How Cheney pulled the strings
News blogs, sports blogs, entertainment blogs, and more from Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News.
How Cheney pulled the strings
The new Vanity Fair has what looks like a fascinating oral history of the Bush administration from insiders who are more chatty than I'd expected they would be. The angle that's getting the headline is how Bush's presidency basically ended after Katrina -- no surprise there -- but I think former Colin Powell aide Lawrence Wilkerson's comments on Dick Cheney are a lot more revealing:
Lawrence Wilkerson, top aide and later chief of staff to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, said that as a new president, Bush was like Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee whom critics said lacked knowledge about foreign affairs. When Bush first came into office, he was surrounded by experienced advisers like Vice President Dick Cheney and Powell, who Wilkerson said ended up playing damage control for the president.
"It allowed everybody to believe that this Sarah Palin-like president — because, let's face it, that's what he was — was going to be protected by this national-security elite, tested in the cauldrons of fire," Wilkerson said, adding that he considered Cheney probably the "most astute, bureaucratic entrepreneur" he'd ever met.
"He became vice president well before George Bush picked him," Wilkerson said of Cheney. "And he began to manipulate things from that point on, knowing that he was going to be able to convince this guy to pick him, knowing that he was then going to be able to wade into the vacuums that existed around George Bush — personality vacuum, character vacuum, details vacuum, experience vacuum."
This is what many of us have suspected from Day One, isn't it?....that Cheney, who Bush picked to head his vice presidential "search" committee in 2000 after clinching the nomination that spring, rigged the process to get himself selected -- and then took great advantage of that relationship to pursue his agenda of militaristic geo-politics with a dallop of torture.
This is one of the great mysteries of the last nine years -- just how exactly did Cheney manipulate the process so that Bush selected him?
And why?
"Bush is responsible for a million deaths"...yes, and Vince Foster was murdered by Hilary Clinton. Those numbers are about as responsible as Bunch's journalism. Gaza is not about Bush. Is there some correlation to fighting the hegemony of Iran, perhaps. But, its hard to get away from the central argument that its about a sovereign country's right to defend itself. Hamas, elected or not, has little to do with failed neocon visions of the middle east.— Herc66
Comment removed.- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- q— James TL
- Comment removed.
- You insight is profound. Just remember Obama has even less experience than Bush. He may make Bush and Palin look like they have been there for years. Obama has no experience and the world leaders like Putin are just waiting to get a hold of him. It should be fun for you liberals. Oh and isnt this the guy who the day of the election was boasting about the stock market rise but didnt have anything to say when it tanked for the week after Obama officially won. Thanks.— rgreen72
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
bpphilly, how's this - you're a "right-wing neo-con nut job". Now we're even, and you're right, I'm no better than you. Answer your question?- Comment removed.
- Bpphilly, lighten up friend. I'm sensing an unhealthy persecution complex, dude.
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- bpphilly, if you find me on a right wing blog with nothing better to do than insult the host, then please, feel free to call me obsessive. Otherwise, my apologies if I was unfairly picking on you.
- You ask why, Will? Keep in mind how Cheney grew wealthy following his tenure as Defense Secretary for Bush I (a tenure, btw, in which he was known for reducing the Pentagon's budget as a fiscal conservative, and in which he oversaw Desert Storm and the decision not to invade Iraq). I'm convinced Halliburton changed him into a foot soldier for the MIC. Heck, I'd change too for 30 million dollars or more in increased wealth.
- Comment removed.
- gee1971, Germany and Japan. I also mentioned that the only way for Cheney to pull strings was for the President to let him do it, but that post seems to have dissappeared.— SteveMG
- Comment removed.
- LOL, bpphilly, you ought to re-read what you post here, and tell me it's just "disagreeing" with a point of view. What's funny is that you were responding to a comment that wasn't even directed at you personally.
- Doubt Biden will be a puppeteer. Obama can think for himself and will at least attempt to get us out of this mess Bush/Cheney got us into.— James TL
- Comment removed.
- "Will, you are an example of why those who can't do, teach and those who can't teach, become a writer for a newspaper." . . . . . And those who can't write for a newspaper display their envy in the comments.
- Any countries thoughout history ever successfully have a democracy developed and handed to them by an invading force? Just a question.— gee1971
- Comment removed.
- "...and the right wing has shallow, empty lives?" . . . . Well, what would you call the compulsion to come here and comment? We're just sissies seeking validation, right? And that threatens you how?
