Dick Cheney, the Enforcer

CNN.com - Cheney:Kerry win risks terror attack - Sep 7, 2004:

"'If we make the wrong choice, then the danger is that we'll get hit again -- that we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States,' Cheney said."

Maybe I spent too much time as a kid watching old movies, but surely I'm not the only one reminded by Cheney's comments of some of the old gangster films of the 30s & 40s.

FADE IN
(The scene opens on humble yet respectable Mom&Pop corner drugstore in a busy metropolis. POP is watching little BILLY as he counts out his change for piece of candy while BILLY's little brother JOEY looks on excitedly.)
BILLY: ...six, seven, eight. What can I get for eight cents?
POP: Well, the licorice goes for five cents each. (BILLY is crestfallen) But you're eligible for the "Big Brother Discount" so you can have two for eight cents.
(BILLY & JOEY are all smiles as the transaction is completed. Just as they are about to turn to leave, we hear the bell on the door ring and the two young boys stop dead in their tracks. A man's menacing set of shoulders comes into frame topped by the back of a bald head: CHENEY.)
CHENEY: You boys done here? (Terrified, they both nod in unison.) Then scram! (They do.)
POP: Can I help you...sir?
CHENEY: I think maybe I can help you, Pops. Do you know who I am?
POP: Yo--You're Di--Mr. Cheney. The one they call "The Enforcer".
CHENEY: Smart guy, Pops. Smart guy. Y'know, you've got a nice place here. Real nice. It'd be a damn shame should anything...bad...happen to it. You wouldn't want that, would you, Pops?
POP: No sir, I wouldn't want that.
CHENEY: Smart guy like you, you'd know how to make the right choice, right? It's a dangerous world out there. Things...happen. You wouldn't want to make the wrong choice, would you? I think that would be a terrible mistake. Don't you?
POP: Yes, sir.
CHENEY: I'm glad we had this talk. I'm glad we understand the consequences of our decisions. Now, y'got any aspirin? The ol' ticker is giving me grief. (POP holds out a tin of aspirin which CHENEY snatches out of his hand. CHENEY leaves.)
FADE OUT

We already know that while Cheney was CEO of Haliburton it did trade in Iran & Iraq even though the US had imposed sanctions against them. We know Cheney offered Haliburton a no-bid contract to rebuild Iraq (and overcharge us in the process). And now we see Cheney potentially skirting RICO laws. I am looking forward to the criminal trials he will be faced with once Kerry takes office.