficult to judge someone under the law when they write the laws. The AUMF was passed on September 14, 2011, three days after the 9/11 attacks. It gave the President an unprecedented amount of autonomy in regards to war. So yes, it was legal for them to start major conflicts in the Middle East, bearing in mind that legality was established a mere three weeks before war against Afghanistan was declared, and probably for that very reason. It wasn't a coincidence.
"However, you have to separate "mistakes" that is, policy judgments that you think are wrong with things that are illegal."
Again, the legality of his actions means nothing to me, considering how easily he facilitated legality.
Cheney's ties to Halliburton are indisputable. Another thing that is indisputable is that Halliburton was the only company afforded the opportunity to bid for a energy exploration contract in the run-up to the war. You are being naive if this strikes you as mere coincidence. It's a typical "you scratch my back, I scratch yours" situation. The strong relationship between politicians and the corporate sector, and the ease with which members of either sector can transfer seamlessly into the other exemplary of corruption.
"But all of that, honestly? That doesn't compare to targeting civilians repeatedly on 9/11 or the Embassy bombings, or the FIRST WTC attack in '93, etc etc etc."
Put yourself in the perspective of a civilian living in Afghanistan during the invasion. When your world is collapsing before you and sheet rock from exploding buildings is raining down upon you and your loved ones, do you stop to think about the people doing these things? Do you say to yourself, "these aren't terrorists, they're American soldiers?"
As I said before, human beings are pliable. You give a man a title, you give his men uniforms, and suddenly it's okay. There's a bureaucratic banality to it. It's expected, it's normal. You've heard their names dozens of times on the news. So there's that positive fluency in your mind. And then suddenly the news chimes out the name of some guy you've never heard of before, whose existence meant nothing to you 2 minutes ago, and you don't know anything about him, the sound of his voice, what he does in his spare time, and of course, you don't want to compare someone you have a fairly good idea about with some foreigner who's just carried out the deaths of 3,500 people.
Dick Cheney is to many people what Osama bin Laden was to us.
The two stricter requirements I know of are ABO blood type compatibility and heart size to body size compatibility. A 12 year-old boy's heart can be placed into a 65 year-old woman's chest cavity if they're similar in body size.I wonder how it works. I mean does he get the heart of a 25 year old motorcycle rider? Or does he get the heart of someone who's 60 years old? I mean is old body - young organs even compatible?
but then you have to blame congress a bit too.
Look, I'm not trying to absolve Cheney of responsibility here
This all feels like people are making it more about politics rather than serious outrage about policies that are unacceptable under any administration.
More than the pure evil mass murdering dictators out there in the world? Ok.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57403969-503544/dick-cheney-receives-heart-transplant/
Post-op pictures have been released:
I completely agree with you, but then you have to blame congress a bit too. Look, I'm not trying to absolve Cheney of responsibility here, I'm only reacting directly to the comparison of Cheney and Osama. I agree, the Bush years were horrific on civil liberties (Gitmo and the PATRIOT act are enough proof of that without things like the FISA law update and even ignoring the torture).
And, you know, I would agree with this if posters in this thread had the same problems with Obama on some civil liberties issues (his voting for the FISA law, the way he went about Libya, Operation Fast and Furious, the NDAA. This all feels like people are making it more about politics rather than serious outrage about policies that are unacceptable under any administration.
I'm not willing to go that far. Halliburton was going to get a lot of contracts no matter what because it is a large company in that area with significant capabilities. Is it ethically questionable? Absolutely. No bid contracts are a JOKE and should not be allowed by the government except for specific emergency jobs. I still think you're overstating some of this because This is part of what Halliburton does, it's their niche, but the degree of the incestuous relationship between government and corporations is problematic.
Sure, you could have also linked the Ron Paul ad about a Chinese army in Texas. I agree with you in large part. I think where you go wrong is that no other President would have acted differently directly after 9/11 strictly in terms of Afghanistan and that would likely lead to some deaths. And that's horrible. No question, it's unfair, and it's brutal, and it's a shame. But I have no problems with taking out the Afghan government after they sheltered Bin Laden. The issue for me was the length of our stay after that, where we saw resentment build and build against us and I think it's too the point where we've done more harm than good by staying whether or not the current government survives since at best it's viewed as a puppet of the US anyway much like Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was viewed prior to the Iranian Revolution.
The fact remains though that because we invaded Afghanistan and that means some civilians died while we were seizing Kabul and THAT makes Cheney as bad as Bin Laden though... sorry, that's just ludicrous even if you really don't like the man.
At a basic level there is a difference between civilians dying in the course of war and civilians being deliberately targeted as was the case on 9/11.
He's had surgeries, but I believe this is his first transplant.isn't this like his 2nd or 3rd heart transplant? I swear he had one a few years ago.
Ah..if his heart isn't going to fail, I hope he gets shot in the face then.
At a basic level there is a difference between civilians dying in the course of war and civilians being deliberately targeted as was the case on 9/11.
some guy at a hunting event...The donor was probably a solider killed at war.
Dick Cheney was a terrible vice president with horrible policies but to compare him to Bin Laden is insane. Bin Laden was a crazy vile mass murderer.
Have we seen Osama bin Laden's body? What if Cheney now has.....Osama's heart!?
I read this as Osama and Cheney are compatible and just imagined the irony of Cheney getting Osama's heart as a transplant.Are you really going to say that Cheney and Osama are comparable? Because that's pretty sad if you're actually that partisan. I have deep and personal policy disagreements with Bush and Cheney's time in office but I don't wish either of them ill health.
Have we seen Osama bin Laden's body? What if Cheney now has.....Osama's heart!?