Dick Head

One hates to report anything which might cast the Vice President in a poor light, particularly given how popular he surely is with the vast majority of Middle Earth Journal readers. However, I was unaware of this little tidbit, and in the interest of fairness it should probably be brought to light. Back in the "good ole' days" of Reagan's administration, a little known man named Nelson Mandella was languishing in a jail cell where he had been for more than two decades. He was a leader of a group known as the African National Congress, which had the diabolical goal of getting equal rights and votes for the blacks who comprised the vast majority of the population of their country. It was ruled by a handful of white people.

The congress got together and decided to cast a vote in support of freeing Mandella and recognizing the ANC. It was a noble effort, and it passed with a solid majority, but it was vetoed by Ronald Reagan. Among those voting against this move? Yep... none other than Darth Cheney.

When Rep. Dick Cheney voted against a 1986 resolution calling for the release of Nelson Mandela and recognition of the African National Congress, Americans did know this man had been waiting decades for his freedom. In a larger sense, so had all black South Africans. The tenets of American democracy -- one man, one vote -- were denied to the majority of citizens, along with the most basic economic and educational needs.

Yet Republican vice presidential candidate Cheney still defends his vote, saying on ABC's ``This Week'' that ``the ANC was then viewed as a terrorist organization. . . . I don't have any problems at all with the vote I cast 20 years ago.''

A "terrorist organization" you say? Ok... I understand that there are some people who view Hamas as a political group of really pissed off Palestinians, but the majority of the world sees them as terrorists. I know that members of the IRA view themselves as sober, serious Irish nationalists but many others will readily put the "T word" tag on them. There's room to argue about these things among reasonable people I suppose. But the African National Congress?

By no means were Mandela or the ANC universally viewed as ``terrorists,'' evidenced by the fact that the vote on the resolution was 245-177 in favor, but still shy of the two-thirds needed to override President Ronald Reagan's veto.

Mandela and his longtime friend and colleague, ANC Secretary General Oliver Tambo, reflected deeply before advocating violence as even a limited tactic of the ANC. In a 1958 conversation with economist Winifred Armstrong, they reflected on their belief that ``if you sow violence, you reap violence.'' Armstrong, who has lived, traveled and written extensively about Africa, noted that ``Mandela and colleagues thought ahead, and considered the impacts on all of the players, not just the home team.''

The article goes on to ask what I believe is the pertinent question on this ancient issue.

What, then, does this tell us about what information Cheney considers before he takes a decision? And what the long-term consequences are likely to be, and on whom?

This guy has a long record of filtering information to suit his needs and "fixing facts to fit the policy." And clearly he has a quarter century record of never being able to admit a mistake. No matter what he does, he will go to his grave justifying it and claiming that it was the right thing to do.