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JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Vice President Dick Cheney, starting a visit on Saturday to try to push forward Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, said Washington would never pressure Israel to take steps that threaten its security. Palestinians accuse Israel of undermining the U.S.-sponsored peace talks by expanding Jewish settlements, refusing to remove West Bank roadblocks and mounting offensives against militants in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip who fire cross-border rockets into the Jewish state. "America's commitment to Israel's security is enduring and unshakable, as is Israel's right to protect itself always against terrorism, rocket attacks and other attacks from forces dedicated to Israel's destruction,"...

A few months ago, a day before one of the occasional marches the Capital sees demanding an end to the Iraq War, I began the descent into the Metro stop near my office, looked up, and saw a number of representatives of Code Pink standing at the railing overlooking the escalator. Or rather, I heard them first. They were screaming at the parade of commuters, at the top of their lungs and in a tone somewhere between simple frustration and righteous anger, "End the war!!!" Well, I thought, that ought to take care of things. Good work, hippies! I kid...

Preparing to hear oral arguments Tuesday on the extent of gun rights guaranteed by the Constitution's Second Amendment, the U.S. Supreme Court has before it a brief signed by Vice President Cheney opposing the Bush administration's stance. Even more remarkably, Cheney is faithfully reflecting the views of President George W. Bush. The government position filed with the Supreme Court by U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement stunned gun advocates by opposing the breadth of an appellate court affirmation of individual ownership rights. The Justice Department, not the vice president, is out of order. But if Bush agrees with Cheney, why did...

CNN has fired producer Chez Pazienza after the network brass realized he had been blogging at his own left-wing site and several others over a period of years: In a phone interview this morning, Mr. Pazienza, 38, said he joined CNN as a senior producer in January 2004 and has consistently received positive performance evaluations of his work. He spent his first year at CNN at the network’s headquarters in Atlanta, then moved to New York to work on “CNN Daybreak,” which has since been canceled, then “American Morning,” which is shown Monday through Friday, from 6 to 9 a.m....

When it comes to fund-raising, Democrats have outpaced Republicans almost across the board. The lone exception is the Republican National Committee, which reported yesterday that it had raised $83 million for the year, easily topping the Democratic National Committee, which had raised $50.5 million in the first 11 months of 2007. Republicans say that this cash pile — the Republican committee has $17.2 million on hand, compared to the $2.8 million the Democratic committee reported — should help the Republican presidential nominee in the fall. “Our significant fund-raising advantage over the D.N.C.,” said Alex Conant, a spokesman for the Republican...

There is quite a lot of interesting, but wild, speculation running around the blog-o-sphere, progressive circles and just plain dinner conversation these days about whether BushCo will allow a peaceful and constitutional transfer of Executive power in the ’08 elections. Unless or until George Bush appears on our TV boxes one night, wearing a dark blue suit, white shirt and red tie with his hands sweatily clasped in a desperate death grip on top of his desk in the Oval Office, telling us that some catastrophic event, whether man-made or natural, has just occurred somewhere, and he must, for the...

House Republicans, changing course midway through a vote, tried to force Democrats into a debate on a resolution to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney on the grounds he purposely led the country into war against Iraq. The GOP tactics reversed what had been expected to an overwhelming vote to table, or kill, the resolution by longshot Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich. Midway through the vote, with instructions from the GOP leadership, Republicans one by one changed their votes from yes — to kill the resolution — to no, trying to force the chamber into a debate and an up-or-down vote...

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), a long-shot presidential candidate, plans to force the House to vote this week on whether to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney. If he pulls it off, it could make for an uncomfortable situation for Democratic leaders and centrist Democrats. Liberal activists are pushing for impeachment, while leaders worry such a move could turn off independent voters. They have made it clear that impeachment of Cheney or President Bush is off the table. Kucinich says he will offer a privileged resolution on Tuesday requiring House members to vote on what to do with the impeachment measure, which...

SPARTANBURG, South Carolina (CNN)–At a campaign event saturday, Sen. Barack Obama called his distant cousin, Vice President Dick Cheney, "the crazy uncle in the attic." Obama was referencing the recent revelation by the Vice President's wife, Lynne Cheney, that he and the vice president are distantly related. "For the first time in a long time, the name George Bush will not appear on the ballot," he told the crowd of about 500 at Converse College in Spartanburg. "The name Dick Cheney, my cousin, will not appear on the ballot. We tried to hide the cousin thing. Everybody has a black...

Diplomacy is doing nothing to stop the Iranian nuclear threat; a show of force is the only answer. WE MUST bomb Iran. It has been four years since that country's secret nuclear program was brought to light, and the path of diplomacy and sanctions has led nowhere. First, we agreed to our allies' requests that we offer Tehran a string of concessions, which it spurned. Then, Britain, France and Germany wanted to impose a batch of extremely weak sanctions. For instance, Iranians known to be involved in nuclear activities would have been barred from foreign travel — except for humanitarian...

