Cheney is running a shadow government, claims Watergate aide

[TacticalPeek]

Cheney is running a shadow government, claims Watergate aide
By Julian Coman in Washington
(Filed: 04/04/2004)

G Gordon Liddy, the former FBI agent who masterminded the Watergate burglary on behalf of Richard Nixon, once said that he would like to kill John Dean by shoving a pencil through his neck.

This week, as the cerebral Mr Dean publishes Worse than Watergate: the Secret Presidency of George W. Bush, the sentiment is likely to be shared by many in Mr Bush's White House.

Thirty-one years ago Mr Dean - Nixon's legal counsel - began co-operating with prosecutors into the Watergate burglary, revealing the inner workings of the most secretive and manipulative administration in American history.

Now, in the latest political blockbuster, Mr Dean "testifies" against President Bush and Vice-President Richard Cheney, accusing them of trumping his former boss when it comes to political sharp practice.

more
Telegraph (UK)

[MikeG]

1. Its probably why he never has a tan.

[NMDemDist2]

2. ROFLMAO

[Amerpie]

3. Book Club

It seems like every one of the Nixon crook club eventually wrote a book, some more than one (e.g., Dean, Ehrlichman).

I wonder how long it will be before even the loyal Bush types start publishing their "I knew we were lying to the american peepul but blah, blah, blah" books?

[Kool Kitty]

8. I think it may have started already.

Paul O'Neill has a book out there now.

[VolcanoJen]

11. It's not really fair to lump Dean in with Ehrlichman, or Liddy.

Dean took the heat from the right wing for exposing the President, he served his time, and he actually appears repentant.

I'm not saying Dean is Jesus, but he's no Colson, or Haldemann, either.

[Joanne98]

37. Especially since Clarke's book is probably going to sell a million

copies. Republicans are greedy. Alot of them are only in the party for the money. You know this has got to be tempting. I figure we will get two or three more whistle blower's from the "capitalist pig" part of the party. But what we really, really need is one from the highly secretive and stealth fundie sector. Something like "Pat Robertson running guns into the Congo" would work. Another possible twist is an OUTER from the "Log Cabins". Maybe one of Gov Rick Perry's old boyfriends. I think there's more gays in their party than ours. I wish the gay lobby would just CONSIDER outing them. I know it's against their religion but the fundie wing wants to stone them to death and they're winning right now. I think they should HELP US anyway they can. If Clarke/Dean/Woodward books sell a million it will open the flood gates. I'm betting a book is coming from someone no one expects. A killer book. :) It's important that Bushco go down in history for what they really are EVIL.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

45. It'll start right about the time they are going to get out of jail...

...they'll have plenty of time to write where they're going.

[cliss]

4. Good. Let the cascade of paper begin.

Actually, it already has. I read in the Oregonian newspaper last week that while every administration has its share of "turncoats/tell-all's", this administration has broken a record. And just in the first term, as well. Also, the high level of the "turncoats" is surprising.

Not to me.

The facts are in. These guys are Evil Incarnate. At this point, there is no excuse for not knowing who the really are.

[Glenn H]

6. Wait a bit

I doubt that we'll see the avalanche of tell alls until after Bush is out of office or (hopefully) the indictments start raining down. Many of the Watergate rats started singing after the went before either the Hearings or Grand Juries.

[Toby109]

9. Welcome to DU

And what does that tell you about the Bush Admin that the books and articles are already being written? Scary, huh?

[stevedeshazer]

10. Welcome to DU

I think you are right. :hi:

[He loved Big Brother]

43. Hi Glenn H

Welcome to DU! :D :D :D

[Media_Lies_Daily]

46. The threat of spending some quality time with a new roommate...

...tends to spark those cooperative juices, doesn't it?

[kikiek]

5. Book

Excellent book. Well written and only 200+ pages so it gets the point across quickly. If Bush and Cheney have their way we will never ever have access to information about this administration.

[salin]

35. I finished it yesterday morning

already passed it to the next reader. He makes very compelling arguments with great documentation.

[Just Me]

56. Very exciting stuff happening!!!!

And I cannot wait to get my hands on that book!!!!

[yardwork]

7. G. Gordon Liddy went on to form terrorist training institutions.

I wonder if he is involved in this new wave of private mercenary/security firms that the * admin is hiring?

