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THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much, Tom. And I appreciate the introduction and the kind words. For those of you who don't know Tom Ridge -- although I know he's been a regular here for a number of years -- we're very proud of the fact that he served as a veteran in the United States Army. He and I served together in Congress for many years. Of course, he was governor of our -- one of our largest states, and as Tom mentioned, the first Secretary of Homeland Security.

In combative mood the US Vice-President stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the besieged Georgian President Dick Cheney delivered a bellicose warning to Russia yesterday during a brief visit to war-torn Georgia, promising that America's small Caucasus ally would one day join the Nato alliance . In combative mood, the US Vice-President stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Mikhail Saakashvili, the Georgian President, and bluntly reinforced Russia's worst fears — that Washington would not stop pushing for Georgian membership in Nato. He also attacked Moscow for trying to redraw the country's borders by force. “Georgia will be in our alliance,” he said, in defiance of the...

US Vice-President Dick Cheney has said Ukraine has the right to live without fear of invasion, adding that the US stands by its bid for Nato membership. Mr Cheney met both the prime minister and president in Kiev, the last stop of a tour aimed at underlining support for US allies in the former Soviet Union. Mr Cheney reassured the president that the US had a "deep and abiding interest" in Ukraine's security. Analysts fear Ukraine could be the next flashpoint between Russia and the West. "We believe in the right of men and women to live without the threat...

US VICE-PRESIDENT Dick Cheney angered Russia yesterday by urging Ukraine's feuding leaders to unite in their bid to take the country into Nato and ward off the "threat of tyranny, economic blackmail and military invasion". The clear reference to the perceived danger posed by Russia to its neighbours in the aftermath of the Georgia conflict provoked a furious response from Moscow and its main ally in Ukraine, opposition leader Viktor Yanukovich.

President & Mrs. Bush are spending the weekend at Camp David. The President called the governors of South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia this morning to discuss preparations for Tropical Storm/Hurricane Hanna. On the second day of his visit to the Ukraine Vice President Cheney met with President Viktor Yushchenko and other officials. (Transcript) President Yushchenko: Your Excellency, Mr. Vice President, and your colleagues, this is a great honor for me on behalf of Ukraine to welcome the U.S. Vice President Richard Cheney for the visit to Ukraine … Vice President Cheney: I appreciate your kind words and hospitality. And...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 4, 2008 – Vice President Richard B. Cheney arrived in Georgia today, delivering “a message of friendship” from the U.S. and condemning Russia’s “illegitimate, unilateral” aggression against the former Soviet republic last month. “Americans are acutely conscious of the great trials your country has faced over the last four weeks, and we stand in solidarity with the people of Georgia,” Cheney said at a news conference in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. Russian forces invaded Georgia last month and continue to maintain a military presence there in defiance of a cease-fire deal reached Aug. 13. Moscow further...

...Cheney declared: "After your nation won its freedom in the Rose Revolution, America came to the aid of this courageous young democracy. We are doing so again, as you work to overcome an invasion of your sovereign territory, and an illegitimate, unilateral attempt to change your country's borders by force that has been universally condemned by the free world." He said he had assured the Georgian leader that he "can count on continued support and assistance from the United States." "I assured the president as well of my country's strong commitment to Georgia's territorial integrity. Georgia has that right, just...

Today President Bush traveled to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to meet with first-responders and state officials and to personally thank them for the work they’re doing in the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav. (Transcript) I can't thank you all enough for working as hard as you are. Looking around, I can see that some people may not have had much sleep recently. (Laughter.) The people of your state care a lot about the fact that you are working as hard as you are. And if this helps you keep going, I want to thank you, and I want to thank all the...

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Although they were reluctant to say it out loud, many Republicans were relieved Monday that President Bush didn't attend the Republican National Convention. They didn't like to talk about it on the record, in part because they didn't want to admit an unintended political benefit in Hurricane Gustav, which led both Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney to cancel their scheduled speeches Monday to the convention. They also didn't want to admit publicly that a president from their own party is a drag on their prospects. Yet inside and outside the convention hall, they mostly agreed...

DOVER, Del. (AP) | Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, received five student draft deferments during the Vietnam War, the same number of deferments received by Vice President Dick Cheney, and later was disqualified from service because of asthma as a teenager.

The Republican National Convention's entire Monday night program, including an address by President Bush, apparently will be canceled as national attention focuses on Hurricane Gustav, House Minority Leader John Boehner said today. "It is doubtful that there will be any kind of program tomorrow night" when the four-day convention was scheduled to commence, he told reporters. "The convention is going to be handled on a day-to-day basis." Boehner, of Ohio, the top Republican in the House, said the convention is concerned about potential victims of the storm, "and the best way we honor that is to help Americans who are...

