Cheney in Wonderland

The first paragraph of the AP wire story probably engenders the same response in most sentient beings:

Vice President Dick Cheney repeated his assertions of al-Qaida links to Saddam Hussein’s Iraq on Thursday as the Defense Department released a report citing more evidence that the prewar government did not cooperate with the terrorist group.

You practically want to scream at the man: "Just who the fuck do you think you're kidding?"

Does he really believe this? Or, to put it another, more intriguing way, does he have to believe this in order to live with himself and continue functioning at his job? Is he really that delusional? Is he so deep in his ideological bunker that he's adopted the Chico Marx Theory of Statecraft ("Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?")?

Everything these people have told us regarding Iraq and Weapons of Mass Destruction and connections between Al-Qaeda and Saddam have been proven false -- either incompetent readings of botched intelligence at best or, at worst, outright lies and an impeachable offense. Everyone knows this who has a brain in his head -- and yet Cheney goes on spinning the same line of palpable bullshit, as if secure in his serene contempt for the intelligence of the American people.

Some more from the AP wire story:

Cheney contended that al-Qaida was operating in Iraq before the March 2003 invasion led by U.S. forces and that terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was leading the Iraqi branch of al-Qaida. Others in al-Qaida planned the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"He took up residence there before we ever launched into Iraq, organized the al-Qaida operations inside Iraq before we even arrived on the scene and then, of course, led the charge for Iraq until we killed him last June," Cheney told radio host Rush Limbaugh during an interview. "As I say, they were present before we invaded Iraq."

However, a declassified Pentagon report released Thursday said that interrogations of the deposed Iraqi leader and two of his former aides as well as seized Iraqi documents confirmed that the terrorist organization and the Saddam government were not working together before the invasion.

The Sept. 11 Commission’s 2004 report also found no evidence of a collaborative relationship between Saddam and Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network during that period.

Did ya get that last part, Dick? No evidence. None. Nada. What part of "no evidence" don't you understand?

You have to wonder about the mental state of a man who can be so delusional in the face of such facts -- and you also have to wonder who still believes him? Besides Patricia Heaton, that is.

These idiots can't be thrown out of office too soon for me.

Tom Moran