fox news interview of vice president dick cheney -- file in: "unintended truths" folder!

sometimes, it is wiser to just
report what is said, than to offer any
commentary -- this is direct from
whitehose.gov. but, unable to
resist -- i will have to offer at least
a few comments at the end of this -- it
was web-published on may 10, 2007,
during mr. cheney's last middle-east trip:

. . .QUESTION: Six in ten Americans say they feel it was a mistake to go to war. About as many say they think it's hopeless on the ground. And then you had a group of moderate Republicans at the White House who said they delivered a frank message that they are really worried about the future of the Republican Party after this -- how the war is going. What do you say to those people?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, what I say and I know what the President says is that we were elected to do a job and to do what we think is right for the country. When we ran, nobody had any idea that 9/11 was going to happen just a few months later or that we would be faced with the kinds of problems that we're faced with now, in effect a worldwide conflict that has seen attacks not only in New York and Washington, but in London, in Madrid, in Istanbul and all the way around the world; an al Qaeda organization that's still very active today trying to marshal the resources and acquire the weapons to launch further attacks against the United States. We've been enormously successful at defending the country for the last five and a half years against another one of those attacks. It doesn't mean there won't be more attacks. There may well be.

But the things we've done, sometimes unpopular such as aggressively get involved in the Middle East with military force or set up a terrorist surveillance program at home that allows us to monitor communications between Americans and people overseas at suspect phone numbers or the controversy over the detainee program and how we interrogate prisoners. So I got labeled under that, obviously, because I stood up and defended the importance of that program. It's been absolutely vital.

We didn't get elected to be popular. We didn't get elected to worry just about the fate of the Republican Party. Our mission is to do everything we can to prevail on what is now, we believe, a global conflict, a fundamental test of the character of the American people, whether or not we're going to be able to prevail against one of the most evil opponents we've ever faced. And on our watch, we're going to do absolutely everything we can to see to it that we do succeed and that we do prevail in that conflict, and sometimes that means that we don't do well in the polls or people want to be critical. . .

i don't think he realizes just how much
truth he (inadvertently) told brett baier
of fox news, above, here. . .

note -- it is not just "unpopularity"
when almost three-quarters of your
fellow-americans feel you've lost
your way in iraq. that is not un-
popularity -- that is a failure of
leadership.

now, it is true that all those
referenced-"programs" you "stood
up and defended" -- and, in most
cases, created -- mr. cheney,
are enormously unpopular. . .

they are unpopular because they
are as ineffective as they are
unlawful -- and in most cases,
unconstitutional (or violative of the
geneva conventions), to boot. . .

and you are killing the
republican party's chances in 2008 -- that
much is certainly true, mr. cheney. . .

so -- what's not to like about this interview?

nuthin'. absolutely nuthin'.