Cheney Under Fire For West Virginia Incest Joke
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It’s funny, with all the faux outrage from Republicans about supposed Democratic insensitivity to West Virginia, it turns out the insensitive one is Republican Vice President Dick Cheney
The questioner jokingly asked the vice president if he and Obama were going to have a family reunion, to which Cheney replied he would “have no objections” though he said he doubted Obama would want one – “certainly not before November.”
Then came the offensive punch line. Cheney explained that during the course of researching his family lineage for Lynne’s memoir “Blue Skies, No Fences” last year, he learned there were Cheneys on both his father’s and his mother’s side of the family. There was a Richard Cheney on his mother’s side, the vice president said.
“So I had Cheneys on both sides of the family and we don’t even live in West Virginia,” Cheney quipped.
Gov. Joe Manchin and Sen. Jay Rockefeller are demanding an apology from Cheney.
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© 2000-2011 Oliver Willis
Republicans have an odd sense of humor and/or suck at telling jokes. No news here. It’s not the issue you’re looking for. You can go about your business. Move along.
Why are they demanding an apology from Cheney? Folks in West Virginia don’t care about people like Cheney making them the butt of jokes. They would prefer to reserve their vitriol for guys like Obama who needs to apologize for being too successful and just might not know his place. Rockefeller et al. are just posturing here.
Rockefeller et al. are just posturing here.
Well, so far this is shaping up to be the thread of self-evident statements.
- Politicians can make bad jokes. (Even Kerry’s been known to flub them.)
- Politicians will posture over irrelevancies.
What? Ol’ Dickster says West Virginians have sex with their own families?
Cue Mrs. Cheney: “This is not a goooood man. Tsk!”
Even Kerry’s been known to flub them (jokes).
But, VP Dick Cheney didn’t flub this joke, he hit his newest target head on, the men, women, and children of West Virginia.
I’m sure the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq who were born or live in West Virginia won’t mind how little the Vice President of their country who sent them to risk their lives for all of us in every state of the union thinks of them.
Hey, let’s tell the judge who is presiding over the Texas Polgamy YFZ Ranch to remove the relocation restrictions against families of the 400 plus children if they relocate to West Virginia.
Sorry, Republican or Democrat, can’t believe that a Vice President would attempt to make a joke about any state of the union especially a joke about something that is as immoral and criminal as incest.
I guess this isn’t sexist either? even though the main victims of incest are children and women.
“Even Kerry’s been known to flub them.”
I’m sure there have been Democrats and liberals who have made looking-down-on-southerners jokes, but these jokesters certainly didn’t reach as far up as the vice president.
Wait a second, isn’t this the same site where commenters went nuts over how terribly racist every single West Virginian is?
Yes it is. http://www.oliverwillis.com/index.php/2008/05/13/hillary-clinton-wins-west-virginia/
O-Dub, if there’s some sort of mass email that tells us whether it’s either “pick on West Virginia week” or “be nice to West Virginia week,” it must be going to my spam folder.
“Wait a second, isn’t this the same site where commentators went nuts over how terribly racist every single West Virginian is?”
So what. Unless you’re going to make the moronic argument that Oliver automatically agrees with everyone who comments on this site, what’s your point?
My point is that regular commenters who were happy to rail on racist WV in the earlier post are silent in this one, in which a Republican has said something un-PC about the state.
I never said Oliver agrees with everything his commenters say. That would indeed be a moronic argument, as his commenters frequently disagree.
However, Oliver was quite dismissive of WV in the earlier post, whereas in this one, he hints that making fun of West Virginians is not ok. Certainly not a complete 180, but it seems a bit disingenuous to me.
And as a disclaimer, I have met exactly one West Virginian (that I know of) in my life. I am not related to him, he is a white 20-something professional, and he is pro-Obama (or is it prObama?)
“My point is that regular commenters who were happy to rail on racist WV in the earlier post are silent in this one, in which a Republican has said something un-PC about the state.”
West Virginians are not inbred. However, there’s a lot of evidence that they are more racist that the average American.
You can’t look for one similarity and pretend the two situations are the same.
The point is not the West Virginians, jojo. The point is all the clucking we heard about how Democrats “don’t respect the values of white, blue-collar voters.”
I’d say accusing them–even in jest–of screwing their cousins is a little more than disrespectful.
I thought it was funny, myself. Who knew the monster had a kind of sense of humor?
merl,
Did you explain to your wife how funny incest jokes are like you told your wife what voting for McBush would mean and she changed her mind?
Did you get her to laugh at Cheney’s incest joke or did you make her laugh?
Well, that’s the final straw. Now I’m DEFINITLY not voting Bush/Cheney in 2008.
Well, that leaves out McCain then. Who are you going to vote for then? Ron Paul? Bob Barr? Obama?
Gee, not good strategy for Cheney to piss off the GOP base. People in incestuous relationships I mean, not West Virginians. Whitey do that?
I’d say accusing them–even in jest–of screwing their cousins is a little more than disrespectful.
but it’s ok for Rudy.
Well, that’s the final straw. Now I’m DEFINITLY not voting Bush/Cheney in 2008.
Good for you Farris. It’s a start.
Leave it to Cheney to make an incest joke, since he’s such a motherf**ker.
“Now I’m DEFINITELY not voting for Bush/Cheney in 2008.”
You’re right, it is perfectly appropriate for a sitting Vice President of the United States to publicly tell incest jokes as long as he is not running for that office again (rolls eyes).
Incest is for Republican Mayors of New York City.
Really.