[kikiek]

12. Mercenaries

I think it is the start of the privatizing of the military that Bush and company want to accomplish. My theory is that since it couldn't be a cheaper form of military (I heard the mercenaries are paid very well unlike our armed forces) it is a way to send our federal dollars to those who help keep them in office, and would allow continous wars. The public is more likely to accept deaths of paid mercenaries. we probably won't even hear the numbers killed just like we don't hear how many civilians we have killed in Iraq.

[TexasLinda]

18. Re: "Mercenaries"

Actually it's more sinister than that. Military troops work for the country and swear an oath to defend the Constitution. An old Kirk Douglas movie, "Seven Days in May", showed why this is important. Mercenaries work for whoever hires them. If you want to engage in questionable (and most likely illegal) activities, use mercenaries. Otherwise you run the risk of a military person's sense of duty and honor queering the whole deal.

[bearfan454]

29. Welcome to DU TexasLinda !

Now you can get the real news.

[leesa]

51. They swear an oath to defend the constitution but do they really do it?

Wouldn't they be fighting GW Bush and his henchmen right now if they took that oath seriously? Wouldn't they be refusing to participate in these wars of aggression, since they are forbidden in our constitution? Just seems to be toy soldier stuff to me.

[Joanne98]

40. For profit killers

That would make a good book. You could title it SATAN'S ARMY. I was thinking about starting a mercenary research thread. I was soooo pissed last night. The Democrats have been voting to get these people money. These are extreme rw ideologues. I bet you anything the fundies are involved in this. The Democrats voted for HAVA. Think about that. They voted to buy voting machines manufactured by Republicans, to count the votes of THEIR constituents. What a bunch of fucking dummies. I can't take anymore of naive Dems. They need to wake up or resign. If it wasn't for Bev Harris and DU they would have NEVER figured out the e-voting scam. Some of them still don't believe it. INEXCUSABLE!!!!!!!! We need to run militant Dems with moral clarity in the primaries. Someone who understands that the Thugs are THE ENEMY. Get it, get it, get it?????????????? HELLO?

[He loved Big Brother]

44. Your last sentences say it all

I feel the exact same way. Our Dems need to LEAD or GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE WAY!!

[peacetalksforall]

58. I also feel the same way....

There are many who need to be replaced...

Have you ever figured out where exactly they morph...is it after one week or one year in Washington?

Who is in that middle group that Dashle and others cater to?

To me, there are stubborn Bushblievers and those who will learn, if ever so slowly - so why can't Daschle and others spur them on.

Pacify, pacify and negotiate. I once thought he was skillful. Now, I'd like to see him come off the dime -

[msmcghee]

54. Mercenary losses . .

. . will be considered trade secrets.

[Maat]

13. Say what you willl..

but I'm gonna' take a good look at Dean's book. That man knows the law (and how to break it) but he knows the law! His pieces on FINDLAW are good!

[Maat]

14. And I happen to think that a person who speaks up...

is courageous. Like Clarke.

[calimary]

55. John Dean has a LOT to say. He speaks with great credibility.

One might even say he's learned the hard way. If you've been following his articles in FINDLAW.com, he makes some exquisitely convincing arguments on this issue. He's been writing some real barn-burners in the last year or so, where he's spent time chewing on the accusations, the perceptions of stink that he's noticed coming from this White House (and who would have a more finely-attuned nose for such smells than a former convicted Watergater?) and exploring what it all might mean. Every article's conclusion has been more and more ominous. If THIS guy sees impeachable offenses, believe it. I'd be awfully worried if I were working in the White House currently.

I got the book, myself, when I bought Richard Clarke's. Can't wait for at least two more: Bob Woodward's (which the White House is said to be nervous about) AND Joseph Wilson's book, which the White House purportedly SHOULD be nervous about.

[arikara]

15. What exactly is a "shadow government"?

I've heard that term often in reference to Snarlin' Dick.

[Voltaire99]

21. An unconstitutional secret government, run without oversight.

Dean's not saying anything we all haven't perceived or suspected for some time. Cheney's a secretive, defiant bastard who hates the checks and balances of our constitutional republic.

The scary part is what this implies for beyond 2004. If Cheney et al. intend to remain in power regardless of the vote, then the coming election might prove to be a fiasco to dwarf that of the last one.

[Zhade]

23. "If Cheney et al. intend to remain in power regardless of the vote..."

Whaddayamean, IF?

These traitors are going to have to be dragged from the White House kicking and screaming!

