(derekbaker): Good on Ya, Charlie

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Good on Ya, Charlie

Cheney: Sick, or Just Mean & Evil?

Desperate Moves

Bush & Co., claiming that Kerry's comments (about either studying hard and being smart or else you get stuck in Iraq) were somehow a comment about the troops is about as desperate as they could get. Talk about grasping at straws: Kerry's comment was obviously a lame attempt at a joke on Bush. The GOP will use their deliberate misinterpretation to fire themselves up, no doubt, but it's probably a good thing: everyone except the people who were already fired up, itching for even a false rallying cry, will see through their disingenuous outrage.

My congressman has apparently just called the vice president a "son of a bitch." Charlie Rangel can be pretty out there, even for New Yorkers, but on this one, I'm with him.

It started (this time around; they have a history of sniping at each other) when Dick Cheney said Charlie Rangel wouldn't continue "a single one" of Bush's tax cuts. Which he has no way of knowing, but lying to win elections is a standard part of the Republican playbook by now.

Last year, Rangel said Cheney had to be mentally ill. That, at least, was the explanation he was hoping for. ""I would like to believe he's sick rather just mean and evil," he said to New York's local 24-hour news channel.

This time around, however, he says he's not revisiting the issue of Cheney's mental health. ""I don't think he's shot anyone in the face lately, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt."

Of course, when you're talking about a sociopath, you've got someone who's sick, mean and evil.