For Immediate Release
Office of the Vice President
January 11, 2006
Interview of the Vice President by Sean Hannity
Via Telephone
The Sean Hannity Show
3:19 P.M. EST
Q Thanks for checking in. Now more than ever, three hours a day
every day is all we ask. The only one who may get an exception to that
rule because he's sort of busy with other things is the Vice President
of the United States, Dick Cheney, who is on our Newsmaker line. You
get an exemption.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Sean.
Q That means you don't have to listen to three hours of --
(Laughter.)
THE VICE PRESIDENT: No, I wouldn't miss it.
Q Well, anyway, welcome back to the program. I just made the
point, I want these hearings to go on for another month or so. I think
politically it's going to be good for the country.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Yes, it's been fascinating. I've been
watching some of them here in the office, and I think Judge Alito has
acquitted himself very well. And I can't say the same for some of the
senators.
Q Well, it makes for good entertainment. I think it actually
exposes what has happened to a once great party, the Democratic Party.
But putting politics aside for just a second, when Joe Biden can
literally go 12 minutes without asking a question, and only ask five
questions in a half hour, it sort of reinforces Senator Cornyn's point
that he doesn't think that anybody is -- that everyone has already
decided to vote against him, and they're just looking now for reasons to
do so. Do you sense that?
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Yes, I think there's some preconceived
judgments being made on the other side. There are a couple of things
working here, Sean. I don't often agree with what I see in The New York
Times, but they had a great headline today you may have already talked
about, "But Enough About You, Judge, Let's Hear What I Have to Say" --
(laughter) -- attributed to senators.
And the fact of the matter is, the judge has proven he approaches
matters with a fair and open mind. And it's pretty clear that some of
the senators don't.
Q It's clear that they want to make the issue of presidential
power a big part of these hearings -- I would argue -- to politicize it
and bring up the issue of NSA spying. Would you want to respond to
that?
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I think what they're doing -- there are
legitimate issues, obviously, involved in a lot of these questions. I
think the focus on that issue, the NSA program, in part is generated
because they haven't found anything else they can go after him on.
He, of course, is a man who has been on the bench for 15 years and
been involved in thousands of cases and written hundreds of opinions
himself. And going through that whole record, they have trouble finding
anything to criticize. So now they're trying to get him involved in an
issue that's not yet before the courts. But I think it's all part and
parcel of an effort by some of the -- especially some of the outside
groups aided and abetted by some of the members of the committee to try
to find some excuse to vote against what obviously is a top quality
nominee.
Q It seems to happen more often when it's a Republican President
making an appointment to the Supreme Court, starting back in '87 with
Robert Bork. Clearly, the Clarence Thomas nomination was a case in
point. In many ways, I think you saw it with Roberts. You're seeing it
here. Lindsey Graham thinks it's going to be split down the middle in
committee and on the Senate floor. He doesn't think there's going to be
many cross-overs at all from the Democratic side voting in favor of this
nomination. But yet, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who had a pretty radical
record on the left got 90 some odd votes.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Right. She was the -- as I recall, the
general counsel for the ACLU, and clearly holds views that many of the
members disagreed with, but she got a lot of Republican votes because it
was handled on the basis I think that it should be handled, that is with
respect to the President gets to nominate, and unless there's some major
disqualifying factor, the Senate ought to -- generally ought to confirm
if people are qualified for the post they've been nominated for.
Clearly, that's not a reciprocal proposition from the standpoint of
many of the Democratic members of the Senate. They're bound and
determined to vote against somebody like Alito. They even voted against
Justice Roberts, who obviously was about as fine a candidate as you can
possibly find to serve on the Supreme Court.
Q Vice President Dick Cheney is with us on our Newsmaker line.
Mr. Vice President, just in the last 18 months, we've had -- the Supreme
Court, I would argue, in many, many ways has rewritten the Constitution
in some fundamental ways. They have said that private property rights,
including people's own homes -- is no longer safe from seizure by their
own government. They have said that a town can display the Ten
Commandments on a courthouse property, but not inside the courthouse.
