Draw back a bloody stump

Mr . Cheney


My Dad ,who loved us dearly, had an explosive temper. If we reached across the table instead of asking to pass the food he would say "Touch it and draw back a bloody stump." He was usually joking to some degree but his voice pitch would change when he said it so it was a great relief if I saw he had a smile behind it.  (but it would have been dangerous to provoke him at that point.)


I have heard Mr. Cheney speak throughout the years and at times he makes a great deal of sense to me.  I find him to be very rational and politics aside very convincing. I don't think I have ever really seen the left side of his face however. It would have stayed on the periphery of my consciousness at best.  In the picture linked there is a sense of anger portrayed by the jaw line on the right.  I think I would have seen and related to and understood the anger. However with the benefit of the internet I can study his left side of face while browsing through images. I try and separate the face into a left and right side in my study and while the right expresses anger in this pic, the left in this picture to me now expresses danger. "Stay away". I am not saying that the man cannot be warm, lovable, and funny. I am also not trying to make statement on his politics. It just might be better to go through life with two hands.