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Edited on Wed Sep-02-09 12:51 PM by Turborama
OLBERMANN: The concept, crazy as it might seem as first blush, is being seriously discussed, admittedly just in the warped universe of the “Wall Street Journal” editorial board, and Republican pollsters and GOP hack strategists like Alex Castellanos: Dick Cheney for president in 2012.
Our third story tonight, I know, I know, how could he run again when he has already served two terms as president? An op-ed from a member of that “Wall Street Journal” editorial board, whose bio proudly states that he, quote, attended college, speculates that another terrorist attack would vindicate the Bush administration. “The 2012 election may end up turning on national security. Republicans would be wise to nominate someone with both toughness and experience. Under such circumstances, it‘s hard to think of a better candidate, assuming, of course, that he could be persuaded to run, than Richard B. Cheney.”
Republican strategists like Mr. Castellanos and Craig Surely (ph) also sound the, if it‘s security, it‘s Dick drum beat. Even David Frum says it‘s, quote, not absurd. All three are them are counting on Afghanistan turning into Obama‘s Vietnam, which would be funny, if only it did not require that seven years under President Bush would be somehow numerically less than a presumed four years there under Barack Obama.
Anyway, oddly enough, there‘s already a rough cut of a Cheney campaign commercial.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our country is under attack. You think Democrats can save you? You think you know real Republicans?
OLBERMANN: Well, you don‘t know Dick! We kept America safe for seven years. And before that, for almost eight consecutive months. By my reckoning, that‘s eight years of keeping America safe.
No one knows more than me about fighting al Qaeda. I fought when Richard Clarke tried to get my attention on al Qaeda. I fought to get our boys away from al Qaeda when I discovered WMD in Iraq.
I fought al Qaeda for longer than it took Democrats to fight Mussolini, Tojo and Hitler combined.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dick Cheney, a family man with family values, who made new family members every time it looked like he might have to go to Vietnam. Dick Cheney, because no one can clean up his messes like he can.
OLBERMANN: I‘m Dick Cheney, and I approve this message. But you‘ll never prove it, because the meeting was closed to the public no. No one took minutes. And Scooter Libby‘s willing to lie about it anyway.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OLBERMANN: We‘re back now. And with us tonight is Chris Kofinis, Democratic strategist and veteran of the 2008 campaign. I bet you wish you were back in it, don‘t you?
CHRIS KOFINIS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: That was really good.
OLBERMANN: Thank you. Jonathan Larson wrote that. That‘s pretty good stuff. “Huffington Post” actually found Republican consultants applauding this idea of a Cheney candidacy. And are we both right here? They‘re clapping because Dick Cheney is the best candidate Republicans could hope for? And we‘re laughing because Dick Cheney is the best candidate Republicans can hope for?
KOFINIS: Yes, I believe the Republican party has lost—and please insert your favorite expletive here—their minds. I mean, Dick Cheney is one of the most unpopular politicians in America, if not the world. Dick Cheney single-handedly helped make America less safe, single-handedly helped make our economy worse, and has absolute disregard for the Constitution and the rule of law.
If he is the Republican party‘s—or one of the best for the Republican party, who‘s their worst? In all seriousness, if this wasn‘t such a joke, it would be insulting.
OLBERMANN: But the “Wall Street Journal” notion is that if al Qaeda were to strike again here, which half the people on Fox now seem to be advocating, that would somehow vindicate the administration that failed to eliminate al Qaeda, despite spending seven years and hundreds of billions of dollars, and all of our international support on it.
The one indisputable fact to explain any future al Qaeda attack, whether it‘s a Democratic administration in charge or Republican one, is that al Qaeda still exists, and that is due solely to the Bush/Cheney failure, isn‘t it?
KOFINIS: That‘s correct. You know what‘s amazing is the Republican party and Dick Cheney, in particular, has an incredible ability to rewrite history and ignore their own record.
Let‘s talk about their record. One, they failed to destroy al Qaeda. They started a war in Iraq, invaded a country that we didn‘t need to. They screwed up the war in Afghanistan. They worsened our relationships with our allies.
What did they do to make this country safe? They tend to make this argument that we kept this country safe, because there wasn‘t another terrorist attack. Well, you know there wasn‘t another disastrous hurricane after Katrina, but I am not about to credit Dick Cheney for controlling the weather. It is a laughable argument and it ignores the real record of the Cheney/Bush era, to be more accurate.
OLBERMANN: What is, then, the political calculus of floating Cheney in 2012? Is it to just try to plead with some younger Republican to perhaps consider running for president?
KOFINIS: Well, you know, I don‘t know. I think part of this has to do less with Dick Cheney and more about this calculus about the I told you so strategy. You mentioned it. And I think this is really starting to go out there amongst the Republican talking heads, this argument that if we get attacked again, it‘s, of course, going to be President Obama‘s fault. Ignoring the fact that this previous administration, Bush/Cheney, made this country less safe, again and again and again.
I think that‘s a key part of it, is trying to make this argument that, you know, if we get hit, they‘re going to go out there and immediately say, you see? We told you so. It is a really sinister and I think despicable argument to be making.
OLBERMANN: Let‘s try to end it on a brighter note. Could there be any better, for Democrats, Christmas or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or atheists day gift than this possibility of this phrase, Cheney/Palin 2012?
KOFINIS: Cheney/Palin 2012? I can only imagine their slogan, vote for us; we‘ll screw up America worst. Listen, the reality is—we can dream of it. It is not going to happen. He is not a viable candidate. Even the Republican party, as suicidal as it sometimes seems, is not about to go down that path. It would be a disastrous choice.
OLBERMANN: Yes, but he would be a hell of a dictator.
KOFINIS: He would be a hell of a dictator.
OLBERMANN: Chris Kofinis, Democratic strategist, who we will let off the hook now. Thank you for being here, as we approve that message.
KOFINIS: Thanks, Keith.
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