{"id":5934,"date":"2004-06-25T12:04:40","date_gmt":"2004-06-25T19:04:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2004\/06\/25\/word-2.html"},"modified":"2004-06-25T12:04:40","modified_gmt":"2004-06-25T19:04:40","slug":"word_2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2004\/06\/25\/word_2.html","title":{"rendered":"Word"},"content":{"rendered":"

Big kerfluffle today over Dick Cheney using a naughty word<\/a> in the Senate chambers.<\/p>\n

Vice President Dick Cheney blurted out the “F word” at Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont during a heated exchange on the Senate floor, congressional aides said on Thursday.
\nThe incident occurred on Tuesday in a terse discussion between the two that touched on politics, religion and money, with Cheney finally telling Leahy to “f— off” or “go f— yourself,” the aides said.
\n“I think he was just having a bad day,” Leahy was quoted as saying on CNN, which first reported the incident. “I was kind of shocked to hear that kind of language on the floor.”<\/p>\n

Yeah. Shocked. Nobody in the Senate ever swears. <\/p>\n

According to Senate rules, profanity is not permitted while the chamber is in session. But when the exchange occurred between Leahy and Cheney, the Senate was not in session so there was technically no foul.<\/p>\n

So this wasn’t while the Senate was debating a bill, or someone was making a speech, or business was going on. Cheney and Leahy bumped ran into each other, got into a discussion that got heated, and Cheney lost his temper.<\/p>\n

According to congressional aides, Leahy said hello to Cheney following the taking of the Senate group photo on the floor of the chamber.
\nCheney, who is president of the Senate, then ripped into Leahy for the Democratic senator’s criticism this week of alleged war profiteering in Iraq by Halliburton, the oil services company that Cheney once ran.
\n[…] During their exchange, Leahy noted that Republicans had accused Democrats of being anti-Catholic because they are opposed to some of President Bush’s anti-abortion judges, the aides said.
\nThat’s when Cheney unloaded with the “F-bomb,” aides said.<\/p>\n

First off, I’m no great fan of Dick Cheney. I don’t think he’s the Evil Overlord that some folk say he is, but he’s certainly not what anyone would say is personable. I consider the whole Halliburton thing to be wildly overblown, but Cheney’s penchant for secrecy and testiness hasn’t made the situation any better.<\/p>\n

That said, yeesh. I mean, a heated exchange, outside of formal business, that gets gossipped about by Senate aides, is hardly the cardinal sin some seem to be making of it. I mean, it’s not like he used the word during a formal interview for publication<\/a> or something.
\nIs it a violation of the Squeaky-Clean, Holier-Than-Thou, Christian Right image that the White House both presents and is tarred with? Maybe so, I’d be curious as to whether there are any woodshed moments that come from it. But while there’s some irony in the poking of the piety from the Administration, there’s also some irony that some on the Left are as righteously torqued over this crudity and dishonorable behavior<\/a> as those on the Right were over Kerry’s bon mot<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

(via Les<\/a>)<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Big kerfluffle today over Dick Cheney using a naughty word in the Senate chambers. Vice President Dick Cheney blurted out the “F word” at Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics-law"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9161,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/02\/06\/because_we_say.html","url_meta":{"origin":5934,"position":0},"title":"Because we say so","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 6-Feb-06 11:21am","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm amazed\/appalled by this particularly stupid response by Attorney General Gonzales before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the NSA spying program. 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It also would have given the FBI\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":129805,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/02\/11\/arbitrary-arbitration.html","url_meta":{"origin":5934,"position":3},"title":"Arbitrary Arbitration","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 11-Feb-16 8:43am","format":false,"excerpt":"Senate Democrats have introduced a new bill (which, of course, will go nowhere, but still) to reduce the usage of forced arbitration clauses in contracts.https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2016\/02\/05\/leahy-unveils-legislation-restore-rights-americans-forced-arbitration\/'\u201cWhen Americans sign cell phone agreements, rent an apartment, or accept a contract for a job, most of us focus on the service we are about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/magnifying-glass-looking-at-contract5B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/magnifying-glass-looking-at-contract5B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/magnifying-glass-looking-at-contract5B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13419,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/12\/20\/the_public_record_is_what.html","url_meta":{"origin":5934,"position":4},"title":"“The public record is whatever I say the public record is”","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 20-Dec-08 9:39pm","format":false,"excerpt":"It's nice when you can decide what level of accountability you will be held to, isn't it? After all, that's the hallmark of the \"unitary executive.\" Dick Cheney's lawyers are...","rel":"","context":"In "Politics & Law"","block_context":{"text":"Politics & Law","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13413,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/12\/23\/sadly_we_do_know_dick.html","url_meta":{"origin":5934,"position":5},"title":"Sadly, we do know Dick","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 23-Dec-08 3:50pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Dick Cheney gave a farewell interview to Chris Wallace at Fox News (transcript). 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