On the Vice President's page of the White House web site they keep an archive of all speeches/interviews by the Vice President from February 15, 2001 up to the present day. Until yesterday, every one of those entries referred to the Vice President as the "Vice President." But not yesterday.
Suddenly, during his trip abroad, the Vice President decided that the press corp was forbidden from calling him "Vice President," and required that he be called by the mysterious name "Senior Administration Official."
This is so bizarre it almost defies description.
The opening section of the transcript is as follows:
That oughta set the hook! Go read. More:
Apparently, Cheney was not happy with the coverage he was getting from the press, so this was his way of dolling out punishment. Froomkin calls this approach Cheney's effort to "extort from reporters a ridiculous agreement," citing it as a sign of the contempt Cheney has for the press. Fromkin's article describes how gleefully the press tore Cheney's anonymity to pieces.
Once again, Dick Cheney believes that the problems American soldiers face in the Middle East and Central Asia can be solved by PR campaigns launched against American journalists and against the Democratic Party.
Iraq not going well? Attack the Democratic leadership.
Taliban on the rise in Afghanistan? Forbid journalists from calling you "Vice President."
Whole sections of the planet gone to hell in a hand basket because of Dick Cheney's policies and pig-headed stubbornness? Criticize the American public.
Yeah. That will fix things.
What might help "fix things" would be to refer to The Dick as "Inmate Cheney".
I think I've got 'inmates' on my brain today.
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