Potemkin convention Day 3: Darth Vader emerges from his "undisclosed location"

Dick Cheney is a scary guy.

I try not to get melodramtic about political speeches, a chronic weakness for us political junkies.  But watching it on PBS, Cheney didn't really smile for a while after he started his speech.  I was watching his mouth closely, too.  He has that left-side-growl way of talking.  And he looked like he wanted to bite somebody.

After he delivered his line about "preserving the freedom and secuity of this nation against determined enemies," the delegates started chanting, "Four more years!"  (Or was it, "Four more wars"?)  And Cheney broke into a big smile.  I thought it was because of the chant.  Then the camera cut very briefly to what looked like a woman being led unwillingly out of the hall by security with her arms pinned behind her back.

So that's what it takes to get a big grin from Dick Cheney?  I got a creepy feeling from seeing that.  And I know that I am so not sympathetic to Dick Cheney that it's probably just that political-junkie-melodrama thing kicking in.  But it still really gave me a creepy feeling.

The feeling returned near the end of his speech when he told this little anecdote:

According to a news account last month, people leaving the Democratic National Convention asked a Boston policeman for directions. He replied, leave here, and go vote Republican.

Now, I have nothing against cops being personally partisan.  I'm sure we'll see a number of police unions endorse Kerry.

But I couldn't help but think that this was a glimpse at Cheney's ideal of government.  Cheney gives orders from his "undisclosed location."  And the police tell people how to vote.  Republican, naturally.  Okay, I'll try to keep the melodrama under control here.

Still, Dick Cheney is a scary guy.

Most significant part of Cheney's speech:

[Kerry] declared at the Democratic convention that he will forcefully defend America after we have been attacked. My fellow Americans, we have already been attacked...

(APPLAUSE)

AUDIENCE: USA. USA. USA.

CHENEY: We arefaced with an enemy who seeks the deadliest of weapons to useagainst us, and we cannot wait for the next attack. We must do everything we can to prevent it, and that includes the use of military force.

If Bush gets elected this year, we're likely to see this clip played a few years from now explaining the process by which the US wound up invading and occupying Iran and Syria.

Most frivolous part of the speech:

Even in this post-9/11 period, Senator Kerry doesn't appear to understand how the world has changed. He talks about leading a "more sensitive war on terror"...

(LAUGHTER)

...as though Al Qaida will be impressed with our softer side. 

Our sad excuse for a mainstream press corps has already proved it lack of ability to unwrap this piece of smelly fish.  Even though the Daily Howler has already shown them how.  He was pointing out last month that Cheney was using that same silly line.  But on a conservtive talk show on August 12, Cheney was asked about the situation in Najaf.  He replied:

Well, from the standpoint of the shrine, obviously it is a sensitive area, and we are very much aware of its sensitivity. On the other hand, a lot of people who worship there feel like Moqtada Sadr is the one who has defiled the shrine, if you will, and I would expect folks on the scene there, including U.S. commanders, will work very carefully with the Iraqis so that we minimize the extent to which the U.S. is involved in any operation that might involve the shrine itself. (my emphasis)

I can't improve on the Howler's comment on this:

Good God! As Cheney dumbly but honestly noted, the army hasn’t taken that mosque due to “sensitivity” about cultural issues. Dumbly, Cheney used the very word he had just trashed Kerry for using. Dumbly but honestly, Cheney showed how utterly fake his week-long assault has really been.

Strangest part of the speech:

The biggest threat we face today is having nuclear weapons fall into the hands of terrorists. The president is working with many countries in a global effort to end the trade and transfer of these deadly technologies. The most important result thus far, and it is a very important one, is that the black-market network that supplied nuclear weapons technology to Libya, as well as to Iran and North Korea, has been shut down. 

Unless Cheney is working from secret documents cooked up by a friendly intelligence service or by Ahmed Chalabi, this must refer to Pakistan.  And, last I heard, Pakistan had not allowed the US to even interview AQ Khan, the most important figure in the public revelations about Pakistan's nuclear proliferation.  What we know so far about his whole affair raises a lot of questions about Pakistan's reliability as a US ally, especially on nuclear proliferation.

And there's something odd about the way he put that.

Cheney made a variety of partisan points.  Kerry is a flip-flopper, blah, blah.  Old Man Bush tried that approach to raising doubts about Clinton in 1992.  Clinton won.  Dubya tried something similar with Al Gore in 2000 (Gore invented the Internet, etc.).  Gore won.  Although our political press seems incapable of untangling the claims, past experience suggests the Republicans using this approach is good for the Democrats.

And he used this piece of jingoistic demagoguery:

Senator Kerry denounces American action when other countries don't approve, as if the whole object of our foreign policy were to please a few persistent critics. 

(APPLAUSE)

But, in fact, in the global war on terror, as in Afghanistan and Iraq, President Bush has brought many allies to our side. 

(APPLAUSE)

CHENEY: But as the President has made very clear, there is a difference between leading a coalition of many nations and submitting to the objections of a few. 

(APPLAUSE)

George W. Bush will never seek a permission slip to defend the American people.

Two positive things about Cheney's speech from my point of view.  One is that he's almost as unsympathetic a figure as John Ashcroft, so every time he appears on TV he wins votes for Kerry.

The other is, at least he didn't say Bush had "a spine of tempered steel."

Did I mention that Dick Cheney is a scary guy?