Cassandra
by Blake on May 22, 2009 at 10:12 Political
Cassandra was a mythical figure in Greek mythology- a favored priestess of the god Apollo, she resided in the city of Troy, in the temple of Apollo, where she could foretell the future to all who requested an audience. She fell out of favor with the god Apollo, because she would not submit to his amorous advances.
When that happened, Apollo cursed her , that she could foretell the future, but that no one would believe her ever again. As it happened, the Greeks had a little spat with the Trojans, recounted in the Iliad, by the Greek author Homer, and in this fight, which supposedly lasted twenty years, Cassandra made prediction after prediction, but no one believed.
At the end of the war, after twenty years had passed, the Greeks were tired, and resorted to trickery. They built a giant horse, into which went their best warriors, hidden. The rest of the armada pretended to sail away, and the trojans, awakening and seeing the giant horse, and no Greeks, came to the conclusion that they had won, and the horse was an offering to the Gods, or the Trojans (it’s unclear really who was the true intended recipient), and a peaceful offering.
Over Cassandra’s vocal protests that this horse meant doom for all Trojans, the horse was wheeled into the Walled city of Troy, and at night, during the celebrating, the hidden Greeks slipped out and, with the other Greeks who had come back under cover of darkness, killed all within Troy, or so it is written.
Former vice President Dick Cheney is the Cassandra of today’s world- he talks of terrorism (and yes, Virginia, it IS still called terrorism) that came to our shores and of terrorism that still yearns to make us very dead. He speaks from experience, experience that Skinny B and his posse DO NOT HAVE in dealing with terrorists, as evidenced by the rampant backpedaling B has had to do in the Gitmo “closings”.
“Nine-eleven caused everyone to take a serious second look at threats that had been gathering for a while, and enemies whose plans were getting bolder and more sophisticated. Throughout the 90s, America had responded to these attacks, if at all, on an ad hoc basis. The first attack on the World Trade Center was treated as a law enforcement problem, with everything handled after the fact – crime scene, arrests, indictments, convictions, prison sentences, case closed.
That’s how it seemed from a law enforcement perspective, at least – but for the terrorists the case was not closed. For them, it was another offensive strike in their ongoing war against the United States. And it turned their minds to even harder strikes with higher casualties. Nine-eleven made necessary a shift of policy, aimed at a clear strategic threat – what the Congress called “an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.” From that moment forward, instead of merely preparing to round up the suspects and count up the victims after the next attack, we were determined to prevent attacks in the first place.” Weekly Standard
As counterpoint to Skinny B’s watery speech, in which he prevaricated about the terror situation, and preferred his favorite childish tactic, which was pointing to the Bush administration twenty- eight times either by name or by implication, Dick Cheney didn’t truly criticize the present administration, instead, plainly making the case of why our vigilance can not be relaxed.
“Everyone expected a follow-on attack, and our job was to stop it. We didn’t know what was coming next, but everything we did know in that autumn of 2001 looked bad. This was the world in which al-Qaeda was seeking nuclear technology, and A. Q. Khan was selling nuclear technology on the black market. We had the anthrax attack from an unknown source. We had the training camps of Afghanistan, and dictators like Saddam Hussein with known ties to Mideast terrorists.
These are just a few of the problems we had on our hands. And foremost on our minds was the prospect of the very worst coming to pass – a 9/11 with nuclear weapons.” Weekly Standard
It is no accident that Dick Cheney’s popularity is growing as more and more people are becoming uneasy with this know- nothing poseur in the White House, and his crew of blame-the-victim liberals spending all their time trying to minimize any reference to terror. Calling something a “man caused disaster” will not make the deaths any less horrible, and deleting the term “terrorist”, or “enemy combatant” from our vocabulary will not cause them to either like us more, or kill us less.
“So we’re left to draw one of two conclusions – and here is the great dividing line in our current debate over national security. You can look at the facts and conclude that the comprehensive strategy has worked, and therefore needs to be continued as vigilantly as ever. Or you can look at the same set of facts and conclude that 9/11 was a one-off event – coordinated, devastating, but also unique and not sufficient to justify a sustained wartime effort. Whichever conclusion you arrive at, it will shape your entire view of the last seven years, and of the policies necessary to protect America for years to come.
