Cheney's Politics of Convenience

Sometimes, the brazenness of the Bush administration is staggering. When Condi Rice last year praised Egypt for its 'progress' in democracy, she didn't say much when Mubarak later threw his closest political competitor in jail. Now Cheney is getting into the democracy business again but as E.J. Dionne points out, Cheney has trouble staying on message longer than 24 hours if it concerns a subject that doesn't really interest him:

It came as something of a shock to have to agree with Vice President Cheney, but what he said last week about human rights in Vladimir Putin's Russia was accurate, even laudable.

Then Cheney went to Kazakhstan and you wondered if it was the same guy talking.

Speaking to Eastern European leaders gathered in Lithuania, Cheney made the essential point about Putin's government: that “opponents of reform are seeking to reverse the gains of the last decade.”

“In many areas of civil society, from religion and the news media to advocacy groups and political parties,” Cheney said, “the government has unfairly and improperly restricted the rights of her people.” Amen to that.

(snip)

...Nazarbayev, who has been in power for 15 years, is a former Communist Party hack who has been accused of large-scale corruption. Writing in the Financial Times last week, Isabel Gorst summarized the situation compactly: “Kazakhstan's judiciary is corrupt. The independent media is stifled.”

But did Cheney challenge the Kazakh government? On the contrary, the vice president said of Nazarbayev that “we met some years ago and I consider him my friend.” How nice. Kazakhstan itself, Cheney said, “has become a good friend and strategic partner of the United States” for help in Afghanistan and Iraq and “cooperating with us in the global war on terror.”

When pressed by reporters about Kazakhstan's record on democratic reform, Cheney replied: “Well, I have previously expressed my admiration for what has transpired here in Kazakhstan over the last 15 years. Both in terms of economic development, as well as political development, I think the record speaks for itself.” Indeed it does.

We went to Iraq and Afghanistan partly with the purpose of bringing them democracy. Or so our president has claimed. Bush's talk about democracy will never be taken seriously until Dick Cheney is gone.