Bush Overlooks Ultimate Middle East Peacemaker

In his quest to continue and enhance Middle East Peace, President Bush may have made a critical oversight:

The Bush administration is laying the groundwork for an announcement of Tony Blair as special Middle East envoy for Palestinian governance and economic issues after he steps down as Britain's prime minister, following two months of behind-the-scenes negotiations, according to U.S. officials.

Blair would report to the so-called Quartet overseeing Middle East peace efforts--the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia--and work on issues limited to the internal workings of a future Palestinian state. Political negotiations involving Palestinians, Israelis and the Arab states would be left to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the officials said.

The idea, first proposed by Rice, was embraced by the Israeli government during talks between President Bush and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert this week. The Palestinians have yet to be approached, but U.S. officials believe they would welcome a Blair appointment.

When you think of the words "Middle East Peace," there is one man whose name is synonymous with the concept. And that name is Dick Cheney. Cheney has worked tirelessly for Middle East peace since the Gulf War, and as recent democratic elections in Iraq and the Palestinian territories show, the dividends are already becoming readily apparent. We saw Cheney's leadership proven once again on his recent Middle-East tour.

It is true that at one time, Tony Blair might have seemed a promising candidate for the role of Middle East Peacemaker (to his credit, Blair made possible the liberation of Iraq), and I suppose it is a good omen for Blair that Israel is backing him for his prospective new job, as it means that some Middle Eastern countries are already lining up behind him. But more than anything else, Blair should be disqualified for this role by his recent failure to nuke Iran and his speaking of French.

Surrogate Romney Gets it Right

A few days ago, I mentioned that former Taxachusetts Governor Mitt Romney had effectively endorsed Dick Cheney for President. Apparently, despite making that endorsement, Romney has decided to remain in the race, acting as a surrogate candidate who can speak for Cheney while he waits for the perfect opening to enter the race.

And Romney is doing a respectable job in his new role:

While he refused all requests for pardons as governor, Romney has said that could change if he's elected president.

Asked in last week's debate if he would consider pardoning Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, who was convicted of lying and obstructing the CIA leak investigation, Romney said: "It's worth looking at that. I will study it very closely if I'm lucky enough to be president. And I'd keep that option open."

An Inconvenient Nuisance

Charlatan Al Gore flies around the country in a big private jet telling people they should sell their cars and all ride bikes to work. Unfortunately many people have been misled by his socialist screed An Inconvenient Truth, but a new film that is coming out may make Gore little more than an Inconvenient Nuisance:


This is going to be bigger than Passion of the Christ. It's called An Infallible Truth.

Most City People Would Love to Live in Guantanamo

OhioNeocon recently pointed to Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee's very relevant point that most prisoners would love to be in Guantanamo. I think it's hard to argue with that point, and I think you can go even farther and say a good number of American citizens who are not currently in prison would prefer to be in Guantanamo...at least the city types who like to eat fancy foreign food.

Republican Presidential candidate Duncan Hunter fills us in on the scoop:



And for those defeatocrats who say we should shut down Guantamo, the obvious response is that it is better to have them eating lemon fish and glazed chicken in Guantamo than in your hometown.

2008 Veepstakes: VP Thompson?

Bill over at OhioNeocon has mused about a possible Cheney-Thompson ticket, and I think it would definitely be strong. Fred Thompson is youthful (six years younger than McCain), and with Hollywood good looks. As Bill points out, the man is experienced as well. And now it looks like there are indications that a Cheney-Thompson ticket may be coming soon to a ballot box near you:

FRED THOMPSON IS adding more big-name policy talent as his testing-the-waters committee continues to grow into a real presidential campaign. Among the new additions: Mark Esper, national security adviser to former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist; Joel Shin, a top policy staffer on Bush-Cheney 2000; and Elizabeth Cheney, a former top official in the State Department's Near East and South Asia department.

[...]
Liz Cheney, the older of Vice President Dick Cheney's two daughters, served most recently as principal deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs and coordinator for Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiatives. That title--no doubt one of the longest in the federal government--means that Cheney was on the leading edge of President Bush's effort to bring democratic and market-based reform to the region. A longtime democracy advocate, Cheney was a strong proponent of women's rights in the region. Her previous experience includes time at the World Bank, two prior stints at the State Department, and service as a US AID officer in Poland and Hungary.

If you are looking for hints that a Cheney-Thompson ticket might be in the works, there probably couldn't be a bigger one than Cheney's own daughter going to work for Thompson's campaign, setting up the legwork, so to speak. And you've got to give credit to OhioNeocon for breaking this story before anyone knew it was a story.

I still hope that Cheney considers Gonzales, but if he's made up his mind about Thompson, then it's certainly a choice I can live with.

Resign, Voinovich!

Apparently some "Republicans" are eager to share the stage with democrats in conducting their political theater:

“If I were president, I would have asked Alberto Gonzales to resign as attorney general,” George V. Voinovich, Republican of Ohio, said in a statement. But he said, “Today’s vote does nothing to rectify the current problem or ensure it doesn’t happen again.”

What problem is that, Senator Voinovich? That we have a hispanic as attorney general? He's not an illegal. Clearly Senator Voinovich has decided that he needs to appease the left to win in Ohio. If he read this website, he would know it never works.

Will Democrats Apologize After Gonzales Exoneration?

I've made no secret here before of my admiration for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, a man who seems to symbolize a new generation of leadership in today's Republican party. Democrats are clearly threatened by the fact that a Hispanic possessed of such intellect and ability would be a member of the Republican party, to the extent that in a way they have become obsessed. Indeed, over the last several weeks, it has been hard to watch the liberal news without hearing some liberal democrat saying the words "Gonzales resign."

So Democrats, in typical fashion of the type of tactics embraced by the Nancy Pelosi-Hugo Chavez leftists of today, marched full steam with their political theatrics. They decided they would throw everything they had at Gonzales, and wait for something to stick.

But there was one thing they didn't realize. Gonzales was too smart for them. Not only was there no evidence of his having done anything wrong to begin with, but he didn't get caught up in the democrats' clever semantic traps either. Gonzales answered every question, and answered them honestly, and left the hapless democrats with nothing.

Finally, today, the desperate democrats decided to give it one last go, in an unheard of socialist-style vote of no-confidence. Well, the move backfired majorly. Even the democrat led Senate was compelled to exonerate Gonzales of wrongdoing. Now there are two new words that people are starting to say in reference to Alberto Gonzales: Teflon Gonzo. Whether or not the democrats decide to apologize to Gonzales, one thing is sure: his stock has risen significantly from this ordeal.

