Lynne Cheney Flubs it on “Daily Show”

Last night’s “Daily Show” was memorable for two major reasons. First, the headlining guest was Lynne Cheney, the wife of the most powerful man in the world, and perhaps the unlikeliest person to ever be seen on the program. Second was the incredible insult she dealt to, well, two of our closest allies.

In a discussion about the Iraq War, the so-called War on Terror, and the relative resultant safety of the free world since Bush’s Blunder, Mrs. Cheney asserted that there had been six years in which we have not been attacked by terrorists. Jon Stewart reminded her that there had, in fact, been attacks in London and Madrid. She replied by saying “I was talking about American interests.”

The room fell silent, followed by an audible “ooooo” from the audience. Jon, clearly trying to give her a graceful exit from this verbal disaster, came back with a rather subdued “I had assumed they were our allies.”

Don’t believe me? Watch the video here.

It comes about 3 1/2 minutes into the segment.

How could the wife of one of the leaders of the (maybe not for long) free world make such an incredible, horrible mistake? The problem, I think, lies in the way neocons think. They see the world in terms of “us and them”. America, for them, exists in a vacuum, and if the rest of the world doesn’t follow our “lead”, however disastrous it may be, then fuck ’em.

Well, I say it’s time for that sort of thinking to get the treatment it deserves. We have lost our place in the world as leaders, thanks to this crowd of criminals, perverts and liars. Once upon a time we really did hold the moral high ground. We held other nations to account for human rights violations, treaty violations, and international crimes. Not any more.

Now we’ve begun doing exactly the things we most deplored in other, less tolerant, societies. Clandestine surveillance of our citizens. Torture of prisoners. Secret prisons. Mercenary armies beholden to no law. These are the stuff of fascism.

Brought to you by Bush, Cheney, Ashcroft, Rumsfeld, Gonzales, Rove and Co.

On a lighter note, the “Colbert Report” was a standout performance, with General Wesley Clark taking center stage as guest of honor. I wish he were running this year. He’s just the candidate the Democrats need – someone with true courage, honor, integrity, and military background. A leader, in other words.