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January 20, 2009

Out Like A Lamb

By Michael Shaw

Cheney Inaug.jpg

What could be more symbolic?

Also:  200901201609.jpg

(image: Larry Downing/Reuters. White House, January 20, 2009. Dick Cheney leaving the White House as Vice-President for the final time. Cheney injured his back moving boxes.)

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  • thomas

    Full of surprises, all the way to the end.
    This is pure theatre and is absolutely impossible to believe. An attempt at presenting a weakened or sympathetic image in the face of a very real threat of criminal prosecutiion.

  • Asta

    I wouldn’t be surprised if this maneuver was simply his way of being disrespectful and would not be standing when Obama took the Oath of Office.

  • KingElvis

    Cheney = Lionel Barrymore in “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Mr. Potter character.

  • antpoppa

    I agree with Asta. This avowed racist, who fought against every civil right, can go home saying he never stood for a black president. He will be walking as soon as his plane lands. Curse you Cheney.

  • Montana

    A vivid flasback to one of my favorites, Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove

  • Gideon Ross

    For me, the movei character is Emperor Palpatine. In fact, I’m sure that Dick was disappointed that John Williams would re-arrange “Simple Gifts” without adding a riff of the Darth Vader theme.

  • Karen H.

    My impression is that Cheney is held together with band aids and glue. One of them busted, but I’m grateful for the metaphor and only sorry that he’s sitting on the part the door should be hitting.

  • http://uoti.blogspot.com shpx.ohfu
  • bystander

    Fair point, Karen. I wondered if this public wheel chair appearance wasn’t indicative of something that was more the norm than the exception. Until now we only have those visuals that Cheney, or the press, have wanted us to see. Cheney could be a good deal more frail than we have known. Regardless. However he leaves. I feel a huge sense of relief at his having gone.

  • zzyzx

    A plea for sympathy and attempt to take attention from Obama perpetrated by a despicable person who has spent eight years enjoying his calumny and lying to a gullible public. Just one more hoax.

  • AJ

    Anyone watching NBC’s coverage might have heard Brokaw actually say (out loud, even, though very quickly) that it’s unfortunate the Cheney is in a wheelchair because he doesn’t want to invite a Dr. Strangelove comparison. The quick statement was followed by a few seconds of what seemed to be awkward silence – I don’t think anyone could believe he actually said it out loud. Priceless.

  • Morgan

    He looks as if he is definitely on the pain killers. I wonder if since the Vice-President no longer will draw a salary, if he is just trying for the workman compensation.

  • Hermetically Sealed

    Thomas: “An attempt at presenting a weakened or sympathetic image in the face of a very real threat of criminal prosecutiion.”
    Hey, it worked for Pinochet!

  • statusquomustgo

    I liked Ron Reagan’s description… He looked like Hannible Lecter being taken out on a wheelie cart or something to that effect.
    Hillarious.

  • Rima

    I saw a photo of Obama greeting Bush on the inaugural stage,with Cheney next to Bush. Cheney seemed to be standing, and was wearing a wide-brimmed fedora, like the one sported by Jack Abramoff in pictures of yore. So, maybe the wheelchair wasn’t a ruse. But, the fedora did make Cheney look like a gangster out of The Godfather.

  • http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/01/20-5 yg
  • http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/01/20-5 yg
  • http://rightwingsnarkle.blogspot.com Rightwingsnarkle

    I really wanted to see that chair tumble down the long flight of marble stairs, with Cheney still in it.
    Would it have been considered a form of torture?
    Naaah. Just a little accident.
    Good riddance to the prick, with high hopes for a painful and drawn-out death.

  • pufflehuff

    You seen the ones of Cheney inexplicably in a Fedora? And walking?
    http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=37589
    EVIL. *shudder*

  • stevelaudig

    Give the guy a break. At least the person who dressed him got the shoes right. He dresses pretty well when someone else dresses him. no parka, no mukluks. I’ve seen that smile before though in a movie. It was the super mario brothers movie which begins….
    “A long, long time ago, the Earth was ruled by dinosaurs. They were big, so not a lot of people went around hassling ‘em. Actually, no people went around hassling ‘em cuz there weren’t any people yet. Just the first tiny mammals. Basically, life was good. [but]… what if dinosaurs evolved into intelligent, vicious, aggressive beings… and what if they found a way back.”
    Oh, they did and are just now leaving the white house… one in a wheel chair.. How hard it must be to find a wheel chair for a creature that is used to going around on all fours….. ta dum.
    Any way a little googling comes up with this picture of the “Inner Dick” the one you are not seeing: http://www.gamesetwatch.com/mariomovie5.jpg and http://www.badmovies.org/movies/supermario/supermario4.jpg.and finally http://www.hypercompuglobalmega.net/KingKoopaMovie.jpg. I’m not sure if he’s the one on the left, the right or in the middle.
    Finally, he’s in a wheel chair wearing glasses because standards have declined and someone would hit a guy wearing glasses but they have not “dickclined” so far that you would hit a guy wearing glasses in a wheel chair.

  • Kim

    I am convinced this was the only way Cheney could be removed from office, strapped into a wheel chair. Possibly sedated.

  • cenoxo

    REUTERS/Rick Wilking photo of Dick Cheney standing (with hat and cane) while Obama takes the oath of office:

    Just for the record.

  • chsbob

    Where in the hell is Richard Widmark when he is most needed?

  • chsbob

    Where in the hell is Richard Widmark when he is most needed?

  • Sister Joyous Whip Of Enlightenment

    //What could be more symbolic?//
    Handcuffs!

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