In an opinion piece in today's L.A. Times, former Democratic Senator from North Dakota and 1972 presidential candidate George McGovern tore into Dick Cheney.
VICE PRESIDENT Dick Cheney recently attacked my 1972 presidential platform and contended that today's Democratic Party has reverted to the views I advocated in 1972. In a sense, this is a compliment, both to me and the Democratic Party. Cheney intended no such compliment. Instead, he twisted my views and those of my party beyond recognition. The city where the vice president spoke, Chicago, is sometimes dubbed "the Windy City." Cheney converted the chilly wind of Chicago into hot air.
Speaking at a conference hosted by the Heritage Foundation, Cheney suggested that the Democratic Party of today resembles the party of the early 1970s.
Cheney ties Democrats to McGovern
"That was the last time the national Democratic Party took a hard-left turn," Cheney told a conference hosted by the conservative Heritage Foundation. "But in 2007, it looks like history is repeating itself. Today, on some of the most critical issues facing the country, the new Democratic majority resembles nothing so much as that old party of the early 1970s."
Dick couldn't be more right. But in his speech, he made it seem like a bad thing.
Cheney asserted that Democrats want to impose "the largest tax increase in American history" and have already "earned a place in the big-spending hall of fame." Their support for pulling out of Iraq, he said, suggests they do not "fully appreciate the nature of the danger this country faces in the war on terror" and have given in to "the far-left wing" with actions that "have moved from the merely inconsistent to the irresponsible."
Project much Cheney? Last time I checked, your administration was spending an enormous chunk of our national treasure, far more than any othger administration. The national debt is headed towards $10 trillion under his watch, and he has the nerve to attack Democrats for spending. Here's what McGovern has to say about it.
Cheney said that today's Democrats have adopted my platform from the 1972 presidential race and that, in doing so, they will raise taxes. But my platform offered a balanced budget. I proposed nothing new without a carefully defined way of paying for it. By contrast, Cheney and his team have run the national debt to an all-time high.
And to Dick's point about the Democrats not understanding the threat from terrorism, George McGovern does not spare any punches.
Cheney charged that today's Democrats don't appreciate the terrorist danger when they move to end U.S. involvement in the Iraq war. The fact is that Bush and Cheney misled the public when they implied that Iraq was involved in the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Iraq had nothing to do with the attacks. That was the work of Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda team. Cheney and Bush blew the effort to trap Bin Laden in Afghanistan by their sluggish and inept response after the 9/11 attacks.
The best parts of the McGovern piece are the attacks on Dick's (and Shrub's) character.
In the war of my youth, World War II, I volunteered for military service at the age of 19 and flew 35 combat missions, winning the Distinguished Flying Cross as the pilot of a B-24 bomber. By contrast, in the war of his youth, the Vietnam War, Cheney got five deferments and has never seen a day of combat — a record matched by President Bush.
And he does a nice job of comparing the Bush Regime to the Crooked Nixon Adminstration.
It is my firm belief that the Cheney-Bush team has committed offenses that are worse than those that drove Nixon, Vice President Spiro Agnew and Atty. Gen. John Mitchell from office after 1972. Indeed, as their repeated violations of the Constitution and federal statutes, as well as their repudiation of international law, come under increased consideration, I expect to see Cheney and Bush forced to resign their offices before 2008 is over.
I highly recommend that you read the entire McGovern piece if you haven't already. It is well worth your time.