Cheney finds foul language irresistible By Curt Andersen News-Chronicle I don’t know how Conservatives do it. Can you spell high-pock-ruh-cee? I am regularly stunned by the frequency of the use of a double standard by Conservatives, but even more so, at their ability to pretend they’re not doing it. The latest issue that brings this to mind is the use of some serious Anglo-Saxon phrasing by Dick Cheney, while cursing Senator Leahy. In general, the Senator was told to have sex with himself. Later, Cheney commented that it needed to be said and that it felt good to say it. How odd that we now have the Conservative VP saying, “If it feels good, do it!” Because of good timing, the curse-out wasn’t nationally televised on C-Span…and what a shame that citizens might have been able to see our VP acting like a street punk. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, at radio stations around the country, people using profane language could get huge fines, depending on which version of the pending House and Senate bills will pass, if either. The current maximum fine is $27,500. In a standard fit of mindless busy-work, with the country mired in an unjustified war, the economy stagnant, and with jobs leaving the country, the Senate joined the House in promoting ridiculous new fines for broadcasters that air foul language or indecent programming. By the Senate bill, broadcasters would be fined as much as $275,000 per incident, and up to $3 million a day. The House passed a bill that would raise fines to a maximum of $500,000 per offense. No sense working on serious problems. Therein lies the hypocrisy…it’s okay and cute for the VP to use some very foul language in Congress, but not okay for some other schmuck to do it on the radio. Words have always been a problem for Conservatives. A couple of years ago I used the word “wiz” to refer to urinating. I was chastised for using such heinous language. It was directed at local misRepresentative Mark Green (8th Congressional District, Green Bay) who fervidly supports the war in Iraq, while he has voted against veterans’ benefits, including an increase in spending for health care benefits for wounded veterans. Green did not serve in our armed forces, much like other Chicken Hawks like Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, and Karl Rove. It was especially galling that draft dodgers such as Cheney called those who oppose military action in Iraq 'cowards,' and that included lots of veterans. To Conservatives, off-color words are criminal but heinous actions are okey-dokey. The hypocrisy allows them to Save the Unborn! while wasting the lives of service people in a contrived war to steal oil. Following the Iranian hostage crisis in 1979-81, Congress voted unanimously to forbid the sale of weapons to Iran. Hypocrisy allows Conservatives to worship those who traded arms to Iran anyhow, and to forgive those who used the proceeds to fund death squads in El Salvador…death squads that murdered thousands of innocent men, women, and children, including nuns and priests. Double-hypocrisy has this group claiming Christianity while looking the other way on the murders. The hypocrisy continues by right-wing “Christians’” promotion of war, which was the opposite of what was preached by Jesus, who is called “The Prince of Peace,” not the “Prince of War”. Conservatives criticize democratic candidate for President, John Kerry, for being one of the “wealthy elite,” whatever that is, while the Bush dynasty has its own enormous pile of dough. Hypocrisy. They have criticized Kerry’s wife (who is not actually running, in case you were not aware) for building ketchup factories in Europe, while the Bush family is selling weapons to foreign countries…re: Carlyle Group…and other Conservatives are closing factories in America and opening new factories in China, Vietnam, Malaya, et al. Conservatives criticized Democratic candidate for Vice President, John Edwards, for not having enough experience…as if Bush had enough experience, aside from being a failed businessman in spite of being propped up by wealthy contributors. (This was more of an investment than welfare for the profligate son of a rich guy.) Then there are the criticisms for flip-flopping. This baloney goes back to much earlier times in our history, but it is strikingly odd that those who agree with this charge against Kerry are unable to recognize that Bush has flip-flopped like a beached carp. The most obvious is the flip-flop from “We’ll go to Iraq ourselves!” to “We need help from the international community to stabilize Iraq.” Hypocrisy allows Conservatives to pretend the war is justified while it blows up in their faces.