Cheney's Senate attendance -- great diary at Kos

[July]

We're at the point where every word in Cheney's speech should be checked for veracity.

"Dave the pro" at www.dailykos.com has a fascinating analysis of Cheney's Attendance in the Senate (see that title in the diaries list).

Researching the Congressional Record with other Kossacks, he discovers that Cheney has actually presided over the Senate twice in the last four years -- and so has EDWARDS!! Various senators have done the job on all other occasions.

Apparently, the Tuesdays Cheney mentions in the debate (when he says he was "in" the Senate and never met Edwards) are the two days Dave discovers, while one of Edwards's days is a Tuesday. Another poster in the thread says that Cheney turned up to break a tie vote six times, and that Edward was there all six times.

So Edwards has done Cheney's job as often as Cheney has, if all the research is accurate. And, as posters at Kos point out, if Cheney has only really presided over the Senate twice in four years (something that is one of the few definite jobs of the VP), what has he been doing.

And, as another poster in the thread notes, "I guess it depends on what the meaning of 'in' is."

[ewagner]

1. If that can be verified

it's devastating to Cheney!

[July]

5. The Kossacks were looking at the Congressional record.

I looked at much of the 2004 record and saw NO Cheney appearances as presiding officer (the beginning of the day's record usually gives the president pro tempore's name; once in a while it appears in the middle column when a sub for the usual guy -- lately Sen. Stevens -- is appointed).

The Kossacks were talking about sending this information to the media, and they gave links to the record, so I tend to think their research is sound. But you can check it yourself, as well.

Again, see the diary on Cheney's Senate attendance by poster Dave the pro at www.dailykos.com.

[CrowNotAngelGRL]

8. Great site

thanks for sharing. I'm sharing it with the other board I'm on. :D

[krkaufman]

2. Two words...

Undisclosed Location.

[undercover_brother]

7. you beat me to it

[July]

9. Sorry, man.

Good info, though, isn't it?

[trogdor]

3. Google search for "Senator Gone"

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=%22Senator+Gone%22&btnG=Search

links 1 through 20 of 86

1. irrelevant to subject.
2. RW site frontpagemagazine.com
3. NC GOP (ncgop.org)
4,5. NRSC (nrsc.org)
6,7. irrelevant to subject.
8. carolinaconservative.com
9,10. irrelevant to subject.
11. RW "libertarian" site Center for Individual Freedom (cfif.org)
12. irrelevant to subject.
13. Insight Magazine (insightmag.com)
14. frontpagemagazine.com
15. public message board (speakout.com)
16,17. irrelevant to subject.
18. some clown posting at beer-related forum site Brew-Masters (brew-masters.com)
19,20. irrelevant to subject.

[undercover_brother]

11. GOP talking point

If 100 GOP activists say it is true than it must be, right?

[bluedog]

4. how could cheney be there all the time?

he was in an "undisclosed location" for months!!.......remember....running and hiding because they thought bush might be a target....which doesn't seem to bother them now in a election race.........how long was cheney hidden?..thats the question!

[TNOE]

6. KOS is ON IT - Awesome

So far this year, Edwards has missed 69 votes out of 321, or about 21 percent, spokesman Michael Briggs said.
'I try to look at the votes and see what looks like it's important not only for North Carolina but also the country, and try to be there for those votes,' Edwards said.<...>
Before this year, Edwards missed just seven votes out of 1,307 in his first four years in office, Briggs said. During his five years in the Senate, Edwards voted 1,551 times out of 1,626 roll-call votes, Briggs said, or 95.4 percent.

Who cares ... (none / 0)

... aboute WHAT he was doing.
The fact is that he was NOT fulfilling one of the TWO parts of his job.

The points are:


He was absent from his job

Edwards performed Cheney's Senate duty as often as Cheney did.



re: VP Cheney's three stupid lies, the facts:
Cheney presided over the Senate on a Tuesday twice, and Edwards did the same twice.

Cheney met Edwards at least twice before the debate. There were pictures and/or witnesses.

Cheney obviously has publicly suggested a link between Iraq and 9/11 on several occasions in 2002 and 2003.

