A matter of perception

Vice President Dick Cheney was in Reno, Nev. on Monday while Codpiece was traipsing around Biloxi, Miss., trying to sound empathetic while not giving a rat’s ass about the little people who hovered around him, anxious for his generosity and actual help.

In a speech at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Convention, Cheney explained why America needs to “stay the course” in Iraq, even though we never knew, exactly, what “the course” was in the first place and we sure as hell don’t know what it is now.

“This enemy also has a set of clear objectives,” he said. “The terrorists want to end all American and Western influence in the Middle East. Their goal in that region is to seize control of a country so they have a base from which to launch attacks and to wage war against governments that do not meet their demands. The terrorists believe that by controlling one country, they will be able to target and overthrow other governments in the region, and ultimately to establish a totalitarian empire that encompasses a region from Spain, across North Africa, through the Middle East and South Asia, all the way around to Indonesia.”

Um ... isn’t that what we're trying to do?

Now I know I’ll get flamed for this, but if you change the word “terrorists,” which is vague and ambiguous but carries a big scare in it, to “Bush Administration,” and then change a few other words, it sounds rather familiar, even if it hasn't been articulated so clearly to the American people:

“This administration also has a set of clear objectives,” he said. “The Bush Administration wants to end all Arab and Muslim influence in the Middle East. Their goal in that region is to seize control of a country so they have a base from which to launch democracy and to wage freedom against governments that do not meet their demands. The Bush Administration believes that by controlling one country, they will be able to target and overthrow other governments in the region, and ultimately to establish an empire that encompasses a region from Spain, across North Africa, through the Middle East and South Asia, all the way around to Indonesia.”

Sounds like something right out of the Neocon Handbook for Mouth-Breathers, doesn’t it?

This is why America is really in Iraq, right Mr. Cheney? You can argue that Americans surely aren’t terrorists – we’re far too “good” for that -- but it’s a tired argument. After three-and-a-half years, this horse just won’t run.

Remember the old saw, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.”

I’m sure the people of Iraq would argue the point, given a chance.