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Dick Cheney

MountainsMountains Veteran
edited March 2012 in General Banter
I've tried. I really have tried. But I just can't muster even a little bit of compassion for Dick Cheney and his new heart. If I found out my relative's heart was beating in that chest, I'd demand it back. I'll bet he's really happy he has premium health insurance that will pay for that $800,000 operation. If I needed one, I'd just die, since I don't have health insurance.

Comments

  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
    I've tried. I really have tried. But I just can't muster even a little bit of compassion for Dick Cheney and his new heart. If I found out my relative's heart was beating in that chest, I'd demand it back. I'll bet he's really happy he has premium health insurance that will pay for that $800,000 operation. If I needed one, I'd just die, since I don't have health insurance.
    I don't like Cheney. Never did. But I don't wish him ill, literally or figuratively.
  • DakiniDakini Veteran
    You never know what kind of consciousness came with that heart. Surgeons occasionally report personality changes in people who have received a donor organ. This could get interesting. :D
  • MountainsMountains Veteran
    Not holding my breath.
  • Lady_AlisonLady_Alison Veteran
    That heart just gave him more time to learn and grow...sometimes bad people are given more time on earth because it takes longer for them to learn from their mistakes. He is a powerful man who only needs to move a little trigger finger and things get done.

    The powerful are put in power to help the weak. The weak pray for the strong.

    We just don't know...in the end, his book and deeds will be revealed. May the good outweigh the bad...
  • bodhipunkbodhipunk
    He is a powerful man who only needs to move a little trigger finger and things get done.
    Yes, his trigger finger has done too much imho.
  • Lady_AlisonLady_Alison Veteran
    While the heart of man has great propensity for evil, equally there in lies a great reservoir of good.

    Perhaps it is not too late for him. If rich powerful men knew the blessing of giving instead of taking, they would give away their very lives.
  • Telly03Telly03 Veteran
    Thanks for sharing your hate for him... Didn't someone post a link for a "hate page" earlier? or i guess this forum works as well
  • bodhipunkbodhipunk
    I don't hate anyone. I may not approve of their actions in the past, but there is always hope that they may change in the future. All conditioned phenomena is impermanent, after all.
  • mfranzdorfmfranzdorf Veteran
    I've tried. I really have tried. But I just can't muster even a little bit of compassion for Dick Cheney and his new heart. If I found out my relative's heart was beating in that chest, I'd demand it back. I'll bet he's really happy he has premium health insurance that will pay for that $800,000 operation. If I needed one, I'd just die, since I don't have health insurance.
    What makes his so unworthy?
  • seeker242seeker242 Zen Florida, USA Veteran
    I've tried. I really have tried. But I just can't muster even a little bit of compassion for Dick Cheney and his new heart. If I found out my relative's heart was beating in that chest, I'd demand it back. I'll bet he's really happy he has premium health insurance that will pay for that $800,000 operation. If I needed one, I'd just die, since I don't have health insurance.
    You can't start metta cultivation on people that you hate, that is doing it backwards. :)

  • RichardHRichardH Veteran
    edited March 2012
    Two week and that heart will turn black... :rarr: :p
  • RichardHRichardH Veteran
    edited March 2012
    If I needed one, I'd just die, since I don't have health insurance.
    That is awful. Life saving health care should have nothing to do with wealth status... The health care system is not a market option... like HD televisions. People are so ideologically programmed that during Obama's attempt at extending coverage, those who would have benefited most from reform were shown railing against "socialist medicine" in the name of "Freedom" .. :eek2:


  • BonsaiDougBonsaiDoug Simply, on the path. Veteran
    edited March 2012
    Perhaps more focus should be placed on the generosity and compassion of the donor, rather than on the recipient? What the donor did is obvious. What the recipient will do from this point forward is yet to be seen.
  • lamaramadingdonglamaramadingdong Veteran
    I do not like Dick Cheney. I wish him well.
  • personperson Don't believe everything you think The liminal space Veteran
    I've been able to find some compassion for him by knowing that despite being a big shot in the GOP he keeps his mouth shut on LGBT issues. His daughter is gay so that indicates to me that he loves and cares about his daughter.
  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
    I wouldn't have thought that Buddhist compassion should be based only on whether I like the person or I agree with them politically.
  • possibilitiespossibilities PNW, WA State Veteran
    At least @Mountains is not a pretentious Buddhist. I value honesty more than fake compassion.
  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
    At least @Mountains is not a pretentious Buddhist. I value honesty more than fake compassion.
    I have no idea whether she's pretentious, and honesty is a worth trait. But I'll tell you a standard I try to live by, and fail to do so on occasion. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. And having had some heart scares myself, I wouldn't wish that type of health problem on anyone.

