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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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 OPINION 
40

'Monstrous Liar' Cheney Manipulates the Media

Former VP's defense of torture full of half-truths, falsehoods: Froomkin

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(Newser) – Since leaving government, Dick Cheney has realized that TV and newspapers will report anything he says, writes Dan Froomkin for the Huffington Post, even though "he is a monstrous liar”—remember Saddam's WMDs? "After years of speaking in whispers, operating by proxy, and leaving as few fingerprints as possible," Cheney can't seem to shut up—and no matter what he's selling, the media "will fail to put it in any context whatsoever."

The former VP’s insistence that the CIA’s “harsh interrogation techniques” were justified vaporized amid "a lot of cover-your-ass language from the CIA," Froomkin fumes. And his claim that he knew only generally about waterboarding was "a laughably blatant falsehood"; it’s a matter of record that he was “up to his elbows in gory details.”

In this March 15, 2009 file photo, former Vice President Dick Cheney appears on CNN's
In this March 15, 2009 file photo, former Vice President Dick Cheney appears on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday, in Washington.   (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf, File)
This undated file photo shows Abu Zubaydah. A new document indicates the CIA first proposed to top Bush administration officials in mid-May 2002 that Abu Zubaydah be submitted to waterboarding.
This undated file photo shows Abu Zubaydah. A new document indicates the CIA first proposed to top Bush administration officials in mid-May 2002 that Abu Zubaydah be submitted to waterboarding.   (AP Photo/U.S. Central Command, File)
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Cheney wants to make sure that conservatives view these stories through partisan-tinted lenses. Indeed, muddying the debate was one of the most effective Bush-era communication tactics. - Dan Froomkin

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40 comments
VIEWING:
 
godawgs
Aug 31, 09 4:45 PM CDT
wow the HuffPO thinks that cheney is a liar....imagine that. Reply
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-5
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odowd80
Aug 31, 09 6:05 PM CDT
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0
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odowd80
Aug 31, 09 6:10 PM CDT
KILL THE MESSENGER!!!
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+2
Reader64481089
Aug 31, 09 5:00 PM CDT
"it’s a matter of record that he was “up to his elbows in gory details.” ...Actually I thought his arm was stuck much deeper than that in GW's rear end as he used Bush for a sock puppet for 7 out of 8 years and the jury is still out on year 8 Reply
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justme
Aug 31, 09 7:37 PM CDT
Which is it, Bush was responsible for everything or Cheney was? Since Bush stopped the waterboarding after18 months and only 3 terrorists were waterboarded, can you say that Cheny ran everything? In his interview on Fox (where he was challlenged ) Cheney said that Bush often ignored his advice. Cheney called himself the most hawkish person in the Whitw House. He stated that Bush often took other people's advice.
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