[progressivebydesign]

53. It means they have assembled their legal team already..

.. and have been putting all tactics and players in place well before Bush "took" office in 2001. As the news gets worse and worse for bush.. the rumbling sound of 'that idiot wasn't even elected' will come back. His teflon image of a war president, and leader, is starting to chip away... little, by little. Remember when he "took" office? Consumer confidence plunged, because people KNEW he was not elected.. it has continued to plummet. Thus.. the crappy economy. The reason Bush has nothing but political advisors and campaign workers in his inner circle, is that the presidency for him personally is all about being re-elected, accomplishing goals, and getting out in (gasp) 8 years to become Baseball Commish. They had to sieze power in 2000.. so that they could change enuff in America to ensure that they will ALWAYS have the power. Their goal is to NEVER have a Democratic threat again. Not in the House, the Senate, or in the White House. I think people can't grasp that we're taken over by a military/industrial complex. The cynical, greedy, power-lusting bastards are wrapping this all up in decency and Jesus. They are no more religious than any athiest would be. It's all.. the patriotism, the religion, the morality.. it's all a sham to control everything, and the stupid Americans that care more about who won on the latest reality show, rather than how THEIR government is screwing them and sending our military off to die.

[Just Me]

57. Yup,...until these freon neocon despots' evilness is shoved in the faces

of the American people,...the Americans are going to continue to be manipulated and betrayed, and it will not matter whether it was due to laziness or trust or denial IF this cabal is appointed back into office because hell will work its way to everyone.

[Fovea]

28. Will Cheney be willing to start Civil War V2.1?

Considering Oxford Miss 1962 as 2.0.
Because that is what it would be, as well as the the rest of the world
turning against us.

I know that they may feel invincible. But the world is a big place, full of surprises.

[Stephanie]

27. WRT to Dick it can have several meanings:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/09/60minutes/main592330.shtml?c...

But O'Neill thought it should have been the end. After 9/11 and the war in Afghanistan, the budget deficit was growing. So at a meeting with the vice president after the mid-term elections in 2002, Suskind writes that O'Neill argued against a second round of tax cuts.

"Cheney, at this moment, shows his hand," says Suskind. "He says, ˜You know, Paul, Reagan proved that deficits don't matter. We won the mid-term elections, this is our due." O'Neill is speechless.

<snip>

The former treasury secretary accuses Vice President Dick Cheney of not being an honest broker, but, with a handful of others, part of "a praetorian guard that encircled the president" to block out contrary views. "This is the way Dick likes it," says O'Neill.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/09/60minutes/main592330.shtml?c...

"From the very beginning, there was a conviction, that Saddam Hussein was a bad person and that he needed to go," says O'Neill, who adds that going after Saddam was topic "A" 10 days after the inauguration - eight months before Sept. 11.

<snip>

He got briefing materials under this cover sheet. "There are memos. One of them marked, secret, says, "˜Plan for post-Saddam Iraq,'" adds Suskind, who says that they discussed an occupation of Iraq in January and February of 2001.

Based on his interviews with O'Neill and several other officials at the meetings, Suskind writes that the planning envisioned peacekeeping troops, war crimes tribunals, and even divvying up Iraq's oil wealth.

He obtained one Pentagon document, dated March 5, 2001, and entitled "Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfield contracts," which includes a map of potential areas for exploration.

"It talks about contractors around the world from, you know, 30-40 countries. And which ones have what intentions," says Suskind. "On oil in Iraq."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A39500-2003Aug9?language=prin...

Cheney raised the alarm about Iraq's nuclear menace three times in August. He was far ahead of the president's public line. Only Bush and Cheney know, one senior policy official said, "whether Cheney was trying to push the president or they had decided to play good cop, bad cop."

On Aug. 7, Cheney volunteered in a question-and-answer session at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, speaking of Hussein, that "left to his own devices, it's the judgment of many of us that in the not-too-distant future, he will acquire nuclear weapons." On Aug. 26, he described Hussein as a "sworn enemy of our country" who constituted a "mortal threat" to the United States. He foresaw a time in which Hussein could "subject the United States or any other nation to nuclear blackmail."

"We now know that Saddam has resumed his efforts to acquire nuclear weapons," he said. "Among other sources, we've gotten this from firsthand testimony from defectors, including Saddam's own son-in-law."