    To be honest, how we look at what is happening to Mr. Cheny tests our belief and view of karma in two ways. First, by how it says we personally believe karma works on others. And second, if we wish a person ill, we must be willing to accept a karmic effect on ourselves.

  • possibilitiespossibilities PNW, WA State Veteran
    edited March 2012
    Mountains is man and none of us are angels. Most people would not publicly own up to something that is obviously a Buddhist no-no. I get the impression he's trying his very best and by being honest he's true to himself. I think we're all aware of the ideals.

    PS. Cheney, IMO is responsible for innumerable deaths in combat and by civilians, and the economic exploitation of even more people. What's to like?
  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
    ^^ Possibilities, I said that I fail to live up to my standards on occasion. I agree, we all do. It doesn't mean that we shouldn't reexamine our viewpoints or our standards. That's part of mindfulness.
  • Telly03Telly03 Veteran
    There are 3100 people on the heart transplant waiting list, and 2300 transplants were performed in the last year. Cheney was on the waiting list for 20 months.

    70 percent of the transplant recipients live over 5 years of the transplant, although the percentage is lower for those over 65.

    I wish him well
  • IronRabbitIronRabbit Veteran
    Now Dick Cheney is (as he has been called) truly heartless (his was thrown away).
  • justsheajustshea Explorer
    Eerily reminiscent of Darth Vader.
  • mfranzdorfmfranzdorf Veteran
    I'm in the dark as to what makes him so evil.
  • ginabginab Veteran
    I'm in the dark as to what makes him so evil.
    It must be that evil smirk on his face.

  • RichardHRichardH Veteran
    edited March 2012
    Actually the heart was not donated, it was "donated". Cheney, in consultation with a medical panel, searched through Homeland Security files of healthy American citizens to find the right candidate. The "donor" was then picked up by the Secret Service and taken to an undisclosed location. He was thanked ahead of time for his "donation", then had his heart removed and given to Cheney. This is not the first time either.. Cheney receives a new heart in this way once a year .
  • zombiegirlzombiegirl beating the drum of the lifeless in a dry wasteland Veteran
    I hope @RichardH is joking...but seriously, how does this business of donating for a heart transplant work?
  • Telly03Telly03 Veteran
    edited March 2012
    I'm in the dark as to what makes him so evil.
    He is a Republican
  • zombiegirlzombiegirl beating the drum of the lifeless in a dry wasteland Veteran
    I'm in the dark as to what makes him so evil.
    He is a Republican
    I think people mostly view him as George Bush's puppet master.
  • RichardHRichardH Veteran
    edited March 2012
    I hope @RichardH is joking...but seriously, how does this business of donating for a heart transplant work?
    Unfortunately it is not a joke. The heart is removed from the "donor" with a silver dagger:.. and briefly placed on an altar, where it is symbolically offered to " Baal, Beelzebub, and the keepers of the five gates", then it is transplanted into Cheney.



    Buuut.. seriously. :D I don't hate Cheney at all. The man was a disaster.. in a disastrous administration, but the chain of pain has no beginning.

  • Lady_AlisonLady_Alison Veteran
    i dont' think it's up to us to judge cheney's karma.
  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
    i dont' think it's up to us to judge cheney's karma.
    You and I appear to be in the distinct minority here.



  • Lady_AlisonLady_Alison Veteran
    @vinlyn and we are part of a buddhist forum... blamed for being pretentious, even
  • Lady_AlisonLady_Alison Veteran
    IT's graphic...fair warning...let's not focus on one man, but the madness in general.

  • Lady_AlisonLady_Alison Veteran
    People with strenght such as senor cheney, bear the responsability of helping the weak...this is the last i will post, it's not graphic but just a mere example of how a person who is strong, the singer...used an oppurtunity to help.

