Dick Cheney -- The Fruits of Elite Immunity

[Octafish]

It seems like the only time this crook's really happy is when he's acting with an agent of death.

Dick Cheney

The fruits of elite immunity

By Glenn Greenwald
Salon.com
Thursday, Aug 25, 2011 09:26 ET

Less than three years ago, Dick Cheney was presiding over policies that left hundreds of thousands of innocent people dead from a war of aggression, constructed a worldwide torture regime, and spied on thousands of Americans without the warrants required by law, all of which resulted in his leaving office as one of the most reviled political figures in decades. But thanks to the decision to block all legal investigations into his chronic criminality, those matters have been relegated to mere pedestrian partisan disputes, and Cheney is thus now preparing to be feted -- and further enriched -- as a Wise and Serious Statesman with the release of his memoirs this week: one in which he proudly boasts (yet again) of the very crimes for which he was immunized. As he embarks on his massive publicity-generating media tour of interviews, Cheney faces no indictments or criminal juries, but rather reverent, rehabilitative tributes, illustrated by this, from Politico today:





That's what happens when the Government -- marching under the deceitful Orwellian banner of Look Forward, Not Backward -- demands that its citizens avert their eyes from the crimes of their leaders so that all can be forgotten: the crimes become non-crimes, legitimate acts of political choice, and the criminals become instantly rehabilitated by the message that nothing they did warrants punishment. That's the same reason people like John Yoo and Alberto Gonzales are defending their torture and illegal spying actions not in a courtroom but in a lush conference of elites in Aspen.

The U.S. Government loves to demand that other countries hold their political leaders accountable for serious crimes, dispensing lectures on the imperatives of the rule of law. Numerous states bar ordinary convicts from profiting from their crimes with books. David Hicks, an Australian citizen imprisoned without charges for six years at Cheney's Guantanamo, just had $10,000 seized by the Australian government in revenue from his book about his time in that prison camp on the ground that he is barred from profiting from his uncharged, unproven crimes.

CONTINUED with LINKS...

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/dick_cheney/?story=/opinion/greenwald/2011/08/25/cheney

Hold on Dick. The FBI would like to ask you a few more questions. They're based on what Col. Wilkerson reported.

Ex-Bush Official Col. Lawrence Wilkerson: "I am Willing to Testify" If Dick Cheney is Put on Trial

Democracy Now!
Aug. 30, 2011

As former Vice President Dick Cheney publishes his long-awaited memoir, we speak to Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell. "This is a book written out of fear, fear that one day someone will 'Pinochet' Dick Cheney," says Wilkerson, alluding to the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, who was arrested for war crimes. Wilkerson also calls for George W. Bush and Cheney to be held accountable for their crimes in office. "I’d be willing to testify, and I’d be willing to take any punishment I’m due," Wilkerson said. We also speak to Salon.com political and legal blogger Glenn Greenwald about his recent article on Cheney, "The Fruits of Elite Immunity." "Dick Cheney goes around the country profiting off of this sleazy, sensationalistic, self-serving book, basically profiting from his crimes, and at the same time normalizing the idea that these kind of policies…are perfectly legitimate choices to make. And I think that’s the really damaging legacy from all of this," says Greenwald.

EXCERPT...

COL. LAWRENCE WILKERSON: I certainly do. And I’d be willing to testify, and I’d be willing to take any punishment I’m due. And I have to say, I agree with almost everything he just said. And I think that explains the aggressiveness, to a large extent, of the Cheney attack and of the words like "exploding heads all over Washington." This is a book written out of fear, fear that one day someone will "Pinochet" Dick Cheney.

CONTINUED...

http://www.democracynow.org/seo/2011/8/30/ex_bush_official_col_lawrence_wilkerson

Hold on Dick. Hold on. Now we're getting somewhere.

[Liberal_Dog]

1. K & R

Why that asshole is not in prison right now is beyond me.

[Octafish]

11. The People v. Richard Cheney

I wonder, as well, Liberal_Dog. Something Sneer must think about:

The People v. Richard Cheney

Resolved, that Richard B. Cheney, vice president of the United States, should be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors and that these articles of impeachment be submitted to the American people

By Wil S. Hylton
GQ.com
March 2007

EXCERPT...

That in the buildup to war in Iraq, the vice president, lacking confidence in the true casus belli, conspired to invent additional ones, misrepresenting the available intelligence, crafting new "intelligence," and then spreading these falsehoods to the public, perverting the democratic process that he is sworn to uphold.

