Posted on 09/10/2004 6:11:41 AM PDT by News Junkie
I have to admit I was stunned when I heard news stories about Vice President Cheney's remarks on the campaign trail. He was quoted in newspapers and on news shows as saying this:
"It's absolutely essential that eight weeks from today, on Nov. 2, we make the right choice, because if we make the wrong choice then the danger is that we'll get hit again and we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States." (AP)USA Today characterized that quote with a story by Jill Lawrence and Richard Bennetto titled:
"Cheney ties election result to chance of terror attack" (USA Today, 9/8/04)I was puzzled. Why would Dick Cheney, a shrewd political veteran, make such a naked and damaging statement in front of a media herd. But he must have said it. I've seen several clips of him saying it. So what gives?
Finally last night I understood it. I was watching Fox News Special Report with Britt Hume and they were discussing the story. But they didn't stop the clip where everyone else did - right after "... we'll get hit again and we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States." That's where all of the mainstream media stops the tape. But Fox let it roll a couple of more sentences allowing Cheney to finish his thought. His next couple of sentences were about a new administration's handling of the attack in a pre 9/11 mindset, with a law enforcement approach. When you finish the thought you get a completely different message, which I picked up immediately when I heard the full clip.
So let's look at the full quote and see how it stands:
"It's absolutely essential that eight weeks from today, on Nov. 2, we make the right choice, because if we make the wrong choice then the danger is that we'll get hit again and we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States." and it will be handled in a pre-9/11 mindset with law enforcement means instead of treating it like a war.
I had to paraphrase the last part because I can't find the full quote anywhere online.
In other words:
Dick Cheney was not saying that the danger is that if we make the wrong choice (elect Kerry) that we'll get hit again, with the implication being that if we elect Bush we won't get hit again.
Dick Cheney was saying that the danger is that if we make the wrong choice (elect Kerry) we'll get hit again and it will be mishandled, using law enforcement means instead of treating it like a war.
The full quote gives a completely different, and I would say completely accurate, picture.
This small story re-emphasizes two points to me:
1. The mainstream media is a herd that all repeat the same story. Why did they all stop the clip early?
2. The mainstream media cannot be trusted to report the story accurately.
Really, is there not one reporter there who heard the full statement by Dick Cheney and could properly understand it and report it? Amazing.
That is really hard to believe. The MSM misquote someone, no way! (sarcasm)
can someone find the full quote?
They scam stream media got 47th again?
Brit Hume's All Stars covered this and defended the VP.
We made decisions at the end of World War II, at the beginning of the Cold War, when we set up the Department of Defense, and the CIA, and we created the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and undertook a bunch of major policy steps that then were in place for the next 40 years, that were key to our ultimate success in the Cold War, that were supported by Democrat and Republican alike -- Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower and Jack Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon and Gerry Ford and a whole bunch of Presidents, from both parties, supported those policies over a long period of time. We're now at that point where we're making that kind of decision for the next 30 or 40 years, and it's absolutely essential that eight weeks from today, on November 2nd, we make the right choice. Because if we make the wrong choice, then the danger is that we'll get hit again, that we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States, and that we'll fall back into the pre-9/11 mind set if you will, that in fact these terrorist attacks are just criminal acts, and that we're not really at war. I think that would be a terrible mistake for us.
We have to understand it is a war. It's different than anything we've ever fought before. But they mean to do everything they can to destroy our way of life. They don't agree with our view of the world. They've got an extremist view in terms of their religion. They have no concept or tolerance for religious freedom. They don't believe women ought to have any rights. They've got a fundamentally different view of the world, and they will slaughter -- as they demonstrated on 9/11 -- anybody who stands in their way. So we've got to get it right. We've got to succeed here. We've got to prevail. And that's what is at stake in this election.
God bless our troops wherever they may be.
I think you got the true meaning of Cheney's quote better than the MSM did. They're ostensibly the professionals, but they prove themselves to be so incompetent every day. Maybe Dan Rather should send you his paycheck.
This quote makes far more sense. The other quote was questionable, imo, not because it questioned Kerry's competence but that it left the opportunity for terrorists to strike before the election and Cheney to be hanged with his own words. Cheney is more intelligent than that. This expanded quote I fully agree with. That is the real fear, that kerry would lead a 9-10 force against terorrism.
You make an excellent point. Cheney was clearly saying that if we get hit hard again in the future a Kerry response would be more of a police action than a military one. But the media cut his complete thought off early to make him look bad.
I guess nobody can be so careful when they speak that the MSM won't eventually be able to misquote or misinterpret it to the masses. The media have become unbelievably hateful and divisive. It's more like spiritual warfare out there than a political event. It feels to me like the media are tying to sow the seeds of a civil war.
Thank you for this. I was dismayed when I first heard this. Cheney is waaaaaay too smart to have said this in the way it was reported. I kept thinking something is not right here.
Wonder what the media will do with itself when we get "four more years".
It really does change the meaning completely.
And the liberals are all ready all over this hoping with all their hearts that there is an attack so it will "backfire" on Cheney and Bush.
Thanks for finding the full quote.
I did hear it right. And what Cheney said,in full, is entirely logical and defensible.
And the cows are coming home.
Not incompetent...just biased and partisan for the dims.
Great work of reasoned analysis. The reason the MSM does not do what you did is that, quite simply, most members of the MSM are stupid. Yes, stupid. I teach at the university level, and I can assure you that, from observing them, they can't think their way through anything more complicated than reading their own cheat sheets and reciting sports scores.
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