That was a reference to Hussein Kamel, who had managed Iraq's special weapons programs before defecting in 1995 to Jordan. But Saddam Hussein lured Kamel back to Iraq, and he was killed in February 1996, so Kamel could not have sourced what U.S. officials "now know." And Kamel's testimony, after defecting, was the reverse of Cheney's description. In one of many debriefings by U.S., Jordanian and U.N. officials, Kamel said on Aug. 22, 1995, that Iraq's uranium enrichment programs had not resumed after halting at the start of the Gulf War in 1991. According to notes typed for the record by U.N. arms inspector Nikita Smidovich, Kamel acknowledged efforts to design three different warheads, "but not now, before the Gulf War."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,92372,00.html

Cheney Energy Task Force Documents Detail Iraqi Oil Industry
Friday, July 18, 2003

WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force appeared to have some interest in early 2001 in Iraq's oil industry, including which foreign companies were pursuing business there, according to documents released Friday by a private watchdog group.

Judicial Watch (search), a conservative legal group, obtained a batch of task force-related Commerce Department papers that included a detailed map of Iraq's oil fields, terminals and pipelines as well as a list entitled "Foreign Suitors of Iraqi Oilfield Contracts."

The papers also included a detailed map of oil fields and pipelines in Saudi Arabia and in the United Arab Emirates and a list of oil and gas development projects in those two countries.

The papers were dated early March 2001, about two months before the Cheney energy task force completed and announced its report on the administration's energy needs and future energy agenda.<more>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A24386-2002Dec7?language=prin...

Cheney's Home Sending Bad Vibrations
Construction Blasts Have D.C. Folks Shuddering, Speculating
Sunday, December 8, 2002; Page A01

No one in the Massachusetts Avenue Heights neighborhood of Northwest Washington knows what is going on at the house of their neighbor, the vice president of the United States.

But one thing is certain: They're tired of the daily blasting at the Naval Observatory that has shaken houses, rattled windows and knocked mirrors off the walls.

<snip>

The blasts, which last three to five seconds apiece, have been going off two or three times a day -- as early as 7 a.m. and as late as 11 p.m. -- for nearly two months, residents say. But neighbors have received so little information from government officials about the top-secret project that speculation is running wild.

The leading theory: A security bunker is being built for Vice President Cheney. The second most-popular guess: The government is digging tunnels to spy on nearby embassies. In third place: A helicopter hangar is under construction.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A20584-2002Feb28?language=pri...

Shadow Government Is at Work in Secret
After Attacks, Bush Ordered 100 Officials to Bunkers Away From Capital to Ensure Federal Survival
Friday, March 1, 2002; Page A01

President Bush has dispatched a shadow government of about 100 senior civilian managers to live and work secretly outside Washington, activating for the first time long-standing plans to ensure survival of federal rule after catastrophic attack on the nation's capital.

<snip>Known internally as the COG, for "continuity of government," the administration-in-waiting is an unannounced complement to the acknowledged absence of Vice President Cheney from Washington for much of the pastfive months. Cheney's survival ensures constitutional succession, one official said, but "he can't run the country by himself." With a core group of federal managers alongside him, Cheney -- or President Bush, if available -- has the means to give effect to his orders.

<snip>

According to officials with first-hand knowledge, the Bush administration conceived the move that morning as a temporary precaution, likely to last only days. But further assessment of terrorist risks persuaded the White House to remake the program as a permanent feature of "the new reality, based on what the threat looks like," a senior decisionmaker said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[chelaque liberal]

16. Bill Moyer interviewed Dean on NOW last night

Dean was scathing. Said flat out that lying to take the country to was is an impeachable offense. Just tried to find a transcript but was unsuccessful. I hope he does as many shows as Clarke.

[ultramega]

17. Saw this.

I like Moyer, but when he asked the question about "what would you say to the accusations that this could be sour grapes because Rumsfeld and Cheney's careers were successful, but yours ended in disgrace", I just thought, was that really necessary. It's a trash question, and they asked the same of Dick Clarke, and probably every one who has ever been a whistleblower... For once I would like to hear someone respond to that question with "Hell yes, exactly, this is just sour grapes. That's all this is, I'm just a disgruntled former employee out for revenge. Yes, nothing to see here, move along."

[Cassandra]

19. Yes, it was really necessary

because you know that will be the accusation. He might as well answer it before it's "officially" asked.

[jbutsz]

20. "Cheney is running a shadow government"

So is Alan Greenspan.