- THere's not much doubt who has been behind what has happened the last 8 years. Almost makes me feel sorry for George II. Almost. He did go along with what happened although I doubt he thought of any of it. Glad things are doing better in Iraq, but how could they have gotten worse? Thousands of people (soldiers and Iraqi civilians) killed and injured and what has really been accomplished? If the current government stays in power for long it will be a miracle. We were supposed to be pursuing the terrorists that attacked us on 9/11 but they weren't in Iraq. Only now it looks like we are going to go back into Afganistan in force where those terrorists we were supposed to be looking for are based. What has this administration accomplished besides allowing Al Qaeda (the real organization no AQ in Iraq which was formed because of our occupation) to live for 5 more years? Glad it's almost over!— James TL
- "How is Gaza related to Bush foreign policy doctrine." . . . . . That's debatable, but one of Bush's pretexts for sustaining the occupation of Iraq was the point that we'd all be better off if we could spread democracy through the middle east. If I'm not mistaken, Hamas was democratically elected to rule Gaza. And so, how's that working out?
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
nice one gun, I think you got it just right.— potus- You have to love these right-wing neo-con nut jobs. Will, if it wasn't for your blog, just think how shallow their empty lives would be. Instead, they wait with baited breath for each new entry, so they can spew their daily dose of ignorance. Just like opium for a drug addict.— AHiredGun
- There is no story here. Or at least no evidence of a story here. Reliance on double hearsay is not evidence. Until you lefties have some facts why don't you stand to the side with the Vince Foster conspiracy crowd. Mike I: How is Gaza related to Bush foreign policy doctrine. Hamas has been firing at unarmed Israelis for years now and Israel now decides to defend itself fully...and this is the Bush doctrine...no, this is not preemption.— Herc66
- Comment removed.
- If it's true, then thank God. He kept us safe from more attacks. William, will you be giving odds on that for the next four years? Can't wait for the excuses.— WriteWinger
- Typical repub conservative responses by the above. They don't talk about the story, just down Bunch for writing it. Says a lot about them that they can't deny the story or defend cheney. Xi, how is the bush doctrine working out in Gaza right now?— mike l
- Typical repub conservative responses by the above. They don't talk about the story, just down Bunch for writing it. Says a lot about them that they can't deny the story or defend cheney. Xi, how is the bush doctrine working out in Gaza right now?— mike l
- WWOD?— Bud Fox
Blah, Blah, Blah, Palin. Blah, Blah, Blah Bush is dumb. Blah, Blah, Blah, Cheney the evil manipulator. I've never experienced thinking so un-nuanced, rigid, anti-intellectual, repetitious, one-sided,and void of substance as the left's thought process on the Bush administration over the past 8 years. The left is at it's intellectual low point, and that's saying something.— jmc- Will, you are an example of why those who can't do, teach and those who can't teach, become a writer for a newspaper. How much of your Reagan book did you cut and paste from others? Do you have any original thoughts? At least you will be unemployed soon when the DN goes under.— CD75
- Will, you're just stupid. At least Poleman can spark interesting debate. This is just pathetic.— thelastRepublicaninPhilly
- Comment removed.
- Andrew Sullivan
- Blinq
- Blogorrhea
- Blonde Sagacity
- Free Republic
- Instapundit
- James Taranto
- ScrappleFace
- The Corner
- Buzzmachine
- Eat the Press
- Editor and Publisher
- Media (Huffington Post)
- Media Bloodhound
- Mickey Kaus
- Pressthink
- Romenesko
- The Inksniffer
- A List of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago
- Above Average Jane
- BlankBaby
- Citizen Mom
- Keystone Blog
- Metroblogging Philadelphia
- Phawker
- Philadelphia - America's Hometown
- Philadelphia Will Do
- Philebrity
- Philly Future
- Phillyblog
- Phillyist
- The Clog
- The Next Mayor
- Welcome to Phillyville
- Young Philly Politics
- Afro-Netizen
- All-Spin Zone
- Atrios
- Bad Attitudes
- Billmon
- Booman Tribune
- CorrenteWire
- Fables of the Reconstruction
- iFlipFlop
- Kiko's House
- MyDD
- Philly (Dragonballyee)
- Rowhouse Logic
- Slacktivist
- Suburban Guerilla
- Tattered Coat
- upyernoz
- AmericaBlog
- Andy Borowitz
- BuzzFlash
- Crooks and Liars
- Cursor
- Daily Kos
- David Sirota
- Drudge Report
- Echidne of the Snakes
- Fire Dog Lake
- Glenn Greenwald
- Hullabaloo
- Jesus' General
- Jon Swift
- Josh Marshall
- Juan Cole
- Kevin Drum
- Mad Kane
- Majikthise
- Matthew Yglesias
- Oliver Willis
- Raw Story
- Swing State Project
- Talk Left
- Taylor Marsh
- TBogg
- The Carpetbagger Report
- Think Progress
- War and Piece
- Wonkette
- A Citizen's Blog
- Balls, Sticks and Stuff
- Beer Leaguer
- Dick Polman
- Phillies Nation
- Philling Station
- Shallow Center
- The 700 Level
- The Good Phight
