I think there is a growing belief that Cheney is a liability to Bush. Any chance Cheney won't be on the ticket?

mdphl. I know there has been alot of chatter about this within the Republican Party, and I am pretty sure William will back me up on this. My own feeling is that he will stay, but I do feel he is somewhat of a liability to Bush, and makes him even more vulnerable. The one I think we should really ask is Tucker Carlson ® on CNN'S Crossfire program, who every time the subject of Halliburton is brought up, usually breaks out in laughter or trys to downplay the problems between being able to connect the dots from Cheney to Halliburton. Don't laugh so hard Tucker.

To me the most likely scenario--and it's not all that likely--is that Cheney remains on the ticket & resigns early in the second (God forbid) Bush term, citing health concerns. This would allow Bush to select an easily-confirmed VP, one who could be groomed as the 2008 Republican candidate for President. The Republicans are concened about their "bench strength" for 2008, especially when compared to the number of visible, young-ish Democrats out there salivating at 2008 (HRC and John Edwards at the front of the list.)

~Adam

One thing I heard was thye possibility that Cheney will drop out very shortly before the convention in NYC. That leads the way for Shrub to nominate a very popular New Yorker, such as Guliani, or Pitaki. He doesn't need Jebby, as he pretty well has the south sown up, so going for a popular northerner would help.

And yes, I think it would be a resignation due to "health" reasons.

I'm trying to find a link to it, but I remember last week reading somewhere about a couple of prominent Washington DC Republicans were photographed soliciting from male prostitutes. Will try and find the link and post it.

Am I not correct in thinking that Cheney really calls the shots in the socalled Bush administration? Martha Stewart may go to prison for her petty 'crimes' and Cheney gets away with all sorts of schemes and business scams. Bush Cheney make Trickie Dickie Nixon seem honest. And why does Henry Kissinger run around free? His crimes against humanity in southeast Asia and Latin America are numerous and deadly.

Where did you get this idea? Have you seen the latest polls in Arkansas, North Carolina (w/Edwards as VP), Florida? The "solid South" isn't so solid for Shrub this time around.

Are you people STILL on the Haliburton thingy?

Please name one of your little "conspiracy theories" and I will blow it out of the water in about... oh 2 seconds.

Yes, where is Ken "Whitewater" Starr when you really need him?

and what exactly do they need to investigate?

Unfortunately serving as the Dean of my alma mater frown

What's to INVESTIGATE, come on libs. I know trying to figure out how business works is tough for some of you... errr most of you.

They offer classes in this at your local community college should you wish to take some other courses.

Business 101
Accounting 101
Economics 101.

The prices are quite reasonable also....

Haliburton and Cheney seem to have done quite well in those classes. Ethics 101, however seems to have escaped them.

How? Please explain?

Or just admit it, you have ZERO idea what you are talking about.

You know i think this is about the 3rd haliburton thread that will die because

A) None of you know anything about it.

All you can do is link some site that "billy-bob" forwarded to you.

C) You know, as usual, i'm right.

Giuliani and Pataki are too pro-gay and socially liberal to be picked by W; Pataki in particular would alienate the far Right Wing born agains whom W ltd. are courting. Giuliani may have the aura of 9/11 heroism, but do keep in mind that his record, at least on the gay and abortion issues are to the left of the national GOP, and he's not especially religious either. (He was living with a gay couple and seeing a divorced woman while still married to his SECOND wife--and he's Roman Catholic to boot.)

He wouldn't pick Jeb in any case; that would really set off even a large number of GOP voters. As others have noted, several Southern states he won in 2000 are in a bit more play this year, including Florida. I'm not sure if Kerry will win any other Southern states, though Louisiana, Arkansas, West Virginia (a semi-Southern state), and North Carolina with Edwards on the ticket are possibilities. Were this to happen, and if Kerry also won Ohio, it would be a romp.

