Is this the 1st time the MSM hints that Cheney may be cheating on his wife

[RagingInMiami]

From the Washington Post about Cheney's hunting trips:

Yet several hunting companions say the trips include more political gossiping and storytelling than horse-trading. While women sometimes come along, such as Armstrong and Pamela Pitzer Willeford, the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland who was also at the Texas ranch a weekend ago, Lynne Cheney does not seem to be a regular on these trips. But the famously taciturn vice president reportedly opens up after a day in the open.



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/18/AR2006021801147_pf.html

[bluestateguy]

1. It'll be scrubbed

Rove will make a few phone calls and that line will disappear from the website soon.

[Journeyman]

2. You see that as evidence of infidelity? . . .

I see it as evidence Lynn Cheney doesn't like hunting.

There may have been hanky-panky happening on the ranch (and the initial reluctance to identify the "third hunter" is more evident of it than this article), but I think there'll need to be a much stronger statement from the press than this type statement before that scandal gets going.

[RagingInMiami]

7. I heard something on the radio that was more detailed

I really have no idea what's going on but if cheney is having an affair with this woman, i hope the media displays the same respect for personal family matters as it did with clinton.

[Journeyman]

8. I would respectfully disagree. . .

There are any number of critical issues for which I'd like to see the entire BushCo Cabal suffer and be held to account, but infidelity and drug use (legal or not), the indiscretions of their children, or any number of "victimless" crimes are issues I'd rather not see take center stage (or even lurk within the wings) of the politcal landscape.

Yes, the media and the Republicans made infinite jest and fodder of President Clinton's indiscretions, and payback, indeed, would have a sweet touch. But I adamantly opposed what was done to Bill Clinton and I won't be a hypocrite by seeking to do the same to others, even those slime who used their faux outrage at Clinton to favor their own aspirations.

So whether that Dick, Cheney, was fooling around or drinking is not an issue with me. If he was drunk when he shot his friend, then his actions (both his drunkenness and his reprehensible criminal act) are an issue -- but not the drinking in and of itself. And if he was philandering, that's an issue for he and Mrs Cheney -- unless it can be shown his paramour was a "Mata Hari" and he was trading lives for escapades, in which case his private indiscretions do become our public affair.

[RagingInMiami]

10. The way I look at it

Whatever works to turn public opinion against this administration is fine with me.

[Journeyman]

11. And I won't be a hypocrite. . .

n/t

[RagingInMiami]

13. So it's hypocritical

to point out the hypocrisy of the "family values" party, the party that supposedly won in 2004 because people wanted a president with "morals"?

[Journeyman]

19. Now you're confusing the general with the specific. . .

It is one thing to argue that society has lost its bearings and needs an infusion of greater morals to right itself (a premise I reject as invalid about the society Bill Clinton presided over), and quite another to claim that specific individuals lack moral fiber and are, therefore, unfit to lead (a premise I can sustain, but only in regards to how it affects the individual's ability to function within their official capacity and its effect on their specific actions; "Cheney is an alcoholic and cannot function for it", and "Cheney shot a man while drunk" -- both valid arguments, if provable -- but "Cheney likes to drink and occasionally gets snockered" is none of my concern).

In other words, just because others choose the low road, fault a man for his foibles and capitalize upon it for their personal gain, is no argument for me to follow suit, especially when there are so very many issues of a far more critical nature to which they should be held to account. And even more to the point, I hold myself above such petty libel of my fellow man.

If you want to point to increases in public lying and loosened standards of conduct in discourse, and tie those to the atmosphere created by the BushCo Cabal, solid. . . there's more than enough moral issues in the public arena for which they should be held to account. But Dick Cheney schtupping someone other than his wife? Not my concern. Your's either.

[RagingInMiami]

21. I hear what you're saying and I agree

But when it comes to politics -- especially with the players we're dealing with -- I throw those rules out the window. I really don't care if Cheney drinks or cheats on his wife, but America apparently cares, if Clinton is any indicator.

Where Kennedy and Johnson were allowed to have their sexual indiscretions without having it turn into a national scandal, that is no longer the case. There are no gentlemen rules with these people so why should we abide by any?

[Journeyman]

23. Because I abide by the rules I establish for myself. . .

n/t

[Eric J in MN]

15. Which woman do you think Cheney is having an affair with? (nt)

nt

[RagingInMiami]

17. Randi Rhodes said it was the ambassador to Switzerland

And that Lynne Cheney knows about it and is not very happy with it.

[elehhhhna]

18. Jefferine Gannon

[Missy M]

3. It seems that Cheney prefers the company of others.

[MiniMe]

4. With all of the heart meds that Dead-Eye Dick is on,

I find it difficult to think he could get it up. Most heart meds have that unfortunate side effect. Perhaps an affair of the heart only?

[DoYouEverWonder]

16. Why do you think they invented Viagra?

So these old geeks can get fake hard-ons and force themselves onto their younger companions.

[leftchick]

5. I am pretty sure dick is limp

between the booze and meds I bet it goes nowhere. It hangs between his legs as useless as dumbya.

[bmbmd]

14. Modern medicine is wonderful.

Between Caverject and Muse and the Osben device, not to mention implants, old dogs can learn new tricks.

[teryang]

6. If there isn't any business discussed why go to a lobbyist's ranch

...with lobbyists?

[Ksec]

9. no, only Dems sex lives are investigated by them

During Clinton we had eight years of media peeping tommery. Now that the reicht is in charge you cant get them to look at anything seriously, even when one of them shoots someone or they start a war with the wrong country. Amazing . Simply amazing how the media has been bullied into submission.

[peekaloo]

12. oh don't be silly.

He's procuring women for Lynne's next book.

:evilgrin:

[Mutley]

20. I really don't care if Cheney was cheating on his wife...

any more than I cared that Clinton was cheating on his. If it turned out that Cheney has cheated on his wife, I'd love to hold that in the faces of the same people who went after Clinton just to see their reaction, but the reality is that it is no one's business except Cheney, his wife, and the woman he had sex with.

[SophieZ]

25. It IS the public's business if he appoints her to a public position.

Ambassador Pam had a nice resume, but not one commonly thought to be weighty enough for one of the plum ambassadorial posts.

If the main thing on her resume is "intimate friend of Dick Cheney" and she gets a nice job because of it (not to mention that there is apparently some Swiss involvement in the French investigation of Halliburton/KBR's apparent $135 million bribery conduct while Cheney was CEO), then it IS the public's business.

[yardwork]

26. I think that this is a good point

Personally, I'm sick of the hypocrisy in the media.

Everybody knows that Poppy Bush had a long-time affair when he was VP and Prez, but nobody touched it. Clinton was impeached for his stupid behavior, but Jeff Gannon practically lives in the WH and nobody says boo.

Now the exact same woman that Poppy had an affair with appears with Cheney on a ranch when she ought to be attending the Olympics and cheering on Switzerland as part of her meagre job description.

I wouldn't mind the press pointing this out. Just sayin.

[Mutley]

27. "If" being the key word here.

Sure. If she is appointed to an important position and her only qualification is "intimate friend of Dick Cheney's" then it is our business. But if it is adultery and nothing more, then it is not our business. I will not be a hypocrite.

[daleo]

22. I don't care about his sex life, per se

But, this bunch loves to moralize, and it is never bad form to point out rank hypocrisy. Furthermore, it might convince some members of their base to vote their economic interests rather than base their votes on irrelevant religious claims.

[upi402]

24. Put the man under OATH! See if *HE* tells all