Just Another Republican Lie, or a Sure Sign of Senility?

As someone who was sometimes know for his sarcasm, I thought it was a pretty good line when Cheny said to Edwards, “The first time I ever met you was when you walked on the stage tonight,” implying, of course, that Edwards never showed up in the Senate, a charge he later elaborated on.

Turns out, unfortunately for Cheney, that the statement was a falsehood, either a deliberate lie or another line planted in Cheney’s head by the Bush Administration’s speech writers. One that Cheney should have caught, of course, when he studied his lines.

As harry pointed out at The Kudzu Files, even the Fox network was forced to point out that it wasn’t true, pointing out several times where they had met. Other organizations like MoveOn.org included a photograph of the two standing next to each other at a prayer breakfast.

Perhaps Cheney is just getting older, as Ronald Reagan, Jr suggested just before the debates when he argued that it would have been unfair to make a man of Cheney’s age with a pacemaker in his heart stand on stage for ninety minutes. Russert was quick to point out that Cheney was only 62, to which Ron, Jr could only reply “whoops.”

Neither is it particularly reassuring that Cheney directed viewers of the debate to factcheck.com, not factcheck.org as he meant to do. I’m sure some Republican voters were surprised to be redirected to George Soro’s web site instead of the Annenberg cite I’ve referred to here several times before.

Personally, I was shocked to find out that Cheney was only 62. He’s been around so long and his political views are so dated that I’d always assumed he was part of my father’s generation, not mine.

When Edwards pointed out that as a member of the House that Cheney, “was one of 10 to vote against Head Start, one of four to vote against banning plastic weapons that can pass through metal detectors. He voted against the Department of Education. He voted against funding for Meals on Wheels for seniors. He voted against a holiday for Martin Luther King. He voted against a resolution calling for the release of Nelson Mandela in South Africa,” I was absolutely convinced Cheney could not possibly have been part of my generation.

Though Edwards did little to convince me that he is someone I would want to take over the presidency, the thought of Cheney becoming president absolutely terrifies me. Given this choice, it seems like another clear reason to vote for Kerry.