Democrats have come up with a new line of attack line against John McCain's running mate Sarah Palin, saying she's another Dick Cheney. Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) described Palin as a member of the "flat-earth caucus," who McCain picked purely to please the conservative base. "With the choice of Gov. Palin, it’s the third term of Dick Cheney," Kerry said on ABC News' "This Week." "He’s chosen somebody who doesn’t believe climate change is man-made." Kerry added that Hillary Rodham Clinton supporters should be offended if people suggest Palin was selected to draw some of the female vote away...

Democrats have come up with a new line of attack line against John McCain's running mate Sarah Palin, saying she's another Dick Cheney. Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) described Palin as a member of the "flat-earth caucus," who McCain picked purely to please the conservative base. "With the choice of Gov. Palin, it’s the third term of Dick Cheney," Kerry said on ABC News' "This Week." "He’s chosen somebody who doesn’t believe climate change is man-made." Kerry added that Hillary Rodham Clinton supporters should be offended if people suggest Palin was selected to draw some of the female vote away...

Democrats have come up with a new line of attack line against John McCain's running mate Sarah Palin, saying she's another Dick Cheney. Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) described Palin as a member of the "flat-earth caucus," who McCain picked purely to please the conservative base. "With the choice of Gov. Palin, it’s the third term of Dick Cheney," Kerry said on ABC News' "This Week." "He’s chosen somebody who doesn’t believe climate change is man-made." Kerry added that Hillary Rodham Clinton supporters should be offended if people suggest Palin was selected to draw some of the female vote away...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 27, 2008 – The United States will maintain its commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of its offensive strategy to defeat global terrorism, Vice President Richard B. Cheney told American Legion members in Phoenix today. “We’re going to keep our commitments to Afghanistan and Iraq, as we have pledged to do,” Cheney vowed during his address at the American Legion’s annual convention. The United States has been on the offensive against global terrorists since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Cheney said, noting America would not “sit and wait to be hit again.” And “for the sake of...

President & Mrs. Bush returned to the White House today after a brief vacation at their home in Crawford, Texas. Vice President Cheney addressed the 90th National Convention of the American Legion this morning in Phoenix, Arizona. With the media hype focused on Bill Clinton tonight as he—once again—tries to repaint his legacy, the Vice President reminded us all today exactly what Clinton’s legacy really is. (Transcript) Vice President Cheney: There was a time when terrorist attacks were treated mainly as an issue of law enforcement … The first attack on the World Trade Center, back in 1993, resulted in...

President Bush is sending Vice President Dick Cheney to Georgia and other countries in the region to underscore U.S. support in the wake of Russia's intervention in Georgia. U.S. officials say Russia is still not in compliance with its Georgia cease-fire obligations. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department. The Bush administration is sending the vice president and an inter-agency team of other senior officials to Georgia in the coming days in a show of U.S. support, amid what is seen here as Russian foot-dragging on its cease-fire commitments. Vice President Dick Cheney, right, departs the Georgian Embassy after...

President Bush is sending Vice President Dick Cheney to Georgia and other countries in the region to underscore U.S. support in the wake of Russia's intervention in Georgia. U.S. officials say Russia is still not in compliance with its Georgia cease-fire obligations. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department. The Bush administration is sending the vice president and an inter-agency team of other senior officials to Georgia in the coming days in a show of U.S. support, amid what is seen here as Russian foot-dragging on its cease-fire commitments. The Cheney mission next week will take him to Ukraine...

WASHINGTON —  President Bush is dispatching Vice President Dick Cheney to Georgia, setting up a high-ranking diplomatic mission to an ally reeling from a short, intense war. The White House announced Monday that Cheney will head abroad on Sept. 2 for stops in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine and Italy. The vice president's office described Cheney's trip only in the broadest terms, saying Bush wants his No. 2 to consult with key partners on matters of mutual interest. The dominant attention will likely fall on Georgia, where conflict with Russia has reignited Cold War tensions. Cheney will hold talks in Georgia with President...

After a routine pick-up game of senior softball today, I was sitting at the picnic table eating pretzels and having a beer with a few other guys discussing "stuff" when Homer, the "softball liberal" made a comment about how evil Haliburton and Dick Cheney were. I've had to put up with this "Haliburton/Cheney" crap for 8 years now and for the life of me, I have yet to figure out why Haliburton and our V.P. Cheney have been so demonized by the socialists. I normally do not post threads or vanities but the time has come to get some answers...

