The Long March of Dick Cheney

[dutchdemocrat]

The Long March of Dick Cheney
Thursday, 24 November 2005

Below is one of the best articles that Sidney Blumenthal has ever written, a chilling, precise and deadly accurate account of the rise of Dick Cheney and the profoundly anti-democratic faction of power junkies and war profiteers that he represents.

The Long March of Dick Cheney,
by Sidney Blumenthal.

The hallmark of the Dick Cheney administration is its illegitimacy. Its essential method is bypassing established lines of authority; its goal is the concentration of unaccountable presidential power. When it matters, the regular operations of the CIA, Defense Department and State Department have been sidelined.

Richard Nixon is the model, but with modifications. In the Nixon administration, the president was the prime mover, present at the creation of his own options, attentive to detail, and conscious of their consequences. In the Cheney administration, the president is volatile but passive, firm but malleable, presiding but absent. Once his complicity has been arranged, a closely held "cabal" -- as Lawrence Wilkerson, once chief of staff to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, calls it -- wields control.

SNIP

http://www.chris-floyd.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=300&Itemid=1

[H2O Man]

1. Good article ....

Cheney is an updated version of Nixon in many ways. He has none of Nixon's charm or warmth.

[babylonsister]

2. Nixon's charm and warmth, H2O Man? That made

me laugh!

[H2O Man]

4. It did me, too .....

though one should not laugh at their own attempts at humor.

[Mallove Fan 71]

10. Good one.

If you listen real hard to Cheney's voice (I know, attempt at your own risk), it has a certain dark harmonic that reminds me of those pitch drops they do in horror flicks to make the actor's voice sound demonic.

No wonder we named him Vader.

[H2O Man]

18. I suspect

that Cheney spends time in front of a mirror, rehearsing the routine that he believes conveys power. He is indeed demonic.

[hootinholler]

11. Considering that Cheney and Rummy and others

Graduated from the Dicky Tricks school of politics, where they learned the fundamentals, (and most importantly the idea that you don't have to be the Pres to be The Man), and then went on to the Raygun school of finance for illegal wars where they learned to turn black ops into profit centers, I'm thankful they were cocky enough to underestimate their power, or to go all in prematurely.

It's telling that in 1999 by the time of the convention, all serious contenders to the R Pres. nomination were signatories of the PNAC Statement of Principles save one: W.

You can be sure the next incarnation of these despicable sods (whom our children will have to fight) will have the consolidate first meme down and will be smart enough to understand the need for subtlety and finesse.

-Hoot

[H2O Man]

19. Of the group,

Cheney is the most Nixon-like. Bush may do the Nixon presidential routine, and suffer a smilar fate as an official. But Cheney is the essence of the negative force that took Dick Nixon to the dark side.

[hootinholler]

22. I have to agree there.

Nixon was a ruthless bastard, * is simply clueless. Hired by Nixon, he rose to become Deputy Chief of Staff to Ford when Rumsfeld was appointed his Chief of Staff.

I was looking into this a little to see if I could find any nuggets and viola:

President Gerald R. Ford wanted to sign the Freedom of Information Act strengthening amendments passed by Congress 30 years ago, but concern about leaks (shared by his chief of staff Donald Rumsfeld and deputy Richard Cheney) and legal arguments that the bill was unconstitutional (marshaled by government lawyer Antonin Scalia, among others) persuaded Ford to veto the bill, according to declassified documents posted today by the National Security Archive to mark the 30th anniversary of the veto override.

The documents include President Ford's handwritten notation on his first legislative briefing document after succeeding President Nixon in August 1974, that "a veto presents problems. How serious are our objections?" White House aide Ken Cole wrote Ford on September 25, 1974, "There is little question that the legislation is bad on the merits, the real question is whether opposing it is important enough to face the political consequences. Obviously, there is a significant political disadvantage to vetoing a Freedom of Information bill, especially just before an election, when your Administration's theme is one of openness and candor."

On November 20, 1974, the House of Representatives voted to override Ford's veto by a margin of 371 to 31; on November 21, the Senate followed suit by a 65 to 27 vote, giving the United States the core Freedom of Information Act still in effect today with judicial review of executive secrecy claims

This timeline suggests that when the wheels fell off Nixon's cart, it left a void in the dark side, and old Dick was promoted into a position that demonstrated where power could held away from the President. It also established the Rumsfeld-Cheney closeness early in their political careers, supporting recent allegations of them forming a cabal calling the shots in regards to Iraq.

-Hoot

[babylonsister]

3. Thanks for this article, dutchdem; it's chock full

of facts; I'll be printing this out and sharing.

[zippy890]

5. Cheney's the one who must be totally discredited

Complete humiliation would be too good for this man.

This is an excellent article. Cheney has commandeered the executive branch -his purpose to amass power in that branch to promote his radical ideology.

Highly recommended read in understanding how our government has ended up where it is today

[EFerrari]

6. There is one thing in this article that sort of disturbs me. The NIE.

At some point, I read a declassified portion of that NIE. It was full of qualifiers. Did anyone else read that?

So, it's not true that people like Diane Feinstein were without the necessary information to reject this outrageous use of force.

It's one thing to shade the facts for political purposes: it's another to lie to yourself.

[bleever]

14. Absolutely! IIRC, Congress insisted on a NIE, and though it wasn't

technically complete, Cheney put together his filtered and condensed version.

You are correct.

:thumbsup:

[mwb970]

7. Cheney will be the death of America.

I'm becoming convinced that the Dick's ascendancy is the single worst calamity to ever befall our once-great nation.

You know how the name "Benedict Arnold" has become synonymous with treason, even after all these years, even though very few could provide the details of Arnold's acts? I'm pretty sure that "Dick Cheney" will be used in the future to refer to ungodly amounts of incompetence, corruption, and dishonesty brought together in one person.

[electropop]

9. Dick Cheney will replace Benedict Arnold as the epitome of treason.

He has architected a massive campaign to harm America, and has even specifically revealed critical state secrets, betraying his country and our security people.

[rox63]

8. This is absolutely a must-read!

This will confirm all your worst fears about President Cheney, and add a few more to the pile. Kicked and rec'd.

[WiseButAngrySara]

12. Thanks so much for the article. K & R. ....n/t

[bleever]

13. Best article on Darth Cheney I've seen yet.

Cuts to the core of his anti-democratic ethos.

[EFerrari]

16. Anti democratic? The man is a sociopath!

When I realized what he was and that he was in fact running the joint, I swear, my blood ran cold.

In fact, that little epiphany was behind our two week emergency kit, complete with gas masks and whatEVER those iodine pills are. I felt nuts putting it together but NOT putting it together with this man in power would have been more nuts.

He is a clear and present danger. We need to really know that.

[bleever]

20. A year or so ago, when he was visiting SF, my friend watched his

plane (along with one or more escorts) circle twice around the bay before leaving.

I have to admit that my first thought was that we were being scouted for a MIHOP event, by the man himself.

He's an inside player, the way that a virus or parasite is. He must be driven out.

[EFerrari]

21. Whatever fearful thoughts we have, we're damn entitled to them

'far as I'm concerned. Look what he has already done.

Oh, well. Doug and I have cases of MREs and some exotic freeze dried stuff -- in case Celia's up the street is taken out. For your back pocket.



:)

[UTUSN]

15. I Knew CHEENEE Is the Devil, Just Didn't Know the Details n/t

[bonzotex]

17. posted on Salon as well....

On Salon:

http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2005/11/24/cheney/

This required reading to understand how the current administration is being run.

Sickening.

kick and nom....