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Cheney batters, deep fries carpers
Democratic lawmakers are insisting the White House turn over top-secret documents prepared for President Bush that indicated Osama bin Laden wanted to hijack U.S. planes. They also want to see another pre-Sept. 11 document - an FBI memo that warned headquarters that many Middle Eastern men were training at American flight schools. "Just give us something that'll make Bush look even a little bit bad. Making Cynthia McKinney look like she's not totally stoopid would help, too." Bush officials acknowledged Thursday that the president was briefed about a possible hijacking plot in early August while he vacationed at his Texas ranch. But the officials were deeply divided over whether to release the documents. The news of Bush's August briefing set off a furor and precipitated a public relations blitz by the White House, which sent forth an extraordinary number of senior advisers to defend the president as Democrats, and a few Republicans, sought answers. "Viewing with alarm" is as old a political gimmick as kissing babies. If you believe they're after answers, I've got some prime building lots in Florida you might be interested in... "Why did it take eight months for us to receive this information? And what specific actions were taken by the White House in response?" Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said. "I'm not going to jump to any conclusions, but it's hard to understand why the information was not released." "I'm not going to jump to any conclusions because none are needed. We already know what's wrong. So vote for me, and I'll fix it. Whatever it may be." House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., posed a variation on the famous Watergate-era question: What did the president know and when did he know it? That's because the reptilian Mr Gephardt is utterly lacking in imagination and couldn't think of anything else to say that wasn't said thirty years ago. At least Daschle managed a variation on the theme without having to parrot the words. Republican Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said, "There was a lot of information. I believe and others believe, if it had been acted on properly we may have had a different situation on Sept. 11." Hokay, smart boy. There's lots of information right now, at this moment. Call the next one. Go ahead. Take your time. You have until it happens, you know. But if you miss it, you have to go before a Congressional committee so they can throw darts at you... But the administration argued there was no information about a specific threat. Vice President Dick Cheney warned Democrats to tread lightly. 'Cuz they could end up with their testicles breaded and deep fried to a golden brown. "They need to be very cautious not to seek political advantage by making incendiary suggestions that were made by some today that the White House had advance information that would have prevented the tragic attacks of 9-11," Cheney said. "Such commentary is thoroughly irresponsible and totally unworthy of national leaders in a time of war." And it won't get any more polite from that point. Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2002-05-17 |
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