In all the discussion of John McCain's recently recovered memory of a religious epiphany in Vietnam, one thing has been missing. The torture that was deployed against McCain emerges in all the various accounts. It involved sleep deprivation, the withholding of medical treatment, stress positions, long-time standing, and beating. Sound familiar? According to the Bush administration's definition of torture, McCain was therefore not tortured. Cheney denies that McCain was tortured; as does Bush. So do John Yoo and David Addington and George Tenet. In the one indisputably authentic version of the story of a Vietnamese guard showing compassion, McCain talks...

Vice President Dick Cheney will drop in today at Camp Pendleton for a visit with servicemen and women before speaking at a fundraiser for Republican Congressman Ken Calvert in San Clemente. "The vice president will attend a briefing with military officials at Camp Pendleton," said the Office of the Vice President. He will not be making any remarks to the media during the visit. Democrats, meanwhile, are planning a protest march in San Clemente, where later in the day Cheney will help raise money for Calvert, R-Corona, who is running for re-election in November. While the Office of the Vice...

South Ossetia is not, as some have suggested, tit-for-tat payback for American and European recognition, over Russian objections, of Kosovo's independence from Serbia. Russia has been "at war" with democratic Georgia for some time. Driven to distraction by Mr. Saakashvili's assertiveness and Georgia's desire to join NATO, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin first tried to bring the country to its knees through economic warfare beginning in 2005. He cut off access to Russian markets, expelled Georgians from Russia, quadrupled the price of Russian energy to Georgia, and severed transport links. Georgia failed to collapse. ... Unable to bend Tbilisi to...

Appeals court upholds CIA leak lawsuit dismissal Tue Aug 12, 2008 12:01pm EDT By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday dismissed former CIA analyst Valerie Plame's lawsuit against Vice President Dick Cheney and several former Bush administration officials for disclosing her identity to the public. The Court of Appeals in Washington dealt another setback to the former spy, who has said her career was destroyed when officials blew her cover in 2003 to retaliate against her husband, Iraq war critic Joseph Wilson.

Yay! Dick Cheney is going to speak in prime time on the first night of the Republican National Convention, right before President Bush. Maybe the John McCain campaign isn’t determined to run from what it knows is right just because it’s unpopular. Maybe McCain has decided it’s better to show America the people who have been, in reality, keeping the country safe for the past seven-and-a-half years – rather than letting the nation continue to conceptualize the green-eyed, fang-toothed villains they seem to have in mind when they talk to pollsters. It’s not news that Bush is going to speak...

US warning to Russia over Georgia Russia now controls most of the breakaway region of South Ossetia The US has strongly criticised Russian military action against Georgia, in the bitter conflict over South Ossetia.In a telephone call to Georgia's leader Mikhail Saakashvili, the US Vice-President, Dick Cheney, said Russian aggression "must not go unanswered". President Bush said he had expressed his grave concern to Moscow at the military's "disproportionate" response. Meanwhile, Georgia said Russian planes had bombed targets near its capital, despite Tbilisi declaring a ceasefire. The BBC's Justin Webb in Washington says Dick Cheney's telephone call appears to...

"The Georgians were too quick to move, they rolled the dice to regain control. But that doesn't justify a [Russian] act of aggression and invasion to take the [Georgian] regime down," says Ronald Asmus, a former Clinton administration official responsible for NATO expansion. "This is a watershed in relations with Russia, comparable to the [1979] Afghan invasion, since it is the first time they have sent troops illegally out of their borders." There are two starkly opposed narratives concerning who started the war and why. Georgia, which said it had control of about 70 percent of South Ossetia on Friday,...

BEIJING - President Bush on Monday sharply criticized Moscow's harsh military crackdown in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, saying the violence is unacceptable and Russia's response is disproportionate. The United States is waging an all-out campaign to get Russia to halt its retaliation against Georgia for trying to take control of the breakaway province of South Ossetia. Bush, in an interview with NBC Sports, said, "I've expressed my grave concern about the disproportionate response of Russia and that we strongly condemn the bombing outside of South Ossetia." He said he did so directly to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who's...

UN-The United States suggested on Sunday that Russia was interested in "regime change" in Georgia after Moscow rejected Tbilisi's offer of a cease-fire in the separatist enclave of South Ossetia. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that the president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili "must go," the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, told the Security Council. Khalilzad then looked straight at Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin and asked if Moscow was looking for "regime change." "Is the goal of the Russian Federation to change the leadership of Georgia?" he said. Churkin did not...