Bush/Cheney's positions were so catastrophically undermined by the facts last night, he got desperate and lied about stupid things that any competent spokesperson would know not to say. We cannot let this country be represented by a man whose weakness makes him say such stupid, false things whenever he's in a tough spot. If Cheney cannot hold up under pressure from John Edwards, how can he represent the U.S. to foreign leaders in the war on Al Qaeda?

Proof of Cheney's residence in alternate universe (none / 0)

Tuesdays are when the Senate reconvenes. It's the start of the weekly session. They're virtually never in session on Mondays as far as floor proceedings go (there may be plenty of committees in session). It lets Senators go back to their home states on weekends.
Tuesdays are sort of ceremonial in a small way -- what's most bizarre is that, as posters above noted, there's no reason for a VP to be there at almost any time unless they're lobbying Senators or are needed to break a potential tie on an important vote.

So how Cheney could ever get the idea in his head that he's "up there most Tuesdays" is beyond rational comprehension, as it's not really necessary to his point -- he could have simply said "I've been up to preside over the Senate and didn't meet you." This goes beyond expecting that they can get away with any lie -- Cheney has simply stopped trying to keep it in the realm of the minimally plausible.

This, along with the "never met you before" lie, is a good way of showing to the corporate media that Cheney's connection to reality is as strong as al Qaeda's connections to Saddam Hussein.


Sent to fact check.org , copy to other media (4.00 / 2)

VP Cheney said in last night's debate:
"Now, in my capacity as vice president, I am the president of Senate, the presiding officer.
I'm up in the Senate most Tuesdays when they're in session.

The first time I ever met you was when you walked on the stage tonight."

While "the first time I ever met you was when you walked on the stage tonight" has been widely debunked
there are other issues with Mr. Cheney's statement.

Response:

Information from Goverment Records at http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/
indicates that in the last 4 years VP Cheney has served on Tuesdays as The President of the Senate only twice.

In the event that the VP isn't there, the President pro tempore gets to appoint an Acting President of the Senate.
John Edwards has been appointed as Acting President twice in the last 4 years.

So in fact, John Edwards has served exactly the same amount of times Mr. Cheney has in this capacity.

2004

1/20 - Stevens
1/27 - Enzi
2/3 - Stevens
2/10 - Stevens
3/2 - Stevens
3/9 - Hagel
3/16 - Sununu
3/23 - Stevens
3/30 - Ensign
4/6 - Cornyn
4/20 - Stevens
4/27 - Chambliss
5/4 - Stevens
5/11 - Stevens
5/18 - Stevens
6/1 - Stevens
6/8 - Hutchinson
6/15 - Stevens
6/22 - Allard
7/6 - Burns
7/13 - Stevens
7/20 - Enzi
9/7 - Stevens
9/14 - Chafee
9/21 - Enzi
9/28 - Stevens
10/05 - Stevens

2003

Jan 7 Cheney
Jan 14 Stevens
Jan 22 Stevens
Jan 28 Stevens
Feb 4 Stevens
Feb 11 Stevens
Feb 25 Stevens
Mar 4 Stevens
Mar 11 Stevens
Mar 18 Stevens
Mar 25 Stevens
Apr 1 Stevens
Apr 8 Stevens
Apr 29 Stevens
May 6 Talent
May 13 Ensign
May 20 Alexander
June 3 Stevens
June 10 Stevens
June 18 Murkowski
June 24 Coleman
July 8 Stevens
July 15 Stevens
July 22 Chaffee
July 29 Stevens
Sept 2 Stevens
Sept 9 Stevens
Sept 16 Stevens
Sept 23 Stevens
Sept 30 Sununu
Oct 21 Stevens
Oct 28 Stevens
Nov 4 Stevens
Nov 11 Warner
Nov 18 Stevens
Dec 9 Stevens

2002

Tue 1/29 - Nelson
Tue 2/5 - Kohl
Tue 2/12 - Stabenow
Tue 2/26 - Landrieu
Tue 3/5 - Edwards
Tue 3/12 - Landrieu
Tue 3/19 - Miller
Tue 4/9 - Cleland
Tue 4/16 - Reed
Tue 4/23 - Wellstone
Tue 4/30 - Nelson
Tue 5/7 - Miller
Tue 5/14 - Cleland
Tue 5/21 - Nelson
Tue 6/4 - Durbin
Tue 6/11 - Corzine
Tue 6/18 - Dayton
Tue 6/25 - Landrieu
Tue 7/9 - Reed
Tue 7/16 - Corzine
Tue 7/23 - Reed
Tue 7/30 - Clinton
Tue 9/3 - Reed
Tue 9/10 - Corzine
Tue 9/17 - Reid
Tue 9/24 - Stabenow
Tue 10/1 - Miller
Tue 10/8 - Miller
Tue 10/15 - Reid
Tue 11/12 - CHENEY