The key to any strategy is accurate intelligence, and skilled professionals to get that information in time to use it. In seeking to guard this nation against the threat of catastrophic violence, our Administration gave intelligence officers the tools and lawful authority they needed to gain vital information. We didn’t invent that authority. It is drawn from Article Two of the Constitution. And it was given specificity by the Congress after 9/11, in a Joint Resolution authorizing “all necessary and appropriate force” to protect the American people.” Weekly Standard
If you note the first sentence in that second paragraph, you will begin to see the problem we now have vis-a-vis this current administration, as all the Liberal socialists there seem hell- bent on castrating our intelligence services, beginning with the Speaker of the House, but not limited to her alone.
Perhaps, if everyone listened to Dick Cheney a little more, and Skinny B a little less, then the similarity between Cheney and Cassandra would end at having the same first letter in their names, rather than their shared voices in the wilderness.
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Tags: cheney, gitmo, Pelosi, terrorists, truth
BLK: “…he prevaricated about the terror situation,…”
DAR
If you think you can back that up with an example, I would be pleased to examine it.
Cheney quote: “We had the anthrax attack from an unknown source.>>
DAR
How come we are always hearing that there were no attacks during Bush/Cheney? Which is it?
BLK: It is no accident that Dick Cheney’s popularity is growing as more and more…>>
DAR
When he goes away, people hate him a little less. Here are the numbers:
“Fifty-five percent of people questioned in the poll say they have an unfavorable opinion of the former vice president. Thirty-seven percent say they have a favorable opinion of Cheney, up 8 percentage points from January when he left office.”
–http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/05/21/cheney.poll/
I think the GOP should keep him as a mascot. These smart republicans think otherwise:
***
“A National Journal poll of top GOP political insiders and strategists finds that Republicans believe former Vice President Dick Cheney has hurt the party since leaving office.
Of 100 insiders polled, fully 57 percent believe Cheney has hurt the party, and only 33 percent believe he has helped.”
Quotes:
“Anything that reminds the public of the Bush administration harms the party’s ability to turn the page. If he’d had any concern for his public image when he was in office, he wouldn’t have to worry as much about defending his reputation now.”
“There is nothing Dick Cheney can say or do to help the Republican Party today. The best thing he can do is disappear for the next 10 years.”
“Let’s face it: The guy doesn’t know anything about winning elections outside of Wyoming.”
“Not even a close call. With Cheney out there, Obama doesn’t even need to remind the American people about the mess that was the Bush years.”
“Cheney represents the grumpy intolerance that has come to characterize the GOP. Get off the stage!”
–http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/15/cheney-is-hurting-the-par_n_203872.html
D.
———————–
Dowd opines:
“Cheney has replaced Sarah Palin as Rogue Diva. Just as Jeb Bush and other Republicans are trying to get kinder and gentler, Cheney has popped out of his dungeon, scary organ music blaring, to carry on his nasty campaign of fear and loathing.
The man who never talked is now the man who won’t shut up. The man who wouldn’t list his office in the federal jobs directory, who had the vice president’s residence blocked on Google Earth, who went to the Supreme Court to keep from revealing which energy executives helped him write the nation’s energy policy, is now endlessly yelping about how President Obama is holding back documents that should be made public.”
You have the laughable gal to quote DOWD? My God, all through the Bush years she couldn’t shut up, sounding like the woman scorned, as if Bush had told her she was indeed the ugly duckling who would never be a goose.
And the Huffington Post, the only blog that makes the Kos look sort of just a” little communist”? Oh please-
As to the prevarication,just look at the terms they want to use- “man caused disaster”- what’s up with this mealy mouthed stuff? Is he next going to blame the people in the towers for being blown up, a la Churchill?
Oh- it’s not a War On Terror- it’s now an “Overseas Contingency Operation” What?
That last term is so weak that kleenex could hold that one.
