Dick Cheney vs. Rand Paul

Remember that National Security Republicans vs. Rand Paul article from last week? The shoes are beginning to drop:

Dick Cheney today announced that he is endorsing Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson over Rand Paul in the GOP Senate primary.

"I'm a lifelong conservative, and I can tell the real thing when I see it. I have looked at the records of both candidates in the race, and it is clear to me that Trey Grayson is right on the issues that matter — both on fiscal responsibility and on national security," Cheney said in a statement released this morning.

Cheney's endorsement centered on national security, which was also the topic of Grayson's recent advertisement against Paul.

"The challenges posed by radical Islam and Al Qaeda are real and will be an on-going threat to our domestic security for years to come. We need Senators who truly understand this and who will work to strengthen our commitment to a strong national defense and to whom this is not just a political game," Cheney said.

Former Cheney aide Cesar Conda, who broke this news at the National Review, continues the anti-Paul case over at The Corner. And a reminder: The issue of Reason currently landing in subscribers' mailboxes includes a feature article on Rand Paul's campaign.

Comments

[robc]

Why does Cheney hate Ronald Reagan?

[Russ R.]

The sooner Dick Cheney is relegated to the back pages of history books and hunting safety manuals, the better.

[Tulpa]

Seriously. Cheney is for Obama what Bin Laden was for Bush -- a boogeyman who the prez can always count on to issue a message when he needs his popularity to stop sliding.

[The Gobbler]

Cheney is for Obama what Bin Laden was for Bush -- a boogeyman who the prez can always count on to issue a message the MSM to produce a quote when he needs his popularity to stop sliding.

FIFY

[T]

Gee, the GOP establishment supports their own and doesn't like outsiders. There's a shock.

[Slap the Enlightened!]

And a reminder: The issue of Reason currently landing in subscribers' mailboxes includes a feature article on Rand Paul's campaign.

What - did he have a newsletter too?

[Gabe]

Weigel wrotte the article.

Title: Is Rand Paul the secret ghost writer of Ron Paul's newsletters?

[Tulpa]

He was 21 when the "fleet footed" and "gay pedophile" references were printed. So it's not impossible.

[Scooby]

How many 21 year olds use the term "fleet footed"?

[Some dude]

I believe the phrase was "fleet of foot".

[Gabe]

ok I have to admit I'm a little puzzled...is Cheney trying to get Rand Paul elected? does his endorsement really have a positive affect in Kentucky? if so Kentucky: you are dumber than I thought.

[Art-P.O.G.]

Yeah, this Cheney quote definitely makes me like Rand Paul even more.

[John]

Rand Paul runs afoul of my three generation ban on all relatives of Congress creatures holding office. He seems like a nice guy. But, it is a problem.

[Tulpa]

I think you should make an exception for Congress creatures who have zero influence on their party, and indeed are actively hated by most of its members.

[yonemoto]

You know I was a bit wary of this but 1) he's never held any other public office before, so he's not a total leech. 2) surely some positive aspects of political philosophy are transmissible down generations.

[John]

And he is a doctor. So, unlike George Bush, Al Gore, Nancy Pelosi and the entire Kennedy clan, he has done something productive outside of politics.

[John Thacker]

And he went to Duke Medical School, like his father before him.

Unfortunately, not necessarily a plus in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

[John]

Or any of the other 50 states outside of New Jersey. The University of New Jersey at Durham is not very well liked.

[John Thacker]

Or any of the other 50 states outside of New Jersey. The University of New Jersey at Durham is not very well liked.

There are more students from North Carolina than from any other state at Duke. There are more students from North and South Carolina combined than from New York and New Jersey.

Unsurprisingly, there are also more students from California, Texas, and Florida than there are from New Jersey.

[John Thacker]

15% of the undergraduate student body at Duke is from North Carolina.

[John Thacker]

Of course, locally, resentment of the University dates back to before its very founding, when Washington Duke was a Republican leader in North Carolina (nominated for NC State Treasurer) who supported the Populist-Republican Fusionist government of NC that actually had black members, including Congressmen in the 1890s. Some residents much preferred the race-baiting Daniels family of the Raleigh News & Observer and their beloved UNC.