  • DakiniDakini Veteran
    Does anyone know what Condi Rice is up to these days? What do you do after you've been Secretary of State (if you don't run for President...)? What do you do for an encore?
  • bodhipunkbodhipunk
    Does anyone know what Condi Rice is up to these days? What do you do after you've been Secretary of State (if you don't run for President...)? What do you do for an encore?
    She's currently a professor at Stanford: http://www.hoover.org/fellows/10078

    I remember back in '08 there was speculation about her running for office, but she said that is one thing she would never do. She even said something along the lines that she didn't even run for high school president. :p

    Also, last year she spoke out against claims in Dick Cheney's memoirs as an attack on her integrity.
  • mfranzdorfmfranzdorf Veteran
    i dont' think it's up to us to judge cheney's karma.
    I agree. He is a human just like all of us. The "evilness" talk amuses me. There are some real bad individuals in this world, and Dick Cheney doesn't even exist on my list of them. Politics, that's what it is. Whatever.
  • BekenzeBekenze
    At least @Mountains is not a pretentious Buddhist. I value honesty more than fake compassion.
    :thumbsup:
  • BrianBrian Detroit, MI Moderator
    This thread is a seriously good opportunity to learn about ourselves and become better Buddhists.
  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
    This thread is a seriously good opportunity to learn about ourselves and become better Buddhists.
    Yes, very much so.

    I remember many years ago someone related to our school (where I was an assistant principal) at the time, died. People were saying what a wonderful person he was "when he was at his best". It occurred to me then, that we're really only as good as we are when we're at our worst. I have certainly realized many of my own shortcomings that way.

  • Lady_AlisonLady_Alison Veteran
    :wave: @mfranzdorf
  • mfranzdorfmfranzdorf Veteran
    :wave: @mfranzdorf
    Howdy pardner!
  • RichardHRichardH Veteran
    edited March 2012
    This thread is a seriously good opportunity to learn about ourselves and become better Buddhists.
    What does that mean? We are "empty boats" and have no business getting a hate-on for others. I do not think anyone on this thread, either joking about Cheney, or seriously grieved over Cheney's actions* would be anything less than compassionate and humane if face to face with Dick Cheney. Do you think it would be otherwise?

    * a major force behind Bush era policies that involved illegality and mass violence according to many . Please don't tell me you want references...




  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
    This thread is a seriously good opportunity to learn about ourselves and become better Buddhists.
    What does that mean? We are "empty boats" and have no business getting a hate-on for others. I do not think anyone on this thread, either joking about Cheney, or seriously grieved over Cheney's actions* would be anything less than compassionate and humane if face to face with Dick Cheney. Do you think it would be otherwise?

    * a major force behind Bush era policies that involved illegality and mass violence according to many . Please don't tell me you want references...

    Richard, honestly, I think you need to read through the responses again.

  • RichardHRichardH Veteran
    This thread is a seriously good opportunity to learn about ourselves and become better Buddhists.
    What does that mean? We are "empty boats" and have no business getting a hate-on for others. I do not think anyone on this thread, either joking about Cheney, or seriously grieved over Cheney's actions* would be anything less than compassionate and humane if face to face with Dick Cheney. Do you think it would be otherwise?

    * a major force behind Bush era policies that involved illegality and mass violence according to many . Please don't tell me you want references...

    Richard, honestly, I think you need to read through the responses again.

    Ok

  • still_learningstill_learning Veteran
    I don't like the things he's done in the past. I hope now, he has a "change of heart."
  • Telly03Telly03 Veteran
    Less than 48 hours after receiving a heart transplant at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Northern Virginia, the 71 year-old former Vice President was out of bed and sitting up in a chair. A family spokesperson told Fox Mr. Cheney was spending time with his wife Lynne and his daughters, talking, and was even able to stand up a day after surgery.Dr. Reiner says it is "absolutely" possible a healthy heart could give him another 10 years, and adds "that was the goal."In terms of risks, Dr. Reiner says organ rejection, infection, and blood clots which can cause strokes are some of the issues his medical team will be monitoring.

    The former Vice President did not receive any kind of preferential treatment in terms of receiving a heart - according to Dr. Reiner. In fact, he notes Mr. Cheney waited "almost 21 months", whereas the average is 12 to 18 months. Dr. Reiner says Mr. Cheney never asked for special treatment, and " felt it was important that he wait his turn."


  • mfranzdorfmfranzdorf Veteran
    Good for him. Been struggling with a bad ticker most of his life. A lot of people would have given up by that point in their life.
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