Dead-eye, Delusional Dick

Richard Cheney: Cultural Psychosis in Your Face

Senator Dick Durbin (Dem, Illinois) went to the floor of the Senate last month to denounce Vice President Richard "Dick" Cheney as being “delusional”(1). Maureen Dowd quickly followed up by pointing out that "Delusional is far too mild a word to describe Dick Cheney. Delusional doesn’t begin to capture the profound, transcendental one-flew-over daftness of the man"(2).

Maureen continued by asking, "Has anyone in the history of the United States ever been so singularly wrong and misguided about such phenomenally important events and continued to insist he’s right in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary"(2)? On his very own, Cheney claims the same kind of infallibility previously self-proclaimed by the heads of church and the heads of despotic states. Cheney is a would-be tyrant in a business suit.

If delusional is too mild a word to describe Dick Cheney, then we must seek out a more appropriate term, one that better captures the essence of our Vice President. One such term is "demented" i.e., "not all there" or "out to lunch."

One can even make a reasonably good case for referring to Cheney as a "DickWad," simply because he is a Dick and his neoconservative world view is a wad. In Dick's case, we are talking about a world view that knows nothing of human rights and nothing of democracy, a world view that only goes back a few decades to the emergence of "neoconservatism" in the U.S.

In the 1960s, Leo Strauss, a political "scientist" at the University of Chicago, provided a world view, but not within the context of American democracy and progress toward honoring human rights. He provided a world view within the context of Abrahamic religion as a millennial justification for despotism(3).

A refuge from Nazi Germany, Strauss did not see the turmoil of the 1960s as an exercise in freedom of expression. He did not see the turmoil as a matter of public outrage with corporate capitalism's efforts to define and control America at the expense of family and community values. Strauss believed that America had lost its traditional values based in religion.

The emergence of "neoconservatism" was based on Strauss's reunification of religion with the American political world to produce a world view 180 degrees removed from American democracy, a world view with which only a minority of Americans would be inclined to agree. That is why very few Americans even know about Leo Strauss and neoconservatism.

"Cheney was one of the original neocon signers of the Project for a New American Century -- a blueprint published in 1997 for the United State to dominate the Middle East politically and militarily in the aftermath of the Cold War"(4). Cheney's administration relies on the loyalty of religious people to provide blind support in the absence of factual knowledge.

In other words, Cheney suffers, not from a "collective psychosis"(5) because very few people would actually believe the neoconservative world view, if given a choice, because it is based in the maintenance of despotism. Cheney suffers from his own "cultural psychosis" by virtue of the Abrahamic roots of neoconservatism that have nothing whatsoever to do with human rights and democracy.

This would be true for all people who embrace the cultural despotism of the past in order to maintain the currently perverted status quo, e.g., those who place the values of Old Testament Romanism and crony capitalism above the values of Jefferson's democracy - which happen to embrace the values of nascent Christianity as the source of compassion-based human rights.

Following 9/11, it is apparent that Cheney assumed virtual control over the Bush presidency. "It's like there was almost nothing too trivial for the vice president to handle," said New York University professor Paul Light. "The details suggest Cheney was almost a deputy president with a shadow operation. He had his own source of advice. He had his own source of access. He was making his own decisions"(5). While Bush has claimed "compassionate" conservatism (a contradiction of terms) as his mantra, Cheney has promoted "neo" conservatism (overt despotism).

Before the empowerment of the Bush administration by the U.S. Supreme Court, Dick Cheney was asked to nominate individuals for consideration as George W. Bush's vice-presidential running mate. Cheney selflessly nominated himself in an act reminiscent of self-proclaimed enlightenment. For his self-righteousness alone, Cheney deserves impeachment, while Bush ought just be put out to pasture at minimum wage.

Cheney sees himself, at the least, as being infallible in belief, word and action, and he believes that he is justified in imposing his neocon beliefs, words and actions upon the American people and upon the people of the world, no matter how tiny-minded and incorrect his views may be, no matter how many lies it takes to maintain that world view.

This is psychosis by definition, most especially within the context of Jefferson's democracy where the people properly serve as "the decider". Infallibility is an impossible claim from all human points of view. By implicitly making that claim, Cheney makes himself into his own tin "god," a god that people can increasingly see right through to where no one but Dick Cheney is standing.

Dick's popularity with the people runs even lower than does the popularity of the president for whom he serves as decision-maker. Cheney certainly knew up front that George W. Bush had a remarkably limited grasp of the world and how it works. Given his CEO experience in the war industry, it is clear that Cheney knows an opportunity when he sees one.

