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Ed Schultz took a whack at chickenhawk Dick Cheney for having the nerve to be out there whining about President Obama's national security cabinet nominations over the weekend: Dick Cheney Criticizes Obama National Security Appointees In Speech :

CHEYENNE, Wyo. -- Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Saturday night that President Barack Obama has jeopardized U.S. national security by nominating substandard candidates for key cabinet posts and by degrading the U.S. military.

"The performance now of Barack Obama as he staffs up the national security team for the second term is dismal," Cheney said in comments to about 300 members of the Wyoming Republican Party.

Cheney, a Wyoming native, said it was vital to the nation's national security that "good folks" hold the positions of secretary of state, CIA director and secretary of defense.

"Frankly, what he has appointed are second-rate people," he said.

John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, has been confirmed as secretary of state. CIA designate John Brennan and defense secretary nominee Chuck Hagel are still awaiting U.S. Senate confirmation.

As Schultz noted, coming from the man who got five draft deferments, and that worked in an administration that lied us into invading Iraq and hired the likes of Condi Rice and Don Rumsfeld, that's pretty rich. And as Ed reminded us, it's just in time for the seventh anniversary of Cheney shooting his friend, Harry Whittington in the face, which is as Ed noted, probably as close to combat as Cheney will ever come.

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Lawrence O'Donnell skewered Mitt Romney for his time writing love letters in the sand to Ann on the beach in France during the Vietnam war, and for being one of the few people out there to actually protest in favor of that war, while simultaneously getting draft deferments.

And he wrapped things up with Sen. Jim Webb who while introducing President Obama at a campaign event in Virginia, reminded Mitt Romney of just who that 47 percent he was talking about that fundraiser includes and what they're owed -- Webb to Romney: A ‘thanks’ would have been nice:

Introducing President Obama in Virginia Beach, retiring Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.), condemned Mitt Romney for failing to mention veterans or the military in his GOP convention speech.

The omission was all the more damning, Webb suggested, because Romney is of an age where he might have served in Vietnam but did not.

“If nothing else, at least mention some word of thanks and respect when a presidential candidate who is their generational peer makes a speech,” said Webb, a former Navy secretary and decorated Marine who served in Vietnam. Romney was exempted from the draft, first as a student and then as a missionary.

“This was a time when every American male was eligible to be drafted. People made choices,” Webb said. “Those among us who stepped forward to face the harsh unknowns did so with the belief that their service would be honored.”

Webb also tied in Romney’s much criticized remark that 47 percent of Americans believe they are “victims” who feel entitled to federal handouts, saying some of those benefits go to veterans.

“Those young Marines that I led have grown older now. All gave some. Some gave all. That’s not a culture of dependency,” he said. ”They paid. Some with their lives, some with their wounds, disabilities. Some with emotional scars. Some with lost opportunities. Not only did they pay, they are owed. They are owed.”

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Lawrence O'Donnell gives us “Another Episode of When Republican Draft Dodgers Run for President”

After taking a shot at Mitt Romney last week for his “evolving” comments on the Vietnam war, O'Donnell took another bite at the apple with Romney's supposed support for the war while obtaining one deferment after the other to avoid actually serving there. This week it was for “utter, nonsensical, gibberish we heard from Romney while out on the campaign trail in Ohio.

ROMNEY: I noticed there weren't as many second World War vets as there used to be at memorial days when I was younger and they're a little older. They can't hold the torch quite as high as they used to. That torch is now going to have be seized by us, by our generations. It's a torch of freedom and hope and opportunity. It's not America 's torch. But it's America 's duty and honor to hold that torch high so it can be seen by the world.

Lawrence O'Donnell took Mitt Romney to task for his evolving comments on the Vietnam War and his deferments that he could have easily turned down if he was ever serious about his statements that he felt the need to serve there.

O'Donnell also laid out a stark contrast between someone like boxer Muhammad Ali and his principled stance against the war and refusing to serve there, and Romney who was more than willing to support it as long as it meant someone besides himself being the one to go over there and put their life at risk by joining the military.

Since Romney thinks it's a good idea to bring in a bunch of war mongering former Bushies to serve as his foreign policy advisers who may very well want to get us into yet more conflicts in Iran and who knows where else, I'd be glad to see more segments like this calling him out for being more than willing to send others off to die, whether it was those who served in Vietnam instead of him ages ago, or those who might serve now if he's going to push for more military interventions, and being held to accountable for those stances.

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As Rachel Maddow noted, with the recall election in Wisconsin this Tuesday, this story fell off of the radar and wasn't covered by much of the media, but hopefully that will change soon. After the swift-boating of John Kerry, the ousting of Dan Rather after he reported on George W. Bush and how he managed to avoid combat service in Vietnam and John McCain running on his military record and making it central to his campaign, Maddow wondered if the press will pay similar attention to Romney's revolving stories about his draft deferments and his claims that he actually desired to serve in combat in Vietnam.

We can add this to the long list of lies and flip flops that Romney has been telling since running for various political offices and as Maddow rightfully pointed out, I guess we'll find out before long which version of the story Romney is going to settle on during this presidential campaign.

Mitt Romney Faces New Scrutiny Over Vietnam War-Era Draft Deferments:

On a stage crowded with war heroes, Mitt Romney recently praised the sacrifice "of the great men and women of every generation who serve in our armed services."

It is a sacrifice the Republican presidential candidate did not make.

Though an early supporter of the Vietnam War, Romney avoided military service at the height of the fighting after high school by seeking and receiving four draft deferments, according to Selective Service records. They included college deferments and a 31-month stretch as a "minister of religion" in France, a classification for Mormon missionaries that the church at the time feared was being overused. The country was cutting troop levels by the time he became eligible for the draft, and his lottery number was not called.

President Barack Obama, Romney's opponent in this year's campaign, did not serve in the military either. The Democrat, 50, was a child during the Vietnam conflict and did not enlist when he was older.

But because Romney, now 65, was of draft age during Vietnam, his military background – or, rather, his lack of one – is facing new scrutiny as he courts veterans and makes his case to the nation to be commander in chief. He's also intensified his criticism lately of Obama's plans to scale back the nation's military commitments abroad, suggesting that Romney would pursue an aggressive foreign policy as president that could involve U.S. troops.

A look at Romney's relationship with Vietnam offers a window into a 1960s world that allowed him to avoid combat as fighting peaked. His story also demonstrates his commitment to the Mormon Church, which he rarely discusses publicly but which helped shape his life.

Romney's recollection of his Vietnam-era decisions has evolved in the decades since, particularly as his presidential ambitions became clear. Read on...

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By now everyone has probably heard the story about how Ted Nugent managed to get out of serving in the Vietnam war, where he literally quit bathing for a week and was urinating and defecating in his pants so the draft board would think he was insane. The Young Turks' Cenk Uygur took not only Nugent to task for his tough talk when it comes to people other than himself going to serve in our military interventions, but his fellow chickenhawks as well.

Uygur did not have any kinder words for Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Dick Cheney, Tom DeLay or Rush Limbaugh than he did for Nugent and went through the laundry list of deferments and reasons they gave later for why it was acceptable for them to stay at home while other families sent their sons off to fight and die in their place.