FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS FOR LIZ CHENEY…. Former Bush State Department official Liz Cheney chatted with the conservative Washington Times this morning, and addressed national security issues with the kind of honesty and seriousness we’ve come to expect from the former vice president’s daughter.
“There’s this big piece in the Wall Street Journal this morning that says that it was a number of different concepts for ways that we could capture or kill al Qaeda leaders in the days after 9/11. I am really surprised that the Democrats decide that that’s what they want to fight over. I mean, if they want to go to the American people and say that they disagree with the notion that we ought to be capturing and killing al Qaeda leaders, I think it’s just going to prove to the American people one more time why they can’t trust the Democrats with our national security.”
Transparent hackery like this is to be expected, but it’s worth noting how badly Liz Cheney misstated reality. For one thing, according to the WSJ article she referenced, the program on “capturing and killing al Qaeda leaders” was never fully implemented wasn’t “fully operational” eight years later. Does that mean, by Liz Cheney’s reasoning, that her father’s administration wasn’t fully committed to going after terrorists?
For that matter, even the most casual of observers can look at this and realize the controversy is about possibly illegal secrecy. Dick Cheney reportedly directed the CIA not to tell Congress about the program. It’s one thing to be a mindless partisan shill, but can she name anyone, anywhere, who “disagrees with the notion that we ought to be capturing and killing al Qaeda leaders” because they think the CIA ought to follow the law regarding congressional notification of intelligence activities?
Cheney added in the same interview that it’s “un-American” for the Justice Department to consider prosecuting those who committed acts of torture. Funny, I thought it was the torture itself that was un-American. It’s good thing we have Liz Cheney to set us straight.
This is the same Cheney, by the way, who also said this morning that she’s strongly considering seeking political office.
In light of her recent record — supporting torture, lying about her opponents, casual smears, questioning others’ patriotism — Liz Cheney is well on her way to a bright career in right-wing politics.
Now all she needs is the media to give her a platform to raise her visibility and spread more nonsensical propaganda. By all appearances, that won’t be a problem.
