In this episode, Mike Gallagher and Mark Davis remember the times they’ve shared with Vice President Dick Cheney, reflecting on their past admiration and how recent political shifts have affected their views. The conversation delves into the complexities of political figures, the unexpected changes in public perception, and the challenges of maintaining personal relationships amidst polarized political climates.
Mike Gallagher. Every day, Mike visits with Mark Davis, morning host on 660 AM, The Answer in Dallas. Here’s today’s Eminem experience.
SPEAKER 02 :
Do you remember when the then vice president came to the building you’re in right now to be interviewed by your buddy Mike years ago? Well, I wasn’t here yet. I thought you were. Oh, no, you couldn’t have been. That’s right. I conflated when you arrived. I got here in 2012.
SPEAKER 03 :
I got here in 2012. Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER 02 :
Okay, so we got an interview with Dick Cheney. He was doing an event in Texas, and they said, would you like the vice president in studio? And we’re like, we didn’t do a lot of in-studio guests over there on Beltline Road. And we did that day, and they had a motorcade, and they pulled into the parking lot at 6400 North Beltline Road, and he showed up and came up to the studio, and we did a half hour together. And look, I got a lot of feelings about the passing of Dick Cheney today.
SPEAKER 03 :
You know, I do remember when you and I were in the same room with him. And that, of course, would be that little room called the Oval Office on January 14th of 2009. Correct. as all as the gaggle of talk show hosts was called in by bush 43 to sort of chew the fat back and forth you me neil bortz levin uh it was just glorious and then at the end we’re doing pictures by the resolute desk i still still a pinch me moment and they said oh somebody else is here who’s a fan of you guys and in walks dick cheney and i’ve still got my picture standing between bush and cheney and it’ll always be a treasured thing however however however let me give you the the baton back to
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, we loved him until we didn’t. You know, we all loved him until he decided to hate Trump. And, you know, you have to ask yourself, you look in the mirror and you say, do you hate people because they hate Donald Trump? And this is something that a lot of families, a lot of people have had to go through. It’s true. Do you say, look, that person is now persona non grata because they don’t like Donald Trump? No, that’s a hard no. Of course not. That’s not the way to be. That is the way a lot of people are, Mark. But they shouldn’t. We loved them until we didn’t. When did we stop loving Dick Cheney, Mark?
SPEAKER 03 :
But again, that’s different than what you said. I stopped loving him. I didn’t start hating him. I could never hate a man who served this country so nobly and in so many ways. I could never hate a family member who even hates me because I got some.
SPEAKER 02 :
Do you hate Liz Cheney?
SPEAKER 03 :
You know, we have both lost friends. We’ve lost relationships because we like President Trump and voted for President Trump. I will never be that dark and that bitter and sink that low in return. Never.
SPEAKER 02 :
I’ll be sad.
SPEAKER 03 :
I’ll be disappointed.
SPEAKER 02 :
But I will never return hate for hate.
SPEAKER 03 :
Never.
SPEAKER 02 :
Bingo. That’s important. And we’ve got to remember that because you act surprised at this like it isn’t happening. It is happening. There are people hating on Dick Cheney because he hates Donald Trump. And they’re the same people who used to love the guy. Hate’s a strong word. Maybe you’re taking exception to my use of the word hate. Sort of. Do you have disdain? Do you have a loathing? Do you dismiss people? I’m just important. I mean, look, I’ll be very honest. I’m going to be hard-pressed to say anything nice about Liz Cheney. How about you? Do you like Liz Cheney? Do you respect her?
SPEAKER 03 :
No. Her brand is burned to me because of the role – you know, it’s kind of funny because she’s a special example. If somebody just decided they don’t like Trump and have decided they hate him, okay, it then becomes sort of dismissible. But when you are the Cruella de Vil of Trump hatred and you move heaven and earth – Very proud of that. Came up with that on the fly. And you get that bogus committee and the attempt to destroy him and turn the rule of law on its ear and congressional procedure on its ear. You then enter a particularly dark category.
