The Werewolf Howls: Part 3

Throughout the Bush (mis)Administration, Darth Cheney, the Werewolf of Wyoming, was conspicuously out of sight. Famously hiding in his "undisclosed location," Cheney was rarely seen and could not be coaxed into any sort of appearance with the press. Now that he has left office, he is suddenly all over the media attempting to revise history and deny his crimes.

On the heels of reports that Cheney may have directed assassination squads that operated in at least 10 countries, Cheney appeared on CNN's "State of the Union" where he defended his actions as "lawful," and Constitutional. Listening to Cheney opine on the Constitution is like asking Caligula for a lecture on morality. Constitutional matters aside, Cheney's most ridiculous assertion was that the Bush (mis)Administration bore no responsibility for the economic crisis.

The misstatements above, however, were not the most reprehensible part of the interview. Instead, the most reprehensible moment was when he stated that Obama's actions of attempting to restore the rule of law, would "raise the risk" of future attacks. This statement ignores the plethora of data that suggest the actions of Bush, Cheney and their henchmen actually created terrorists. That their policies served as a catalyst for recruitment by al-Qaeda was conveniently ignored. According to Cheney, Iraq has been a success.

But it is not just the revision of history and the attempt to deflect his crimes that make this so repulsive. It is that Cheney is deliberately trying to make Obama responsible for any attacks that follow. This is to deny 60 years of American foreign policy and eight years of open antagonism towards an entire religion that served to do little more than empower the extremists and marginalize the moderate voices.

Should we be surprised to hear such balderdash from Cheney? Probably not. Anyone who can shoot a lawyer in the face and then get the lawyer to apologize likely thinks he can get away with anything. So far he has. In addition to the already mentioned assassination squads, the subversion of the Constitution, and a shooting, Cheney also engineered the outing of a CIA agent, violated open government laws and authorized torture.

Given all that has occurred, there really is only one question to ask: When do the trials begin? For Cheney, there is only one comment that will do: "Grass mud horse you, Dick Cheney" (see previous column for explanation.)