[John]

I take it you are Duke Allum? Fair enough. Although I do think that it is funny as hell that a campus so dominated by lefties was founded via a tobacco fortune.

[John Thacker]

I take it you are Duke Allum?

Alum? Much more than that. My parents work at the Medical Center, my brother is an alumnus as well, and we've had season tickets to basketball since Bill Foster was the head coach. We've lived in NC and been Duke fans since before most of the asshole carpetbaggers who come here and then pull for UNC, calling us stupid New Jersey names. Like Art Chansky.

Although I do think that it is funny as hell that a campus so dominated by lefties was founded via a tobacco fortune.

Coach K is a conservative and a Republican, quite the opposite of Dean Smith. But sure, the campus has lefties like anywhere, even if fewer than at UNC-CH. Famous politicians associated with the University come from both parties. I'm proud of the Pauls.

The university's oldest history is closely aligned with Republican politics, as were its benefactors, back in the days of the old South.

[John]

I was thinking of the Duke 88 and the whole lacrosse affair. I didn't realize Coach K is a conservative. Wow. Yeah, Dean Smith is a liberal of the worst sort. Coach K of course is a former Army officer to. I guess I know who to root for in that rivalry.

[John Thacker]

Coach Krzyzewski is from Chicago, and I understand his family voted Republican even then (when alive, of course. Probably Democrat after passing, as the joke goes.)

He doesn't talk about it much, which is why it made waves back in 2002 when he hosted a fundraiser.

[l0phty]

"George Bush, Al Gore, Nancy Pelosi and the entire Kennedy clan"

Have done nothing productive inside politics.

[John C. Randolph]

the entire Kennedy clan

In the spirit of giving credit where credit is due, old Joe Kennedy did supply liquor to thirsty customers during the prohibition. That's the only example I can think of, where a member of the Kennedy clan delivered goods to people who paid for them voluntarily.

-jcr

[Joe Kennedy]

Yes. We Kennedys will make money off the government one way or another. Props to my homies for the amendment (21st that is) .

[shrike]

John (translated) -

"Rand Paul is not a nutcase conservative like Rick Santorum so I won't support him"

[John Thacker]

Weird reading comprehension you have there, shrike, since John said:

"He seems to have some goofy ideas about foreign affairs. But so what? He would only be one vote and don't put him on the committee. Whatever small harm he did with his occasional votes on those issues would greatly be outweighed by the good he would do on domestic issues."

But hey, shrike's a hater.

[PabloKoh]

Looks like the GOP is afraid of a real fiscal conservative.

[Clich? Bandit]

truest comment on the day.

+1 Sir

[Chris]

He's a "real" fiscal conservative in so far as he is a typical republican with a few good points. He touts the whole "we need to reel in spending" gig, but then tells us how we need to build massive underground electric fences along the border and work to create legislation which will pave a platform to overturn Roe v Wade. For the most part he's a typical republican with the exception being that he hasn't been affiliated with republicans as long as there has been dirt.

He has a few good ideas (campaign finance reform and office term limits are decent examples, end the drug war), but as for the most of it, he's no better than the rest of the freedom-limiting, money spending republicans we have grown to hate.

[John]

"They should mostly be sent back to their country of origin or, to tell you the truth, I'd drop them back off into battle.?You're unclear, drop 'em off back into Afghanistan. It'd take them a while to get back over here" (speaking in Paducah, Ky., May 8, 2009).

Anyone know the story behind those statements? Because that is fucked up. And does not reflect well on Paul. It is not even wrong. It is just muddleheaded. What do you mean drop them back off on the battlefield? If they are innocent they should go home. If they are guilty, you can't have a catch and release program.

[virginia]

just the innocent ones that could not be found guilty in court or military tribunal.

he was acknowledging that many of those guys were captured and turned in by rival tribal leaders.

[Lamar]

The story is that Paul was talking about what to do with innocent detainees, not terrorists. Paul's solution is to put them back where we found them. Yet Trey Grayson's statement said that Paul "wants to close Guantanamo, release terrorists."

Of course, one would expect Cheney to endorse a candidate with a tenuous grasp of the truth.

