Thursday, November 17, 2005

Cheney vs. Reid

Avoiding the political turmoil is nearly impossible in this country. It wouldn't help if you chose not to watch TV, surf the net, or read the newspaper.

In our most recent political quarrel we have the Vice President Dick Cheney lashing out at the popular rhetoric that President Bush and his administration lied to the nation about the real reason the U.S. went to war in Iraq. Cheney called the Democrat's argument "dishonest and reprehensible." I feel partially misled by the "intelligence" that supported the case for a war against Iraq, but I don't see the value in attacking the President and his administration while the war is still going on. I really do believe the attacks on the President distract him and his administration away from Iraq, than it does anything else.

Senator Harry Reid has accused Cheney of "playing politics like he's in the middle of a presidential campaign." I love it. When the President is getting bashed it seems like it's expected of his administration that they not defend their decisions. As soon as somebody does, they get grilled and accused of not paying attention to what really matters: the war in Iraq. Another quote from Reid, "I would urge the members of the Bush administration to stop trying to resurrect their political standing by lashing out at their critics. Instead, they need to focus on the job at hand, giving our troops a strategy for success in Iraq." Reid fails to recognize that Cheney was just simply responding to his critics as he has a right to do. His words were not harsher than the words of other politicians criticizing the President's decision to go to war.

Like Senator Reid said, Cheney is "playing politics", but so is Reid. Although by definition a politician's task is to not to "play politics", that is exactly what being a politician is these days.

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