OpEd:
Ironic And Fallacious Political Punditry
October 29, 2009 by Kyle BradyTags: America, Bush, Cheney, Obama, Old Media, Politics, Pundit
As required by the FTC, a Full Disclosure is available - this piece adheres to the Code of Ethics
The era of the Bush Administration is clearly delineated as from 2001 – 2009, and was succeeded by the current Obama Administration, which will be in Office until, at least, 2012 – why, then, are the voices of the previous Administration being given credence for highly partisan armchair criticism by the mainstream media?
Since President Obama’s Inauguration, and perhaps even prior, former Vice President Dick Cheney has made a career out of publicly defaming, criticizing, and generally undermining the very Office he was previously sworn to assist. Regardless of the various successes and failures of President Bush, one fact has become abundantly clear: Dick Cheney was a highly skilled puppetmaster while in Office, and made many decisions based on personal preference, monetary gain, or other bias instead of acting appropriately, most of which were legally and ethically questionable.
But it is this selfsame individual that is attacking President Obama for supposedly not acting fast enough, or with enough conviction, in terms of troop deployments in Afghanistan, the removal of American forces from Iraq, and the political tightrope with Iran. It should be recognized, at this point, that the Bush Administration is the very reason focus was lost on Afghanistan, for simple cronyism politics. They are the Administration that significantly miscalculated the post-Saddam situation in Iraq, that has led to the never-ending struggle now typical of the country. The same Administration that destroyed all political interactions with Iran, specifically Ahmadinejad, by taking a hardline ideological approach that has set the entire process back by years and directly influenced the current nuclear situation.
Yet the admitted orchestrator of these events finds no irony in criticizing his policy successor, or sees even the beginnings of his own fallacious reasoning.
In all reality, such vitriolic rhetoric is likely occurring for three simple and small-minded reasons: President Obama represents everything Dick Cheney is not, and exists as a major threat to the political party that supported his every shady move; the former Vice President feels as if he has a legacy to defend, and the only way to do so, given the actual events of said legacy, is to make the succeeding President look worse; and he may be making a ploy for the Presidency based on some misguided principles and extreme lack of understanding of the modern American political situation. If even one of these reasons are close enough to his true intentions, then he exists as nothing more than a shell for pure and unadulterated sophistry, stupidity, and savagery.
Throughout all of this, however, former President Bush has kept relatively quiet – he may not agree with Obama’s policies and actions, and in fact likely disagrees wholeheartedly, but he seems to understand the need for respect of the Office of the President, something Dick Cheney has proven he cannot or will not understand from his first moments under George W. Bush.
All of the media outlets should immediately, without exception, stop featuring the real-life embodiment of Emperor Palpatine as a commentator, pundit, or even a guest – failing to do so only further propagates his insanity to the American people, and provides him a soapbox from which he can attempt to justify his past behaviors with fallacious and, many times, ironic arguments.
Kyle can be found on Twitter and MySpace, or reached via email.
