Sunflower Desert

Because of the small population of our great state, Wyoming only has one US Representative, Representative Barbara Cubin. She catches so much flack from the left and local media (really one in the same) in this state that it’s disgusting. She has the same GOP values as our 2 male Senators, yet, I believe simply because she’s a female, the left go after her. After all, the demonRats are ultimately the party of hypocrisy and usually pick on who they see as most vulnerable.

Currently, Mrs. Cubin is by her husband’s side as he has been gravely ill for several months and now his condition has been declared critical. You might think that her critics could give it a rest at a time like this, but you might want to keep in mind that they are the party that has been known to celebrate personal tragedies of the opposing party.

Well, here’s an example of what I’m talking about. It’s a letter to the editor of the Casper Star Tribune. I’ll tell you this much, Representative Cubin does not miss votes that matter, so to speak. So, take what the writer is saying with a grain of salt and keep in mind that this woman wrote this attack just a few days ago, during a time when Mrs. Cubin is at her husband’s side, while he fights for his life. Nice:

Editor:

Good grief! — $165,000 a year (The Sheridan Press, Friday, June 15); $13,750 a month; $79.33 an hour (assuming 2,080 hours per year). This is what “Representative” Barbara Cubin is paid (not earns).

We, the folks in Wyoming, have one representative. For five of her seven terms she has ranked in the bottom 10 percent of all U.S. representatives in showing up to vote.

Ms. Cubin should at least show up for work, like the rest of working Wyoming is expected to do. She should be ashamed. And we should, too. Her only “performance appraisal” is provided by the voters.

KAY PEARSON, Sheridan

I cannot help but wonder if Ms. Pearson would rag on Senator Johnson regarding all the votes he’s missed? Does she think he’s a slacker?

I wonder what political party Ms. Pearson belongs to? I’ll let you find her name and who she donates to.

Still think there aren’t any Rats in Wyoming? Guess again! Remember, it’s the Tribune gearing up for ‘08.

Check this little gem out. Written by the editorial staff at the Casper Star Tribune. Isn’t it cute how they don’t personalize it by signing on with individual names?

Star-Tribune Editorial Board

Vice presidents, once upon a time, had little to do beyond waiting for something to happen to the boss. Other than attending foreign funerals and occasionally casting a tie-breaking vote in the Senate, they rarely got into the game.

All that changed in 2000, when Dick Cheney went looking for George W. Bush’s running mate and found that the perfect candidate was (drum roll) Dick Cheney. He resigned from Texas-based Halliburton and rediscovered his Wyoming roots. From that election on, Cheney devoted himself to the task of making the executive branch answerable to no one.

The ironic twist in the latest Cheney controversy is the vice president’s contention that his office isn’t even part of the executive branch. Cheney certainly was part of the president’s team when he invoked executive privilege to hide the names of his secret energy policy advisers. But he apparently becomes a free agent when he’s asked to follow an executive order about the storage of classified data.

By declaring that his Senate powers make his office a legislative-executive hybrid, Cheney reasons that he doesn’t have to follow the rules for either branch. The backlash was predictable. Outraged Democratic lawmakers have threatened to cut funding for his office.

The effort probably won’t succeed. But this incident has inflicted further damage to Cheney’s already battered public image and makes us wonder: Whatever happened to the Dick Cheney who represented Wyoming so effectively in the U.S. House for more than a decade?

How could the man praised for his leadership as defense secretary during the first Gulf War become one of the architects of a second Gulf War that has gone horribly wrong?

Comedians used to make us laugh by suggesting Cheney, not Bush, was really running the show. But the joke isn’t funny anymore. It seems Bush either turned over many duties to his vice president, or looked the other way when Cheney grabbed them. Either way, the president can’t duck responsibility for his subordinate’s actions.

A solid reason exists for Cheney’s miserably low public approval ratings: His insistence on secrecy creates the impression he has things to hide. The vice president gets to pick most of his battles, and for the past six years they often have been about keeping information from the public.

The executive order Cheney refused to follow, by itself, is a fairly small matter that speaks more to arrogance than any potential security breach. But his laughable excuse struck a nerve with the public. Here is a man who believes he is so untouchable, he doesn’t even have to answer to the president.

The old Dick Cheney didn’t work exclusively behind the scenes. Republican fundraisers weren’t the only events that drew him out in public. Before Cheney became the Bush administration’s stealth warrior, most of us were proud that he grew up here and represented us. Even people who disagreed with his politics respected him.

There is still time for Cheney to mend his image before he leaves office in January 2009. But he needs to stop acting as though his decisions mustn’t be questioned, and accept that he has made mistakes. No matter how many times Cheney insists Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11, it won’t change the fact that he wasn’t. Too many people regret the Iraq war for anyone to buy Cheney’s argument that opponents want to abet terrorism. That’s offensive and insults Cheney’s own intelligence.

Wyoming people are loyal to their own, but the vice president needs to give his neighbors a better reason to support him. He’s running out of time.

LO Freaking L! Are they the biggest bunch of whining babies you’ve heard today? Maybe they could ask Elizabeth Edwards to call and get this straightened out. I say this because this editorial is written in the style of men who could use a woman to fight their battles.

There’s still time for Cheney to mend his image before he leaves office in January 2009? Umm … does the Casper Star Tribune Editorial Board get to decide if Cheney does enough to mend his image?

Other than attending foreign funerals and occasionally casting a tie-breaking vote in the Senate, they rarely got into the game. I guess they are thinking of worthless VPs such as AlGore. Then they turn around and want him to be President? Sweet.