<p>So, should viewers of Tuesday's Republican presidential debate expect an exchange of views between the candidates - or between the candidates and one of the event's moderators?</p> <p>It's a fair question, given the jaw-dropping comments Thursday evening from MSNBC blowhard - and scheduled debate moderator - Chris Matthews.</p>

Several years ago, the Fox News Channel ran a special that purported to expose the Apollo moon landings as a publicity stunt cooked up to scare the Soviet Union. The special included testimony from several "experts" who came up with numerous reasons why the famous footage we've all seen was filmed in New Mexico. With its gloss of respectability and suitably grim, dramatic music, the special was one of the creepiest things I've ever seen - because it was so convincing. I came away thinking that it seemed possible to "prove" anything by making a reasonably impressive video. Thank God...

"Impeach or else!" That was the headline that one liberal Web site ran over a recent interview with the antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan, who has been demanding that President Bush and Vice President Cheney be chucked out of office. But the Bush administration isn't her only target. Sheehan is so frustrated with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- who declared impeachment "off the table" even before the Democrats took control of Congress -- that she is threatening to run against her. The speaker may think impeachment is off the table, but the I-word is being tossed about pretty freely in some...

The resolution offered by the gentleman from Ohio reads sensibly. It alleges crimes high and low, misdemeanors galore -- all of them representing an effort to mislead the American people and take them into war. It is Dennis Kucinich's articles of impeachment directed at Dick Cheney. The vice president will, of course, deny being a liar. As long as Kucinich is at it, add that to the articles. The congressman's case is persuasive, although his remedy may be too radical. He calls for Cheney to be impeached by the House and tried by the Senate, just as Bill Clinton was...

Lost in all the coverage of the Virginia Tech tragedy were the sobering words of Vice President Dick Cheney about a calamity facing America that will dwarf anything it has ever experienced as a nation. Characterizing it as "the greatest threat we face," Cheney once again raised the ugly specter of nuclear terrorism against the U.S. "It's a very real threat," he said, "something that we have to worry about and defeat every single day." Tying the warning to politicking over Iraq war policy, he said a precipitous withdrawal from that country by U.S. military forces would invite and encourage...

Delegates entering the California Democratic Convention hall in San Diego today have been greeted by 14 foot banners: "Investigations, Accountability, IMPEACHMENT Is On Our Table" and "Diplomacy, Not Warfare: DON'T ATTACK IRAN" and "Diplomacy, Not Warfare: END THE OCCUPATION OF IRAQ" The PDA presence here is ubiquitous -- our green "End the Occupation" stickers are on most peoples' chests, no matter who they're supporting for President. One of the thorniest issues at the convention for the state party leadership is impeachment. It's clear to everyone that the overwhelming majority of delegates want Congressional leaders to move expeditiously toward impeachment of...

RUSH: As mentioned and as promised, we welcome back to the EIB Microphone -- it's always a great privilege to have the vice president, Dick Cheney, with us. Mr. Vice President, welcome once again to our program. THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you, Rush. It's good to be back on. RUSH: I can imagine. Now, let's start talking about the supplemental funding bill for Iraq. I have to tell you something that I heard last night as I'm watching some of the cable news network shows. Some of the Democrats and Democrat commentators, are saying publicly now they expect that...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House offered support on Wednesday for Vice President Dick Cheney, a powerful proponent of the Iraq war, after the conviction of his top aide dealt a fresh blow to Cheney's political reputation and raised new questions about his influence. The trial of Lewis "Scooter" Libby showed Cheney, often portrayed by critics as the shadowy Darth Vader behind the war in Iraq, was deeply involved in an effort to discredit a critic of the administration's prewar intelligence. Libby's conviction on perjury and obstruction of justice charges placed Cheney squarely in the center of a new political...

President George W. Bush today announced two key appointments to the Executive Residence staff, naming Rear Admiral Stephen W. Rochon as Director of the Executive Residence and Chief Usher and Dennis Freemyer as Deputy Director of the Executive Residence and Deputy Chief Usher. The complete announcement can be found here. President Bush Met with President Saca of El Salvador in the Oval Office. The full transcript may be read here. President Bush Attended the Swearing-In of John Negroponte as Deputy Secretary of State at the U.S. Department of State. Transcript here. This afternoon President Bush Welcomed the 2006 NBA...

