Among Vice President Dick Cheney's many skills is the effortlessness and comfort he displays when lying. In last night's debate with John Edwards in Cleveland, Cheney's calm dissembling was once again on display. (This ease with deception is one of the many reasons the Veep is #2 on the "Avenging Angel's Top 10 Unpunished Transgressors List.")
Consider the following falsehoods and distortions:
Falsehood #1: Iraq - 9/11 Link
As he had in the past, Cheney asserted that "the senator has got his facts wrong. I have not suggested there's a connection between Iraq and 9/11, but there's clearly an established Iraqi track record with terror."
This is a bald-faced lie (no pun intended). As MSNBC reports, Cheney on the September 14th, 2003 show of Meet the Press described Iraq as part of "the geographic base of the terrorists who have had us under assault for many years, but most especially on 9/11." In addition, Cheney on 12/9/01 and again on 9/8/02 spoke of the link between 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta and Iraqi intelligence. The 9/11 Commission report, of course, rejected these claims outright.
Falsehood #2: Never Met John Edwards
In his effort to assert that Edwards has been a non-factor in the Senate, Cheney claimed that he, as President of the Senate, had never met him before last night.
This is both a lie and intentionally misleading. Cheney mentioned that he goes to the Senate every Tuesday, and had never met Edwards there. As Senator Pat Leahy (D-VT) pointed out last night, however, there is a simple explanation: Cheney, in a sharp break with past VP practice, only meets with Republican senators.
As for having never met Edwards, this outright lie has already been exposed by mainstream media and bloggers alike.
Falsehood #3: Impact of Kerry Tax Plan on Small Businesses
The Vice President claimed that the Kerry plan to roll back tax cuts for individuals earning over $200,000 a year would devastate 900,000 small business owners who pay the IRS at personal tax rates. He also stated the statistic that small businesses create 7 out of 10 new jobs in the economy.
As Bill Schneider reported on CNN last night, this is nonsense. The actual figure of small businesses paying individual income taxes is 471,000; virtually all of these have NO employees.
Again, Cheney is speaking out of both sides of his mouth. (Both sides metaphorically, as he only speaks out of one side of his mouth.)