[R C Dean]

That's pretty much my plan - a quick determination by military tribunal of whether they should be held, and if not, drop off exactly where we found 'em. If their detention lasts more than a day, pay 'em a per diem for their trouble.

[Pain]

Oh noes! One of the least popular leaders in recent history is refusing to give Rand his endorsement. I guess he's in trouble now.

[Chris]

One of the least popular leaders in everyone else's mind except (hard core) Republicans, the only ones who will matter in a mid-term election.

[MJ]

"least popular" if by that you mean "left-wingnut bogeyman".

[John]

I would also point out that Paul is running for Congress not President. He seems to have some goofy ideas about foreign affairs. But so what? He would only be one vote and don't put him on the committee. Whatever small harm he did with his occasional votes on those issues would greatly be outweighed by the good he would do on domestic issues.

[yonemoto]

he could be a total national security hawk if he espoused a 'fight fire with fire' - as in nonstate entity vs nonstate entity - provision (as allowed in the constitution) by proposing to completely withdraw troops from abroad but give blackwater (or whichever mercenary contractor wins the bidding process in committee) a congressional mandate to exterminate Al Qaeda. I bet Dick Cheney would go for that too since it means a big fat paycheck for him.

[virginia]

I've read it took Executive Outcomes all of a month to clean up Angola.

[Matt]

Not that his vote on foreign affairs matters anyway. Congress no longer approves war any longer as that constitutional function has been annexed by the Dictatorship Presidency.

[guy in the back row]

Isn't he running for senator?

[John]

Ladies and Gentleman you United States Congress

REP DENNIS MOORE (D-KS) FINALLY CORNERED. ADMITS NOT READING BILL: Dennis Moore, appearing on KMBZ radio Kansas City Morning News with EJ & Ellen, was finally forced to answer one of my questions. Ellen asks:

I was reading this article in the Washington Times by Dr. Milton Wolf who is a Kansas radiologist. You know, I think he actually talked to you and contacted your office. He writes that there's "a scheme in this bill" that "actually penalizes your primary care physician if he is in the top 10 percent of doctors who refer patients to specialists, no matter how valid the reason." That brings up questions of rationing. That brings up questions of quality health care. Is that still in there?

Moore answers:

I don't know. And I will find out. But I don't know if that's in there. This is, as you know, a multi-hundred, several hundred pages of bill, but uh, uh, I'll check with Dr. Wolf directly too and talk to him and find out what, what, what his concern is because I don't know that.

What arrogance or blind ideology compels a man to allow the government takeover of the finest health care delivery system in the world without even reading the bill? Moore boasts of his "Blue Dog" status as though he is a moderate. There's no such thing as a Blue Dog Democrat if they vote for $787 billion of stimulus spending, the Cap & Trade energy taxes and now ObamaCare. Pelosi lap dog, maybe.

http://wolffiles.blogspot.com/.....dmits.html

[Lamar]

I have been against the health care bill, and I haven't read the whole thing.

[John]

We don't pay you $172K a year to be one of the 535 votes that decides the issue. If we did, I would expect you to know every significant provision.

[Lamar]

But...but....but.....OK.

[John Thacker]

Although I'd argue that one sufficiently bad provision is reason enough to vote against something, whereas support should require reading the whole thing.

[Lamar]

That's a valid argument, but I suspect every bill has one sufficiently bad provision.

[John Thacker]

I realize it's a bit of a circular definition, but in my view there are bad provisions that could be outweighed by good provisions elsewhere, and bad provisions that are sufficient by themselves to be worth a veto.

[Pro Libertate]

I wouldn't read a bill like that if I had heard enough to know my vote would be no. What's the point? I suppose I might analyze it more if I wielded enough influence to swing votes with some reasoned objections, but I have a feeling that Senator Libertate would be a despised loner.

[Congress]

Who reads anymore? Let me know when 'The Health Care Bill' PBS mini-series is on and I will TIVO it.

[John C. Randolph]

Dennis Moore?

Blimey, this "redistribution of the wealth" business is trickier than I'd thought!

-jcr

[sage]

Does anyone know how he's polling these days?