2001

January 30 - Enzi
February 6 - Chafee
February 13 - Chafee
February 27 - Allen
March 6 - Burns
March 13 - Reid
March 20 - DeWine
March 27 - Chafee
April 3 - Smith
April 24 - Chafee
May 1 - Chafee
May 8 - Chafee
May 15 - Frist
May 22 - Chafee
June 5 - Enzi
June 12 - Byrd
June 19 - Carper
June 26 - Bayh
July 10 - Nelson
July 17 - Clinton
July 24 - Byrd
July 31 - Stabenaw
September 25 - Wellstone
October 2 - Clinton
October 9 - Clinton
October 16 - Edwards
October 23- Byrd
October 30 - Bingaman
November 13 - Murray
November 27 - Jeffords
December 4 - Stabenaw
December 11 - Carnahan
December 18 - Nelson

[July]

13. It was Cheney's deliberate attempt to try to smear Edwards.

Don't you think?

He was trying to get the idea out there that Edwards doesn't show up enough (not a strong claim in the first place), and he used the fig leaf of his job presiding over the Senate -- which he rarely performs -- as a way of leading up to that point.

Never has the expression "hoist by his own petard" been more apt.

[TNOE]

14. Absolutely

But all this EVIDENCE accumulated - makes it just such a HUGE HUGE lie. KOS is awesome. The irony is that Cheney ONLY has two jobs - and apparently doesn't even do the ONE he is required to do.

[TNOE]

10. AND this add'l comment

By my count, there were 33 Tuesday Senate sessions in 2001, 30 in 2002, 36 in 2003 and there have beeen 27 so far in 2004.
Cheney presided over a grand total of 2 of 126 Tuesday sessions in the Senate.

I guess that should count as "most."

[mumon]

12. Kick!

this is quite a big whopper of a lie from Cheney.

[Phx_Dem]

15. Pat Leahy on Cheney's Senate Attendance

Pat Leahy was on Hardball last night following. Tweety asked him how could a senator have never met him if Cheney is there every Tuesday????? Leahy said Cheney does come to the hill every Tuesday but doesn't meet with ANY Democrats. He said it's always a big show jevery Tuesday when the caravan of cars come down the street with all their pomp and circumstance and Cheney gets out and goes directly into a closed door meeting with Republican. No Democrats are allowed.

[onenote]

16. article from 2002 confirming Leahy's statement

http://www.hillnews.com/issues/100202/cheney.shtm

As Cheney takes on high profile, Democrats can’t seem to find him
By Noelle Straub and Mary Lynn F. Jones

As the Senate prepares to act on a resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq, Republicans say Dick Cheney has assumed an increasingly visible role on Capitol Hill.

(snip)
However, Assistant Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he hasn’t seen Cheney “in months.” Other Democrats, including Sens. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), Patty Murray (Wash.), Bill Nelson (Fla.) and Jean Carnahan (D-Mo.) also said they haven’t had much contact with Cheney since the Iraq issue began heating up earlier this year.

Asked why Cheney hasn’t reached out to Democrats, Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), a member of the Armed Services Committee, replied, “You’d have to ask him – if you can find him.”

onenote

[DaveOinSF]

17. Tuesdays with Cheney

The DailyKos diary that you mention (which is now on the main page) is only about Tuesdays. Cheney specifically said in his speech that he is presiding officer of the Senate, he shows up on Tuesdays, and has never met Edwards. Apparently Cheney only served as presiding officer of the Senate on only 2 Tuesdays out of 126 in the past 3.5+ years. One of those two occasions included the swearing in of Elizabeth Dole, where Cheney and Edwards were photographed together.

[JPZenger]

18. "Senator Gone"

In answer to a question above, people on www.dailykos.com tracked the "Senator Gone" reference to a small town North Carolina newspaper that was not in Edwards' hometown.