Cheney selflessly assumed that only he could provide the kind of knowledge base that would take the Bush administration to global dominion and glory, all in the name of a thoroughly corrupt crony capitalism, the kind of corporate capitalism that made Cheney and Halliburton rich and still continues to do so.

Dick has well established his reputation for being an isolated and secretive political manipulator and a liar in denial. But, Dick is not just a liar, he is a damned liar because he employs lies to defend his belief in personal infallibility, i.e., to defend that which is indefensible. Cheney refers to ideas which oppose his policies as being "hogwash" - as he continues to dispense utter neoconservative bullshit.

Over the past half century of capitalism, the U.S. has become dedicated to bullshit, to the extent that many people know little else. Everyone is needing to sell something, everyone employs spin to aid in making the sale, to the extent that many Americans have no grasp whatsoever of what is meant by concepts like "honesty" and "truth". Such concepts are irrelevant to neoconservate crony capitalism, bullshit being what has paved the neocon way to power and control(6).

The pro-Bush segment of American society, about one fourth of Americans at present, right along with the right wing media, finds itself associated with a smaller and smaller segment of the American population. They will continue to believe nonsense until they find themselves entirely alone in psychosis, with no one willing to listen anymore.

Ultimately, Bush will come to realize that his President of Vice has led him on a self-righteous, egomaniacal path to the ruination of the Republican party, the ruination of crony capitalism, the ruination of Old Testament religion, and the ruination of Bush's own presidency. Ultimately, Bush will come to realize that the infallible Dick Cheney is most admirably fallible and that his presidential legacy is in the crapper(7).

In pursuing his neoconservative desire to politically and militarily dominate the Middle East and its oil reserves, Cheney has recently pointed out that Iranian leaders have provided arms to the Shia insurgents in Iraq. He entirely ignores that Saudi citizens, our closest allies in the Middle East, have likewise provided arms to the Sunni insurgents. Half the story is all that Cheney can afford to know.

Cheney will leave the Bush administration with the sorriest legacy of any presidency in the history of the U.S. The Bush administration will be the last administration dominated by the CEO mind set, the last administration devoted to crony capitalism and the last administration devoted to Old Testament Roman religion. The Bush administration will be the last administation devoted to war mongering.

It is clearly Cheney's goal, as Jon Stuart has noted, to nourish democracy by first destroying it. His infallible policies will certainly and inadvertently nourish a Middle Eastern meltdown followed by a global revolution in the interest of human rights, earth rights and democracy. For this to happen, the perverted form of "democracy" (i.e., religious crony capitalism) to which Cheney subscribes will have to destroy itself, a highly probable outcome, as religion's "end of times" is a prophetic outcome.

Are you looking for a sign of something truly miraculous in the world and in the works? If you are looking for the anti-Christ, look no further than Dick Cheney. If you are looking for the return of the Christ, look no further than yourself. The people must work to eliminate despotism and honor human rights on a global basis.

America's revolutionary Founders could clearly see with God-given human light. When we all see with that light and when we all shout the truth together, the walls of Jericho will most certainly come tumbling down. The power has always resided in the people. That would be why the Christ and Jefferson sought to empower each of as an advocate of the people.

Original article posted here.

Readings

1) Dana Bash, Durbin calls Cheney comments "delusional", CNN, January 25, 2007.
(http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/blogs/politicalticker/2007/01/durbin-calls-cheney-comments.html)

2) Maureen Dowd, Daffy Does Doom, Information Clearing House, January 27, 2007.
(http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article16266.htm)

3) Dr. Gerry Lower, Leo Strauss and Jefferson's Impending Death, Jefferson's Eyes, Turtle Island Press, 2003.
(http://www.jeffersonseyes.com)

4) Helen Thomas, Cheney vice president of irrelevancy, Seattle PI, February 12, 2007. (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/303115_helenthomas.html)

5) Scott Shuster, Dick Cheney: The Pure Evil Behind the President, OpEd News, February 2, 2007. (http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article16266.htm)

6) Tom Raum, Libby trial sheds light on White House, AP, February 11, 2007. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070211/ap_on_go_pr_wh/libby_and_cheney_s_world)

7) Paul Siegel, Bush is Dreaming and Won't Wake Up, Common Dreams, February 11, 2007.
(http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0211-21.htm)

[Author's note to readers who do not like the term, "nascent (before Rome) Christianity": In contrast to Jefferson and Franklin who knew the Christ was entirely human, as are we all, you people would throw the baby right out with the washwater, right along with the concept of human rights. In doing so, you show your sad ignorance of our Revolutionary Founders and their spiritual belief system, i.e., Deism, and you make yourselves as much a part of the problem in America as is the right wing.]