tricky dick the second

Quite possibly the greatest zinger of the VP debates last night was when Dick Cheney, trying to establish that Edwards was often absent from the Senate, remarked that in his four years presiding over the Senate, Cheney had only met Edwards for the first time last night on the stage of the debate.

Nuh-uh.

They have met in front of the press at least three times in the last four years. Once, they sat next to each other (actually, it was Edwards, Cheney, Cheney's wife, and Edwards' wife...in that order) for several hours at a prayer breakfast in 2001. Tim Russert says they met each other on the set of Meet The Press and shook hands, again in 2001. Finally, as the senior senator from North Carolina, Edwards accompanied Elizabeth Dole to her swearing in by Dick Cheney.

Furthermore, last night, Cheney claimed "I have not suggested there's a connection between iraq and 9/11." The Kerry campaign immediately issued a press release listing the numerous times that Cheney has suggested a link existed, such as when he said "I think there's overwhelming evidence that there was a connection between al-Qaeda and the Iraqi government" this past January on NPR Morning Edition or when he said on CNBC Capital Report just three and a half months ago:

"There's been enormous confusion over the Iraq and al-Qaeda connection, Gloria. First of all, on the question of--of whether or not there was any kind of a relationship, there was a relationship. It's been testified to. The evidence is overwhelming. It goes back to the early '90s...There's clearly been a relationship."

As today's Washington Post reports:

"Cheney said he has 'not suggested there's a connection between Iraq and 9/11.' But in numerous interviews, Cheney has skated close to the line in ways that may have certainly left that impression on viewers, usually when he cited the possibility that Mohamed Atta, one of the hijackers on Sept. 11, 2001, met with an Iraqi official -- even after that theory was largely discredited."

Cheney also argued with the estimated cost of the Iraqi campaign being $200 Billion, charging that the government had "allocated" $120 Billion, putting down Edwards by saying that the other $80 Billion was really being used towards Afghanistan and the general "war on terror". However, the Washington Post writes that "As of Sept. 30, the government has spent about $120 billion, and it has allocated -- or plans to spend -- $174 billion. The tab should run as high as $200 billion in the next year once other expected supplemental spending is added."

There were many out there, including me, saying that Cheney won the debate shortly thereafter, but as revelations occur as to the statements that made Cheney's performance so remarkable, it seems that his "win" was pumped up almost entirely by innaccuracies and flat-out lies (as if he really forgot that he ate breakfast for hours while he and his wife sat in between Edwards and his wife...if he's that forgetful, than there are other reasons to not vote for the guy).