TBILISI, Georgia — Russia expanded its attacks on Georgia on Sunday, moving tanks and troops through the separatist enclave of South Ossetia and advancing toward the city of Gori in central Georgia, in its first direct assault on a Georgian city with ground forces after three days of heavy fighting, Georgian officials said. The maneuver — along with aerial bombing of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi — suggested that Russia’s aims in the conflict had gone beyond securing the pro-Russian enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhazia to weakening the armed forces of Georgia, a former Soviet republic and an ally of...

US Vice President Dick Cheney has threatened Russia after the country was forced to reply Georgia's attack on South Ossetia's region. In a phone conversation with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili on Sunday, Cheney said Russia's military actions in Georgia 'must not go unanswered'. Continuation of Russian attack 'would have serious consequences for its relations with the United States, as well as the broader international community,' Cheney's press secretary, Lee Ann McBride, quoted him as telling Saakashvili. "The vice president expressed the United States' solidarity with the Georgian people and their democratically elected government in the face of this threat to...

<p>Vice President Dick Cheney says Russia's military actions in Georgia "must not go unanswered." Cheney spoke on Sunday afternoon with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.</p> <p>"The vice president expressed the United States' solidarity with the Georgian people and their democratically elected government in the face of this threat to Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity," Cheney's press secretary, Lee Ann McBride, said.</p>

22 minutes ago WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney says Russia's military actions in Georgia "must not go unanswered

Senator Obama threw a little kook bait in the water the other day to try and reel the nutroots back in. According to Breitbart, he blamed Vice President Cheney for our current energy crisis. Mr. Obama is far too smart to believe his own BS, but it sure does play well with the wackadoo wing of the Democratic party. Here's the money quote: "President Bush, he had an energy policy. He turned to Dick Cheney and he said, 'Cheney, go take care of this,'" Obama said. "Cheney met with renewable-energy folks once and oil and gas (executives) 40 times. McCain...

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Vice President Dick Cheney will not be skipping the Republican National Convention as was earlier reported this week, according to the Los Angeles Times. "The vice president looks forward to participating in the Republican National Convention and continuing to work for the election of Senator McCain and other Republican candidates in the coming months," Cheney spokeswoman Megan Mitchell told the Times on Thursday. Cheney will give an address on the convention's opening day, the same day President George W. Bush is also scheduled to speak. Early this week, the American Spectator said Cheney has not sought...

Cheney will speak at GOP convention Vice President Cheney will speak at the Republican National Convention next month in St. Paul on the same night as President Bush, according to representaives for the vice president and John McCain's campaign. "The vice president looks forward to participating in the Republican National Convention and continuing to work for the election of Sen. McCain and other Republican candidates in the coming months," Cheney spokeswoman Megan Mitchell said in a statement.

<p>YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama sought on Tuesday to link the troubled economy with administration energy policies that he asserted Vice President Dick Cheney helped shape and rival Republican John McCain would continue.</p> <p>"McCain has taken a page out of the Cheney playbook," Obama said as he stumped in this key battleground state.</p>

WASHINGTON, (AP) -- Will he or won't he? Vice President Dick Cheney is one of the nation's most prominent Republicans, but there are doubts about whether he will attend the GOP convention. ... Separately, at least five Republican senators have decided to skip the GOP convention. Sens. Gordon Smith of Oregon, Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina and Susan Collins of Maine all face tough re-election campaigns. Two others, Wayne Allard of Colorado and Larry Craig of Idaho, are retiring.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Will Vice President Cheney be a no-show at the Republican convention in Minnesota? Republican officials say yes, citing a desire by Sen. John McCain's campaign to turn the page on the Bush-Cheney years. One GOP official told CNN there's a "mutual understanding" between Cheney's office and the McCain camp that he is "unlikely" to attend the convention. A second Republican official said there are still "talks going on" between Cheney's office and the McCain camp and both sides are "still trying to work it out." The conservative American Spectator first reported Monday Cheney, who has low national...

UNCONVENTIONAL Vice President Dick Cheney will not make an appearance at the Republican convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul next month, according to sources in his office. Cheney has not sought a speaking slot at the convention, nor has his staff sought a role for him at the convention. The McCain campaign has not gone out of its way to reach out to Cheney, though a segment of conservative Republicans had been pressing the campaign to include Cheney in the convention agenda. "Conservatives still think highly of him and are enthusiastic supporters whenever he speaks," says a leading conservative who has spoken...