Dick Cheney, Man of Peace

Some people on the left like to employ profanity and overly broad generalizations in a desperate attempt to win arguments which the facts would not otherwise allow them to do. These desperate tactics are on display daily on left-wing blogs such as The Katrinacrats and Atrios.

One such common left-wing falsehood is that Dick Cheney is a warmonger. Plainly, this is false. Dick Cheney is a man of peace, in fact the ultimate man of peace, because he is a man of peace with a plan b if the whole peace thing doesn't work out. And plan B is war.

When you go to the doctor for a major operation, you want him to have a plan of action in case something doesn't go as expected. And peace is a wonderful ideal, but you want a leader who has a "plan b" as well.

Colin Powell Announces Support for Dick Cheney for President

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell has announced he intends to support Dick Cheney for President.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has sought out former Secretary of State Colin Powell for advice on foreign policy matters.

While Powell served in the administrations of two Republican presidents, he said Sunday it was too early in the 2008 race to say whether he would back the GOP nominee.

"I'm going to support the best person that I can find who will lead this country for the eight years beginning in January of 2009," Powell said.

Eight years as VP, four as secretary of defense, 10 years in Congress, service to four presidents: the best person that Powell could possibly find is Dick Cheney. I'd say a Powell endorsement is a pretty significant acheivement for the nascent Cheney campaign.

Democrat Hypocrisy (Where's the Media?)

What is it with corruption and the name William Jefferson? First we had the sordid presidency of William Jefferson Clinton, and now democrat congressman William Jefferson (pictured above with his namesake) has been charged with bribery. However, as Ohio Neocon points out, the media (except for Fox News) is completely ignoring this latest democrat outrage, even while they go out of their way to nitpick the smallest Republican foible.

This provides another powerful justification for a Cheney presidency: he would be uniquely able to root out corruption in our government.

What Democrat Civility?

The leadership of the democrat party rarely misses a chance to point out an alleged lack of "civility" on the part of Republicans, although anything that Republicans have done pales in comparison to what the democrats do every day. The liberal media likes to play up these allegations, while in typical fashion ignoring democrats' manifest lack of civility.

Here is another outrageous example, caught on video, and let me warn you: it is disgusting.



In this video, democrat Alabama Senator Lowell Barron makes a mockery of our Democratic process (and the Alabama Senate). Apparently, when he doesn't get his way through the legislative process, he chooses to resort to violence, and punches Republican Senator Charles Bishop in the face.

This is the typical arrogant attitude of democrats today like Nancy Pelosi and Howard Dean, but the liberal media says nothing about it.

Cheney Doctrine Spreads Democracy Around the World

Democracy is truly spreading around the world. Now thanks to the Cheney Doctrine, it has taken root even in the darkest corners of Siberia.

HEILIGENDAMM, Germany, June 6 -- President Bush Wednesday struck a more conciliatory tone in advance of a planned Thursday meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying the two countries had a post-Cold War "friendship" that transcends current controversy over a proposed U.S. missile defense system and concerns about the direction of Russian democracy.

Rhetoric on both sides has been sharp in recent days, with Putin saying he would retarget Russian missiles at Europe if the United States proceeds with a plan to station missile defense facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic, and Bush saying Tuesday that Russia had "derailed" democratic reforms.

But as he arrived here for a summit of the Group of Eight industrialized nations and prepared for a session with Putin Thursday, Bush downplayed the war of words and suggested that Putin's comments may have been tailored for hometown consumption -- a sign, Bush said, that democracy is taking root in the country.

"Russia is not a threat . . . I don't think Vladimir Putin intends to attack Europe," Bush said. "Do you think he is trying to position himself at home? . . . When public opinion influences leadership, it is an indication that there is involvement of the people.

It's hard to see how even the most liberal democrat would object to increasingly apparent involvement of the Russian people in the affairs of their government. I'm sure they'll find a way, though.

A Dark Day for America

In the last 24 hours, activist judges engaging in judicial theater have dealt two major blows to freedom in this country, giving terrorists around the world cause to rejoice. In Guantanamo, activist judges decided to let the terrorists off the hook for their hatred of freedom:

The Bush administration’s attempt to create an alternative justice system for terrorism suspects, in the works for more than five years, has yet to complete a single trial.

After an earlier version of the system was rejected by the Supreme Court last year, the administration and Congress went back to the drawing board. The result was the Military Commissions Act, which was meant to settle a host of difficult questions once and for all.

But the system took two more blows yesterday, when, in separate proceedings, military judges dismissed charges against prisoners held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, on the ground that the administration had not managed to comply with the new law it pushed through Congress just last fall.

The Bush-Cheney administration, aware of the serious threat posed to our civilization by islamofasicm, has set up military tribunals in Guantanamo bay to deal with the threat. Unfortunately, the activist judges at these same tribunals have, rather than immediately sentencing the terrorists to death, chosen to dwell on quaint notions of "guilt," "evidence," and "jurisdiction."

Sure, some of these concepts may have had some merit three hundred years ago, but you don't ride a horse to work today, and you don't use 17th century legal concepts to deal with the 21st century threat of terror.

But while terrorism is just fine with these activist judges, apparently patriotism and selfless public service are crimes punishable by imprisonment:

I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, former chief of staff to Vice President Cheney, was sentenced today to 30 months in prison and fined $250,000 for lying to investigators about his role in leaking the identity of an undercover CIA officer.

The federal judge who presided over the case indicated that he may not be sympathetic to allowing Libby to remain free pending appeal, but scheduled a hearing on the matter for next week.

One thing is for sure: a President Cheney would understand that you punish the terrorists, not the patriots like Scooter Libby.

Mitt Romney Endorses Cheney for President

In Romney's own words:

In the aftermath of World War II and with the coming of the Cold War, members of "the greatest generation" united America and the free world around shared values and actions that changed history[...] Our times call for equally bold leadership and for a renewed sense of service and shared sacrifice among Americans and our allies around the world.

As I have pointed out before, if there is one man who personifies the bold leadership and sacrifice of the greatest generation in public life today, it is Dick Cheney. He is probably the last member of the greatest generation. Thank you Mr. Romney for providing an interesting diversion in this campaign over the last few weeks.

A Ridiculous Prosecutor

A great question from Dan K. Thomasson, former Editor for Scripps-Howard News Service:

WASHINGTON -- What in the world did former vice presidential aide Scooter Libby ever do to special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald to make him so angry? Fitzgerald now wants the federal court to throw the book at Libby as the final step in one of the most graphically unfair, ridiculous investigations and prosecutions in the history of the Republic.

There really has to be something personal here. One would think the Chicago prosecutor with a reputation for self-righteousness had a bone to pick with Libby from the very start.

