what is liberation?
and other thoughts on Cheney's appearence on Meet the Press

when you hear the word "liberation" what do you picture in your mind? for me, that picture is of the tanks rolling through the streets of Paris at the end of WWII. the french people were lining the streets throwing flowers at the passing American soldiers. the french didn't complain about "american occupation" and the international community (besides the defeated axis powers) did not point fingers at the US and accuse us of expanding our empire.

how can the current situation in Iraq be considered a liberation? yes i know there are some people who were very excited about Saddam being ousted (and i guess they didn't throw flowers b/c flowers cannot grow in the desert), but there seems to be so many more who don't want us there. of course, my take on the situation is based upon what i see in the media which loves to focus on negativity instead of soft stories.

VP Cheney was on Meet the Press this morning. When asked about the number of casulties before May 1st and after May 1st (may 1st being the day that Pres. Bush stood on the USS Lincoln under a banner saying "Mission Accomplished"), Cheney says "that is only 300 casulties. very little compared to the 3000 we lost here at home." is that really a justification? because 3000 civilians died, we should lose at least 3000 soldiers to make up for it? how can losing 6,000 Americans explain the occupation of Iraq? how many American soldiers were lost in France after the liberation of Paris? (and i mean as a result of guerrella attacks or hostile fire, not car accidents or faulty ammunition)

When asked about the Halliburton contracts in Iraq (signed, sealed and delivered via the Department of Defense), Cheney said he no longer had any interests in that company, i.e. financial, influential, anything. He had nothing to do with the fact that Halliburton has the ability to make millions reconstructing Iraq. When he was at Halliburton (These were the years between bush administrations..when no one with a sane mind would allow him to work IN the government...so he takes a post that works WITH the government...hmm), he said he never stepped foot into the DoD, except when they hung his portrait up for being a past Secretary of Defense. Even if he never went to the DoD and has no influence there now, doesn't he have friends that still work there? coworkers? CONNECTIONS? This latest contract with the Army Corps of Engineers was a no-bid contract, meaning the Corps just walked into Halliburton and said "we've got this Iraq deal and if you want, you can have it and we'll pay you blahblah millions and you'll probably make a profit of blahblah hundred million." Would any self-respecting businessman turn that down? nope. Read more about Halliburton and Dick Cheney here. (thanks ryan)

When Cheney was asked if the President was basing his presidency on the war in Iraq, he said no. "Pres. Bush is basing his legacy on the war on terror." Are you sure you want to do that? We've destroyed two countries and left them in ruins and chaos (Iraq moreso than Afghanistan) and we can't find the two people we use as the justification for starting both wars. that sounds like a losing record to me.

did you know that if the top 1% of the tax bracket had their Bush provided tax cut taken away for one year (12 months), that would be enough money to pay for the Iraq invasion. (stat from Tim Russert and Meet the Press). Cheney says "no we are not going to raise taxes" but would that really be raising taxes? wouldn't it be keeping the status quo for another year? or is that logical thinking?