Mere Words

Yesterday, I brought you a snippet from an interview with Dick Cheney regarding the Iraq war. Here’s a refresher:

“Q Let me go back to the Americans. Two-thirds of Americans say it’s not worth fighting, and they’re looking at the value gain versus the cost in American lives, certainly, and Iraqi lives.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: So?”

Today, the White House Press Secretary Dana Perino was questioned by Helen Thomas over Cheney’s blatant disregard for the opinion of the public.

“Q Let’s set aside the meaning of the word “so” for a second, and get to something the Vice President then said… is the Vice President saying it really doesn’t matter what the American public thinks about the war?

MS. PERINO: No, I don’t think that’s what he’s saying… what he went on to say is that President should not make decisions based on polls. And we fully recognize that people across America are unhappy with the war; possibly they didn’t agree with the decision in the first place…

But what the President has said is that while people might not like the decisions that he makes, he has to do what he thinks is right for the country, and he cannot try to chase an opinion poll and try to make things better that way. “

The president can’t make decisions based on what people want done in Washington! His opinion is all that matters!

Q …There is the impression that the Vice President doesn’t care about what the American people think in policy like that. Is that a wrong impression? And does the President share that impression?

MS. PERINO: I think that is the wrong impression. I think that the Vice President and the President both, together, all of us across the administration, would like for people to support the President’s decisions. We realize that that’s unrealistic, especially in a time of war — and in particular this war. And while we’re not able to change public opinion, we also have to follow a principle and stand on principle. And you have to ask yourself, what kind of a person do you want in the Oval Office?

So we believe that the President stood on his principle. He hasn’t chased public opinion polls. He’s aware of them, but he hasn’t made decisions because of them….”

President Bush wishes people would agree with him, but since they don’t he thinks its best just to ignore them.

“Q The American people are being asked to die and pay for this, and you’re saying they have no say in this war?

MS. PERINO: I didn’t say that, Helen. But, Helen, this President was elected –

Q Well, what it amounts to is you saying we have no input at all.

MS. PERINO: You had input. The American people have input every four years, and that’s the way our system is set up.”

What Ms. Perino has said is that Americans get their voices heard once every 4 years, and a dictatorship the rest. That sounds like a democracy, doesn’t it?

“MS. PERINO: And we listen to different points of view. The President, in fact, had many meetings with members of Congress leading up to his decision about the surge.

Q Isn’t this supposed to be a government for the people, of the people, by the people?

MS. PERINO: I would submit to you that people across America, if asked what type of a President do you want: one that stands on principle or that one that chases polls? And I think that they would want one who stands on principle.

I would submit to Ms. Perino that people across America, if asked, would want a President that listens to what they want and crafts his policy accordingly. Americans would want the true reason behind a war, and to not be misled with false accusations of WMD’s.

Americans want a president who cares more about fixing problems today, than how historians will view him years from now. They want one who is worried about providing a leg up for the poor and disenfranchised, not giving tax cuts to the top 1%. We want a president who listens voice of the populace, not one hitting the mute button.

Helen Thomas asks one last question before Dana brushes her off and moves on. I think its a question a lot of Americans are starting to ask. When they go to the polls in November, they will demand an answer…

“Q What’s the principle of going to war against the people who did nothing to us?”