That's a great question: what is Patrick Fitzgerald's problem? Why is he aiding and abetting treason? To answer that question, you need only look at geography: Patrick Fitzgerald hails from the liberal state of Illinois, which has elected socialist Barack Hussein to the Senate, and he is also from the very liberal city of Chicago. As a poster on an extreme left wing website acknowledged:

As a lifelong Chicagoan, I can say that there IS no Republican party in Chicago. Although I wish our mayor were a bit more progressive, Chicago's just about as liberal as any city in America.

I grew up in Hyde Park, a racially integrated South Side neighborhood and by far the most liberal neighborhood in Chicago. It is home to the University of Chicago. Growing up in Hyde Park taught me to be tolerant, compassionate, and to always vote Democrat.

There IS no Republican party in Chicago, and everyone votes for the democrat party. And left-wing democrat prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has turned the respected office of US Attorney into a ridiculous partisan democrat hack shop, jeopardizing national security for political purposes in the process.

Dick Cheney and Scooter Libby should jointly file an interpleader suit for treason against Patrick Fitzgerald and Valerie Plame.

And Former Editor for Scripps-Howard News Service Thomasson also asks us this:

Perhaps Libby is fortunate that Fitzgerald didn't ask for the death penalty. He probably would have if he could have. Federal District Judge Reggie Walton will make the decision on June 5, and he needs to start asking questions about the severity of this request.

Haven't the taxpayers spent enough on this nonsense?

These are the right questions to ask this craven man, but you won't hear them asked by the mainstream media. And another question: what about the cost of this frivolous prosecution ( by a frivolous democrat prosecutor)? And what about the cost of all these frivolous investigations into the war? Why waste the money? It's enough to anger anyone.

The Ticker

I've added a new feature, highlighting key contributions made by Dick Cheney to the greatness of America. Let me know if I left anything out.

Free Scooter!

Washington - Defense lawyers argued Thursday that Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff should serve no time in prison for lying about the leak of a covert agent's identity, on the grounds that he is a selfless, apolitical public servant with an otherwise "exemplary" record.

Lewis "Scooter" Libby's attorneys asserted in a court filing that a federal prosecutor's proposal that their client spend 30 to 37 months in prison is "grossly disproportionate" to the crimes that provoked a jury's guilty verdict in March.

Can this situation get any more ridiculous? Scooter Libby is a selfless Patriot and a dedicated public servant. After spending months fighting a frivolous prosecution, and now having been frivolously convicted, Scooter, if anything, deserves compensation from Valerie Plame for all the time he has had to waste in court. I suggest he sue her for treason as well.

Bush and Cheney Fight to Protect Economic Growth, Fairness

It's pretty indisputable that the Bush-Cheney administration has presided over the greatest economic growth ever experienced in the history of our country. And the key to much of that growth has come from something that is part of the American tradition, entrepreneurship:

Indicators measure the nation’s unemployment rate, consumer spending and other economic milestones, but Vice President Dick Cheney says it misses the hundreds of thousands who make money selling on eBay.

“That’s a source that didn’t even exist 10 years ago,” Cheney told an audience in Cincinnati on Thursday. “Four hundred thousand people make some money trading on eBay.”

Even though the Bush-Cheney administration has presided over a period of record economic growth, prudently, they work to ensure that this growth is controlled and thus sustainable:

Several mothers who have lost children at war in Iraq took part in a new talk show today on National Public Radio.

One of them, Elaine Johnson, recounted a meeting that she had with President Bush in which he gave her a presidential coin and told her and five other families: "Don’t go sell it on eBay.”

Another reason we need Dick Cheney as president is to ensure all the jobs created on Ebay are not lost, and that Presidential coins are not simply sold to the highest bidder.

Biased Media Coverage on Torture

A thought-provoking article:

Torture. The word has been constantly thrown about by the world press in harsh and constant critiques of the United States conduct in the War on Terror. Such never-ending harping and sniping, it is claimed, is motivated solely by the press’s concern for human rights, not at all by any virulent and deep seated anti-Americanism or a pathological political vendetta against George W. Bush.

[...]Strange then, that the recent discovery in Iraq (which has no relationship to the so-called War on Terror), of a graphic how-to guide to torture, published by Al Qaeda for the training of its operatives, has received so little coverage by the usually human-rights obsessed mainstream media.

Indeed, why does the liberal media focus its outrage on the United States' justified use of enhanced terrorist interrogations, and not the methods employed by the terrorists? Similarly, why does the left-wing media attack the United States for not having ratified the economy-busting Kyoto accord, and yet say nothing about the fact that Al-Qaida has not ratified the agreement? How can we ever win the war on terror hobbled by carbon emissions caps that the enemy does not face? Is the media on America's side or not? Somebody in a cave somewhere in Iraq is watching CNN and smiling.

The Voice of Reason in Ohio

For those of you wondering exactly what happened to sanity in the State of Ohio after last year's election, rest assured it is alive and well. There is new voice in the blogosphere, and it is the voice of the famed midwestern common-sense conservatism. Be sure to visit Ohio Neocon. And guess who he's supporting for President (hint: it's not Rudy McRomney).

Cheney Defends Religious Freedom

WASHINGTON (AP) - A lawyer for Vice President Dick Cheney told the Secret Service in September to eliminate data on who visited Cheney at his official residence, a newly disclosed letter states. The Sept. 13, 2006, letter from Cheney's lawyer says logs for Cheney's residence on the grounds of the Naval Observatory are subject to the Presidential Records Act.

Such a designation prevents the public from learning who visited the vice president.

The Justice Department filed the letter Friday in a lawsuit by a private group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, seeking the identities of conservative religious leaders who visited Cheney at his official residence.

[...]"The latest filings make clear that the administration has been destroying documents and entering into secret agreements in violation of the law," said Anne Weismann, CREW's chief counsel.

In the course of a war on terror in which Islamofascists want to make us all read the Koran, it is important that the government be able to conduct meetings with Christian religious leaders to find the way to best combat this threat and support Christianity.

Osama bin Laden doesn't have to worry about the prospect of someone subpoenaing his visitor logs of meetings with religious leaders, and Cheney shouldn't have to either. To say otherwise would cede a major advantage to the terrorists, and would signify a major blow for religious freedom.

Can It, Newty!

Looks like Newt Gingrich has sold out and joined Hugo Chavez and Nancy Pelosi in their slanders on our leaders.

