Whoever debates Cheney better be prepared to make him pay through the nose

[BurtWorm]

for that "best line" of his debate with Lieberman in 2000.


(Daypass or subscription required.)

http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2004/06/24/halliburton/print.html


The United States of Texas

Two new books document the death grip that Bush, Cheney and their corporate cronies have on America.

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By Farhad Manjoo



June 24, 2004 | Four years ago, in an otherwise utterly undistinguished vice presidential debate, Joe Lieberman got off one clean shot at Dick Cheney.

"I'm pleased to see, Dick, from the newspapers, that you're better off than you were eight years ago," the senator said. It was a nice dig at Cheney's immense wealth, but the response was better. With a self-satisfied grin that dominated the news for the next few days, Cheney shot back, "I can tell you, Joe, the government had absolutely nothing to do with it."

In Dick Cheney's version of the life story of Dick Cheney, Dick Cheney is a self-made man. During the 2000 debate, and countless times since, Cheney has credited his fortune to the magical powers of the "private sector"; for Cheney, the millions he earned as the CEO of Halliburton, the world's largest oil services firm, are completely unrelated to the close connections he forged with government officials during the decades he spent in public office. To hear Cheney describe it, becoming Halliburton's CEO was a testament to his own individualistic business savvy; just part of Dick Cheney's fulfillment of the American dream.

But on its face, Cheney's line is impossible to swallow. If we didn't know it in 2000, by now just about every voter in the land understands that Halliburton is an immensely successful federal contractor, and many of its biggest deals have involved government agencies. It's not just the war in Iraq -- for more than half a century, Halliburton's fortunes, and especially the fortunes of Halliburton's construction subsidiary Brown & Root (which has received some of the largest contracts in Iraq), have tracked closely with the fortunes of the politicians it has chosen to get close to.

Two engaging new books by well-regarded journalists -- "The Halliburton Agenda: The Politics of Oil and Money," by Dan Briody, and "Cronies: Oil, the Bushes, and the Rise of Texas, America's Superstate," by Robert Bryce -- outline these symbiotic relationships in great detail. They paint a fascinating picture of a company that has been singularly successful in getting what it wants out of government. Halliburton's Brown & Root stands as the epitome of Texas-based crony capitalism. Despite what the vice president says, when it comes to Halliburton's success, the government had absolutely everything to do with it...

[Gold Metal Flake]

1. All too often, as with Holy Joe...

The candidate practices an acid line, then has no comeback when it is returned with force. Whatever veep they put up better be very well prepared to swat lies back over the net with the ferocity of (insert favorite proffesional tennis player's name here). No shit.

There is an opportunity to make the guy self-immolate with anger. A good veep candidate could cause the pacemaker to explode from his chest and run down out of the studio and the street making little metallic yiping noises, if he is prepared and if he is primed and practiced.

The candidate must have the prep, and he (or she...) must have the guts. He must be willing to look vicious in order to burst through the lies, for surely the debates will be as scripted and as controlled as the VRWC and Lie-Co Entertainment can make them.

The Veep candidate better be prepared to open the can of whup-ass that was left unused from Tora Bora.

[BurtWorm]

2. Afuckin'men!

Well said! :toast:

[sventvkg]

3. True ut Cheney Kicked the shit out of Joe in 2000...

It was sad to see the lying bastard do it but he's not the success he is because he's stupid....Need Clarke up there debating him...He'll tell him right where to go and call him on anything..and If Cheney gets wise, Clark could put him in a Ranger Choke hold!!

[filterfish]

4. agree w premise, my top three picks for that fight...

bob kerrey, anthony zinni, al sharpton