Cheney is one of the key players in the administration, perhaps the ideological leader, alongside Rumsfeld. Together they have kept Powell on the margins, and completely overshadowed all the other Cabinet members. Many of Cheney's and Rumsfeld's subordinates are both neo-cons and Straussians, creating a particularly frightening dynamic, though I would venture that W is probably leans more to a religious fundamentalism than either of these two anti-democratic political philosophies. What now appears quite clear is that personally W is probably a decent person, who is not that uncomfortable around gays, poor people, anyone really, but he has been all too willing to let political expediency and ideological extremism guide his actions, to the detriment of the country and the world.

There was a thread a number of months ago here that talked about what cabinet members would be gone by election day 2004.
A number of people thought Cheney would be gone. I happen to still think that. After the June 30 handover in Iraq, all hell will probably break lose there resulting in further erosion of Dubyas support. I believe that Cheny will go due to "health" issues.
Ohio remains the big battleground this time around. If Cheney goes look for Congressman William Portman from Southern Ohio to be seriously considered for the VP spot. He is good looking, would be new blood and above all for the GOP would be conservative. In the end it could tilt Ohio to Bush.
I hate the thought of that scenario, as Kerry would have a much tougher chance of winning the election.

Defib Dick stays, but resigns in early '06 for "health reasons." Giuliani becomes V.P. setting up the thrilla in '08uh - giving the country the race New York nearly had in 2000 for Senate - Hillary vs. Giuliani, for the whole enchilada.

But lets do everything we can to make sure that TrickyDick2 has plenty of time to spend with his Lesbian daughter and not be in a position to resign - lets elect Kerry in '04.

ANd when Kerry is elected in November, and Cheney goes back to the civilian life, what OH what will Mary Cheney do for a living Be a "link" between the gay community and Haliburton?

Why in god's name would ANYONE in the gay community have anything to do with her after the election, no matter who wins.

And yes, I beleive the phrase "Uncle Tom" fits like a glove for her

Crickets chirping.... crickets chirping...

PF. The sounds you hear are not crickets chirping. It's your thigh's rubbing together

Two issues, first the ongoing investigations into how Haliburton is ripping off the DOD in Iraq in everything from food service to oil production.

Second, if you're going to keep meetings secret from the people, you probably shouldn't lie about the opposition being present. Claiming energy policy was made with the input of environmental groups would have been much more convincing if the environmental groups hadn't immediately noticed they hadn't been invited to the table. Not to mention, giving a Supreme Court Justice who are hearing a case about these infractions a free trip.

#1. If you look at the SEC filings of haliburton, it explains in detail their billing procedures with the govt concering food service. This is based upon billing percentages. The arguement really is the billing procedure.

#2. If i was setting up a committee, i'd leave those stupid tree huggers out also. However, there has been no wrongdoing what-so-ever there, unless you have some facts we dont know about.

NEXT.

That's the best you have?

Philly Man, help me out, cause I was never clear on this:

excerpt from: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/20...lliburton_x.htm

**WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff was told in 2002 that Cheney's former company would receive no-bid work to secretly plan restoration of Iraq's oil facilities, but the information wasn't given to the vice president, a White House official said Tuesday.**

From what I remember, Powell went to the UN with the (false) claims of WMD in early 2003. We invaded in March 2003. So how did Halliburton get a secret "no-bid" contract to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure back in 2002, before the war ever occurred?

Actually, i'd bet that the DOD has a plan in place if Iran decided to cross the border of Iraq right now.

I'm also pretty darn sure they have one against Syria should they do something.

I'm also sure that the DOD has an action plan against Iraq when billy bob was in office.

Anyway, the other day when I check the stock of haliburton.. it's 52 week range was 20-30 dollars. If Cheney was ilning the pockets of this company, why has the stock not shot up?

Furthermore for an administration you folks squack about that is so secret about everything, they have been nothing upfront about choosing the largest single company in this area to do this work for them. What is wrong with that?

Maybe the chimp should pick PhillyFan as his running mate, although PF has already said he's not voting for him.