Newt Gingrich is one of those who fear that Republicans have been branded with the label of incompetence. He says that the Bush Administration has become a Republican version of the Jimmy Carter Presidency, when nothing seemed to go right. “It’s just gotten steadily worse,” he said. “There was some point during the Iranian hostage crisis, the gasoline rationing, the malaise speech, the sweater, the rabbit”—Gingrich was referring to Carter’s suggestion that Americans wear sweaters rather than turn up their thermostats, and to the “attack” on Carter by what cartoonists quickly portrayed as a “killer rabbit” during a fishing trip—“that there was a morning where the average American went, ‘You know, this really worries me.’ ” He added, “You hire Presidents, at a minimum, to run the country well enough that you don’t have to think about it, and, at a maximum, to draw the country together to meet great challenges you can’t avoid thinking about.” Gingrich continued, “When you have the collapse of the Republican Party, you have an immediate turn toward the Democrats, not because the Democrats are offering anything better, but on a ‘not them’ basis. And if you end up in a 2008 campaign between ‘them’ and ‘not them,’ ‘not them’ is going to win.”

I didn't see you complaining the last six years as Bush and Cheney implemented parts of your agenda. And you only shut down the federal government for a few days before you became best friends with Clinton. George Bush and Dick Cheney have shut much of it down for six years.

Besides, your comparison of this administration to Jimmy Carter is simply not born out by the facts:

Despite President Bush's low popularity, he is still getting better marks than the weakest ratings for Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter, according to a new analysis from Harris Interactive.

And it looks like Newty has decided not only to turn his back on the Republican party, but has pulled a Tony Blair, and turned his back on the English language itself as well:

Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, aims to soon be able to give interviews in Spanish, according to an article in The Politico, based on an interview with his private Spanish tutor.

How do you say traitor in Spanish?

The Greatest Generation, Plus Cheney

The generation of Americans which fought and won WWII has been called the "greatest generation," and that is certainly a well-deserved title. Although Dick Cheney was not old enough to fight in WWII, and thus never experienced the horrors of battle first-hand, it is easy to imagine that had he been old enough to fight during this time period, Cheney would have been on the front-lines, inflicting serious blows against the axis powers.

Indeed, when you think of Dick Cheney, the man certainly does evoke many of the characteristics we associate with the "greatest generation," particularly that of sacrifice. The "greatest generation" was in part great because of the magnitude of the sacrifices they made for their country. And Dick Cheney's life has been a profile in sacrifice. It began when, as a young man, Cheney, after initially attending Yale University, left the school, and turned away from the prestige associated with an Ivy League education, and instead decided to return home to the great state of Wyoming and make it a better state.

After getting a Bachelor's and Master's degree in political science (how many Presidents can boast of that?), and completing his doctoral studies in the same field, Cheney turned down a leisurely career in socialist academia, what with 3-day work weeks and three-month long summer breaks, opting instead to serve his country once again, this time in the Nixon administration, instead of completing his doctoral thesis.

And after a lengthy period of continuous public service, both advising Presidents and serving in Congress, Cheney decided to turn his considerable talents to the private sector. But, in typical Cheney fashion, he didn't choose just any private sector job, but rather one where the main goal was to help our brave troops, working for the Halliburton corporation.

But alas, Cheney's desire to directly serve the public proved stronger than anything else once again, and in 2000, Cheney stepped down from Halliburton, foregoing fortune for the opportunity to serve our country yet again, this time as Vice President.

The greatest generation's sacrifice and service to country made them seem larger than life, and much like their lives, the narrative of Dick Cheney's life has also been above all about sacrifice and service to country, and it is for this very reason that Dick Cheney just might be the last member of the greatest generation.

Anti-Cheney Propoganda

Yeah, right. Americans don't play soccer.

Dick Cheney's a Real Man

While some people on the left, lacking anything of substance with which to criticize Cheney, in desperation are trying to imply that the man is gay, the fact of the matter is that Cheney is the very personification of masculine vigor.

I will say that although it is pretty difficult to dispute that in every major decision in which Cheney has been involved over the past six years, the man has been right, I think there is one area were it is true that Cheney's leadership could have been more evident, and that is the fact that he allowed his daughter to become gay.

Although like many gays, Mary Cheney was tempted into homosexuality during the anything-goes licentiousness of the Clinton years, some might wonder why Dick Cheney didn't do more to keep her from making the wrong choice. In fact some would say that Cheney himself even gave in to temptation during this period, for a time relying on his charisma to pursue an acting career in Hollywood.

But it is evident that Cheney has learned from his mistakes,abandoning Hollywood to fight the good fight against islamofascism, and in the process Cheney's leadership becoming even more decisive. And it is in part this decisiveness we have come to associate with Cheney that makes the man such an attractive candidate in 2008.

2008 Veepstakes: VP Gonzales?

I have to admit that initially when I heard Bush appointed Alberto Gonzales Attorney General, I thought it was yet another example of his unfortunate tendency to be too willing to appease the left. Having seen Gonzales close up in action over the past several weeks, though, I must say I, like many Americans have been impressed. Over the past several weeks, Gonzalez has had to contend with a hyper-partisan democrat congress who is no doubt angry that the first Hispanic attorney general is a Republican. And he has proven his mettle.

The democrats, obviously lacking any evidence of wrongdoing, have apparently decided to engage in political theater, throwing everything they've got at Gonzalez and waiting for something to stick or by focusing on an inevitable mistatement or technicality. Well, after several weeks, Gonzales has given them absolutely nothing. The man is clearly too sharp for the democrats, who have been able to turn up no evidence of wrongdoing. If the democrats don't put an end to this charade soon, they will face a major public backlash.

But whatever the democrats end up doing in the end, one thing is clear. A new star has been born. Gonzales is young, boyishly handsome, has a quick wit, a sharp mind, and voluminous knowledge about the inner workings of government. Knowledge such as this could be key to winning the war on terror. And the fact that Gonzales could help with the Hispanic vote is a big plus. When Candidate Cheney decides who his veep should be, I'm sure there will be several qualified candidates (and we'll talk about them, too), but Al Gonzales should definitely be on the list. Cheney-Gonzales 08. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?

Jerry, in Death, Betrays Bush, Cheney

The White House sent Tim Goeglein, Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Public Liaison, a mid-level aide who deals on behalf of the White House with special interest groups.

Goeglein, who said he last spoke with Falwell a month and a half ago, called the former Moral Majority leader a "great friend of this administration" and "a force of nature."

"On behalf of all of us in the Bush-Cheney White House, please know that we are holding you up in prayer, that we hold the Falwell family in very high regard," Goeglein said. "I have to say that in all my time in the White House, I have never met a man who loved God and country more than Jerry Falwell."

Goeglein ended his remarks by noting that he had recently informed Falwell of his lasting impact on the Bush administration.

"I was very pleased and honored to tell Jerry that Liberty University had come to the White House, that young men and women whom he had trained up had joined us as interns and staff. So, a man of vision has seen a vision fulfilled," Goeglein said.