Personally, I believe that the last administration let the furball liberal nutjobs define the direction of the conversation for too many years, but then they have had a lot of practice cherry- picking facts and distorting half truths. Bush/ Cheney should have led the debate, instead of thinking that Americans would see that what they were doing was right- libs lead Americans who watch Jon Stewart and think that he is REAL news around by the nose, and ignorance is a real problem in this country when it comes to reality.
BLK: “As to the prevarication,just look at the terms they want to use- “man caused disaster”- what’s up with this mealy mouthed stuff?>>
DAR
A search of the transcript shows “man caused” does not occur. The term “disaster” does occur once. Here is the comment, in context:
***
“We have re-energized a global non-proliferation regime to deny the world’s most dangerous people access to the world’s deadliest weapons, and launched an effort to secure all loose nuclear materials within four years. We are better protecting our border, and increasing our preparedness for any future attack or natural disaster. We are building new partnerships around the world to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaeda and its affiliates.”
It’s not too much to ask you to be honest and accurate in your criticisms.
BLK:
Oh- it’s not a War On Terror- it’s now an “Overseas Contingency Operation” What?>>
DAR
GW Bush said it was misnamed. What did he think it should be called? I think we should ask him. He is what he said:
“We actually misnamed the war on terror. It ought to be the Struggle Against Ideological Extremists Who Do Not Believe in Free Societies Who Happen to Use Terror as a Weapon to Try to Shake the Conscience of the Free World.”
—George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Aug. 6, 2004
That’s an genuine quote. I think you should use that title.
BLK: “…but then they [nut-job liberals] have had a lot of practice cherry- picking facts and distorting half truths.>>
DAR
While I do acknowledge your obvious expertise in the area of “cherry-picking facts” and distorting half truths,” let me inform you that there is a difference between making such a claim and actually demonstrating it. While you are good at making claims, I am better at demonstration. You should try adopting my method. It works much better in the long run.
BLK: “…ignorance is a real problem in this country when it comes to reality.>>
DAR
Oh, I couldn’t agree more. You’ve hit the nail on the head. But I can help you with this, and already have.
D.
Darrel, you deliberately miss the meaning of what is said in any quote, or perhaps I must be clearer to someone of your caliber- the misnaming “Man caused disasters” is indicative of the mealy mouthed PC bull that libs spew in an ignorant attempt to minimize the situation to their hopeful benefit, for Dems, its all about them and how it benefits them.
As to cherrypicking, if I have become in any way proficient at that, it was obviously due to your expert tutelage. You do not use a word if a thousand will do, in an attempt to drown me in verbiage.
Not to worry D- have a Bulls**t meter that works really overtime when I read your replies, but it’s really a good one- helps me separate the wheat from the chaff.
Let’s review:
***
BLK: “…he prevaricated about the terror situation,…”
DAR
If you think you can back that up with an example, I would be pleased to examine it.
***
BLK: As to the prevarication,just look at the terms they want to use- “man caused disaster”>>
DAR
I asked you to back up your claim with an example. You provided one. Only you made one up that didn’t exist.
Did you think I wouldn’t notice?
D.
———–
“Errors, like straws, upon the surface flow; He who would search for pearls must dive below.” –John Dryden (1631-1700)
Jesus DAR, you are such a mealy mouthed idiot. I have seen hammers with a better grasp! I have known ropes that knew the lines better than you.
I can almost see you move your mouth when you type. Cheney was back-stabbed by the media (your chosen sources of media that is) and you use that selection media as your source?
And you accuse others of cherry picking? You are as biased as a Goodyear tire. Some would suggest you seek professional mental help, but I happen to know that is the source (ha ha!) of your delusions. Your education has taught you what to think, not how to think.
Your argument fails on logical basis. None of us need do anything to refute you, as you refute yourself. In fact, you have proven Big Dog’s point very well. Liberals from top to the bottom are mealy mouthed itiots.
Thanks.
D- as to “man- caused disaster” I said terms THEY want to use I did not imply that Skinny B used this term, but rather liberals, hence the usage of “they”- do you get it now, or do you need to re read it?
