more cheney

The Washington Post has looked into Dick Cheney this past week. MSNBC's Countdown and The Daily Show have been on him, too. I suppose it would have been good to have had this kind of coverage in 2000, but when someone like David Broder misreads Cheney what would have been found before now? An even scarier thought: what would be going on if the Republicans had not lost their majorities in the House and Senate?

Read the series here. Then there are the Washington Post op-ed pieces here and here and here and here.

So far all this seems to be Cheney seeking power for the sake of power, a bureaucratic Peck's bad boy. None of the current Republican candidates say anything about wanting to emulate Bush. Considering how little conservatives like Bush's spending habits and how much Iraq presents an intractable situation opposing the Republican candidates' ambitions, I suspect Bush is approaching anathema with his Republican candidates. With Cheney having an active role in the budget and a rabid interest in pursuing the Administration's Iraq policy, I suspect Cheney gets to the anathema bus stop first. I cannot imagine anyone popping up in 2020 claiming themselves to be a follower of George W. Bush who is also in the mainstream of American politics.

Without any hopes of a political/ideological dynasty, why did Cheney and Bush push this kind of agenda for a power grab? Was it to enrich Halliburton? Was it merely ego? Did they really misjudge the 2004 election as their mandate and expect a change where Republicans would control American government for the next generation? That actually makes some sense considering Cheney's hand in the Supreme Court nominating process.

Much has been made of Karl Rove as some sort of political genius from the dark side of the force. Comedy Central's Lil Bush portrays Cheney's dad as Darth Vader. Perhaps we all have this wrong. Cheney is the Sith Emperor to Rove's Vader. I would like that analogy but for one thing, it absolves George W. Bush by making him the hapless, if not completely, innocent bystander.

Kucinich introduced Articles of Impeachment against Cheney. Slate published an article proposing Cheney gets impeached first. At first, I thought this was a bit silly with so little time left for Bush and Cheney. It is not the opposite of silly. As I see impeachment of Cheney this morning, it is necessary. I think anyone who might imagine what Cheney could do to this country before the next election would fail to match the sweep of Cheney's own imagination. Impeachment and then a Senate trial would drag him out into the sunlight and keep him too preoccupied to screw the country. Well, I am pretty sure it would drag him out into the sunlight and I hope it keeps him from screwing us.