Some Reaction to the Wapo Cheney Story

Digby: As we all suspected, he is the chief megalomaniacal psychopath: Christy at firedoglake: He’s overplayed his hand, and with the end of the Bush administration’s tenure in the White House, a weakened Cheney enforcement apparatus with the loss of Libby, and with the weaker position in which Rove finds himself, I think we are going to be learning a whole lot more in the days ahead. Josh Marshall: The article is not explicit, but an underlying theme of the Washington Post's profile on Dick Cheney is that his unprecedented power is only possible because Bush is anxious to get out of the way. Kevin Drum: Apparently the West Wing has been transformed into a panopticon for the benefit of Dick Cheney and his staff: they can watch you, but you can't watch back. Jeremy Bentham's passion for "invisible omniscience" must have struck a chord with them. Raw Story: The Post intimates that Cheney's office is like a black hole -- everything goes in, but nothing comes out. Max Sawicky: For the Post to highlight it now puts extra pressure on his Dickship. Now his usurpation of power is official. It is now safe for all manner of lesser mortals to take note, comment, and wring their hands. Second, that a number of insiders testified in interviews is an added straw for the camel's back. And Third, to me it is noteworthy that White House Chief of Staff Bolten was willing to go the record, even though his statements were couched in neutral terms. Laura Rozen: One thing I've been puzzling over is the lack of commentary or reporting on the fact that even with these unprecedented secret extra-legal powers he has seized for himself and the White House, Cheney has been so singularly unsuccessful on any of the national security fronts he in effect commands. His failures in Iraq, his failures to finish bin Laden and al Qaeda in a serious way in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the exponential growth of terrorism and al Qaeda in Iraq. These are facts. There are urgent, deeply compelling legal/philosophical/Constitutional issues raised by Cheney's actions and those of his enablers and committed ideological collaborators. But what about the measures of his performance? Upyernoz: the craziest thing about the wapo's article about cheney is how unsurprising it is. for the past six years, we've been joking about how cheney is the real president behind the president. that was a really criticism of bush, not cheney. it echoed the sentiment that bush is a yahoo who really isn't up to the job. (…) to make matters worse, as laura rozen suggests, in terms of results, cheney didn't turn out to be any more competent. D. Aristophanes at Sadly, No!: Yep. It’s time for a joke contest. Examples: - Dick Cheney is so secretive, he classifies documents ‘Treated As Suppository: Brown Eyes Only’. - Dick Cheney is so secretive, squirrels and magpies worship him as a god. - Dick Cheney is so secretive, he’s over here … no, he’s over there … no … HE’S RIGHT BEHIND YOU!!!! Attaturk: Who's the big bloated prick Who's heart machine has all been tricked? DICK! Ya damn right!