President Bush had an unscheduled lunch at Porker's barbecue restaurant in Chattanooga, Tennesee prior to his scheduled appearance at a discussion on health care. President Bush Participated in a Roundtable on Health Care Initiatives ** Fact Sheet: Helping More Americans Aford Health Insurance President Bush walks into the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2007. after a trip to Tennessee. Vice President's Remarks - After a Meeting with Senior United States and Japanese Military Personnel Interview of the Vice President by Jonathan Karl, ABC News aboard the USS Kitty Hawk at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan...

For the last two weeks, a number of Republicans in Washington — in the administration, on Capitol Hill, and in the intelligence community — have been watching closely as the perjury and obstruction of justice trial of Lewis Libby unfolds in federal court. In particular, those Republicans have been poring over dozens of documents released as evidence in the case. Much of what they’ve seen is old stuff, things they’ve known about for years. But two documents are new, to most eyes at least, and they may significantly change our understanding of how the entire Joseph Wilson-Valerie Plame Wilson-Niger affair...

Vice President Dick Cheney said Monday the increase of violence in Iraq is linked with efforts to influence the outcome of midterm elections in which Republicans are struggling to keep control of Congress. "It's my belief that they're very sensitive of the fact that we've got an election scheduled and they can get on the Web sites like anybody else," Cheney said. He said al-Qaida and other elements were trying to "break the will of the American people" because "they think we don't have the stomach for the fight long-term." Asked if the attacks were timed to influence the U.S....

<p>When Vice President Dick Cheney shuttled across the state Monday on Air Force Two, raising as much as $500,000 for the Republican Party and its candidates, taxpayers footed most of the bill.</p> <p>The campaigns of GOP Senate candidate Mike McGavick and House hopeful Doug Roulstone will reimburse only a tiny fraction of what it cost to fly Cheney to Washington, drive him around in motorcades, put him up for the night, pay the salaries of traveling staff and provide Secret Service protection.</p>

Who shot Dick Cheney? Years before the vice president accidentally shot a lawyer on a Texas quail hunt, Cheney himself was on the receiving end of an errant shotgun blast during a quail outing in New Mexico, a prominent Carlsbad Republican says. Carlsbad Mayor Bob Forrest told the Journal he doesn't know for sure who fired the shot that accidentally peppered Cheney with shotgun pellets during the late-1990s hunt that included himself, his twin brother, and Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M. But the senator wasn't the triggerman, Forrest said, adding he and brother Dick Forrest were among hunters firing their shotguns....

Psalm 138: 8 The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever; forsake not the works of Your own hands.

Twenty-seven percent (27%) of Americans believe that the recent hunting accident involving Dick Cheney raises serious questions about his ability to serve as Vice President. Twice as many, 57%, say it was "just one of those very embarrassing things that happens to all of us." The survey was conducted Tuesday and Wednesday night. Cheney spoke publicly about the incident for the first time on Wednesday. Sixty-six percent (66%) of Americans say they have been following news about this story somewhat or very closely. Thirty-six percent (36%) of Americans have a favorable opinion of the Vice President while 41% have an...

Just in CNN, VP Cheney is in Iraq for a surprise visit!

Romans 15: 5-6 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

VICE PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY IS adamant about not running for president in 2008. Asked by host Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday if he might change his mind, Cheney answered with a firm no. "I've got my plans laid out," he said. "I'm going to serve this president for the next four years, and then I'm out of here. . . . In 2009, I'll be 68 years old. And I've still got a lot of rivers I'd like to fish and time I'd like to spend with my grandkids, and so this is my last tour. I don't plan...

November 1, 2004 Cheney Goes a Great Distance to Stump for VotesBy MICHELE KAYAL ONOLULU, Hawaii, Nov. 1 - Vice President Dick Cheney told a madly cheering crowd of thousands of supporters in the Hawaii Convention Center late Sunday night that they mattered in the nation's presidential election for the first time in a very long time. "I'm here because Hawaii is a vital state in this election and President Bush and I would be honored to have your vote," he said, eliciting a boisterous call for "Four More Years!" from the crowd. "On Tuesday, we're going to surprise a...

Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) asked voters in Hawaii on Sunday to help stage a Republican upset that would give President Bush (news - web sites) the traditionally Democratic state's four Electoral College (news - web sites) votes in Tuesday's tight election battle. "I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd stop by and say, Aloha," a smiling Cheney, wearing a brightly colored lei, told thousands of raucous supporters at a late night rally in Honolulu. "Hawaii is a vital state in this election and President Bush and I would be honored to have your vote," the...

