Dick Cheney’s Vegetative State

When you go shopping, do you pay what the vendor tells you owe or do you make your own determination as to how much would be fair? If you answered with the first option, you obviously aren't the vice-president of the United States - he doesn't bother to find out what the price of something is. He simply pays whatever he wants and then leaves.

The Washington Post notes:

In a lighter moment, the Cheney tour stopped at a farm stand owned by Ray Levan, 65, in the small town of Catawissa. Cheney and his wife went to buy fruit and vegetables, while daughters Mary and Elizabeth went with the Cheney grandchildren to watch cows being fed.

The Cheneys purchased nine apples, five large tomatoes, three green peppers and a dozen ears of corn. Cheney pulled a $10 bill from his pocket and gave it to Levan. Asked by a reporter whether the $10 covered the cost of the produce, Levan indicated that it did not. But he said it was an "honor" to sell the fruits and vegetables to the vice president, even if at a discount.

If this is a “lighter” moment, I’d hate to see what a “darker” moment for Cheney is.

Daily Kos comments:

[W]hat struck me most about this vignette, and what is troubling to me, was the way that Cheney handed the guy a $10 without asking him what the cost of the goods were. It's as if he sized the tomatoes and corn up, sized the farmer up, decided that $10 was appropriate, and that was that. No need to say, "what's the damage?" No need to wait for the farmer to total the cost. Nope -- Dick saw the entire transaction as he might an interaction with a bellhop at the Plaza. He took a commonplace commercial transaction between vendor and consumer, and turned it into a master-servant relationship. In essence, Dick took his veggies, and tipped the guy $10. Now that's weird. Almost shakes your faith in the GOP as the defender of small business...

Even if my own mother came to my store and paid what she thought was fair without asking about the actual cost I’d be insulted. I certainly wouldn’t be “honored” to be stiffed by the vice-president. An immoral cheapskate is an immoral cheapskate, no matter what office they hold.

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