Last summer, the Supreme Court conferred due process rights on
terrorists in Guantanamo Bay, even though they're unlawful, enemy
combatants. So when we look at it objectively, you got property rights,
religious freedom, the principle of limited government, national
security all hanging in the balance. This is probably one of the most
important issues we face appointing a Supreme Court justice.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I think it is. And it's always vital,
of course, because they serve for a long time, and they will deal with
important issues that touch the lives of all Americans during the course
of their tenure on the court. Lots of times it's not possible to know
what issues they're going to have to wrestle with during the course of
their career. But sooner or later, the court does take up
extraordinarily important issues, and issues that, obviously, are not
without controversy. But I think -- say, I think the nominees the
President has put forward here, both Justice Roberts and now Judge Alito
are really, really superb appointments.
Q Are you concerned about decisions like the Kelo decision on
private property rights? Are you concerned about the courts conferring
due process rights to terrorists in Guantanamo?
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I have views on those issues, Sean. And
I don't always agree with what the court does, obviously, but that's
partly the way our system is designed. And the Supreme Court gets to
rule on those issues, and the Congress and the President have their
appropriate roles, as well, too. So I don't expect to agree with the
Supreme Court on all occasions, and I didn't there.
Q The President and -- both yesterday and today has come out
very strongly in defense of his Iraq policy. And he said for those to
watch -- risk giving comfort to our adversaries, that they may suffer at
the ballot box in November. He talked about the American people. He
distinguished between honest critics and partisan critics, that the
American people know the difference between loyal opposition that point
out what's wrong, and defeatists who refuse to see anything that's
right.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Right. He's made a series of speeches now
over the last, oh, two months. We both have, but he's taking the lead
on this. But I think they've been very important in terms of reminding
everybody what's at stake in Iraq, giving the American people progress
reports so they know what's happening both in the political realm, as
well as the security and military realm over there. And I think we've
had a lot of good news out of Iraq over the course of the last year.
It's hard sometimes to see to that given the continued level of
violence, obviously. But when you think of the fact they've made every
single political deadline that's been set in the January elections,
wrote a constitution in the summer, ratified it in October, national
elections in December, it has been -- I think -- a remarkable success
story so far. We've still got a lot of work to do, but I think the
President has made the point repeatedly out there that the only way we
lose is if we pack it in and go home. And we're clearly not going to do
that.
Q Howard Dean said the idea that we're going to win this war is
an idea that unfortunately is plain wrong. John Kerry said that there's
no reason young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of
Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, women, and
breaking the customs, et cetera. When you hear that, what is your
reaction? And do you think it puts our troops in greater harm?
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I think it's unfortunate. I take those
comments as being offered primarily for political reasons. I don't
think Howard Dean has ever given any thoughtful consideration to what's
going on over there. He certainly hasn't indicated that by any of his
public statements. And of course, John Kerry's views were aired pretty
thoroughly during the last campaign.
The fact of the matter is that we have, in fact, come a very long
way and made significant progress -- between Iraq and Afghanistan,
having liberated 50 million people, gotten a good start to building
democracies both places, and to having -- helping them build their own
security forces. It's a remarkable achievement that's due primarily to
the enormous capability and courage of the American military and the
President's leadership. And I think history will judge it very
favorably.
Q We're almost out of time. You had this incident with your
health the other day. You want to comment on that? And have you
totally ruled out a run for the presidency in '08?
THE VICE PRESIDENT: With respect to the health, it's fine. I have
periodically -- obviously, something happens like that, it gets an awful
lot of attention, usually a lot more attention than it deserves. But
I'm feeling fine, back at work, and no lingering problems. And with
respect to my intentions, once I finish this tour as George Bush's Vice
President, I plan to hang it up, Sean. I've spent the better part of
the last 40 years in public service, and I think that's probably about
enough.
Q All right, Mr. Vice President, we're just out of time. And I
know you have to run. We always appreciate you being with us.
Thank you and all the best, and we'll talk to you soon.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: All right, Sean. I enjoy the show.
END 3:28 P.M. EST
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