That as the war devolved into occupation, the vice president again sabotaged the democratic system, developing back channels into the Coalition Provisional Authority, a body not under his purview, to remove some of the most effective staff and replace them with his own loyal supplicants—undercutting America's best effort at war in order to expand his own power.

That in his domestic capacity, the vice president has been equally reckless with the trust of his office, converting the vice presidency into a de facto prime ministership, conducting secret meetings with secret policy boards to determine national policy and then refusing to share the details of those meetings with the other branches of government.

Finally, that the vice president has repeatedly promoted the interests of a corporation, Halliburton, over the interests of the nation, causing untold harm to American economic, military, and public health.

CONTINUED...

http://www.gq.com/news-politics/newsmakers/200702/richard-cheney-vice-president-impeachment?printable=true

One day, Sneer. One day.

[Supersedeas]

20. Eric Holder doesn't have it in him -- talking about accountability is so much easier than

seeking an Indictment

[gateley]

2. Sadly, no one will every Pinochet Cheney. Or Bush. Or Rumsfeld. Or...nt

[xiamiam]

4. one has to hope..that someday justice will prevail in america..nt

[gateley]

5. Yes, maybe after it all comes crashing down and we begin again,

but I have no hope that the previous administration will be held accountable. Do you?

[xiamiam]

9. I still hope that cheney is held accountable for the evil path he advocates

i have to believe that is arrogance and hubris will be his undoing

[Octafish]

12. History will not absolve them...

Remembering Why Americans Loathe Dick Cheney

As the former vice president releases his memoir, it's useful to recall the many reasons why the vast majority of Americans disapproved of his tenure

Conor Friedersdorf
The Atlantic
Aug 30 2011, 8:00 AM ET146

When Vice President Dick Cheney left office, his approval rating stood at a staggeringly low 13 percent. Few political figures in history have been so reviled. As his memoir, In My Time, hits bookstores today, and he does a series of friendly interviews in the press, some Americans with short memories might wonder, "Why is it that so few were willing to endorse his performance in office?"

This is a reminder.

SNIP...

TORTURE

In December 2008, Dick Cheney acknowledged what many had long suspected or known: that he was instrumental in initiating the Bush Administration interrogation tactic in which detainees were blindfolded, strapped to a board, and held down as water was pored into their cavities until their lungs began to fill up with it. The intent was to trick the detainees into believing that they would drown. Almost sounds like a mock execution, doesn't it? Christopher Hitchens gamely subjected himself to the procedure, knowing he could stop it at any time. His conclusion: "If waterboarding does not constitute torture, then there is no such thing as torture."

SNIP...

HALLIBURTON

After his initial stints in government under Republican Administrations, including time as George H.W. Bush's Secretary of Defense, Dick Cheney entered the private sector, where he used contacts he made during his time in government to enrich himself. All told, he would earn more than $44 million from Halliburton.

CONTINUED...

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/08/remembering-why-americans-loathe-dick-cheney/244306/

I know you and I won't absolve them, either, gately.

[leveymg]

22. If the US continues its decline into a second-string power, it could happen.

But, no prosecution for war crimes and torture, not if we continue to be allowed to maintain our illusion of being the world's last remaining superpower, rogue or otherwise.

[butterfly77]

3. ...

[Octafish]

13. Valerie Plame: Dick Cheney ‘wounding’ former colleagues

Cheney outted Valerie Plame and her CIA counternuclearproliferation program. That's treason.

Valerie Plame: Dick Cheney ‘wounding’ former colleagues

Posted on 08.29.11
By Eric W. Dolan
Categories: Featured, Nation

Former CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson and her husband appeared on MSNBC’s The Last Word to discuss the memoir recently published by former Vice President Dick Cheney.

“He’s wounding his former colleagues,” she said in regards to his depiction of Condoleezza Rice. “He’s shown nothing but contempt.”

“And I think it is so ironic that Dick Cheney, who touts his national security prominence and expertise, has never once accepted any responsibility, nor regret, for the outing — the betrayal — of a CIA officer that was working on nuclear weapons — finding them, stopping them.”

High-level members of the Bush’s administration allegedly revealed Mrs. Wilson’s covert status as retribution for Mr. Wilson, a former ambassador, publishing a series of op-eds questioning the misrepresentation of intelligence leading up to the invasion of Iraq.