[DenverWill]

Haven't been following the race at all, but RCP shows he's polling pretty well:

http://www.realclearpolitics.c....._race.html

[sage]

Wow, no kidding. Thanks for the link.

[P B]

Cheney endorsed Sen "Amtrak" Hutchison in the primaries in TX, including radio spots. Looks like Rand Paul's chances are improving.

[John]

I can't believe Hutchinson tried to run for governor. It really shows how out of touch everyone in Washington is. Ah Kay Bailey, I am not sure if you realize this or not but you are from Washington and we don't like your kind around here.

[Jeff]

What a dick.

[Tricky]

Dick Cheney before he dicks you

[pebbles]

What a cheney

[Snaps McShitDo]

You know Grayson is desperate when he has ads touting his alma matter: http://treygrayson.com/beat-duke/

On second thought, maybe that's a big deal in KY.

[Esoteric]

Yeah, clearly you're not from KY. It's a big deal. A clever & funny angle to play by Grayson, actually.

[James Ard]

Unless something bad happens, national security is going to finish close to global warming in the ranks of voters concerns. I think a Cheney endorsement won't make a half a percentage point difference in the race.

[Libertymike]

If you are a GOP candidate, wouldn't you prefer Dick Cheyney endorsing your opponent?

Just like Oliver Wendell Holmes, Cheyney has got to be one of the more overrated minds in history. Gravitas?

[Libertymike]

Correction: Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Well, if you produce a misanthropic social darwinist who was lunatic enough to proclaim that the constitution does not embody a particular economic philosophy, then Sr. should be slammed as well.

[hlm]

Rand Paul is an immigrant-bashing, abortion-banning, state's rights-advocating conservative. He even took a swipe, in a commercial, at appearing pro-war. I'm told he'll be another Ron Paul?precisely what worries me (except on the war issue). We need "libertarians' who are libertarians, not social conservatives who merely sound libertarian while voting with the Religious Right.

[Rand Paul]

I am not entirely anti-abortion. I would have aborted you, for instance.

[guy in the back row]

So long as he's not enacting his views into law, he is head and shoulders above the rest!

[Seventh Son]

What's your problem with Ron Paul?

I consider myself a libertarian, and have found myself agreeing with him on most issues. And the abortion one is hardly clear-cut.

[nekoxgirl]

What does the US Senate have to do with abortion anyway? Its up to the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade.

[Michael Ejercito]

Rand Paul is an immigrant-bashing, abortion-banning, state's rights-advocating conservative.

What is your problem with states' rights?

Is that not how women got the vote?

Is that not how same-sex couples got legal recognition of their partnerships as "marriages"?

Of course, that might explain your opposition to states' rights.

[Thought Criminal]

"State's rights" is the key problem -- the phrase is permanently associated with Jim Crow (not to mention the idea that governments should have "rights" instead of "powers").

Take a lesson from the left and rename it to something more positive -- vertical checks and balances, for instance. Or multigovernmentalism. I'm sure there are even better euphemisms to be discovered.

[John C. Randolph]

How about "decentralization"? That's not even a euphemism.

-jcr

[Rob]

You need to start calling it Federalism. It's a more complete term and more importantly it hasn't been forever condemned to be a naughty word. It doesn't matter if your idea of State's Right's involves non-enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act or more importantly respecting a state's liberal marijuana laws. A liberal will know you are racist because racists like State's Rights, so therefore anyone who talks about State's Rights must be a racist. And then he'll make fun of those dumb working class Republicans who are always "voting against their own interests," and light up to celebrate his advanced liberal intellect.

If you want people to accept reasonable, rational ideas you need to use language that sends the right emotional message as Frank Luntz would say.

[TQ]

Grayson's website includes both "empowering" and "diversity" on it. It ought to be clear to Cheney that sensitive guys like Grayson's are incapable of being tough on misogynistic, gun toting mountain men. Grayson will be more than happy to vote for hug-a-Taliban day though.

Then again, we can't really expect Cheney to make much sense. This is a man, after all, who managed to attack the wrong country twice. He may not be the sharpest tool in the shed.

