Cheney’s tainted legacy

Re “Tell us another one, Mr. Vice President,” Opinion, April 12

Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) raises some disturbing questions about Vice President Dick Cheney when he asks, “What does it mean for our country when the vice president’s words lack credibility, but he still wields great power?”

What it means is that Cheney is a dangerous man who irresponsibly used his position to lead the charge during the run-up to the Iraq war. His subtle overstatements were part of a larger effort to sell the war to the American people. He used his position to appear on various news shows and make the case that Saddam Hussein had “links” to Al Qaeda. As far as anyone knows, those links consisted of Osama bin Laden trading baseball cards with Hussein at a Pete Rose autograph-signing event. Cheney still manages to find a venue in which to continue to make his flawed case despite overwhelming evidence that no such link existed between Al Qaeda and Hussein.

Cheney may go down in history as one of the most powerful vice presidents, but his legacy will be tainted.

NORMAN FRANZ

San Clemente

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Levin asks what it means for our country when the vice president’s words lack credibility, but he still wields great power. It means that we have a weak and inept president who is greatly dependent on his dishonest vice president. The real question is, what can the country -- and Congress -- do to put an end to this dishonest administration?

MARY L. SANTONI

Irvine

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What does it mean for our country when the vice president’s words lack credibility, but he still wields great power? It means that we have a vice president who is reckless with his words and reckless with other people’s lives. Just ask the guy who got shot in the face.

WILLIAM ALAN GREGORY

Juniper Hills

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Thank you, Carl Levin, for being bold enough to call Cheney on his continuing and obviously deliberate attempts to mislead the American people.

I know one of the vice president’s responsibilities is to be standing by in case he must step in for the president, but as we’ve regrettably seen in the last six-plus years, Cheney gives a whole new meaning to lying in wait.

JOE HANDY

Venice