SOURCE w/VIDEO: http://www.rawstory.com/rawreplay/2011/08/valerie-plame-dick-cheney-wounding-former-colleagues/

Great Americans.

[WillyT]

6. K & R !!!

:hi:

:kick:

[Octafish]

14. ''We talked about Cheney's people like the NAZIs.'' -- Col. Lawrence Wilkerson

Wilkerson: We talked about Cheney’s people like the ‘Nazis’

Posted on 08.31.11
By Stephen C. Webster
Categories: Featured, Nation

In an interview with Russia Today’s Alyona Minkovski on Tuesday night, Col. Lawrence Wilkerson continued his barrage against former Vice President Dick Cheney, who’s been a prominent face in the media lately thanks to his newly published book, “In My Time.”

Wilkerson, formerly chief of staff to Sec. of State Colin Powell during President George W. Bush’s first term, has been outspoken in recent days in his criticism of Cheney, going so far as to tell Democracy Now that he would be prepared to testify, if only someone would “Pinochet” the former vice president.

Speaking to Alyona, Wilkerson revealed that internal discussions within Powell’s office often regarded Cheney and his men the “Nazis” or “Gestappo” within the Bush administration.

“It often went like this: Those Nazis in Vice President Cheney’s office; the Gestapo in Vice President Cheney’s office. That’s kinda the way, by 2003 and 2004, we’d come to look at Scooter Libby and David Addington, including the vice president himself, in that office.”

CONTINUED w VIDEO: http://www.rawstory.com/rawreplay/2011/08/wilkerson-we-talked-about-cheneys-office-like-they-were-nazis/

Ahoy, WillyT! Thanks! "Gestapo" is right.

[dflprincess]

7. Maybe it's time for the families of soldiers killed in Iraq

to file wrongful death suits against Bush and Cheney.

[Octafish]

18. Outstanding suggestion, dflprincess.

However, I don't believe that's possible. Here's what I found:

From what I understand, the military is protected from litigation by law when the death results from policy (Claims Court / FTCA Exclusions), however. Smirk and Sneer, as officers of the government carrying out policy, likewise are protected. Halliburton and the other war profiteers are another matter, if a soldier dies as a result of them failing to carry out their responsibilities under conract.

Perhaps we can start a new organization, dflprincess. Using the Move-On.org pressure group approach, the organization would be dedicated to bringing these warmongering, mass-murdering, thieving, traitorous gangster bastards to justice. I belive that many, many families of the fallen would want to be part of it.

[dflprincess]

28. I like it! n/t

[Mnemosyne]

8. The men in the photo with war criminal, the dick Cheney, look like they can hardly wait to apologize

to that dick after he shoots them in the face.

He'll be having his ass kissed on a few talk shows.

His book should be Exhibit One.

Thanks for the great OP, Octafish.

[Octafish]

19. Glee.

Now that's one show I wouldn't miss.

A bit more on Wilkerson's perspective, which would make a damn fine Reality Series...

Might Dick Cheney really be tried for war crimes?

Lawrence Wilkerson, a former top aide to Colin Powell, with whom Dick Cheney is currently embroiled in a spat, says Cheney fears that very thing. It is highly unlikely, however.

Christian Science Monitor
By Peter Grier, Staff writer / August 31, 2011

Is there a possibility that former Vice President Dick Cheney will be tried as a war criminal?

The question arises because Lawrence Wilkerson, a former top aide to ex-Secretary of State Colin Powell, said Tuesday that Mr. Cheney fears that very thing.

Cheney’s tough defense of his record during interviews promoting his new memoir “In My Time” are the bluster of someone who underneath is really worried about his actions, Mr. Wilkerson told ABC News.

“I think he’s just trying to, one, assert himself so he’s not in some subsequent time period tried for war crimes, and second ... (vindicate) himself because he feels like he needs vindication. That in itself tells you something about him,” Wilkerson said.

CONTINUED...

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/Vox-News/2011/0831/Might-Dick-Cheney-really-be-tried-for-war-crimes

You are most welcome, Mnemosyne. Really appreciate what you do.

[90-percent]

10. Vinnie Bugliosi

wrote a book called: The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder. I haven't read it, but it contains a blueprint for any Attorney General of any state that had a soldier killed in Iraq to prosecute Bush for Murder. And Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, et al by extension.

That book never seemed to reach a large audience, unfortunately.