Paul has the clear advantage here--it is obvious we are under assault by radical statists everyday. The chance of some Afghani goat herder deciding he wants to schlep halfway across the globe and leave his harem of underage wives to blow himself up and take a bunch of Americans with him seems fairly remote. Kind of pointless to worry about the bogeyman that might be under the bed when your anus is already in the midst of being violated.

[TrickyVic]

"""Kind of pointless to worry about the bogeyman that might be under the bed when your anus is already in the midst of being violated.""

Until it's the boogyman's turn to violate your anus.

[jj]

Great SITE for documentaries check it out, knowledge is power

http://freeviewdocumentaries.com

[John C. Randolph]

Endorsed by Cheney? Man, that's gotta hurt. Maybe he can get endorsed by Lyndon LaRouche, who at least has a handful of followers.

-jcr

[Holy Cow]

Oh, give me a break. So you disagree with Cheney on the war. (Disclaimer: I agree with him re: the wars)

Cheney is one of the few politicians around who actually does understand economics, and he's also not a social conservative (oh, the horrors of that!)

If more politicians were like Cheney in their economic knowledge, there would be no PoliticanCare, no Cap N Trade, more support for SS reform, etc.

At the very least, Cheney doesn't pretend to know economics and then advocate idiotic and arcane government schemes, like Obamacare.

Yet, you deride him.

Same goes with Palin. Yeah, she's a strange one etc., but for gaia's sake, if she was VP now: there'd be no effing ObamaCare.

TQ: How did Cheney attack the wrong country twice? Are you telling me that Afghanistan-- oh, forget it. Seriously, seek help.

[nekoxgirl]

Considering Richard Nixon, Bob Dole, and Mitt Romney all have supported something similar to Obamacare, I kind of think Palin and Cheney would too if the rest of the GOP leadership told them too.

[KRS One]

Wasn't Grayson a Democrat who supported Clinton?

Life long conservatives like Cheney sure know the real thing.

[Holy Cow]

Cheney vs. Lieberman.
Cheney vs. Edwards.

Who was the more libertarian candidate? But go ahead, make fun of Cheney.

No really, make fun of him. It'll make you feel better.

Now think of ObamaCare. Feel like sh^% again, huh?

[Chris]

1) We deserve better than a "more libertarian" candidate. And one can only say that about Cheney if one looks ONLY at his fiscal policy ideas. In social policy he aligns with the worst of the Republican moral fuck faces, unless you think that gay = evil or pot smoker = the worst thing ever is in line with libertarian values.

2) Though I don't like ObamaCare any more than anyone else here, I can with 100% confidence say that I prefer to pay a trillion dollars for supposed health care than pay a trillion dollars for a fraudulent war in Iraq, and atrocities like the Patriot Act.

Defending Cheney as "more Libertarian" is like saying that diarrhea is more like piss than your average turd. In the end they both smell like shit and belong in the toilet.

[nekoxgirl]

The fallacy of socialism is that somehow you can limit economic freedom but not limit all other freedoms in the process. It doesn't matter that Cheney may sound like a libertarian on economic issues if he wants to limit other freedoms.

Conservatives that feel safer because of the military industrial complex are just as misguided as liberals that feel safer because of a government provided safety net. Both involve giving up a little freedom for a little security, and we all know what Benjamin Franklin thought about that.

[Hacha Cha]

this is great. having Dick Cheney endorse Trey Grayson is like having a well known sane, principled person endorsing Rand Paul. seriously, who would WANT Dick Cheney to publicly endorse them, its like having the KKK giving you their support. I hope his endorsement does have the effect of gaining Paul more support.

[Holy Cow]

"seriously, who would WANT Dick Cheney to publicly endorse them, its like having the KKK giving you their support"

Yeah, dude, it's EXACTLY like that. (rolls eyes)

[Rewrite]

Holy Cow, are you the anti-MNG? Are you like Bizarro to Chad's Superdork? Dick Cheney did more to set back the cause of Civil Liberties than Dick Nixon. The only good things I can say about him is he is not as bad as his daughter and he taught Joe Biden how to say the F-word.

[Chris]

"We need "libertarians' who are libertarians, not social conservatives who merely sound libertarian while voting with the Religious Right."

You 'aint lying. There is more to being libertarian than not wanting to be taxed to death. With very few exceptions, he's just like the rest of the republinuts, and those exceptions aren't enough to get my vote.

