I’ve been trying to get a sense, in the story, of whether this was a testy chat between Cheney and Leahy that happened to take place in the Senate chambers, or whether this was an exchange up at the podium in front of Senate and everyone, or what.  Given that Senate was “not in session,” it sounds like an exchange that could have happened in a hallway or anywhere else—and I suspect it was not the worst language used by one official to another in a chat in the Senate chambers, just some that makes for an amusing story.

From what I can gather, the exchange took place during a session in which the congressmen were having their annual group picture taken.  Leahy confronted Cheney about Halliburton and things turned ugly.  I doubt it’s anything that will turn up on any broadcast material but I understand the Washington Post ran Cheney’s quote in its entirety.  School librarians are breaking out their black markers around the country.

Note to self, do not under any circumstances read SEB while drinking hot tea!

I was reading this article, when my brain kicked up an image of C-SPAN showing Les walking around the Senate, in a 3-piece suit, passing out business cards that only state his official tagline.  Perhaps I’m just a bit sleep deprived, but this made me laugh so hard that I snorted my tea.

Kids don’t try this at home.  Hot tea & sinus passages don’t mix!  :p

captcha = “congress”

Now now, poor Dick Cheney has every right to be testy.  All his chickens are coming home to roost right now, and he’s getting embarrassed bigtime.  Bwahahaha.

Manzabar definitely got the “captcha” of the week!  (Actually, the whole captcha thing is a classic example of that syndrome in action where you pay attention to all the meaningful coincidences and ignore all the meaningless ones, so you start to imagine that there’s a statistical significance to it ...)

It’s no surprise that Cheney’s a little tense.

Anyone see the Daily Show episode where Cheney is shown telling a reporter “I never said there was compelling evidence of ties between Al Qaeda and Saddam” and then, immediately afterward, there’s a clip of him saying -exactly- that, word for word?

John’s commentary?  “Mr. Vice President, your pants are on fire.”

Here is some clarification from The Washington Post. Yesterday’s edition indcicates that the incident occurred during a photo session when the Senate was not in session. The Post chose not to edit the Vice President’s remark.

“Fuck yourself,” said the man who is a heartbeat from the presidency.
...
As it happens, the exchange occurred on the same day the Senate passed legislation described as the “Defense of Decency Act” by 99 to 1.

(I do enjoy the occasional ironic twist.)

The article goes on to say that although Rule 19 prohibits Senators from using obscene language on the floor while the Senate is in session, the rule does not apply to the Vice President.

This is from today’s edition.

Cheney said he “probably” used an obscenity in an argument Tuesday on the Senate floor with Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) and added that he had no regrets. “I expressed myself rather forcefully, felt better after I had done it,” Cheney told Neil Cavuto of Fox News. The vice president said those who heard the putdown agreed with him. “I think that a lot of my colleagues felt that what I had said badly needed to be said, that it was long overdue.”
...
President Bush had made his vow to “change the tone in Washington” a central part of his 2000 campaign, calling bipartisan cooperation “the challenge of our moment.”
...
Cheney said yesterday he was in no mood to exchange pleasantries with Leahy because Leahy had “challenged my integrity” by making charges of cronyism between Cheney and his former firm, Halliburton Co. Leahy on Monday had a conference call to kick off the Democratic National Committee’s “Halliburton Week” focusing on Cheney, the company, “and the millions of dollars they’ve cost taxpayers,” the party said.

Let’s see—stock options and a member of his staff reviewing contract awards. Nope, no conflict of interest there, not even the appearance.

captcha = “justice”

Well, at least we now know to be careful to express ourselves forcefully as oppposed to indecently when it badly needs saying, because it will make us feel better afterwards. Thanks for clearing that up.

The hypocripsy of these folks never ceases to amaze me.

If anyone wants to see the Daily Show coverage of the supposed Osama/Saddam connections, there’s a few copies of it floating around on the web.

Here’s a page that’s hosting one.

Overspun : J.Stewart on Osama and Saddam

Wonderful quote:

Cheney has the mouth of a sailor, which is odd for someone who did everything he could to stay out of the Navy. —Andy Borowitz

(captcha:  “chief”)

Yankee fans celebrate Cheyney’s visit to ball game. See the June 30 New York Times.

During the singing of “God Bless America” in the seventh inning, an image of Cheney was shown on the scoreboard. It was greeted with booing, so the Yankees quickly removed the image.

You’ve got to love New Yorkers.

captcha = idiot