"We have still failed to solve the anthrax attacks that killed Americans on our soil in 2001. We know that Al Qaida was attempting to develop biological weapons in Afghanistan. And we know that the successful deployment of a biological weapon -- whether it is sprayed into our cities or spread through our food supply -- could kill tens of thousands of Americans and deal a crushing blow to our economy. As President, I will launch an effort across our government to stay ahead of this threat. To prevent bioterrorism, we need to invest in our analysis, enhance our information-sharing,...

Excerpt from book: “The anthrax spores in the letter to Daschle were so professionally refined, the Central Intelligence Agency believed the powder must have been sent by an experienced terrorist organization, most probably Al Qaeda, as a sequel to the group’s September 11 attacks. During a [October 17] meeting of the White House’s National Security Council that day, Cheney, who was sitting in for the President because Bush was traveling abroad, urged everyone to keep this inflammatory speculation secret. ... They thought Cheney had already been lethally infected. ... *** Cheney in particular was so stricken by the potential for...

The Talk Shows Sunday, July 13th, 2008 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Tribute to Tony Snow with guests including Vice President Dick Cheney and commentator Rush Limbaugh.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Carly Fiorina, adviser to John McCain; Sen. Claire Mccaskill, D-Mo.; Republican strategist Mike Murphy; Harold Ford Jr., chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council. FACE THE NATION (CBS): Israeli Ambassador Sallai Meridor; Sens. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Richard Lugar, R-Ind. THIS WEEK (ABC): Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, R-Calif. LATE EDITION (CNN) : Sens. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., and Chris Dodd, D-Conn.; Govs. Mark...

The President and Mrs. Bush are at Camp David for the weekend. The President delivered his Saturaday radio address. President’s Radio Address. He urged Congress to address the pain that high gas prices are causing our citizens. President and Mrs. Bush were saddened to learn of the death of Tony Snow. REMARKS Vice President Cheney underwent his annual medical checkup today at George Washington Hospital. His heart was declared in stable condition, his spokeswoman said.

For months before a group of disguised Colombian soldiers carried out a daring rescue of three U.S. citizens and a prominent Colombian politician from a guerrilla camp, a team of U.S. Special Forces joined elite Colombian troops tracking the hostages across the jungle in the country's southern fringes. The U.S. team was supported by a vast intelligence-gathering operation based in the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, far to the north. There, a special 100-person unit made up of Special Forces planners, hostage negotiators and intelligence analysts worked to keep track of the hostages. They also awaited the moment when the rescue...

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman warned Attorney General Michael Mukasey on Tuesday to turn over a copy of a FBI interview with Vice President Dick Cheney or face contempt charges. The document in question is an interview Cheney gave to the FBI in the investigation of the leak of the identity of Valerie Plame Wilson, a covert CIA agent. “The arguments you have raised for withholding the interview report are not tenable,” Waxman wrote in a letter to Mukasey. “When the FBI interview with the Vice President was conducted, the Vice President knew that the information...

A senior Israeli government official on Sunday responded to recent statements by American leaders regarding a possible Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities by saying they were representative of an intense debate at the White House over how to deal with Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

Here is the exchange between Rep. William Delahunt (D, Mass.) and Cheney chief of staff David Addington at the House committee hearing broadcast live on C-SPAN on Thursday as accurately recounted by CNN: Delahunt asked repeatedly whether the topic of waterboarding, a controversial interrogation technique that simulates drowning, ever came up. Addington replied that he could not discuss that because "al Qaeda may watch C-SPAN." "Right," Delahunt responded. "Well, I'm sure they are watching, and I'm glad they finally have the chance to see you, Mr. Addington." "Yeah, I'm sure you're pleased," Addington shot back. "Given your penchant for being...

Vice President Dick Cheney fought furiously to block efforts by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to strike a controversial US compromise deal with North Korea over the communist state's nuclear programme, the Telegraph has learned. "The exchanges between Cheney's office and Rice's people at State got very testy. But ultimately Condi had the President's ear and persuaded him that his legacy would be stronger if they reached a deal with Pyongyang," said a Pentagon adviser briefed on the battle. Mr Cheney's office is believed to have played a key role in the release two months ago of documents and photographs...

As a Massachusetts resident, I continue to suffer the indignities of being forced to endure the clownish behavior of one of the most hard-left congressional delegations in the country. Every single member of its congressional delegation is cut from the same basic ideological cloth of unrestrained liberalism, as are its two Senators. Representative William Delahunt is a member of this august body of left-wing congressmen. When he is not busy acting as a useful idiot by shilling for Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, or praising the beneficence of Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez, he does find the time to castigate those who...