"...kinky shit, an old Hun sodomizing a goat or something."
"It's a question of American intelligence."
I can imagine Cheney giving that same smirk today, mimicking Edwards under his breath. "'Oh, I'm sorry. I broke the rules." Yeah, John, get to know thyself, but get to know thine enemy better. It often amounts to the same thing. Hell, before now I doubted I'd ever link to National Review Online or the New York Post, but these guys aren't afraid to tell it like it is—before adopting the gloat of well-fed swine.
From Seventh Heaven, National Review Online's David Frum likens the vice-presidential debate to manslaughter. Froths Frum:
"What can one say about John Edwards's performance? He certainly did not make Al Gore's error in 1996: With his repeated and worshipful descriptions of John Kerry—not to mention Edwards's moist good looks—you have to say that he would fill the role of First Lady much better than Teresa Heinz is likely to do. It would all have been very impressive—if Cheney's scalpel had not so swiftly and mercilessly sliced Edwards's living liver out of his body, impaled it quivering on a stick, and paraded it before Edwards' soulful eyes before the poor man expired."more...
Can you blame the guy? I mean, Edwards was ingratiating, obsequious, pathetic. It's not Bush who needs to get his act together in the final two debates; Kerry needs to reinvent himself if he's to blow Dubya away or stand any chance of taking this election. Earlier this year, I had as little respect for Howard Dean as I do now for John Kerry but, at the moment, the Democrats need Dean's passion if they're to make a fight of it. Face it, Cheney did beat Edwards like a drum. The transcripts make for entertaining reading; as does John Podhoretz's piece in the Post, Cheney Rocks.
EDWARDS: There are so many things that could be done to keep this country safe...
IFILL: Would you like to respond? Thirty seconds.
CHENEY: No.
[...]
CHENEY: Well, Gwen, I can think of a lot of words to describe Senator Kerry's position on Iraq; "consistent" is not one of them.
[...]
CHENEY: Now if they couldn't stand up to the pressures that Howard Dean represented, how can we expect them to stand up to Al Qaida?
Heh... I almost like the guy. Laconic best describes Cheney. Whereas Bush knows he's in a fight, Cheney knows he is not. Cheney's in control. He is Spartan brevity personified. Podhoretz puts it best:
But in the end, it was Cheney's night pretty decisively. He banged on Edwards like a drum, and while the North Carolina senator tried to give as good as he was getting, he never really blunted the vice president's relentless march forward.more...
Cheney's utter consistency of approach and his command of detail on foreign policy combined with his grave yet grandfatherly mien to make it seem as though he were an Old Sage who had agreed to grant an attractive young whippersnapper a master class in how to win an argument.
EDWARDS: I'm sorry, I broke the rules.
Yeah, John, you sure did. But it's not that breaking the rules matters. It's admitting to breaking them that will cost you.
