On August 7, 2002, Vice president Cheney claimed that Halliburton is “a fine company” that he is happy “to be associated with.” It was nice to hear the veep standing up for a corporation that had paid a $2 million settlement due to claims of fraudulent work at a job at Fort Ord in California, had allegedly offered $180 million in bribes for a Nigerian oil facility, and had been warned repeatedly by the Pentagon about running Iraq war mess halls with blood-covered kitchen floors and rotting meats and vegetables. — Dick Cheney