[mulethree]

26. But the Federal Reserve was supposed to be shadowy

That's kind of it's job. To allow monetary flexibility (Tax disguised as inflation), put some controls on interest rates, and compensate the big banks for agreeing not to screw America - too much.

Its a Central bank disguised as a regional system, a public/private club named to sound like it's part of the Federal Government, but arranged as a private corporation - but it's none of the above.

[bearfan454]

30. They take their orders from the

CFR

[MikeG]

22. Nixon used to run a five o'clock shadow government.

[alfredo]

25. And you know.

The Shadow Knows.

[et in Arcadia ego...]

24. By all accounts Cheney is the President...

In the late '90s the Reagan 'cultus' wanted to put Dicky-boy in the driver's seat. But since he was on death's door healthwise and has the charisma of a slug, his band of merrymen knew he didn't stand a chance in hell of getting elected in 2000. It's like Cheney wanted to be President, but he knew it wasn't going to happen. And actually, he's just fine and dandy with how it all worked out. He's running the show, and Bush is just the wooden dummy. Maybe this is America's first co-regency? Hell, W could go AWOL again, and nothing would really change.

Remember when Cheney was picked to oversee the choosing of W's running mate? That was all a big crock, he was in the works all along. If I recall, Cheney was living in Wyoming at he time. But if any of you want to do the research, he and wifey-poo Lynn were buying a house just outside of D.C. well before that VP selection charade was on the front burner. It's a bit of a double whammy to have the U.S. under attack from this administration and terrorists. WTF!

[anarchy1999]

31. Actually, at the time Cheney was living in Dallas.

While he was trying to find a VP for Dubya he was a resident of Dallas, TX (Highland Park to define it). It was only after he could not find anyone but himself qualified enough to be VP, that he all of the sudden found his home and his roots in Wyoming.

There was a lawsuit in Texas over residency, naturally, it was thrown out.

[anarchy1999]

32. from Jackson T.

http://dean-justinspoliticaljournal.cafeprogressive.com/a_tale_of_two_americas.htm

A Tale of Two Americas

By Jackson Thoreau

On July 9, I drove by the house where Dick Cheney lived in the wealthy Dallas suburb of Highland Park when he and other Republicans stole the White House some 20 months before. I have driven by this $2.7 million mansion numerous times since Cheney sold it in late November 2000 to Dianne Cash, a major Republican donor who owns another Highland Park mansion.


I'm not exactly sure what makes me drive by this mansion so much. Perhaps I'm just curious to see if anyone is actually inhabiting this house, or if it was just sold quickly so Cheney could act like he wasn't living there in November 2000 in violation of the 12th Amendment to our Constitution. I've never seen any evidence of inhabitation, no cars parked in the driveway or trash put out for collection.


I will continue to drive by Cash-Cheney's empty mansion, the symbol of the emptier consciences of those who continue to ignore the growing chasm between the haves and have nots. Even though I was among the more than 2 million Americans laid off from a job myself last year - the most since 1982 - I will continue to give directly to the growing number of homeless I see. Let them spend the money how they want, even if they buy cheap liquor. They cannot afford the same prescribed medication that richer Americans use to anesthetize their existence.

snip to the end:

I will not turn my head at the growing ranks of the poor - after equaling a record low 11.3 percent in 2000 under Clinton-Gore, the poverty rate is believed to have grown under Bush-Cheney - then sing patriotic songs in church about supposed unity in America. I will not support an administration that is mostly about hypocrisy and cynicism, as it superficially labors to keep "one nation, under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance and only deepens the actual social and environmental problems with its selfish, help-the-rich-get-richer policies.


For example, a study released last month by Citizens for Tax Justice and Children's Defense Fund said that 52 percent of the Bush-Cheney tax cuts will go to the wealthiest one percent of Americans by 2010, if that program is not changed. Meanwhile, Bush's budget included no new funding for Head Start or child care programs. As CDF President Marian Wright Edelman said, "The Bush administration's words say 'Leave no child behind.' The Bush administration's deeds say 'Leave no millionaires behind.'" That's a key aspect to note when dealing with Bush-Cheney; do not believe what they say, but look at what they do.


Let me say this as clearly as I can: We are not one nation, under God. We are two nations - even more than two nations if you count the haves, have nots, and those teetering on the edge - with a wide diversity of opinions on the interpretation of a higher power. We are multiple nations, multiple factions, trying to gain access to power, trying just to survive, watching those strange, fatalistic reality TV shows with horrific amusement.


