Planet Cheney

Vice President Dick Cheney said Monday the United States' image has not been damaged by allegations of prisoner abuse at Guantanamo Bay and that people who urge the closing of the prison "probably don't agree with our policies anyway."

Cheney answered back to Guantanamo critics during an appearance at the National Press Club, saying that the approximately 540 prisoners being interrogated at the prison were properly housed and fed, received medical care and had religious needs met.

"If we didn't have that facility at Guantanamo to undertake this activity, we'd have to have it someplace else because they're a vital source of intelligence information," the vice president said. "They've given us useful information that has been used in pursuing our aims and objectives in the war on terror."

Link.

Planet Cheney denizen Duncan Hunter agrees:

"We treat these people very well," Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., said on "Fox News Sunday.""We supply every one of them with the Quran. We supply them with oil. We supply them with prayer beads. Five times a day on the prison system, we do the call to prayer with arrows pointing in the direction of Mecca and assist them in their prayer ritual."

Hunter also provided a visual demonstration of what Atrios appropriately termed "chicken porn"--supposed examples of the chow served to the Gitmo detainees.

Planet Cheney is also a place where gratutitous insults are an example of plain-spokenness.

But in the real world, things are, well, real...and the picture isn't all that pretty. Let's see--administration officials out and out lie about who is or isn't a terrorist (though I think most folks already knew that from the ridiculous color code threat alerts last year that amounted to balloon fuel). Oil prices are climbing again, and while the grim news from Iran isn't listed as a cause, you can bet traders will be keeping a close eye on what's happening there. The war in Iraq is finally being seen for what it really is: a case of narcissistic wishful thinking on the part of one George Dubya Bush, who probably spent more time planning the mid-semester bash at Yale's DKE House than he did for the aftermath of Gulf War II: The Sequel. Oh, and did anyone notice another case of BSE in the news today--and would you like fries with that?

No, on Planet Cheney, reality is not allowed to intrude.