Koppel Clobbered Cheney on Nightline (transcript excerpts)

[Dover]

Not sure what the copyright rules are with transcripts (which I purchased..not otherwise available) so I'll just post small sections.....

TED KOPPEL (ABC NEWS)

(OC) For a while there, we were going to call this program, "Dick Cheney, the American Prime Minister." But that, we concluded, would have gone way too far. That would have suggested that Cheney was actually running things and that President Bush was merely the symbolic head of government, rather like one of the crowned heads of Europe. There is no evidence to support that. By the same token, describing Dick Cheney as simply Vice President of the United States doesn't go nearly far enough. The job has gained an enormous amount of prestige since John Nance Garner, who occupied the office under Roosevelt in the 1930s, famously described it as "not worth a warm bucket of spit." But even Al Gore, certainly the most powerful and influential Vice President until Dick Cheney came along, was hampered by the perception that afflicts most vice presidents, they all want to be president. So, for that matter, did Dick Cheney. I'd forgotten about that, actually, until columnist Bob Novak reminded me.

<1>23:37:14 BOB NOVAK (NEWSPAPER COLUMNIST)

One of his great failures was the aborted campaign for President in 1996. He came out very badly. He made some bad speeches. He was getting nowhere. And he dropped out before, almost before he got going. That was when everybody kind of said, well, that's the end of Dick Cheney as a national political figure.

<1>23:37:41 TED KOPPEL (ABC NEWS)

(VO) And it very nearly was. After all, George W. Bush clearly didn't want Cheney on the ticket because of the clout he'd have at election time.

<1>23:37:51 PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH (UNITED STATES)

I didn't pick Dick Cheney because of Wyoming's three electoral votes.

-snip-

EDITED BY ADMIN FOR COPYRIGHT REASONS

[MinnFats]

1. you know, reading this made me feel kind of sick....

...
this part, especially:

"A lot of what needs to be done here will have to be done quietly, without any discussion, using sources and methods that are available to our intelligence agencies if we're going to be successful. It is a mean, nasty, dangerous, dirty business out there. And we have to operate in that arena."


do you ever get the impression that a lot of ugly, evil things are being done in the name of the United States that we know nothing about?

[Dover]

3. I'm sure of it.

And by the way, sorry but I edited out that Cheney quote from my post. Here it is in full if anyone is interested:

1]23:48:44 VICE PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY (UNITED STATES)

We also to work sort of dark side, if you will. We gotta spend time in the shadows, in the intelligence world. A lot of what needs to be done here will have to be done quietly, without any discussion, using sources and methods that are available to our intelligence agencies if we're going to be successful. It is a mean, nasty, dangerous, dirty business out there. And we have to operate in that arena.

<1>23:49:07 IVO DAALDER (FORMER NSC OFFICIAL)

He was one of the first to realize that September 11, may in fact not be just the worst thing that could have happened. It could have been much worse if the terrorists had somehow been able to acquire weapons of mass destruction. So, this marriage between terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, which became a linchpin of the Bush Administration's foreign policy, really by late 2001, and then announced publicly by the President in his "axis of evil" speech in January of 2002. Cheney was one of the people who pushed this early on and made this a major part. That led, quite naturally, to his influence and views on Iraq.

[Bozita]

2. drip, drip, drip ... ... Bushco takes another hit

The legend behind the throne survives.

drip, drip, ...

[grasswire]

4. Thanks!!

And do you have Koppel's closing statement? I would really appreciate that. Thanks again!

[Dover]

5. Closing Remarks

Ted's closing remarks -

In case you're wondering... of course we asked Vice President Dick Cheney's office if he'd sit down for an interview for our broadcast on him tonight.

Nobody ever said "no," but after waiting a couple of weeks, we decided to go ahead with what we showed you this evening.

If the vice president would like to chat anytime soon — his place or ours — we'd be only too delighted. But I'm not counting on it.

Traditionally, vice presidents don't do a lot of interviews or press conferences. And to be blunt about it, in years past, nobody much cared.

Al Gore was something of an exception, but for the most part, vice presidents went to state funerals and chaired committees on issues that bored the president.

This, though, is anything but a traditional vice presidency. Dick Cheney is a mover and shaker of the first order. That is the president's prerogative.

But when an elected official in this country is granted an extraordinary amount of power and influence, there ought to be some transparency and accountability. Which means something more than giving an occasional speech to the conservative Heritage Foundation and making a couple of appearances on NBC's Meet The Press.

[MinnFats]

6. way to go Ted!

perhaps mainstream media will at long last grow a spine.
Cheney, you fucking coward chickenhawk, step out of the darkness and own up to what you've done.

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. Oh, Koppel! Thank you!

Finally, this is the kind of responsible journalism that I remember back when I was a child. An American felt safe back then, because the press would always keep you informed and you could make an educated vote on election day to take care of the problem. Back then, you felt a direct connection to the process.

[dbt]

7. KICK!

In the name of the feeble, fluttering pulse of American Journalism and of the few drops of blood that Cheney has not yet sucked out of its veins.

Memo to Rather: Koppel just stole your lunch, ate it, and is preparing to expel the digestive result into your hollow skull. Keep an eye out...

:spank:
dbt

[Catshrink]

9. That Nightline was riveting

I was really surprised the the media would do something that hard-hitting. Koppel has cajones....

Thanks for posting the transcript. There's a lot of good information there.

[dusty64]

10. kick

:kick:

[meg]

11. Novak and some guy from the Heritage Foundation

were speaking about Cheney for a very long time at the begining of the show. I said Oh s***! and shut the TV off. Seems to be a lot of pro-Cheney spinning going on.

[Catshrink]

12. The was NOT pro-Dick.

It was a beautiful thing to watch. I mean hear. I avert my eyes when Novak comes on -- that creepy bastard.

[buycitgo]

13. Is it just me?

What about Richard Clark(e)? didn't he warn the junta in the strongest terms about the danger of Osama/terrorists? isn't there a lot of stuff about that floating around?

he was interviewed in some detail, and didn't mention a WORD about the complete neglect of Hart/Rudman, or the Gore warnings.

I thought the show was a paean to Cheney's secretiveness, and the fear in which he's held behind the scenes. who DIDN't know all that crap about him being the power behind the throne; the most powerful veep ever?

why did it take so long for ABC to put out such an obvious story?

what about the LIES he told about the Iraq war buildup?

nothing

what about the LIES he's told about his Halliburton money?

nothing

what about the refusal to come up with secret energy papers?

nothing

I thought the show was a huge bait and switch