Dick Cheney on The View Video Sept. 13, 2011 with Lynne Cheney

By Shallow Nation on September 13, 2011 - Comments { 2 } - in Politics

Here is the Dick Cheney on The View Video video from Tues. Sept. 13, 2011. The live interview with the former Vice President and his wife, Lynne Cheney, former Second Lady, covered a range of topics in politics and was in support of his newly published book In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir.

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The book is currently No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list. The appearance was Cheney’s first on The View and he spoke with all co-hosts Barbara Walters, Whoopie Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sherri Shepherd, and Elisabeth Hasselbeck. His daughter, Liz Cheney, who was a contributor to the book, was present in the audience.

The former VP, who has survived five heart attacks, showed the co-hosts and audience his battery-operated pump that enables him to survive. He was asked at the beginning of the interview by Joy Behar if he brought his wife because was afraid to go on the show alone, he said, “You invited her.”

Asked about the divisiveness in the country, he first said, “If I were Vice President I would probably retire and write books,” and went on to say, “There are very strong feelings, it’s gotten very emotional. There’s a conventional wisdom we will go back in time and find it’s quiet and peaceful.” To illustrate, he reflected upon his first arrival in Washington in the late 1960s after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy.

Asked about the all volunteer army and whether or not there would be more opposition to the Afghan and Iraq wars if there were a draft in place, he said, “I was privileged to be Sec of Defense with a volunteer force. He went on to say, “You have to deal with the world as you find it. It’s been all-volunteer for 40 years.”

Lynne Cheney was asked if she was upset by the criticism of her husband. She said, “There are a lot of things that are unfair. I think the internet has made society a little bit more crass You can get on the Internet and say anything you want. I have been a politician’s wife for some forty years and you do get a thick skin.” She noted that the mean criticism is mostly from people on the Internet.

Joy Behar pointed out that George Will has said publicly that Cheney should apologize for the Iraq War. Cheney said, “Well, I just disagree with George.” He went on to say, “Apology is a media fixation…Once Joe does [apologize], then we can have a conflagration going on.” He added, “Especially when you’re right you shouldn’t let the media force you into something.”

Asked what he would do about troop draw-down in Afghanistan, he said, “I would not pull out immediately. I’m worried about a rush to the exits.” He went on to discuss what happened when the U.S. pulled out of the Afghanistan in the 80s and concluded, “We want to stay there long enough that the Afghans can defend themselves and their sovereignty. The big danger is we’ll pull out for political reasons, not military reasons.”

Barbara asked about the Iraq war and the fact that he has been unapologetic for it. She said, “It’s hard for me to understand — and I hate it when people say, with all due respect — but with all due respect, that all this was worth it just to get rid of Saddam Hussein.”

Cheney noted that prior to 9-11 terrorism was considered a law enforcement issue. He said: “We got hit in an attack that killed 3000 people. What we found was all of a sudden it was an act of war against the United States, it wasn’t a law enforcement matter. We were concerned the next attack would be far more deadly…a nuclear weapon or a biological agent.” He said that Saddam Hussein had made Iraq a safe haven for terrorists.

Asked about the weapons of mass destruction which were never found, he said, “We didn’t find a stockpile of weapons of mass destruction…They said they were more concerned with what they did fine. Personnel, raw materials, and intention to rebuild once the inspectors were withdrawn.” He went on to expound upon what he believed might have happened had Saddam Hussein remained in power.

Asked about the 2012 Presidential election, he said, “I have not endorsed anybody, let me emphasis that. I don’t know. It depends on how the show goes and whether they want me to endorse them or not. I think that we’ve moved to the point that we have these debates among seven or eight candidates. But they have to prove themselves.

Asked about his previous statements that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should challenge President Obama for the Democratic nomination, he said, “I think they ought to have as much fun on the Democratic side as we are on the Republican side. I think Secretary Clinton is an impressive women.”

He addressed additional issues, including the Tea Party — “It has helped shaped the agenda so that Congress can’t walk around it” as well as gay marriage. Lynne Cheney noted that they have a daughter who is gay and is with a partner and has two children and they are supportive of gay marriage. Former VP Cheney said, “I think freedom means freedom for everybody and you ought to have a choice. I certainly don’t have any problem with it.”

Asked about his youth and rebelliousness he noted that he had gotten kicked out of Yale twice and got arrested twice for driving under the influence. “I decided I had to clean up my act. Ten years later I was White House chief of staff.”

Whoopie Goldberg, referencing 9-11, said, “Usually if something big happens they hide the President They hid you. We knew where the President was but we didn’t know where you were for a long time.”

Cheney said, “I was under the bunker underneath the White House all day. We were at Camp David that night.”

Watch the interview video below.