Oh, and those “republicans” you refer to? They are what we used to refer to as “Democrats” back when dems had at least a vestige of a spine, but they damn sure aren’t conservative, and they should turn in their Republican creds if they are ashamed of Cheney- I am not- I believe he is right and Skinny B and his Chicago Chorus are wrong and hurtful to this nation.
BLK: Oh, and those “republicans” you refer to? … they should turn in their Republican creds if they are ashamed of Cheney…>>
DAR
Good point. Make your tent even smaller. What you need to do is purge those moderates (the Demo’s will take them), and make your party more pure.
D.
—————
“GOP Right Strengthen Democrats
Washington Post
The PA Conservatives were targeting him, so to survive, Specter will switch parties. This means that the Democrats can now pass anything they like, with no check, for the next two years.
This has happened before. Every time the very conservative wing of the party helps defeat or drive out a RINO, they don’t strengthen the GOP, they strengthen the Democrats.
It happened when the GOP right ganged up on liberal Senator Ed Brooke in Massachusetts. The result was Paul Tsongas, followed by John Kerry. This was an improvement over Brooke?
The Republicans lost control of the senate when the conservatives drove out Jim Jeffords of Vermont.
We will eventually make the party so pure that we win no elections.”
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/senate/specter-to-switch-parties.html?hpid=topnews
As to the last sentence, you are right- you will win no elections. We have you where we want you. After your party overreaches, as it is now doing, the rest of the people will see you for the socialists you are, and will vote to make America stronger by kicking all of you out. Even your pet media won’t be able to save you.
BLK: “you are right- you will win no elections.”>>
DAR
If you read the article carefully, you will see the author is providing evidence and making a cogent argument for the republican party, not the Demo’s.
You do know that saying things, doesn’t make them true?
BLK: We have you where we want you.>>
DAR: The conservatives had it all, the conservatives lost it all, and the Demo’s are in control.
And this is right where where you wanted them.
Got it.
D.
—————
[after Arthur’s cut off both of the Black Knight’s arms]
Look, you stupid B**. You’ve got no arms left.
Black Knight: Yes I have.
King Arthur: *Look*!
Black Knight: It’s just a flesh wound.”
–Monty Python
Now Monty Python? I’ll give you kudos for the humor vote, but intentionally ignoring things won’t make them any less valid- the Rinos can and should vacate the party we do not need anyone with ethereal ethics, those are really democrats, dependent on the direction of the wind in order to make a decision. We need people who know where they stand on any issues.
Yeah, they hate him. Clinton was the darling until Obama came along. Politicians go in and out of style.
http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sspencer/2009/05/04/the-wussification-of-america/
This discribes it quite well and Cheney said it like it is in his speech–“If fine speechmaking, appeals to reason, or pleas for compassion had the power to move them, the terrorists would long ago have abandoned the field”–unlike a lot of other wussies in both parties who are so afraid of the left.
Victoria has a point. While we “fight ” with each other the real enemy is still there. Not just the sand-nigga, but the Chaicom, the have-nots everywhere.
DAR keeps hammering his hate into a fine sword, which he uses to hew the arms from those who have another opinion than his.
Someone said that if the communist Chinese WERE to take over America, it would take very few Aparachiks to maintain control, because there would be so many Americans happy to work with them. Americans happy to turn in conservatives, artists, business men, Americans who want to hurt other Americans just so they can say, “I told you so!”
I think that is DAR. He would be only to glad to cut dog’s throat, if he were able.
He is so full of hate. A true liberal.
INON: “He [Dar] is so full of hate.”
DAR
This is called projection. You behave a certain way and then project and attribute your behavior onto others.
I don’t act like you. Ever.
When you remove the hate, vitriol, personal attacks and insults from “Inonitnot’s” posts, there is nothing left. And that’s too bad. It’s a wasted opportunity and not an effective way of getting any point across.
D.
true, but your way is not much better- out of context is out of context, and that just obscures the argument. I have no problem debating you on any issue, but I refuse to be drawn into your attempts to drown me in basically useless minutiae.