-90% Jimmy

[Octafish]

21. H20 Man and Time for change have read and discussed it...

Their thoughts and input from our fellow DUers are most interesting:

The Prosecution of George W. Bush

Why Bugliosi Wrote “The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder”

Bugliosi mailed free copies to prosecutors throughout the country. Others sent each stiff in Congreff a copy. Apparently, apart from Dennis Kucinich, very few have stepped forward to proceed with an investigation and prosecution.

That tells me this isn't the United States of America, anymore. If it were, no one would be above the law, especially mass murderers and traitors.

[Blue Owl]

15. Nothing makes Dick smile like a loaded gun

Sick fuck.

[Octafish]

23. Speaking of sick. Did you see this photo of Poppy and a young person?

The guy knows how to handle a gun.



Always make sure it's not loaded when loaded around children.

[Blue Owl]

25. Jeebus!

Is that Santorum's head he's about to blow off?

[sabrina 1]

16. I admire Wilkerson, who is willing to suffer the consequences of his

own actions during that critical period of time. But it seems to me he could get immunity from prosecution as a witness.

Cheney should have stayed hidden in his bunker, all he is doing is reminding people that he has not yet been arrested and making them wonder why?

[Octafish]

26. The Truth About Richard Bruce Cheney by Wilkerson

Cheney's gotta come out and take the offensive.



Otherwise, his oily, warmongering ultrarich toadmasters
may have to pay their fare share of taxes, among other things.

The Truth About Richard Bruce Cheney

By Col. Lawrence B. Wilkerson

EXCERPT...

First, more Americans were killed by terrorists on Cheney's watch than on any other leader's watch in US history. So his constant claim that no Americans were killed in the "seven and a half years" after 9/11 of his vice presidency takes on a new texture when one considers that fact. And it is a fact.

There was absolutely no policy priority attributed to al-Qa'ida by the Cheney-Bush administration in the months before 9/11. Counterterrorism czar Dick Clarke's position was downgraded, al-Qa'ida was put in the background so as to emphasize Iraq, and the policy priorities were lowering taxes, abrogating the ABM Treaty and building ballistic missile defenses.

Second, the fact no attack has occurred on U.S. soil since 9/11--much touted by Cheney--is due almost entirely to the nation's having deployed over 200,000 U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and not to "the Cheney method of interrogation."

Those troops have kept al-Qa'ida at bay, killed many of them, and certainly "fixed" them, as we say in military jargon. Plus, sadly enough, those 200,000 troops present a far more lucrative and close proximity target for al-Qa'ida than the United States homeland. Testimony to that fact is clear: almost 5,000 American troops have died, more Americans than died on 9/11. Of course, they are the type of Americans for whom Cheney hasn't much use as he declared rather dramatically when he achieved no less than five draft deferments during the Vietnam War.

Third--and here comes the blistering fact--when Cheney claims that if President Obama stops "the Cheney method of interrogation and torture", the nation will be in danger, he is perverting the facts once again. But in a very ironic way.

CONTINUED...

http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/2009/05/the_truth_about/

What kind of a future are we creating when the government won't investigate or prosecute criminality on Wall Street or in the White House?

What kind of a people are we becoming when we don't demand justice?

Glad someone in public life wants to stand up. Among his characteristics, Col. Wilkerson has integrity.

[sabrina 1]

27. Thank you. Excellent summary of Cheney's actual role, not his

imagined one, in this phase of our history.

What kind of country are we? Good question. I would like to know why Cheney is so untouchable. Why reporters when they interview him, do not stop his lies and present him with facts. But they don't.

And yes, Wilkerson does have integrity, something Cheney probably doesn't even know the meaning of.

[Uncle Joe]

17. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Octafish.:thumbsup:

[Octafish]

29. Sneer's the reason for the treason.

...and not a thing to wear.



Did find a couple of bees in my bonnet:

Know your BFEE: Sneering Dick Cheney, Superturd-Superrich-Supercrook

Know your BFEE: Cheney & Halliburton Sold Iran Nuke Technology

PS: You are most welcome, Uncle Joe! Thank you for caring...and for everything!

[Uncle Joe]

31. I didn't know Dick Cheney and Donald Trump had a love child?

:wow:

[Ignis]

24. K&R

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

[Octafish]

30. Totally nice man, the Vulgar Pigboy's boss. Didya ever wonder how he got his signature sneer?

How Cheney Got His SNEER: The Curse of Dick Cheney