Raze, I don't think PF could constitutionally run for VP. But I could imagine his acceptance speech at the convention:

You know raze, as excited as I am to get your endorsement... i'll go ahead and pass.

I'm simply encouraging some of you libs to actually figure out how the stock market, the economy, and business actually works. Rather than just linking some site, some tree hugger wrote.

That is why i encourage ya'all to attend your local community college to gain some sort of education in these matters. They offer classes during the day, as well as at night. Perhaps most of you can get on the graveyard shift at the local gas station. Rather than the day shift. I also heard they pay more at night. It would be a win win situation for all.

Mostly me, because i dont get paid extra for teaching economics 101. So all of my work is charity.

Do they teach spelling at your local community college?

Spelling is covered in Writing 101 at the local college here. However, spell check usually does the trick for me.

There is no spell check for folks who know nothing about business.

Only when used.

There is no spell check to post, believe me i've looked.

However, it looks like the Captain is back. So perhaps he can teach some of you economics. Granted they are a bit off base, but indeed are correct.

Which will only leave accounting and business class at the local community college for most of you.

Oh, i'm still waiting for more cheney-haliburton wrong doing and or connections.... chirp chirp.

For those interested PhillyFan will be teaching Voodoo Economics 101.

Go Lumberjacks!!

sorry raze that is a 300 level class which is, often, not offered at your local community college.

Not sure how this worked in Ark. Maybe we should ask Nolan Richardson... wait.. nevermind.

Actually Raze the class has been cancelled. PhillyFan was gonna start by having the class count M&Ms but cancelled it after he threw out all the defective Ws...

actually there sting... M&M and never turned down an M&M... good or bad. He's never even turned down a stale doughnut.

Philly, in your rush to mock everyone's intelligence and place yourself on some self-appointed pinnacle of knowledge, you forgot to answer my simple question of how Halliburton got a secret "no-bid" contract from the government? You said the DOD probably has lots of contingency plans for Iran, Iraq, and other situations. But this wasn't a plan I'm asking about -- it was a contract, which (and pardon my simpleton mind compared to you) I believe is a signed guarantee. No other companies were even considered and the whole thing was carried out in secret (even the VP himself claims to have not known about it) prior to the war.

To split hairs with you... it has been said, by you commies, that somehow Cheney profited and gave special favors to haliburton. In your analysis, you are confirming that he had nothing to do with this.

So, the DOD has a plan of action in Iraq, they say this can very well happen... we will need this and that done. Well, who do you ask to do it? You can't really put bids out.

Or do you wait till the war is over, ask for bids... review them... and such... then 3 months later have your firm????

You commies are squack, that a one year rebuilding was too long... but yet you complain about the largest company getting a contract for this work?

Our friend Phillyfan does not understand the meaning of the word "no bid". Save your energy.

Why weren't the contracts open for bid?

If Halliburton was the best, most logical choice, then what was Bush/Cheney afraid of? An RFP process would have made that abundantly clear.

Absent this protocol, Bush/Cheney look like they were up to no good. And in the world of modern political theory, perception is everything.

If you're not clear on this, I'd suggest American Politics 101 at your local high school AP program.

Actually PF you could ask Nolan, he still lives in Fayetteville, not sure what he does now besides count his millions.

Tally ho, GO LUMBERJACKS!!!

[ June 17, 2004, 06:08 AM: Message edited by: RazorbackTX ]

Philly, my analysis didn't confirm that Cheyney had nothing to do with Halliburton getting the contract. I only mentioned that in the report he "claimed" to have not known about it. (although his chief of staff did)

I find it humorous and ironic that you called me and others on here "commies". Seems to me that the secret, no-bid choice used by the Bush-Cheyney administration is very much communistic. After all, your Econ 101 class would teach us that capitalism is all about open market competition.

Actually, You are so wrong. The administration has been nothing but upfront about this whole situation. As the war ended they said they were giving the contract to haliburton.

Fully knowing that you wacko's would be hunting for something, anything. Well, it's over a year later and there is still nothing there.