I really believe that, down the road, it will be organizations like Democrats.com and Citizens for a Legitimate Government, Web sites such as Bush Watch, Buzzflash, America Held Hostile, Democratic Underground, Smirking Chimp, Liberal Slant, BartCop, and Online Journal, Internet groups like Not My President, the Fallout Shelter, and Citizens Against Bush, progressive media members like Robert Scheer, Molly Ivins, and Meria Heller, and courageous politicians like Cynthia McKinney, that will be seen as providing the most light through this tunnel of darkness we are passing through right now. There are times when we're working to expose the Bush-Cheney regime until 4 a.m., to the detriment of our health and family life. But something drives us onward.


Let us continue to speak out. Let us continue to light the way to higher ground, so we can gain some perspective on where we have to go to truly become one nation. Better yet, one world.


Jackson Thoreau is co-author of We Will Not Get Over It: Restoring a Legitimate White House.


Copyright 2001-2002 AmericaHeldHostile.com.
All rights reserved.i

[anarchy1999]

39. Thank you JT>

And a kick up to the top for the lesser cynics among us. For those of us who are still trying to find their way and are lost.

PS/Shame to you who say yawn.

[et in Arcadia ego...]

47. Thanks anarchy...

I'd forgotten that he had lived in TX and also about the hoopla over his residency. That all seems like ages ago in light of all the crap of the past 4 years.

[Joanne98]

41. Lynn Cheney!!!!!! What a bitch.

She spends all her time trying to bring down LW college professors. She's real interested in making sure the history books don't tell the truth either. You know she's upset with these whistle blowers. They're screwing up all her FAKE HISTORY plans. She also spends allot of time trying to corrupt children. She shouldn't be allowed within 50 ft of a school. She's worse than a child molester.

[goforit]

49. Now that's the one who wants to rule the world!!!!

:puke:

[truthisfreedom]

33. yawn.

this is so not news to me.

[RoyGBiv]

34. Am I the evil genius?

<http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/executive/president/2004-01-19-cheney-weapons_x.htm>

I read this article in the USA Today back in January, and I was enough taken aback by the comment "Cheney fired O'Neill in December 2002" that I bookmarked the story. Now, I'm sure it's possible I missed something, and I'm also sure it's possible the writer simply didn't phrase this properly. But, since when do VP's have the authority to fire cabinet members?

In any case, I re-read the article just now and was reminded of another comment from the end that I thought was pertinent to this thread:

"Cheney said he's effective working behind the scenes and doesn't believe voters will choose the next president based on running mates. 'Am I the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his hole?" he said. 'It's a nice way to operate, actually.'"

[Tuttle]

38. Welcome, RGB -- great find

thanks for sharing that -- excellent point!

Tut-tut

[Joanne98]

42. LOL Oh the humility

which reminds me. Remember back to the beginning of this administration. When they were wearing their "humble" costumes. The Cheney's were walking around with their heads down everywhere they went. Lynn still does it. What a joke coming from the most arrogant people on earth.

[mrbill]

36. no shit sherlock..........

n/t

[goforit]

48. Cheney???.......Unpatriotic????......Developing his own GOV'T????

A traitor to Democracy?????
An Benedick Arnold Magnified????
A Hitler Wannabe???

Hey.....I have the perfect solution!!!

Bremmer wants to step down, so give Cheney what he's always wanted
a new country to run.
Send him to Iraq!!!!

And Pronto!!!!

[TahitiNut]

50. Identical to a feudal aristocracy.

Everything these corporatists (global plantations) do is reminiscent of a feudal aristocracy. From the "Divine Right (Entitlement) of Kings" to the rights of Ownership to be made wealthy through the coerced labors of others to the "power behind the throne" ... these anachronistic rinosaurs pattern their behavior after feudal aristocrats with their power entrenched by a corrupt and complicit "church." It was the rule rather than the exception that the "boy kings" were innately incapable of taking the reins themselves. Perhaps Mandarin China serves as the closest example, or perhaps Japan in the days of the shoguns and samarais ... we're witnessing the culmination of democracy's subversion to the will of the wealthy. We're fully in an era of corporatist feudalism.

[leesa]

52. Remember the trillions of dollars that went missing from the DOD prior to

9-11? I do. And I always thought it was funneled into this second government and probably a second crop of blackshirts. Good thing 9-11 came along, eh? (from the Crime Family's perspective, of course!)