Cheney the Heartless

What words can you use to describe a man who swears that torture works, when there is not a shred of evidence to corroborate that claim, says that given the opportunity he’d torture people again, and who blithely dismisses the fact that innocent people were tortured and murdered in America’s name? Could it be…Satan?

Dick Cheney isn’t Satan, but he is one of the most despicable humans on the planet. On top of his disgusting, full-throated defense of torture, the man was absolutely eager to throw his former boss (in title only) George Bush under the bus by letting the world know that he was fully aware of every dark and dirty deed committed by the CIA.

Obviously, Cheney the Heartless is playing the only card he has in his deck. He has no choice but to aggressively defend his actions despite the insanity of that position. He committed international crimes against humanity, but he also knows that there is little to no chance that the current administration will do anything about it. For all his failings as a human being, and maybe because of them, Cheney is unmatched at political maneuvering and manipulation. Because torture was allowed to continue by Obama, the current president has no appetite to seek a path to justice that could eventually find its way back to him.

With the appointment of George Bush as President in 2000, Cheney and his merry band of neocons took advantage of their long desired opportunity to mold the executive branch into their warped image. The attack on the Twin Towers conveniently provided them with the opportunity to give the President new and unprecedented powers and at the same time send troops into the Middle East to settle old scores and take control of oil-rich lands. All of it has proven an utter disaster for this country and the rest of the world.

No, Dick Cheney isn’t Satan, but he has done more than any other single person to destroy all that was once seen as good about America, and turn this country into lawless, war-loving international pariah.

The screaming of the weasels

It’s completely understandable if you’re confused about what year it is. Are we living in 2014 or 1214? If you are reading today’s headlines, you might think it’s the middle of the Dark Ages as the weasels who approved torture squeal out in their own defense. Former Vice President Dick Cheney, former CIA Directors Michael Hayden, George Tenet and Porter Goss and former Justice Department Attorney John Woo and others are flinging justifications for their illegal behavior as fast as the media will relay them.

Cheney, who treats any criticism with a disdainful “Fuck-you-and-the-horse-you-rode-in-on” sneer, called the Senate’s report a bunch of crap, and, true to form, brought up 9/11 as his magical justification for anything. Hayden said force feeding prisoners through rectal rehydration (shoving food up a person’s anus) was a benign medical procedure. Yoo tried to claim that the American people supported Bush’s post-9/11 actions, including torture.

The screaming of the weasels is a concerted effort on the part of a cadre of international criminals to justify the unjustifiable, and it all basically boils down to this: “If America does it, it’s not illegal.” It’s 2014 and we are still arguing the validity of torture.

I wish I had more faith that international justice would prevail, but like banks that are too big to fail, the individuals who authorized torture are probably too big to jail. They’ll continue making millions off of memoirs and speaking fees despite their horrendous crimes, while the families of those tortured and murdered at their hands will have only the memories of their loved ones to comfort them.