The White House aide offered no explanation for Mr. Bush's absence. The president had no public events on his schedule Tuesday.

President Bush's image was notably missing from a photo montage of past Republican chief executives with whom Falwell had met. Mourners saw the reverend with Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. That last photograph was followed by a shot of Falwell on the set of Fox News' "Hannity and Colmes."

A picture with Communist Colmes but no picture with Cheney? After everything Cheney and Bush did for him? Was Jerry pulling for McCain? Or perhaps fair-weather Falwell only wants pictures of people at his funeral when they are popular in the polls. How despicable.

Cheney's Got a Nicer Desk

US Stands Up for Iraqi Democracy

Is Al-Maliki Arabic for cut-and-run? For a long time, the Bush administration and its supporters have rightly accused democrat members of congress who wish to cut-and-run of turning their backs on the Iraqi people.

So when the Iraqi government itself decides to cut-and-run on the Iraqi people by mandating a US troop withdrawal, the situation simply cannot stand. Fortunately, the Bush administration gets this:

Publicly, Administration officials say they remain committed to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, even though his Government has failed to achieve any of the legislative "benchmarks" sought by US officials.

But privately, some US officials acknowledge that the clamour from Congress to find another approach will increase sharply as the months pass and no progress is made on national reconciliation.

Intervention "is the eternal temptation for the Americans", said one US official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"As we get closer and closer to (northern autumn), and the benchmarks are not met … there will be a growing appeal to the idea that if we can replace the top guy, we can get back on track."

Replacing the top guy would be an incredibly simple solution. With obstructionist cut-and-run al-Maliki gone, we would finally have an effective government which is willing to help the Iraqis enjoy the fruits of their hard-won Democracy. Is it possible that George Bush is finally listening to Cheney?

Cheney 'muscular,' 'eminently believable'

Thanks to the work of this website, and a groundswell of Cheney support all over the country, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the Liberal media to ignore the significant qualifications and accomplishments of Dick Cheney:

Sometimes Cheney's muscular messages, such as those he sounded on his just-ended trip to the Middle East, seem at odds with more modulated ones coming from other parts of the administration, including a new diplomatic overture to Iran and conciliatory remarks by the president toward Democrats on a war spending bill.

"I think what they've decided finally to do is to play good cop, bad cop instead of bad cop, bad cop as they've been doing for six years," said GOP consultant Rich Galen. "The good cop, bad cop scenario only works if the 'bad cop' is believable. Cheney is eminently believable. It's a role in which I think he is very comfortable."

That seems about right. And let's put that into context. Candidate Cheney brings extraordinary assets to the field. Believability is an important quality in a president. Eminent believability is even more important. And the fact that he is muscular helps as well (not least of all with the women's vote).

Candidate Cheney Would Carry Women's Vote

Usually one of the big advantages for the democrat party is the women's vote. Having been exposed continuously since the 1960s to feminist brainwashing, many women buy into the myth that they should vote for the democrat party.



But one of the most interesting things about a Dick Cheney candidacy is that it would turn this accepted rule of politics on its head. I've talked to a lot of women about Dick Cheney, and he is a candidate who uniquely appeals to them.

What women want is a strong man, who is clear about what he believes in, and who can protect them. It's hard to see who better fits that mould than Cheney. And the fact that he is plainly a good-looking man, full of youthful vigor, doesn't hurt either. And his wife, a respected historian and Iraqi women's rights advocate, would definitely be an asset on the campaign trail as well:

Historian Lynne Cheney said today that, in comparison to where the United States was at a comparable point in its own history, the Iraqis are doing remarkably well.

An estimated 100,000 Americans, just 3 percent of all eligible voters, participated in America's first election under the new U.S. Constitution, she noted. And more than half of the U.S. population -- all women and slaves -- were ineligible to vote. In Iraq, by contrast, women are eligible to vote, there are no slaves, and more than 70 percent of the population voted.

In fact, the Iraqi constitution gives women equal rights and a mandatory 25 percent of all seats in the newly elected parliament, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Tim Russert today on NBC News' Meet the Press. "The Iraqis are now going to engage in a process which gives them a real chance for a broadly representative government," she said.

Iraq, the vice president's wife said, obviously has benefited from U.S. experience and guidance. "We've been able to bring our knowledge to the people of Iraq," she said.

Without the women's vote, it's hard to see how any of the democrat candidates could win in 2008, and it's easy to see how the GOP would be approaching Reagan-style landslide territory.

Note to Republicans: You Don't Win by Appeasing the Left

It's really quite sad. I've mentioned before how Tony Blair, after many courageous actions as Prime Minister (such as bringing Democracy to Iraq) lost his nerve, and tried to appease left-wing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, when he captured British troops who were merely working on spreading Democracy. He could have taken a tough line like he did with Iraq (48 hours for Ahmadinejad to leave the country, or perhaps the threat of nuclear strikes), but instead he opted for Jimmy Carter style "negotiations." Having made a disgrace of himself, Blair was forced to resign. So he announced his resignation ---in French.





Let's see, Jimmy Carter-style "negotiations", announcing your resignation in French-if there was one man who would be impressed with Blair's behavior, you'd think it would have been Jimmy Carter himself. Not so.

Tony Blair's lack of leadership and timid subservience to George W Bush lie behind the ongoing crisis in Iraq and the worldwide threat of terrorism, according to the former American president Jimmy Carter.

"I have been surprised and extremely disappointed by Tony Blair's behaviour," he told The Sunday Telegraph.

You see, unless you are willing to pull out all the stops and advocate Chavez/Pelosi/Carter style "21st Century Fascism," there's no point in even trying to appease the left. Tony Blair might have learnt the lesson too late but it is something that Dick Cheney takes to heart. You're never going to see Cheney "negotiating" with Ahmadinejad, or announcing his resignation in French-or any other language.

Radical Leftist Broder Gets it Wrong on Cheney

Anonymous:9/15/06 you typed about Clinton: "When a president loses his credibility, he loses an important tool for governing -- and that is why I thought he should step down." Do you think Mr. Bush retains credibility enough to govern effectively?

David S. Broder: I think that is seriously in question. But Vice President Cheney would have less,so that option is not really available.

Not only does Cheney have credibility, the man epitomizes it. When Dick Cheney says something is going to happen, people believe it because Cheney said it. Of course, it is not surprising that lefty Broder would not consider a Cheney a viable option. For him, the only viable option would probably be Hugo Chavez or Nancy Pelosi.

Another Big Cheney Advantage Over 08 Candidates

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s turbulent final years as first lady? While Mrs. Clinton, Democrat of New York, frequently invokes husband Bill on the stump, she has managed to avoid any mention of his impeachment and the unpleasantness leading to it.

Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, almost never brings up campaign finance overhaul, perhaps his signature achievement in the Senate. The McCain-Feingold law is loathed by many of the conservatives Mr. McCain is courting, and he typically only discusses the measure when opponents hurl it at him — as Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, did in a debate on Tuesday.

For his part, Mr. Romney likes to promote his experience as a governor, but is often coy about where he governed. (Hint: it is viewed by many Republicans as an outpost of run-amok liberalism.) In campaign ads running in early primary states, Mr. Romney boasts that he was “the Republican governor who turned around a Democratic state” and “vetoed hundreds of spending appropriations.” But you would never know where.

[...]

When Mr. Romney does mention Massachusetts, it is hardly with native pride: Responding to a question during the debate, he referred to his home of almost 40 years as “that very difficult state” and “the toughest of states.”

In an internal Romney campaign memorandum obtained by The Boston Globe in February, Massachusetts is listed as a potentially effective “bogeyman” for Mr. Romney (along with “European-style socialism,” “Jihadism” and “Hillary Clinton.”)

“Romney is trying to say that he foiled a robbery in a brothel, the brothel being Massachusetts,” said Ralph Whitehead, a political analyst at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. “But the question people will ask is, what was he doing in the brothel in the first place?”

One big advantage Dick Cheney has is that he is no typical politician. The man's life is an open book. What you see is what you get. Everyone knows what Dick Cheney stands for. He never secretly supported campaign finance "reform," nor has he ever been in a brothel. The guy is the real deal. No secretiveness, just authenticity. The more you think about it, the plainer it seems Dick Cheney really would be a breath of fresh air, both in the 2008 race, and for the country as President.

Cheney Should Sue Valerie Plame for Treason

If there's one thing Democrats are good at, it's filing frivolous lawsuits.

Attorneys for Vice President Cheney and top White House officials told a federal judge today they cannot be held liable for anything they disclosed to reporters about covert CIA officer Valerie Plame or her husband, former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV.

The officials, who include senior White House adviser Karl Rove and Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, argued that the judge should dismiss a lawsuit filed by Wilson that stemmed from the disclosure of Plame's identity to the media.

The suit claims that Cheney, Libby, Rove and former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage violated the couple's privacy and constitutional rights by publicly revealing Plame's identity in an effort to retaliate against Wilson. Plame's identity was disclosed in a syndicated column in July 2003, days after Wilson publicly accused the Bush administration of twisting intelligence to exaggerate Iraq's nuclear threat and justify an attack on Baghdad.

Libby was convicted in March of lying to a grand jury investigating the leak.

Attorneys for Cheney and the other officials said any conversations they had about Plame with each other and reporters were part of their normal job duties because they were discussing foreign policy and engaging in an appropriate "policy dispute." Cheney's attorney went farther, arguing that Cheney is legally akin to the president because of his unique government role, and has absolute immunity from any lawsuit.

"So you're arguing there is nothing -- absolutely nothing - these officials could have said to reporters that would have been beyond the scope of their employment [whether it was] true or false?," U.S. District Judge John D. Bates asked.

"That's true, your honor [...]

The next step here should be a suit against Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson by Cheney for treason. Government employees should not publicly criticize the government, but to do so about the way the war on terror is being fought gives comfort to the terrorists and demoralizes the troops in the battlefield.

Also, has anyone ever heard of sovereign immunity? The head of state cannot be prosecuted for actions he takes in leading the country. Cheney definitely doesn't have anything to worry about here.

An Underhanded Dig at Cheney

The Socialist European media is at it again, making an underhanded dig at Dick Cheney.

[...]American accusations that European countries ganged up against the Bush administration in the Wolfowitz row hide a deeper worry: that the rapidly declining power at home of the most unpopular, least respected president since Richard Nixon is encouraging multiple challenges to US authority and interests around the world[...]

I get it. Least respected president since Richard Nixon. Let's prejudice people against Cheney (who got his political start in the Nixon Administration) by tarring Richard Nixon. Well, I've got some news for you, socialist European media. Richard Nixon left office with plenty of respect. And these days even many of my socialist democrat friends say that they wish they would prefer Richard Nixon were President today even over George Bush. If anything, Cheney's service in the Nixon administration is to his credit. Sure, Nixon may have at times tried too hard too appeal to the extreme left-wing, such as with the creation of the big-government EPA. But overall he was a strong leader. So sorry, European media. Try again. I know you will.

George Bush Deserves Credit for War in Iraq, GWOT

I've gotten a couple of emails from people who have said that I have been unfair in my coverage of President Bush. They say that I give all the credit to Cheney, and that I am dismissive of Bush's accomplishments.

Let me say now, Bush does deserve some credit. He gave the go-ahead on the Iraq war (despite ignoring some of Cheney's plans which would have made success more imminent), and as a result, millions of Iraqi girls who were afraid to go to school under Saddam Hussein's Islamic state are now free to go, possibly to a state-of-the-art air conditioned school built by the United States.

And because Bush had the foresight to declare a war against terror itself, many terrorists have been killed, thus making terrorism more deadly, and as a result many young children who otherwise might be attracted to terrorism are just saying "No," not wanting to be part of something against which a war has been declared. Osama bin Laden is trying to figure out why people keep dropping out of Al Qaeda and the Taliban is constantly losing soldiers, both to universities, and the newly bustling free-market Afghan economy. The madrassahs are losing all of their students because they are transferring to the freshly built public schools.

Every day in the Middle East is step forward for Democracy, and backward for terror. The news media just wants to focus on a few admittedly persistent problems, but I will give Bush credit for these valiant deeds. Nonetheless, this war could not possibly have been as succesful without Cheney's wisdom and guidance.

More Popular: Cheney or Bush?

It's not what the Liberal Washington elite would have you believe.

Cheney's gift haul was sizably bigger than the president's.

He received at least 15 presents totaling $21,674 in 2006, many reflecting the vice president's Wyoming roots and love of outdoor pursuits. They included three fishing rods of his own worth $2,975, $615 leather hunting boots, a $400 cowboy hat and a $7,200 bronze sculpture of a Cheyenne warrior. That was the most expensive gift reported by either President Bush or Cheney, says Knoller. The White House's senior staff ponied up $778 to buy him an iPod and compact disc collection.

America's Vice President

Rudy Giuliani likes to say that after September 11, he became America's mayor. Political gimmick? Probably. But after September 11th, Dick Cheney really did become America's Vice President. He was making the key decisions behind the aggressive response to the terrorists attacks. After initially focusing on Afghanistan, Cheney soon realized that Iraq was the central battlefront in the war on terror, and through his sober steadfastness, earned the eternal trust of the American people.

