Dec. 21, 2008
Cheney "Clearly Would Love" To Catch Osama
Defends War On Terror, Says FDR, Lincoln Expanded Executive Power More Than Bush Has
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In an interview recorded for Fox News, Vice President Dick Cheney said he disagreed with President's Bush's decision to fire Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. "The president doesn't always take my advice," he said. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke)
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Interactive Second In Command A closer look at Vice President Dick Cheney's career and his much-publicized health problems.
Bin Laden has escaped capture by the Bush administration since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.
Cheney said he and President George W. Bush would have preferred to have gotten bin Laden right after the attacks more than seven years ago. But Cheney says the U.S. has made progress in undermining the al Qaeda network.
Speaking in an interview broadcast on "Fox News Sunday," the vice president also blamed Congress for failing to bail out the auto industry, saying the White House was forced to step in to save U.S. car companies.
Cheney said the economy is in such bad shape that the car companies might not have survived without the $17.4 billion in emergency loans that President Bush approved on Friday.
"The president decided specifically that he wanted to try to deal with it and not preside over the collapse of the automobile industry just as he goes out of office," Cheney said.
Lawmakers "had ample opportunity to deal with this issue and they failed," Cheney said. "The president had no choice but to step in."
Congress rejected an auto bailout package after many Republicans and some Democrats opposed it. Some said U.S. auto companies would be better off if they were required to reorganize through bankruptcy.
Cheney leaves office Jan. 20 as one of the most powerful, if unpopular, vice presidents in recent history. He played a key role in many of Mr. Bush's major policy decisions and, in the interview, was unapologetic in his review of the past eight years.
He staunchly defended the Bush administration's use of executive power in the fight against terrorism, and disagreed with calls to limit presidential authority.
He also said Mr. Bush has exercised what he thinks is the legitimate authority of the president's constitutional powers as commander in chief to defend the country.
"If you think about what Abraham Lincoln did during the Civil War, what FDR did during World War II, they went far beyond anything we've done in a global war on terror," the vice president contended.
Cheney said he was unconcerned about polls showing him as unpopular, saying that people who spend too much time reading polls "shouldn't serve in these jobs."
He offered a somber assessment of the economic challenges facing the incoming Obama administration, saying there is a growing consensus that government action will be needed next year to help revive the economy. But he declined to judge the economic stimulus plan that Obama is considering because the program has yet to be announced.
Obama and his team are working to come up with details of a plan to pump up the economy with $850 billion or more in government spending over the next few years. Their goal is to create or save 3 million jobs in the next two years.
"I'd want to see what they're going to spend it on," Cheney said. "There usually are fairly significant differences between we Republicans and the Democrats on how you stimulate the economy."
Cheney, also speaking about the future of the Republican Party, the hunt for bin Laden, and the role for his successor, Joe Biden, said he:
"Capturing Osama bin Laden is something we clearly would love to do" before leaving office, Cheney said. But he said it has been more important to stop terrorist attacks against the United States.
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- I cannot wait until Mr. Cheney crawls back under his rock for good. I am ashamed of him.
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- Yuck. I will be so glad when we NEVER have to see this guy''s evil face again. January 20 can not get here fast enough. What a miserable eight years.
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- Hey Mr. Cheney,
You failed.
Signed,
The terrorists in our pocketbooks - Reply to this comment
- The big problem for the Republicans is Senator McCain still will not tell anyone how.
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- Bush and Cheney should have to walk out of Washington on January 20th.
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- rhs648....unless you do something completely unheard of in this administration. That would be diplomacy. Their idea of diplomacy is to send "Condi" in and tell them to shut up or we''ll send more troops. Military intervention is not the answer to all things political (although Bush/Cheney see it that way). Obama is not heaven sent. He is common sense sent. No idealogy for him. I tend to think that Obama is a pragmatist. Just "Git''r done" should me the motto for the Obama administration.
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- CBS should bleep d*ck and Cheney, I hear it''s the name for a piece of jewelry worn an a man''s private parts.
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- Does anyone give a s--- what Cheneys says or thinks?
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- THAT''S BLASPHEMY!!!
The words ''Cheney'' and ''Love'' in the same sentence. - Reply to this comment
- They [Bush/Chenney junta] don''t want to catch Osama. He [Osama] is the carrot on the stick so dumb Americans would follow it.
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- I find it amusing that Cheney has finally come out of his hole to get his last jabs in at political enemies. ***; who cares what you think. You''re a dismal part of history now. Nobody cares what you think at this point. I see you had to run to your nazi propaganda machine - FOX News - to get any press time. You''re a black hearted pri-ck and I hope you live a short life.
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- Bush and Cheny couldn''t catch a cold, that has been proven over the last eight years
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- Join the shoe-throwing rally in Washington DC on Jan. 20.
Come toss a shoe at Bush''s motorcade.
At least one million shoes expected. - Reply to this comment
- 9/11 happened on Bush''s watch... he owns it!
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- I can not believe that there are still idiots out there, Downtowner97, jedi23231. that still defend bush/chaney. This administration will go down in history as the most corupt administration in our history and the administration that caused more harm to the U.S. than any other ever. They almost single handedly did what all our enemies have tried to do forever, totaly bringing our country down. The devil himself is a step above these two.
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- On June 5, 2006, reporter Ed Hass contacted the FBI Headquarters to learn why Bin Laden%u2019s Most Wanted poster did not indicate that Osama was also wanted in connection with 9/11. He spoke with Rex Tomb, Chief of Investigative Publicity for the FBI. When asked why there is no mention of 9/11 on Bin Ladens Most Wanted web page, Tomb said, %u201CThe reason why 9/11 is not mentioned on Osama Bin Ladens Most Wanted page is because the FBI has no hard evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11.%u201D (Source: Teamliberty.net)
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- Bush himself says that it''s not important to catch Bin Laden. Making money on wars is the nation''s top priority.
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- Nothing, and I mean NOTHING that has happened in the last 8 years was Bush''s fault. Everything that went wrong up to November 4 of 2008 was Clinton''s fault, and everything that happened after November 4 is Obama''s fault. At no point was Bush in charge of or responsible for anything. You have to spell it out to neocons.
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- That means that anything bad that happens in the first AT LEAST 10 months after Obama''s election is Bush''s fault. Obama can spend the first 8 months of his presidency on vacation like Bush did.
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- Bush and Cheney were elected November of 2000 and was briefed by the CIA on who our enemies were. 9/11 happened 10 months later. Bush''s idiot followers say he has kept us safe. This makes absolutely no sense.
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