[Robert]

Whoa! I think that is a bit cruel to Vader. Vader did turn on the Emperor in the end. Saruman or Sauron, maybe.

[Holy Cow]

"We need "libertarians' who are libertarians, not social conservatives who merely sound libertarian while voting with the Religious Right."

I'm not religious. Don't really care one way or another. But what effing political burdens do religious people put upon you? It doesn't compare with secular atheists and their wish lists.

So, guys, thank God Sarah Palin's not VP with her backward anti-abortion views. What if she was to bring a Bible to the Senate? Can you imagine? Yikes.

Oh, anyone up for paying for 15K more IRS agents to pour over your required insurance forms? Biden-- yay!

[Chris]

They try and tell me what I can and cannot do in the privacy of my own home. We taxpayers have spent over a trillion dollars on the "Drug War," a pet peeve project of religious types who are convinced that if we actually had freedom to choose what we can and cannot do in the privacy of our own homes, we'd turn into zombies who are intent on destroying "them".

Gays can't marry because they might "change" the "definition" of marriage. Forget the fact that religious conservatives are supposedly all about small government, they actually think have the right to tell people who can and cannot be married as if their opinion on the matter is the only one that counts.

God forbid I try and buy beer on a Sunday. Not only can I not buy beer on a Sunday, but it's actually fucking locked up.

The list goes on and on.

Conservatards are just as much proponents of big government and big spending as libertards, they just lie about it a little better. Neither is for freedom and liberty. Conservatards talk small government, but their actions speak a different language.

And why is it that economic freedom from taxes is somehow more important than the freedom to do what we want in our own homes?

I'm all for economic freedom from big government taxation, but it doesn't mean anything at all if the government can still tell me what I can and cannot do on my own time.

In my experience, conservatives, particularly the religious types, are experts at violating both the principles of economic and social freedom when it suits them to do so. They are the biggest hypocrites of all.

[Michael Ejercito]

Gays can't marry because they might "change" the "definition" of marriage. Forget the fact that religious conservatives are supposedly all about small government, they actually think have the right to tell people who can and cannot be married as if their opinion on the matter is the only one that counts.

Has not the government had this power since 1776?

[gillicuty]

Um, no I'm not up for paying for 15k more IRS Nazi's but they might cost a tad less then the Iraq war fuck tard.

[gillicuty]

"It doesn't compare with secular atheists and their wish lists"

I'm a secular athiest and my wish list is to have the fucking government leave me alone and stop taking my money to pay for shit we don't need and can't afford. Like more bombs to drop on Iraqi children. Or do you consider them terrorists because they are Iraqi? How about Afghan children?

Can you even explain why we are in Afghanistan still? AQ hasn't been there since '03. Are we defending our liberties here at home (what's left of them) by occupying one of the poorest countries on the planet? The Taliban have no navy, no air force, no real army, no mechanized infantry, no tanks, no chemical factories, no way to make nukes. Shit, they can't hardly make electricity. Are we to believe that they pose a direct threat to the US? How about Iraq?

Your love affair with with Cheney is really pitiful and your understanding of Libertarians even more so.

We get it. You don't like Obama. Neither do we but you fucking republicans and your "lesser evil" bullshit. Republicans are every bit as responsible for the plight of liberty in this country as the Democrats yet you are such fucking hippocrates with your new obsession with the Constitution.

Cheney is a lying, sociopathic mother fucker.

[Greer]

I thought John Banner played Sgt. Shultz

[bob]

Please name one thing Cheney has been right on:
Gov't debt? no
Iraq? no
John McCain? no
Gay right? sort of
economy? no
Bush? no
a better America after he was thru with it? no

[DJS]

Please send Cheney back to his Cost Rica hideout once and for all. The man was and is a DISASTER for the GOP!! Go away, and take your ignorant daughter with you!!

[ann randian]

What a chuckle I got reading this, thank you Dick Cheney for helping to convince folks that Rand Paul is the way to go. Jokes on you. Your endorsement has backfired, unless of course you secretly do endorse Rand? Conspiracies are everywhere. Watch out Grayson.