This is a bit of a silly exercise, but our former vice-president has the worst human rights record of any elected American official since…I don’t know…Andrew Jackson? And he likes to flaunt it.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney doesn’t seem all that ruffled by his villainous public persona.
During a recent trip to a high school rodeo in Casper, Wyo., Mr. Cheney responded to a question about his unpopularity by flashing his signature uneven grin.
“Remind me to show you the back of my truck,” he said.
Outside the rodeo arena, he took a moment to show off the latest feature on his Ford F-350 Super Duty truck, a Darth Vader trailer-hitch cover, a nod to his alter-ego from the Bush days.
“Darth Vader,” he said, smiling. “I’m rather proud of that.”
The Wall Street Journal
Maybe you’ve never much gotten into the finer points of Star Wars. I know that I am no expert. But I do know that Darth Vader’s real name is Anakin Skywalker. And I know that Anakin goes over to the Dark Side in a vain effort to save the life of his wife who nonetheless dies shortly after giving birth to Luke and Leia. The main reason that she dies is that her disappointment in Anakin is so great that she loses the will to live.
So, how does Dick Cheney fit in?
I suppose you can choose your analogies, but we must start at the beginning. On the Sunday after the September 11, 2001 hijacking attacks, Cheney appeared on Meet the Press and told host Tim Russert that “We have to work the dark side, if you will. We’re going to spend time in the shadows.”
It was a warning that we were not going to be proud of what Cheney did in our name.
In other words, he might have thought that he was trying to save us, but in the end we would be so disgusted by his behavior that we would rather die than be the mother of his children.
Or something.
The point is that Cheney made a decision not to confront evil but to embrace it. He chose fear.
“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” –Yoda, Jedi Grand Master
Darth Vader isn’t a badass. He’s a coward.
If you’re proud of being compared to Darth Vader, you’re a total dumbass.
But there’s probably something serious in all this.
There’s definitely something seriously wrong with Dick Cheney.