Is Vice President Dick Cheney going to make a run for the oval office?

"With two carrier strike groups in the Gulf, we're sending clear messages to friends and adversaries alike...We'll keep the sea lanes open. We'll stand with our friends in opposing extremism and strategic threats. We'll disrupt attacks on our own forces. We'll continue bringing relief to those who suffer, and delivering justice to the enemies of freedom. And we'll stand with others to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons and dominating this region."

The press Cheney has received in the last couple of days regarding Iran's plans to dominate the region and our desire to not let that happen is presidential in nature. Cheney's message was a far different message than what one would perceive had it been delivered from Secretary of State Condi Rice. Or even President Bush.

Making the announcement from the deck of an aircraft carrier is not a fluke; it says much. Not the least of which is that we possess raw power that can dominate any other power on the face of the planet. Now that's gravitas! Should have been Bush though.

Second, it screams f- you to all the dick wads that have been using Bush's "mission accomplished" speech as political fodder for the past four years, making what was obviously one of W's proudest moments into a mockery, effectively undermining the man and the war. Despicable tactics, but nonetheless effective.

And most importantly, the remarks coming from the deck of an aircraft carrier positioned a stone's throw from Iran's coast sends a strong message that we do not need to be in Iraq to wipe their ass off the map.

If my hunch is correct, and usually it is, Bush's numbers are going to go up on the strength of Cheney's remarks. So much so that Bush is going to be regretting the decision to float the trial balloon and not taking the bold action himself. I predicted this tough policy should Bush win re-election in 2004 (link). Needless to say I've been sadly disappointed. Here is what I think happened:

Lets face it, Bush is a proud man. He should be. If I could land a fighter jet on an aircraft carrier in a war zone I'd be proud too. But Bush was so embarrassed politically and personally about the "Mission Accomplished" speech--which was probably Cheney's idea or at least part of his policy of military aggression--being endlessly portrayed as an imbecilic gaffe that he sent Cheney to the woodshed and put the politicos in charge in order to get his numbers back up to snuff. People like Rove and Karen Hughes were directing policy to help Bush restore his approval rating. Same trap Johnson fell into. From there on everything went south because people don't want more of that crap. People want to kick Iran's ass and Syria's too if they make a peep and then get back to business.

People are tired of this political infighting crap. We don't want stalemate, we want progress. Every endeavor in the free world operates strictly to a model of progress. We are trained from birth to care only about the bottom line; year-over-year sales; annual performance reviews... Unless you're the world champion at what you do, status quo is never acceptable. Public relations are important but nothing sells progress like obvious progress; the kind of progress where just the executive summary makes the stakeholders smile.

This oft-mentioned fifty year war is not acceptable (Newt, are you listening?) The next president of the United States will be the first man with access to hundred million dollars who stands up and says:

"I believe we need to better utilize our war fighting capabilities. Weapons are not a deterrent if we will not use them. Americans are living in fear of large scale terror attacks and being subjected to more and more security restrictions that are hostile to liberty and it is TIME FOR IT TO STOP!

We've talked till we are blue in the face. By not prosecuting this war we are being bled dry economically by the very people we are fighting. We are not engaging the enemy, we are paying them. We are financing their military operations in Iraq and funding Iran's research and developement of a nuclear weapon. Kinda hard to swallow isn't it?

If we had to fix everything in France before we moved in to Germany back in WWII we would still be fighting that motherfucker. Had that been the case many of us would not be here. There will be far reaching consequences if we do not take care of the radical Islam problem as quickly as possible. There can be no compromise with people who want to destroy us.

If I am elected president, the congress and all the special interests leeching therein can forget about doing a damn thing until we get the war figured out. There is no higher priority. We simply can not live freely and prosperously with the status quo. "

Thank you and may God have mercy on Iran.

I wonder who this guy's Secretary of State would be? Oliver North?

More stories related to Iran on this blog:

• Rummy show cancelled
• Iran greatest threat to US Security
• Strategic implication of Iraq
• Iran: A what-if scenario
• Iran to be called on carpet
• EU's Iran appeasement fails
• WMD in Iraq? Who cares anymore
• Did Bush lie about WMD? Who cares...
• War Strategy

1. jdallen05/12/2007 05:55:43 AM

You make me feel stupid, because I didn't say that.

As far as Secretary of State - with that line as policy, why do you need one? If you just HAVE to have one, call Dean Rusk or John Hay back from the dead. (I believe it's Hay that I'm thinking back on, Teddy's Sec. of State.)

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