Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney (born
January 30,
1941) is an
American politician and businessman who was the 46th
Vice President of the
United States from
2001 to 2009, under
President George W. Bush.
Born in
Lincoln, Nebraska, Cheney was primarily raised in
Sumner, Nebraska, and
Casper, Wyoming. He attended the
University of Wyoming, where he earned a BA and an MA in
Political Science, and began his political career as an intern for Congressman
William A. Steiger, eventually working his way into the
White House during the
Nixon and
Ford administrations, where he later served as the
White House Chief of Staff, from
1975 to
1977. In 1978, Cheney was elected to the
U.S. House of Representatives representing
Wyoming's At-large congressional district from
1979 to
1989; he was reelected five times, briefly serving as
House Minority Whip in 1989. Cheney was selected to be the
Secretary of Defense during the presidency of
George H. W. Bush, holding the position for the majority of
Bush's term from 1989 to
1993. During his time in the
Department of Defense, Cheney oversaw the
1991 Operation Desert Storm, among other actions. Out of office during the
Clinton administration, Cheney was chairman and
CEO of
Halliburton Company from
1995 to
2000.
In July 2000, Cheney was chosen by presumptive
Republican presidential nominee
George W. Bush as his running mate in the
2000 presidential election. They defeated their
Democratic opponents, incumbent
Vice President Al Gore and
Senator Joe Lieberman. In 2004 Cheney was reelected to his second term as Vice President; defeating
Senator John Kerry and his running mate,
Senator John Edwards. During Cheney's tenure as Vice President, he played a lead behind the scenes role in
Bush Administration's response to the
9/11 Terrorist Attacks and coordination of the
War on Terror. He was an early proponent of the
Iraq War and defender of the
Administration's record on terrorism. He became at odds with the views of
President Bush for his support of gay marriage in 2004. Cheney was often criticized for the Bush Administration's policies regarding the War on Terror,
NSA Wiretapping and "
Enhanced interrogation techniques."
In
2011, Cheney published his memoir
In My Time: A
Personal and Political Memoir, written with daughter
Liz Cheney. Cheney is often cited as the most powerful Vice President in
American history.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_cheney
Lewis Niles Black (born August 30, 1948) is an
American comedian, author, playwright, social critic and actor. He is known for his comedy style, which often includes simulating a mental breakdown, or an increasingly angry rant, ridiculing history, politics, religion, trends and cultural phenomena. He hosted the
Comedy Central series
Lewis Black's
Root of All Evil, and makes regular appearances on
The Daily Show with
Jon Stewart delivering his "
Back in Black" commentary segment. When not on the road performing, he resides in
Manhattan. He also maintains a residence in
Chapel Hill,
N.C. He is currently the spokesman for
Aruba Tourism, appearing in television ads that aired in late 2009 and
2010. He was voted 51st of the
100 greatest stand-up comedians of all time by Comedy Central in 2004; and was voted 5th in Comedy Central's
Stand Up Showdown in 2008 and 11th in 2010.
In
1998, Black starred in his first comedy special on the series
Comedy Central Presents. He starred in two additional episodes of the series in 2000 and
2002. He starred in another special for the network in 2002, titled Taxed
Beyond Belief.
Since
2003, Black has hosted the
World Stupidity Awards ceremony at
Montreal's Just for Laughs comedy festival for the three years the awards were presented.
In 2004, he had an
HBO stand-up special titled
Black on Broadway. Black hosted Comedy Central's
Last Laugh '07, which aired on
December 2,
2007 along with
Dave Attell and
D.L. Hughley.
In
2006, Black performed at the
Warner Theatre in
Washington, DC for an HBO special,
Red, White, and
Screwed. It aired in June and a
DVD was released in October. When explaining his choice of venue, Black said that "some asshole" was paid to count the number of times the word "fuck" was said from his previous HBO special,
Black On Broadway, and that the original location, the
Kennedy Center, wanted him to cut back on its use. Black was told the number was 42, when actually it was approximately 78.[citation needed]
Black received a 2007
Grammy award for "
Best Comedy Album" for his
album The Carnegie Hall Performance.[10]
Black hosted the Comedy Central television series
The Root of All Evil in 2008. The show pitted two people or pop-culture topics against each other as a panel of comedians argued, in the style of a court trial, which is more evil, e.g., "
Paris Hilton vs.
Dick Cheney" and "
Internet Porn vs. YouTube". After hearing arguments from both sides, Black, acting as judge, made the final decision as to which is more evil.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Black
- published: 03 Sep 2013
- views: 79607