Vice President Dick Cheney called Saturday for greater global unity to fight terrorism, halt the spread of illicit weapons and promote democratic trends in the Middle East, in the Bush administration's most significant appeal yet to disaffected allies who opposed the Iraq war.
Okay so far.
The administration's choice of Mr. Cheney to lead its delegation here may seem improbable, given his low profile and hard-line reputation. Mr. Cheney was making only his second international trip in three years as vice president, and remains an enigma to many Europeans and other foreigners. The White House also generally avoids the kinds of issues this conference champions, like globalization and multilateral diplomacy.
Cheney is an "improbable" choice. How about Cheney is an "amusing" choice? That would be liberal bias. How about Cheney as a "laughable" choice? How about "desperate"? Even "ironic" is too strong for the ultra-left New York Times.
And check out that last sentence. The White House "generally avoids" blah blah blah? How about "openly mocks"? How about "regularly derides"? How about "consciously rejected, a decision which isolated the United States from the international community, and more importantly, limited a truly international presence on the ground in Iraq. The resulting lack of international legitimacy may have fueled and amplified the continuing Iraqi insurgency -- meaning that our own international hamhandedness probably, in the end, caused a few more Americans to die in Iraq, for a war they likely neither wanted nor understood."
Making those sorts of connections is far beyond Our Liberal Media.
Read this next bit, which escapes comment from the Times writers:
Responding to a question after his speech, Mr. Cheney sought to dispel perceptions that the United States was empire-building. "If we were a true empire, we would currently preside over a much greater piece of the earth's surface than we do," he said. "That's not the way we operate."
Cheney: "We'd so kick all y'all's asses if we really wanted to. But we don't, so quit fucking bitching."
The next is just thrown in at the end of the piece, and it's worth noting (barely):
Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, applauded Mr. Cheney for pressing for democracy in the Arab world, though he said he was disappointed by most of the speech, which he said was notable for its "complete lack of reference to international law."
Some Arab members of the audience said the United States must step in more forcefully to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, if it wanted to hasten the development of democracy in the Middle East.
"Reform is like a seed you plant," said Nadim Y. Muasher, the chairman of the Arab International Hotels Company in Jordan. "If you plant it between two rocks -- Israel and Palestine -- it won't grow."
Finally, look at this thug:
History will place him right next to Boss Tweed and Dick Nixon in the Tammany Hall of Fame section of the history of this country. It won't even take two decades.
[UPDATE: Was the Times even there? [The byline is not Jayson Blair. -ed] From the Post:
Administration officials said the atmosphere in Davos was much warmer than last year, when the United States was on the brink of invading Iraq and Secretary of State Colin L. Powell was met with a barrage of complaints. But the reaction to Cheney's 58-minute appearance was tepid. The audience withheld applause during the speech and then clapped for hostile questions about the U.S. government's handling of Arab visitors and its treatment of military detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Call me a press critic, but I find that newsworthy. The Times is just way too lib, etc.]