America's Vice President. Sounds a little better than America's mayor, doesn't it?

Cheney Delivers

US Vice President Dick Cheney, wrapping up a week-long visit to the Middle East, said Monday that he had won support from his Arab hosts for US efforts to stabilize war-torn Iraq.

Cheney, speaking aboard his Air Force Two airplane after leaving Jordan, also said that their backing was not contingent on making progress on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process -- though doing so is a key US goal.

[...]Asked whether he had won his Arab hosts' support for US efforts to stabilize Iraq, Cheney replied: "I did." He declined to offer further details.

Cheney, within the span of just a couple of days, has actually convinced Middle Eastern governments to support Democracy in Iraq. I'd like to see Rudy McRomney do that.

Winning the War in Iraq: The India Lesson

A lot of people think this should be an easy war, that if we haven't already won, perhaps we should throw in the towel. Those people, disappointly, now include Mitch McConnell and Tony Blair. But a good example from history, and one with which Blair at least should be well acquainted, is the British experience in India.

How long did it take for the British to impart Democracy to India? Three hundred years. And look how prosperous and successful India is today! I think that is a good estimate of how long we should be prepared to fight the Iraq war. Because while with the British occupation of India, only access to tea and spices was at stake, in the current battle, the whole future of civilization itself is what is at stake. If we are smart in how we go about this war, there is even a possibility that we could shave off a hundred years from this estimate. Most importantly, I think that this war could be succesfully waged without any tax increases. Who would be the best man to head this effort? One name comes to mind.

President Bush also seems to get this idea:

"From our own history, we know the path to democracy is long and it's hard," Bush said in a ceremony honoring the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, America's first permanent English colony.

"There are many challenges, and there are setbacks along the way," Bush said. "Yet we can have confidence in the outcome because we've seen freedom's power to transform societies."
[...]"Today, Democratic institutions are taking root in places where liberty was unimaginable not long ago," the president said.

He specifically cited Iraq and Afghanistan.

Perhaps on the 700th anniversary of Jamestown, we will also witness the first celebrations of a peaceful, Democratic Iraq.

Mitch McConnell Joins Cut and Run Defeatists?

From the radical NYT.

Citing media reports, McConnell said some lawmakers in Iraq's parliament wanted a vote to ask the United States to leave.

``I want to assure you, if they vote to ask us to leave, we'll be glad to comply with their request,'' he said.

There is some true leadership within today's Republican party, but as this despicable comment shows, it is clearly not the rule. Rather, there are all too many elements within the party that want to appease a left-wing segment of our society consisting of people such as Cindy Sheehan. This underscores why Dick Cheney's leadership is more important than ever at this critical time.

Is Cheney 2008's RFK Candidate?

Like Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, Dick Cheney has often claimed that he will never be a candidate for President. But a Cheney campaign would in many ways be similar to R.F.K.'s. Like RFK, Cheney would be an insider (RFK served in the Johnson administration and was a Senator) running as an outsider. Robert F. Kennedy realized that the party had lost touch with its base and needed a rejuvenation, and Dick Cheney realizes this about the Republicans as well. Cheney would emphasize that some strategic miscues which occurred on the Republicans' watch were a result of his judgment not being followed, as RFK did about Vietnam. Also like RFK, Cheney is possessed of a positively youthful vigor.

And just as Kennedy's campaign energized a new generation of democrat activists, a Cheney campaign could excite young Republicans. After all, this is the man who, as Defense Secretary, defeated the Soviet Union and brought down the Berlin Wall. With Cheney as President, the terrorists would probably be defeated in a matter of months.

Tragically, as with RFK there is a significant possibility that the nation will be deprived of Cheney's leadership, although in this case, not because of a terrorist killing, but merely because Cheney does not realize the tremendous support his candidacy would receive from grassroots everyday Americans.

Cheney, Using Influence, Slashes Clinton Deficits

President Bill Clinton promised surpluses on paper but in fact left us saddled with huge deficits and a recession. But despite President Bush's tendency to at times lean a bit too much toward the left-wing big spending agenda, Dick Cheney has cut the deficit over half from where it was just after Clinton left office.

Additional war spending this year will push the federal deficit to a record $427 billion [...]effectively thwarting President Bush's pledge to begin stanching the flow of government red ink, according to new administration budget forecasts unveiled yesterday.

Looks like thanks to Dick Cheney, President Bush's pledge has been restored.

Cheney Stands up to Iran

This is a man who projects serious leadership. Big contrast with some of the other Republican candidates. What the Republicans need to win in 2008 is a man of vigor. Dick Cheney's got plenty of vigor (attested to by his recent globe-trotting), and is fairly young (six years younger than McCain). Not only that, but he has already lead Republicans to two decisive victories in races when he was on the national ticket. Cheney's time is now.

CNN Makes Cheney President

If CNN really got their wish, they would be saying hello to 10 years of President Cheney. Once the American people saw Cheney close-up in action, they would realize the necessity of his leadership. Now it is one of the best kept secrets.

Take, that, Ahmedinejad!

Looks like Cheney once again is putting his vigorous leadership on display, this time putting the nix on Iran's nuclear weapons program.

Cheney warns Iran on nuclear weapons
By Tom Raum

The Associated Press

ABOARD USS JOHN C. STENNIS — Vice President Dick Cheney issued a warning to Iran while aboard an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf today, saying the United States would join allies to keep Iran from getting nuclear weapons "and dominating the region."

With two U.S. carrier groups now in the region, the vice president declared, "We're sending clear messages to friends and adversaries alike. We'll keep the sea lanes open."

Iran exerts considerable control over the narrow passageway that separates the Persian Gulf from the open waters of the Arabian Sea. Roughly a quarter of the world's oil supplies pass through the Straits of Hormuz.

Looks like maybe Ahmedinejad should find another line of business other than the nuclear weapons business. It ain't gonna happen. Cheney said it.

And Incidentally,

I would just like to mention that Cawley, Gillespie and Associates of Fort Worth and Houston, Texas is a top notch Petroleum Engineering firm. It's major league.

Cheney Unites Iraqi People

Another day, another example of Dick Cheney's leadership. This time, Cheney's gone to Iraq. And he has a message of unity.

The US vice president, Dick Cheney, today arrived in Baghdad to urge Iraqi politicians to step up efforts to end the violence gripping the country[..]

US officials said Mr Cheney's visit to Iraq was an attempt to press Mr Maliki and other Iraqi leaders to do more to achieve reconciliation among factions. "We talked about a way ahead in terms of our mutual interests," he said.