HONOLULU (AP) - An estimated 7,000 people are jammed into the Hawaii convention center this Halloween night to hear Vice President Dick Cheney speak. Vice President Cheney landed at Hickam Air Force Base at about 10:20pm Sunday Night.Cheney and his wife Lynne stepped off their government plane right on time, greeted by Governor Lingle and Lieutenant-Governor Duke Aiona before the quick trip to the convention center. Across the street from the center about 80 supporters of Senator John Kerry and anti-war protesters staged a peaceful protest before Cheney's arrival. Some of the protesters were wearing Halloween costumes, but no...

KENDALL, Fla. - Sen. John Edwards accused President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney of "using our troops as shields to protect their own jobs," hitting back at the president's claim that Democrat John Kerry was making wild charges about the circumstances of a cache of missing explosives in Iraq. "Why did George Bush take three days to finally say something about 380 tons of missing explosives?" Edwards said. "They did nothing, nothing to secure them and now they're gone. And we don't know who has them. It's possible terrorists have them." "And, what did George Bush have to say...

Tonight on Hannity & Colmes at 9PM EDT Vice-President Cheney will give an exclusive interview to Sean Hannity. After Kerry's major gaffe about Mary Cheney during the last presidential debate this should be very interesting.

John Edwards is a slick, pretty little lawyer that I call Little Ed .

Vice President Dick Cheney on Tuesday called Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry an indecisive opportunist who is "not prepared to lead America in the war on terror." Cheney acknowledged there are other issues in the presidential campaign, but he contended that the election was a referendum on who can best keep America safe. "In the present conflict, he has shown endless vacillation and indecision," Cheney said of Kerry during his third trip to Iowa in a month. "And his record establishes that he is not prepared to lead America in the war on terror." Dismissing Kerry's plan for Iraq as...

THE RUNNING MATESCheney's Praise of Bush Takes a Dig at Clinton (and Reagan)By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD and RICK LYMANPublished: September 7, 2004 T. PAUL, Sept. 6 - Vice President Dick Cheney and Senator John Edwards campaigned on starkly different themes in the same city on Monday, with Mr. Cheney suggesting that President Bill Clinton and even President Ronald Reagan were soft on terrorists, while Mr. Edwards called President Bush a failure on pocketbook concerns like jobs and health care.With the race entering its final phase, the Republican and Democratic vice-presidential candidates ramped up their arguments on the issues they consider...

Even before Sen. Zell Miller and Vice President Cheney addressed the GOP convention last night, the liberal pundits were calling their presence "polarizing." If that means forthright and frank, the pundits were right. Miller is a Democrat, but not proud of it: "Our nation is being torn apart," Miller thundered last night, "because of the Democrats' manic obsession to bring down our commander-in-chief." Cheney's delivery was more muted, but no less pugnacious. "America needs, and has, a president it can count on to get it right," said Cheney. ---Snip--- Cheney takes much heat for his resolve. His role as Halliburton's...

September 2, 2004 Cheney and G.O.P. Mount Vigorous Assault on KerryBy ADAM NAGOURNEY and ROBIN TONER ice President Dick Cheney, declaring that the nation's fundamental security was at stake in the presidential election, said yesterday that Senator John Kerry had repeatedly "made the wrong call" on critical foreign policy challenges and failed to appreciate the severity of the threat the nation faced after the Sept. 11 attacks.Mr. Cheney's remarks were part of a vigorous assault that he and his party mounted on Mr. Kerry's domestic and foreign policy credentials, coupled with a spirited defense of Mr. Bush's economic stewardship, as...

July 5, 2004 Cheney on the Hustings: The Reluctant CandidateBy KATE ZERNIKE LTOONA, Pa., July 4 - By the second rally of his weekend campaign swing, Vice President Dick Cheney seemed to be getting the hang of it, delivering an entire line of his standard stump speech looking at the audience instead of the podium as he usually does.Then the audience got a little too excited. Their cheers forced him to read the same line twice. The vice president is a man who likes to get on with things."You guys want to hear this speech or not?" he asked, not...

BEIJING (Reuters) - Vice President Dick Cheney started a three-day visit to China Tuesday aimed at keeping a lid on tension between China and Taiwan and jump-starting talks to curb North Korea's nuclear ambitions. In his first closed-door meeting after arriving from Tokyo, Cheney reassured Chinese leaders that the United States did not support Taiwan independence and would oppose unilateral steps by either side, according to China's official Xinhua news agency. But Washington is increasingly concerned by China's build-up of ballistic missiles capable of striking Taiwan, and Cheney was expected to raise the issue when talks resume on Wednesday. China,...

The President met with the Nobel Peace Prize winners in the Oval Office. Vice President Cheney gave a speech at a fundraiser in Liverpool, NY. There aren't many photos of the President today, so I included those of VP Cheney from his fundraiser in NY and some advance photos of security being put in place for Pres. Bush's visit to London which starts tomorrow. Enoy your daily dose of Dubya.