Sean C. Morgan
Vice President Dick Cheney told a Eugene audience that the United States is at the most crucial time in its history since World War II Friday.
Like the enemy then, no one can reason with terrorists, he said. “This is not an enemy we can negotiate with … or appease. This is simply an enemy we must destroy.”
Thousands of supporters flocked to Eugene Friday afternoon to listen to Vice President Cheney at one of two stops in Oregon. He also made a campaign stop in Oregon City.
The Bush-Cheney ticket was just a couple thousand votes from winning in Oregon in 2000, Cheney said. “We’re going to work even hard in 2004.”
Cheney opened his speech complimenting the Willamette Valley. He was interrupted by a man shouting, “Stop the war.” The audience responded with chants of “four more years.”
“Treat him with kindness,” Cheney said. “Maybe he’ll see the light….
“People keep telling me Sen. Edwards got the job because he’s sexy, good-looking and has great hair. I said, ‘How do you think I got the job?'”
On the serious side, Cheney outlined the accomplishments of the Bush Administration, which has killed or captured hundreds of Al Qaida members.
“In Iraq, we dealt with a gathering threat and removed the regime of Saddam Hussein,” Cheney said. President Bush does not deal in empty threats or half measures, and as a result, months later, Libya agreed to abandon its nuclear weapons program. Libya turned over its nuclear weapons material, which is not locked up in Oakridge, Tenn.
:”The biggest danger today is having nuclear weapons fall into terrorist hands,” Cheney said, but today, a Pakistani nuclear scientist who was selling plans and equipment to place, like Iran, Libya and North Korea, through a network has been shut down with the help of dozens of countries around the world.
There is a difference between building a coalition and giving into the objections of a few, Cheney said. “We will never seek a permission slip to defend the United States of America.”
The Bush Administration contrasts Sen. Kerry who just last week gave his eighth position on Iraq, Cheney said. He took Democratic primary candidate Howard Dean’s position that it was the wrong war at the wrong time, something he had previously criticized Dean about. He also previously had said that if anyone thinks the world is not safer with the capture of Saddam Hussein, he should not be president.
“In the spirit of partisanship, this is one position of Kerry’s I agree with,” Cheney said.
Sen. Kerry and Sen. Edwards both voted to attack Iraq, but they were among only four who did not vote for the bill to supply the troops, Cheney said. “He explains his decision was complicated, but funding American troops in combat should never a complicated decision.
“We need a president who will back our troops 100 percent, and that’s exactly what we’ve got in President Bush.
“True leadership means standing firm on your principles…. These are not times for leaders who shift with the political winds.”
American troops, people and allies know where President Bush stands, Cheney said.
Cheney closed his remarks about the fight against terrorism by thanking “all the vets we have here with us today.”
Turning to home, Cheney said, “Sen. Kerry says he sees two Americans. It makes the whole thing mutual. America sees two John Kerrys.”
Sen. Kerry has vote for and come out against the No Child Left Behind Act, the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Patriot Act, Cheney said.
When Bush and Cheney took office, the American economy was sliding into a recession, Cheney said. Then came the 9/11 attack against the United States.
In the face of a faltering economy, the administration had a choice to make. It chose to leave money in the hands of American families three times, Cheney said. That came in the form of tax cuts and credits.
In the last year, the country has added 2.7 million new jobs, Cheney said, and Oregon has added, since June 2003, 44,000 new jobs.
Mortgage and interest rates are low, and families are taking home more of what they earn, Cheney said. “We know there are still challenges, especially in our manufacturing communities. The president and I will not be satisfied until every American that wants to work has a job.”
President Bush has big goals, Cheney said. “He’s kept his word, and that’s how he will continue to lead the nation for the next four years.”
He wants to make his tax cut permanent, Cheney said. To help families and small businesses, he wants to simplify and reform the tax code. To help Oregon shippers and to conserve the river ecosystem, President Bush wants to deepen the Columbia River channel.
“We’ll work to end lawsuit abuse,” Cheney said. “We know it’s easier for American businesses to hire more workers when they don’t have to hire lawyers.”
That leads to health care reform, so doctors can help patients not fight off frivolous lawsuits, Cheney said.
Bush’s opponent opposes tax relief and supports massive increases in spending to meet all of his promises, Cheney said. He also opposes medical liability reform.
“They’re big idea for our economy is to raise taxes,” Cheney said, and they oppose making forest communities safer, while President Bush worked with Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith to create the Healthy Forests Act.
Sen. Kerry likened the act to “taking a chainsaw to the forest,” Cheney said. “It’s not only wildfires that shift with the wind.”
Bush and Cheney stand against the “brutal practice of partial-birth abortion and stand strong for the second amendment, Cheney said summarizing several points. “We will defend the individual rights of every American.
“We believe that our nation is one nation under God, and we believe Americans ought to be able to say, ‘Under God,’ when they pledge allegiance to the flag.”
This wouldn’t even be an issue if the United States had reasonable judges on the bench, Cheney said, but Sen. Kerry and party have filibustered continually to keep President Bush’s appointees off the bench.
“I’ve come to admire (President Bush) very much,” Cheney said. He’s a man who speaks plainly and tells it like it is. Cheney described watching President Bush make some of the hardest decisions that can come to the Oval Office and make decisions with great humility.
He has helped defeat the forces of terror and spread hope and freedom around the world, Cheney said. At home he wants to build prosperity so every child has a chance to rise in the world.