Because of the timing (unless you wanted the entire world to know that W was going through with it) and putting more troops in danger (which you guys have no problems with anyway),,, then i say sure put it up for bid.

Go ahead and look at the financials of Haliburton and tell me where the windfall of money is? If they were receiving all these favors, why has their stock only been in the 20-30 range? Shouldnt it be in the 50 range? I mean it is a billion dollar contract and all.

PhillyFan -

"Fully knowing that you wacko's would be hunting for something"

Apparantly this wacko is a better speller: in English, words do not take an apostrophe in the plural. The apostrophe represents a missing letter or letters, or the possessive.

Calm down and stop sputtering.

Dear Nat,

Thank for you completion of Grammar police 101 at the Washing Local Community College. We hope this course was helpful in checking internet poster's for correct spelling and or grammar violation's.

Current Mrs. Wilson i's looking for a grader in her 3rd grade english course. We hope that you will find time to consider this great option for promoting proper english and spelling in communist america.

Hug's and Kisse's
Washington Local Community College Board of Regent's.

from Philly:
"Actually, You are so wrong. The administration has been nothing but upfront about this whole situation. As the war ended they said they were giving the contract to haliburton."

Philly, the point is that the war was in 2003. The contract was awarded to Halliburton in 2002. That is not, as you claim, as the war ended. Powell hadn't even gone before the UN to present our "intelligence" or "evidence of WMD" to justify the war. The Bush administration had long decided to go to war with Iraq despite the lack of any real evidence of WMD or any link between Iraq and Al-Queda. They most likely decided to create this war in 2000 or 2001 with the decision to give Cheyney's company the contract in '01 or '02. There is no way you can say that Cheyney's connections with Halliburton didn't play a role in that decision.

What proof do you have from the 00-01 comments you make other than specualtion on your part?

Bubba bombed Iraq in 98ish, and said that he would use all force necessary. You dont think that they were not planning at the DOD saying, worst case senerio we need this we need that should we need additional force. You dont think they made calls to a company like say Boeng saying, we might need to order additional fighter planes? Should we need to move troops in, we'll need this and that. What is the fastest way to get it there?

It is not like there are 10,000 companies which do this type of work. There are 2 or 3 from what i've seen. I do believe that Haliburton is the largest of those companies. Just like there is Lockeed Martin who builds missles. Or boeng who builds airplanes. Naturally if you need something quick, those are the companies you go to.

Further, when sadaam left Kuwait, he set all of the oil on fire. Why would you not have people ready to swoop in should an invasion of Iraq take place?

So do you think that Halliburton already has the contract to re-build North Korea? ..or France?

Frenchie can rebuild their own country... those lazy cowards.

I am not sure when defense contracts became private, but I do know that Cheney has taken full advantage of that by giving billions upon billions of dollars in contracts without contrest to Haliburton and it's subsidiaries. Here's an interesting article:

privitazation of defense contracts

My own conspiracy theory is that Cheney will mysteriously die of a Heart attack in August and someone like Mitt Romney will step in and expect to get sympathy votes. I told that to my brother who works in the White House and he says that Cheney appears to be in good health, so that would be a shock. You heard it here first.

[ June 17, 2004, 04:47 PM: Message edited by: wade n atlanta ]

Yes, well, some of us never learned to rely on them. Once upon a time, before computerized spell checking, human beings had to check their own spelling. It was rather like adding without a calculator, if one can believe that people did that. And yes, spelling and grammar were taught in those "godless" public schools too. And yes, it was in the 20th Century.

I only bring this up because, as others have pointed out, you make such a habit of mocking the intelligence of anyone who disagrees with you. Frankly, I'm not explaining myself out of any desire to get you to understand, which would require an open mind. I'm sure you'll respond, if at all, with one of your usual "So's your old man!" level non sequiturs. I'm just stating for the record why I wouldn't take you seriously even if I agreed with you on all the issues. It wouldn't be the first time.

If you can't take it, don't dish it out, sweetie-pants.