Details the myriad illegal, immoral, and unethical activities of Dick Cheney when CEO of Halliburton, his obstruction of justice, and lies to the American public since his appointment as Vice President. For information on an equally corrupt politician, see link to Tom DeLay-Corporate Whore. Be sure to visit our cavernous vault of archives.

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Deadeye Dick
Wednesday December 17, 2003
The Guardian

At the recent national Thanksgiving day ceremony at the White House, George Bush was in forgiving mood. As is traditional on these occasions, he "pardoned" the official Thanksgiving turkey, called Stars, and its partner, Stripes (the names were chosen in a poll of White House website readers, narrowly squeezing out Pumpkin and Cranberry). As governor of Texas, Mr Bush made a point of not pardoning anybody, including death-row prisoners.
Much the same attitude now applies in Iraq. Turkeys, apparently, are different. Yet the limits of presidential compassion were quickly re-established with a wisecrack at Dick Cheney's expense. Mr Bush explained that Stripes was an "alternate turkey", needed in case the number one turkey, Stars, could not fulfil his role in the ceremony. "It's kind of like being the vice-president."

Mr Cheney is not infrequently the butt of Mr Bush's attempts at humour. All he can do is grit his teeth and pretend to be amused. A sense of helplessness might explain the Veep's resort to butts of a different kind in his favourite hunting grounds of South Dakota and, most recently, at the private Rolling Rock Club in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Mr Cheney downed more than 70 ringneck pheasants and an undetermined number of ducks during a shooting spree there last week. Altogether his 10-man party, whose other members remain unidentified, killed 417 birds. Mr Cheney and bulging game-bag then headed back to Arnold Palmer airport in a Humvee.

If shooting defenceless birds can be described as relaxation, it is possible Mr Cheney's expedition was cathartic. After all, he has many worries. His old firm, Halliburton, is accused of profiteering in Iraq. His private contacts with energy industry executives are now subject to a supreme court lawsuit. Far smarter than the present White House incumbent, Mr Cheney harboured presidential ambitions before his heart grew dicky. Perhaps he still does. Silently suffering his boss's unkind jibes, perhaps he secretly dreams of quite a different, higher-value target when he flicks off the safety catch.