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http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/Cheney_Vader/2007/10/31/45590.html
Cheney: Being Darth Vader Not So Bad
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
WASHINGTON -- The joke's on Vice President Dick Cheney. Apparently, around
the White House, they're OK with that.
As he launched into a health-care speech Wednesday, President Bush warmed up
his audience with a nod to Halloween, at Cheney's expense.
''This morning I was with the vice president,'' Bush told a gathering of
grocery manufacturers. ''I was asking him what costume he was planning. He
said, 'Well, I'm already wearing it.' Then he mumbled something about the
dark side of the force.''
Ah yes, that old Darth Vader line. Used to be that only Cheney's critics
called him that, not his boss. Or his wife. Or Cheney himself.
''Most of you knew me long before anyone called me Darth Vader,'' Cheney
said in a speech at The Washington Institute last week. ''I've been asked if
that nickname bothers me, and the answer is, no. After all, Darth Vader is
one of the nicer things I've been called recently.''
Darth Vader is the heavy-breathing villain of the Star Wars movies _ a
reference to Cheney's terse manner and sometimes gloomy view of world
affairs.
Cheney's wife, Lynne, went even further in her appearance on ''The Daily
Show'' earlier in October. She showed up with a Darth Vader doll.
''It's a special present for you,'' she told the show's host, Jon Stewart,
who has been known to skewer the vice president. ''It's an old family
heirloom.''
That's three times this month that the White House have embraced the label.
So what is this? Some Jedi mind trick?
Cheney's spokeswoman, Lea Anne McBride, said the vice president has always
had a good sense of humor. He's made his share of self-deprecating
references to his Darth Vader reputation over the years. It just so happens
that they seem to be piling up during this season of ghoulish costumes.
It is also hunting season, another time when Cheney takes a ribbing. He made
headlines this week just for going hunting at a secluded Hudson Valley gun
club in New York. The outing inevitably evoked memories of 2006, when Cheney
accidentally shot his friend while quail hunting.
Asked why Cheney seems fine with the Darth Vader tag, McBride said: ''If it
brings some levity to politics, he's fine being the target.''
Clearly. The Cheneys put both their dogs in costumes for Halloween. One got
to be Superman. The other? Darth Vader.
Cheney: Being Darth Vader Not So Bad
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
WASHINGTON -- The joke's on Vice President Dick Cheney. Apparently, around
the White House, they're OK with that.
As he launched into a health-care speech Wednesday, President Bush warmed up
his audience with a nod to Halloween, at Cheney's expense.
''This morning I was with the vice president,'' Bush told a gathering of
grocery manufacturers. ''I was asking him what costume he was planning. He
said, 'Well, I'm already wearing it.' Then he mumbled something about the
dark side of the force.''
Ah yes, that old Darth Vader line. Used to be that only Cheney's critics
called him that, not his boss. Or his wife. Or Cheney himself.
''Most of you knew me long before anyone called me Darth Vader,'' Cheney
said in a speech at The Washington Institute last week. ''I've been asked if
that nickname bothers me, and the answer is, no. After all, Darth Vader is
one of the nicer things I've been called recently.''
Darth Vader is the heavy-breathing villain of the Star Wars movies _ a
reference to Cheney's terse manner and sometimes gloomy view of world
affairs.
Cheney's wife, Lynne, went even further in her appearance on ''The Daily
Show'' earlier in October. She showed up with a Darth Vader doll.
''It's a special present for you,'' she told the show's host, Jon Stewart,
who has been known to skewer the vice president. ''It's an old family
heirloom.''
That's three times this month that the White House have embraced the label.
So what is this? Some Jedi mind trick?
Cheney's spokeswoman, Lea Anne McBride, said the vice president has always
had a good sense of humor. He's made his share of self-deprecating
references to his Darth Vader reputation over the years. It just so happens
that they seem to be piling up during this season of ghoulish costumes.
It is also hunting season, another time when Cheney takes a ribbing. He made
headlines this week just for going hunting at a secluded Hudson Valley gun
club in New York. The outing inevitably evoked memories of 2006, when Cheney
accidentally shot his friend while quail hunting.
Asked why Cheney seems fine with the Darth Vader tag, McBride said: ''If it
brings some levity to politics, he's fine being the target.''
Clearly. The Cheneys put both their dogs in costumes for Halloween. One got
to be Superman. The other? Darth Vader.
