War & Peace Quote by Dick Cheney

Cheney’s line is a neat little act of political judo: he invokes “the record” as if it’s an objective tape playing in the background, then uses that supposed neutrality to deliver an accusation of pure opportunism. “Speaks for itself” is the tell. Records don’t speak; campaigns do. The phrase works because it pretends the argument is already settled, casting anyone who disagrees as either dishonest or willfully deaf.

The target is carefully plural and deliberately dehumanized: “two individuals.” Not opponents with reasons, not lawmakers with constituents, but faceless actors responding to “headlines” and “poll ratings.” Cheney isn’t debating the Iraq War on merits, costs, or legality; he’s reclassifying anti-war criticism as a branding strategy. That move protects the war from scrutiny by shifting the battlefield from policy to character.

The timing matters. As vice president during the post-9/11 era, Cheney spoke from inside an administration that sold the Iraq invasion as resolve, clarity, and strength. By framing wavering as moral failure, he taps a broader post-9/11 cultural script: steadfastness equals patriotism; reconsideration equals weakness. It’s a rhetorical trap for Democrats and dissenters in general: support the war and you’re complicit; oppose it and you’re a poll-chaser.

There’s also a preemptive defense embedded here. If public opinion has turned, Cheney implies the problem isn’t the war’s outcomes but the critics’ courage. It’s less about proving he was right than about insisting everyone else is unserious.