The US vice president also met Iraq's Kurdish president, Jalal Talabani, Sunni and Shia vice presidents, and other government and political leaders. Aides said he wanted to emphasise that ending the conflict in Iraq could not be achieved by military means alone.

The terrorists must be quaking in their boots. Their strategy has been to try to stop freedom's spread by dividing Iraqis (and Americans), but now that Cheney is there, it is likely that the division they hoped to sow will soon fail, and possibly backfire upon them.

And in fact, contrary to what we hear in the liberal media, progress is already being made.

[Cheney] said based on conversations he had throughout the day, Iraqi leaders felt that sectarian violence was "down fairly dramatically."

The World Craves Cheney's Leadership

Do you live in Europe or another overseas country? Crazy about Cheney? Send us an email telling us what you admire about Dick Cheney.

Not long ago, British Prime minister Tony Blair was considered one of the most popular politicians anywhere. And he seemed to have the courage to match his popularity, helping the US to free Iraq. But somewhere along the way, he lost his nerve. When British soldiers were captured by the Iranians, there was no threat of nuclear warfare, no 48 hour deadline for the President of Iran to leave the country. Instead, all Tony Blair had to offer was Jimmy Carter-style "negotiations". Is it any wonder that just a few weeks later, he is going to resign?.

These are serious times, and the Brits are smart enough to see that. So are the French, apparently! More and more around the world, people are beginning to recognize that we need real leadership like Dick Cheney's.

War Czar Cheney?

President Bush, seeking to further speed the spread of Democracy in Iraq, has been looking for a "war-czar," someone to make sure that Bush's plan is faithfully executed. Dick Cheney, showing his immense leadership abilities, is turning some heads...

The Bush administration may have found that “war czar’’ it’s been looking for: Vice President Dick Cheney.

The vice president, who lapped the world in February with a tour that carried him through the rubble of Afghanistan’s capital and included a night at Bagram Air Base – where a suicide bomber killed several at the front gate during his stay – will depart next week for a tour of Middle East capitals and a review of U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf.

Cheney, who addressed U.S. troops in Japan aboard an aircraft carrier and addressed troops based on Guam earlier this year, will board the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis in the gulf.

In the midst of the White House’s quest for someone to oversee war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan – and with the announced departure today of another high-ranking official at the National Security Council – there is no one more adamant about prosecuting those wars than Cheney. And, while President Bush toured South America touting trade relations earlier this year and prepares for the G-8 Summit of major industrialized nations at a Baltic Sea resort in Germany in early June, it is Cheney who flies in and out of war zones this year.

And no one stands more ready to enforce the administration’s demands of other world leaders in the war against terrorism, as Cheney did when he was dispatched to meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in February. A certain “senior administration official’’ was quoted upon departure from Kabul on that trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan as saying: “I've seen some press reporting says, 'Cheney went in to beat up on them, threaten them.' That's not the way I work. I don't know who writes that, or maybe somebody gets it from some source who doesn't know what I'm doing, or isn't involved in it. But the idea that I'd go in and threaten someone is an invalid misreading of the way I do business.''

When you think about leadership, it is hard to think of someone who symbolizes leadership better than Dick Cheney. And it is hardly surprising that when an important government position needs to be filled, Cheney's name would come to mind to fill that position. As President Bush's time in the White House unfortunately grows shorter, it is inevitable that people are going to begin to make a much bigger realization: that Cheney is the only person who is qualified to be the next President of the United States.

Dick Cheney 2008

America is under attack from people who hate our freedom, and the Democrats are every day growing bolder in their support of the kind of radical " 21st century fascism" practiced by the likes of Nancy Pelosi and Hugo Chavez, and in their attacks on our brave troops. Indeed, the situation is so dire for our country that some have begun to ask a very relevant question: is a military coup and dictatorship the only thing which could save this great land?

There is a much more positive solution for our country, and some are already beginning to recognize it:

For all the talk about potential candidates who haven't entered the 2008 presidential race — from Mayor Bloomberg to Vice President Gore to Senator Thompson and Speaker Gingrich — the one that who would bring the most to the race is Vice President Cheney. In previous recent campaigns, when there was an outgoing president who had won a second term, there has been a vice president around on the campaign trail to defend the record of the administration. George H.W. Bush promised to be kinder and gentler than Reagan, but he was still essentially defending the Reagan record. Vice President Gore didn't campaign much with President Clinton in 2000, but he was running in part on the record of the Clinton-Gore administration.

This year, the leading Republican candidates include Senator McCain, who was Mr. Bush's rival in a bitter 2000 primary contest and who voted against some of Mr. Bush's tax cuts, and Mayor Giuliani, who is going around proclaiming, in what seems a rebuke of George W. Bush, "it's time now that we have a president that knows how to get things done." Were Mr. Cheney in the race, it's hard to imagine that the president's approval ratings would not be five or 10 points higher. The reason is that the administration would have a defender on the campaign trail as part of the public debate.

Mr. Cheney has virtues as a candidate in his own right. He has foreign policy experience by virtue of having served as defense secretary, and he has economic policy experience, having served as a leading tax-cutter while a member of the House of Representatives. His wife, Lynne, would be an asset to the ticket in her own right, a point made by Kathryn Jean Lopez in a post on the topic at National Review Online back in February. By our rights, Lynne Cheney would make one of the greatest First Ladies in history. Mr. Cheney, in any event, is more than four years younger than Mr. McCain, and, if elected, would be 67 years old at his inauguration, younger than Reagan was when he took office. His health, while a topic of frequent speculation, hasn't interfered with his service as vice president.

Lawrence Kudlow wrote a column a while back saying he hoped President Bush asked Vice President Cheney to run for president in 2008. It was a fine idea then and it still is — not because the current field is particularly weak, but because Mr. Cheney is so much more experienced and shrewd a figure, one who could help settle some of the arguments about the Bush years in favor of Mr. Bush. A White House aiming to get Mr. Cheney elected could also avoid some of the hazards that befall lame-ducks — drift, brain drain, irrelevance. Such a campaign might lift Mr. Cheney 's own standing in the polls.

The vice president's stature would put him instantly into the first rank of contenders on the Republican side. On Monday, speaking in Alabama, the vice president received such a warm greeting that he began his remarks by saying, "A reception like that is almost enough to make you want to run for office again." It is hard to imagine the vice president did not comprehend how tantalizing such a remark would be[...]

Indeed, the prospect of a Cheney Presidency is tantalizing. In troubled times like these, what America needs is solid, steady, leadership. It is hard to imagine what could be stronger and steadier than eight more years of Dick Cheney in charge. It would be like eight more years of Bush, but without the left-wing big government agenda Bush has too often acceded too during his time in Washington.