SPEAKER 02 :
But it’s all driven by Trump hatred. Everything she did was losing her seat because of the despicable way she manipulated that stupid committee. All the crap she pulled. You know, I heard one of the SRN news anchors this morning when I was driving in listening to you say, and it summed it up perfectly, a commanding figure of the GOP establishment has died at the age of 84. That sums it up because it’s the GOP establishment that gave rise to Trumpism. And we have to acknowledge that. But I am so intrigued by the personal dynamic of hating somebody. Look, I’ve lost friends since the election of 2024. I’ve got people who I’ve known for 20 plus years won’t talk to me anymore. And that’s not unique to me. There are people, I guarantee you, probably not even on your radar, who don’t have any interest in talking to you anymore because of your support for President Trump. Correct. But I love what you said. We don’t return the favor the same way. We don’t reward hate with hate. I don’t hate somebody because they hate Trump. No. Look, there’s a part of me that gets it. He’s rough. He’s bombastic. He’s got an edgy, somewhat obnoxious personality. Now, I have to admit, I’ve never understood the true TDS. Because it gets so personal for them, Mark. It gets so in their – it poisons their – I’ve talked about this for years. It poisons their soul. It makes smart people dumb. It makes nice people mean.
SPEAKER 03 :
It makes funny people unfunny.
SPEAKER 02 :
You’re so right on every level. And that’s what happened to Dick Cheney. And that’s what happened to Liz Cheney. But that doesn’t mean we ignore his years of great public service, his commitment to this country, his leadership post-9-11. He was a guy we admired. Sadly, there are people we admire who succumb to this bizarre malady called Trump derangement syndrome. And Vice President Cheney was one of them.
SPEAKER 03 :
They’re also it gets even more deliciously complex. And my text line is filled with some of this of people who have had no use for him for a lot longer. as being the neocon architect of post-911 Patriot Act. Because as you and I were going through 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, in relative harmony with a war on terror, who even knew what that meant, but it seemed like a logical thing to go to war against forces in the part of the world that’s trying to kill us. Okay, let’s see how this goes. And it ultimately didn’t go so well for a really long time. But there were people who were against it from the word go. And they have wound up, I guess, historically being, I don’t know if you’d call them right. I’ll never regret. I’ll never sit here and say I was dead wrong or you were dead wrong for being on board for this in 02, 03, 04, 05. History moves forward. Things change. Your perspective changes. Our view of the world changes. A decade or 10 or 12 years of Operation Iraqi Freedom don’t look like time and money and blood well spent in a lot of ways in the review mirror. But there were those who hopped on immediately, and some Democrats, some Republicans, who had no use for ramping up a war effort in that part of the world. And he was more the face of that war effort than Bush was.
SPEAKER 02 :
Look, this country is not perfect. We’ve made mistakes. Weapons of mass destruction. I mean, there were mistakes made. There’s no question about it. That doesn’t change. That doesn’t change. Don’t get me started. Well, it’s true. Don’t get me started. What do you mean? WMDs.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, you know – He had a year and a half. I absolutely believe there were weapons of mass destruction there. There could have been.
SPEAKER 02 :
And Saddam had a year and a half to get them to Syria. But let’s not bog down. But we could get bogged down. Look, we haven’t been perfect on everything, but that doesn’t mean that – and I also don’t think it’s a good time – whatever you think, if Nancy Pelosi – who to me is one of the most wretched political figures in history. If she dropped dead tomorrow, no one should jump up and down on her grave. No one should jump up and down on Dick Cheney’s grave. These are people who are loved by people who love them. And I just want to have a little bit of empathy today that Dick Cheney, whatever you think of him, a father, a husband, grandfather, and again, a man we admire.
SPEAKER 01 :
Download the podcast and hear all of Mike and Mark’s conversations at MikeOnline.com for the Eminem experience.
SPEAKER 02 :
That’ll do it for an election day. Go do your part. Don’t be on the sidelines. Be engaged. Vote, vote, vote. Let’s hope that we’re celebrating tomorrow, but we will see. Have a great day. Be safe. Keep fighting the good fight. I’m Mike Gallagher. God bless America.
Liz Cheney and the Trump Divide
In this episode, Mike Gallagher and Mark Davis remember the times they’ve shared with Vice President Dick Cheney, reflecting on their past admiration and how recent political shifts have affected their views. The conversation delves into the complexities of political figures, the unexpected changes in public perception, and the challenges of maintaining personal relationships amidst polarized political climates.
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