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Cheney endorses 'Team Obama'
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| shaolin_Z |
| quote: | Exclusive: Cheney Says He's Changed
Vice President Reflects on Time in Office, Assesses Obama's Team
By JONATHAN KARL
Dec. 16, 2008
In an exclusive interview with ABC News, a reflective Vice President Dick Cheney praised President-elect Barack Obama's national security team and admitted he's changed during his time in office.
The vice president talks about his time in office.
In his first exit interview and first television interview since the November election, Cheney said the 9-11 terrorist attacks most certainly became "a prime motivation," critically shaping his actions in the years that followed.
"Have I changed?" Cheney asked. "Well, not in the sense that I've gone through some fundamental psychological transition here, but I have been, since that day, focused very much on what we needed to do to defend the nation, and I think the policies we've recommended, the programs that we've undertaken, have been good programs. I think those have been sound decisions, and if that's what they mean by saying I've changed, I'm guilty."
With 35 days left in office, the vice president also weighed in on those who will take the place of the Bush administration, assessing Obama's picks to spearhead national security.
"I must say, I think it's a pretty good team," Cheney said. "I'm not close to Barack Obama, obviously, nor do I identify with him politically. He's a liberal. I'm a conservative." |
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=6467512&page=1
Hope N' Change ™ is psycho approved now :stongue:. |
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| Lebezniatnikov |
Hardly. Cheney said they're qualified and then said he doesn't agree with them ideologically.
How in god's name is this thread-worthy? This sub-forum has really gone to . |
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| Q5echo |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lebezniatnikov
Hardly. Cheney said they're qualified and then said he doesn't agree with them ideologically. |
i think Dick was making a distinction between himself and Obama personally rather than Obama's "team" |
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| Lebezniatnikov |
| quote: | Originally posted by Q5echo
i think Dick was making a distinction between himself and Obama personally rather than Obama's "team" |
So you're prepared to make the argument that Susan Rice, Gen. James Jones, Hillary Clinton, Samantha Power, and Andrew Bacevich are somehow more ideologically compatible with Cheney? Have at it. |
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| Q5echo |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lebezniatnikov
So you're prepared to make the argument that Susan Rice, Gen. James Jones, Hillary Clinton, Samantha Power, and Andrew Bacevich are somehow more ideologically compatible with Cheney? Have at it. |
actually i'm well prepared to fill you in on several things as usual.
first off you should familiarize yourself a little better on who exactly constitutes the POTUS' National Security Team. your list is all over the place.
1) Samantha Power is not even in the Office of the Executive much less a Cabinet member or an NSA, nor will she be.
2) Andrew Bacevich, a self described "Conservative", also a non-actor in the Executive as of yet, nor will he be in Obama's Cabinet.
furthermore...
3) Hillary Clinton voted for the war. and if it wasn't politically expedient to reject the war two years ago she'd still be a proponent. (she's a chameleon btw. a hawk when it serves her and a dove when it serves her) she voted twice authorizing the Patriot Act and has expressed mild support for the NSA wiretapping program.
4) Janet Napolitano was not opposed to the war. she's a staunch advocate of capital punishment...and she's a lesbian
5) Gen. James Jones. obvious.
6) Robert Gates...painfully obvious
equally conversely obvious idealogically though, Eric Holder and Susan Rice. nowhere near Cheney politically or philosophically. so you can have those two. i don't care for them in the least. |
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| Lebezniatnikov |
| Apologies if I listed people who have the ear of the President-elect but aren't in his cabinet. |
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| shaolin_Z |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lebezniatnikov
Hardly. Cheney said they're qualified and then said he doesn't agree with them ideologically. |
Interesting how you can't see the contradiction in your statement or the inaccuracies Q already pointed out.
| quote: | Originally posted by Lebezniatnikov
How in god's name is this thread-worthy? This sub-forum has really gone to . |
The fact that the new administration is being endorsed by Cheney just goes to reflect the obvious once again, sadly predictable but it's something you learn to live with sooner or later. In their desperation, people will stop at nothing... and continue rallying behind figure heads with virtually the same policies (in terms of impact), just different semantics. In this case it was quite a spectacular display though, rarely do we see people project all their hopes and dreams on one man... it's also quite disturbing but history will be the best judge of that. And I agree, this forum has largely gone to which is why I'm not a regular anymore and in most likely hood will respond late if I think the user / post dignifies a response :). |
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| Lebezniatnikov |
"Conservative" = / = "Neoconservative"
This is hardly a ringing endorsement - or an endorsement at all really - so I still don't see the point. Power and Bacevich are key advisors to Obama, and as such are part of his team, so whatever "inaccuracy" Q is talking about is a matter of who you choose to include on his "team" - I don't think referring to the foreign policy team of a President should only include cabinet-level officials... after all, we all know that it was Perle and Wolfowitz (among others) who exerted the most influence on the disastrous foreign policy of Bush's first term.
There will be continuity between the last administration and the next because there always is. But to snipe a "pretty good" comment and link it to some extension of the neo-conservative agenda is both premature and completely naive.
Obama never ran as a foreign policy liberal - he's a pragmatist at heart. So the fact that there will be overlaps in policy is no surprise at all. But I can assure you that with people like Biden, Rice, Clinton, and Jones, this will be a far more balanced foreign policy team than Bush's was. |
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| Halcyon+On+On |
As a gesture of good will, Cheney has invited Obama on his next hunting trip.
I may have made that up. |
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