Comments on: Then The Planes Hit The Buildings, Mr. Shadow President

By: Harley

Harley — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 02:37:45 +0000

Cactus: Apparently they did not know about Cheney’s manipulation of Bush within the Beltway. At least to judge by the reaction to the WAPO piece.

By: Cactus

Cactus — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 02:04:12 +0000

I couldn’t possibly be the brilliant analyst that rtbag is, but I admit I read about 2/3 of the first article then started skipping over paragraphs looking for something new. One wonders now if these ‘reporters’ kept checking the blogs with a finger in the wind waiting for the time to do their big expose’ without getting into too much trouble. I love rtbag’s flashlight excerpts.
But really, and c’mon, didn’t we all know that Darth was pulling the strings long ago. It does give new perspective on The W’s silly sh*t-eatin grin when he delivers bad news……..he’s probably thinking: ‘what a sly old dog my veep is.’ One sadist’s appreciation of another?

By: Rafael

Rafael — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 17:42:25 +0000

Two trivial things….
The new meme “The River (of power) flows through him!”
And why am I reminded of the two most famous conference rooms in all of movie history, (1) the war room in Dr. Strangelove and (2) the Death Star conference room?

By: MonsieurGonzo

MonsieurGonzo — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 16:28:04 +0000

i like the "hand on the seat of power" observation, BAGman. rtbag, who can sing when she wants to, makes a good point, too. iirc ~ in the beginning (2001) most folks, upon viewing images of both Bush & Cheney, were moved to the point of expressing themselves (something such as) "Bush always looks small, by comparison; Cheney always looks somehow senior, more Presidential." Consequently, again iirc ~ the WhiteHouse made a conscious effort to NOT depict the two men together ~ to avoid the discomfiture of obvious comparison, seen so readily here today in BAGman's post. otoh rtbag, what's changed is the conversation, imho. We were talk-talking and we were thinking something like, "goddam this rogue presidency! How can we Stop The War without ~60 votes in the face of His veto," yadda yadda yadda. FWIW, the Washington Post's pulitzer-me puh-leeze! length warmed-over bash-Vice hash is 'in sync' with the latest conversation, n'est-ce pas? i mean, "Rogue Presidency" is one thing; but a rogue Vice-Presidency is startling (!) more -or- less un-precedented in our history; so far out there that The Constitution simply fails to give us much guidance whatsoever: there was this conceit presumption implicit in our root document that The President would never allow, much less enable / encourage His office to be subordinated by That office. So, there was everybody talk-talking about "The Imperial Presidency," and "The Unitary Executive," and all this stuff... ...and suddenly here we are confronted with a Vice-President who just fucking declares his office apart from Constitutional Law entirely, he's just WAY the hell out there, a heluva lot further than most of us imagined; and when we're thinking about HIS apparent grasp of the "levers of power" we're all wondering one thing: we don't want his smoking gun to be in the form of a mushroom cloud :-/

By: Jacques

Jacques — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 16:13:20 +0000

The garbage is almost certainly a piece of paper that Shrub had twisted out of nervousityness on that fateful day.

By: Asta

Asta — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 12:02:42 +0000

RTBAG, you may not be “a fancy Washington Post writer”, but damn you’re good! I’ve read your comment twice and both times my reaction has been, wow, that was powerful!
I laughed when you pointed out “enough with the levers already!” because I was also thinking, “Boy, there sure is a whole lot of steering going on!”

By: readytoblowagasket

readytoblowagasket — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 06:01:41 +0000

I have tried to refrain from commenting about this post because I will only end up sounding like a curmudgeon and a party pooper, but I can't help it. That's because the Washington Post article is not "in-depth," it is simply long and written in cloak-and-dagger style. (Just because an article is long, does not mean it is anything other than long.) Read these breathless sentences with a flashlight under the bedcovers: Cheney brought a four-page text, written in strict secrecy by his lawyer. In less than an hour, the document traversed a West Wing circuit that gave its words the power of command. He has battled a bureaucracy he saw as hostile, using intimate knowledge of its terrain. Over the past six years, Cheney has shaped his times as no vice president has before. The president seized the helm when his No. 2 steered toward trouble, Their one-on-one relationship is opaque, a vital unknown in assessing Cheney's impact on events. The two men speak of it seldom, if ever, with others. When particulars rise to presidential notice, Cheney often steers the preparation of options and sits with Bush, in side-by-side wing chairs, as he is briefed. Who reports like this? Clark Kent? It's ridiculous! No wonder the wingnuts make fun of us moonbats. If we lap up this overwrought tripe, we deserve our all-talk/no-action Congress. Second clue that the article sucks: Out of 200 people interviewed, the first interview quoted is with Dan Quayle. Dan Quayle. Third clue the article sucks: Out of 200 people interviewed, the second interview quoted is with Mary Matalin. Mary Matalin! I'm not impressed. I bet I could get an equally bland quote from Mary Matalin. I admit I've read only 8 pages. And in those 8 pages, absolutely nothing happens. True, it's a really exciting nothing. But it's still nothing. On which page does it start to get damning? I'd like to skip ahead. But anyway, who cares if Cheney is the man pulling the many levers of power and government policy? (Note to WAPO: Enough with the levers already!) What does it change? That's right: nothing. Remember way back in 2001 when a whole bunch of enemy combatants were rounded up and shipped to Guantanamo? I knew immediately they would be tortured mercilessly and never see the light of day again. How did I know this? I am not a fancy Washington Post reporter, I am not an award-winning blogger, I do not have multiple degrees. In fact, I have no education worth mentioning, no inside-the-beltway connections, no privilege, rank, or exceptional experience whatsoever. I am an ordinary American citizen who has observed one simple lesson from the history unfolding before me in my own lifetime: powerless people always get the sh*t kicked out of them. That's because, it seems, anyone who can abuse power, will. I know I'm not the only one who has observed this. So why do I need to give credit (now) to a Washington Post article that I knew the ending to in September 2001? An article that's the whole basis for linking twice to digby? Finally, I feel compelled to register a similar complaint about reading into photos what we as liberals want them to reveal. I know it's fun, but it's empty calories. No nutritional value. Cheney looks evil, mad, and power-hungry in almost any photograph. It's a piece of cake.

By: JJF

JJF — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 04:59:31 +0000

Two of the many things I remember from 9/11 and the days immediately following. One, Cheney on TV describing the conversation he had with Bush about the order to shoot down planes, if necessary. He had a slip, saying at first he gave the order, then correcting himself to say the president gave the order. Also, a clip of Bush talking on TV, with Cheney present but looking down instead of at Bush, clearly uninterested in learning what the president had to say, but seemingly ready to step in if Bush got off-script. Bush looked rattled, most likelhy more intimidated by Cheney than the cameras and reporters. It was clear then that he was no match for his supposed #2. No one dared notice, no one dared criticize the president’s behavior. The need to gather strength from the president then was so great in those days, everyone looked the other way. The rest is history. We compounded one national tragedy with another, a war far more harmful to the country than anything done by terrorists, not to mention a human tragedy beyond measure.

By: KO

KO — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 22:28:37 +0000

Wow, the face on Cheney as Powell is walking away sends a chill down my spine. Evil incarnate.

By: John Jernberg

John Jernberg — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 20:08:37 +0000

The shot of Cheney that is real creepy is the one of him hiding in the bushes during a Bush presser.