Cheyney

[Secretariat]

Kind of bored by the same old rhetoric here, so figured I'd throw out a new question to the people here.

Do you think that Cheyney will be Bush's running mate in 2004, or will he go to another VP, such as perhaps Ridge?

[ljb]

I think the republicans would do well if they got another running mate for Cheney. Goes along with the ABBA program.

[Tom]

As long his health remains stable, I the team will stay together.
I don't see Chenney dropping Bush! LOL

[Secretariat]

I'm hoping Bush stays with Cheyney. I think he is a detriment to their ticket. Ridge was popular in PA, and might swing that state to vote for Bush. So let's hope Dick sticks around.

[kenwoodallpromos]

1st time around Cheney was a "safe" choice as insider. Probably stick around. Bush would have to find a yes man much younger to change.

[Secretariat]

Found an interesting link on Cheyney from the New Yorker magazine.

Here it is:

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?040216fa_fact

Here's an excerpt:

For most of the eighties, Cheney served in the House of Representatives. In 1988, after the election of George H. W. Bush, he was named Secretary of Defense. The end of the Cold War brought with it expectations of a “peace dividend,” and Cheney’s mandate was to reduce forces, cut weapons systems, and close military bases. Predictably, this plan met with opposition from every member of Congress whose district had a base in peril.

Cheney was widely admired for his judicious handling of the matter. By the time he was done, the armed forces were at their lowest level since the Korean War. However, a Democratic aide on the House Armed Services Committee during those years told me that “contrary to his public image, which was as a reasonable, quiet, soft-spoken, and inclusive personality, Cheney was a rank partisan.” The aide said that Cheney practiced downsizing as political jujitsu. He once compiled a list of military bases to be closed; all were in Democratic districts. Cheney’s approach to cutting weapons systems was similar: he proposed breathtaking cuts in the districts of Thomas Downey, David Bonior, and Jim Wright, all high-profile Democrats. The aide told me that Congress, which was then dominated by the Democrats, beat back most of Cheney’s plans, because many of the cuts made no strategic sense. “This was about getting even,” he said of Cheney. Cheney’s spokesman disputed this account, saying that the armed services had specified which bases should be cut, and “Congress approved it without changes.”

As Defense Secretary, Cheney developed a contempt for Congress, which, a friend said, he came to regard as “a bunch of annoying gnats.” Meanwhile, his affinity for business deepened. “The meetings with businessmen were the ones that really got him pumped,” a former aide said. One company that did exceedingly well was Halliburton. Toward the end of Cheney’s tenure, the Pentagon decided to turn over to a single company the bulk of the business of planning and providing support for military operations abroad—tasks such as preparing food, doing the laundry, and cleaning the latrines. As Singer writes in “Corporate Warriors,” the Pentagon commissioned Halliburton to do a classified study of how this might work. In effect, the company was being asked to create its own market.

[PaceAdvantage]

Sounds efficient....

[Secretariat]

Originally posted by PaceAdvantage
Sounds efficient....

I guess you missed this part - "Cheney’s mandate was to reduce forces, cut weapons systems, and close military bases. "

Now according to Lefty, that was Clinton's job.

[PaceAdvantage]

Again, another miscommunicated thought on my part (this is happening alot tonight)....

The "efficient" I was referring to was NOT the closing of the bases or the downsizing of the military....

I was referring to the choosing of one company to provide planning and support for military operations aboard....

[ljb]

The recent exposures of Halliburtons gouging the government kinda puts a sour taste on the efficiency of it all doesn't it.
I wonder if they have been ripping us off all these years? Maybe we need another independent investigation.

[kenwoodallpromos]

After Cheney got the Haliburton job, did he clean the latrines?