\jeff{krimmel}

When Debate Is Not Okay

Vice President Cheney spoke today at the American Enterprise Institute about Iraq, amongst other topics. He embraced the recent debate over ongoing American involvement in Iraq:

I do not believe it is wrong to criticize the war on terror or any aspect thereof. Disagreement, argument and debate are the essence of democracy, and none of us should want it any other way.

That is a very nice sentiment, and I am glad to see the administration coming around on this idea that those who dissent are not necessarily treasonous. Vice President Cheney, however, quickly turned field and expressed an important caveat, expressing his feelings about those who espouse the argument that the administration over-hyped intelligence to make the case for war:

This is revisionism of the most corrupt and shameless variety. It has no place anywhere in American politics, much less in the United States Senate.

So, criticizing the war on terror or any aspect thereof is fine, as long as that aspect is not a claim that the administration misused intelligence in the lead up to war. Again, are you freakin’ kidding me?

And I haven’t even mentioned the Vice President’s laughable use of the word “corrupt”. Do the names Scooter Libby, Karl Rove, Tom DeLay, Bill Frist, Jack Abramoff, or Michael Scanlon ring a bell?