Whither Dick Cheney?

The Dickster has been in the news a bit over the last week. The Washington Post has published a four-part article about the man, his power and his "shadow government".

Part 1 is "Working in the background". It describes the power and influence of Dick Cheney in the Bush Administration. No going to funerals for him. He's the most powerful VP in history.

Cheney preferred, and Bush approved, a mandate that gave him access to "every table and every meeting," making his voice heard in "whatever area the vice president feels he wants to be active in," Bolten said.

Part 2 is "Wars and Interogation". It was Dick Cheney who wanted to go to war with Iraq and it had little to do with 9/11. Dick wanted war with Iraq long before that. Furthermore, the USA "torture" policy is all Dick Cheney.

"Once he's taken a position, I think that's it," said James A. Baker III, who has shared a hunting tent with Cheney more than once and worked with him under three presidents. "He has been pretty damn good at accumulating power, extraordinarily effective and adept at exercising power."

Part 3 is "Dominating Budget Decisions".

In Bush, Cheney found the perfect partner. The president's willingness to delegate left plenty of room for his more detail-oriented vice president.

I don't see Bush as someone so much "willing" to delegate, but rather he has to delegate power because he is completely clueless about how to run a government. Bush was more or less elected as a figurehead with Cheney tagging along to actually run the government. This has worked out well for Cheney. He has all the power of the executive but with none of the oversight or accountability.

Part 4 "Environmental Policy" will be published tomorrow.

Dick Cheney steered some of the Bush administration's most important environmental decisions -- easing air pollution controls, opening public parks to snowmobiles and diverting river water from threatened salmon.

There are also two editorials in todays Washington Post concerning Dick Cheney. The first, "A GOP Plan to Oust Cheney" is by Sally Quinn. She proposes that the GOP should oust Cheney based purely on concern for our country. Who would replace him? Evidently, Fred Thompson is the only person acceptable to the GOP base. This would also give Thompson a leg up on running for President. Since Cheney will be getting his "batteries" replaced this summer there is a perfect excuse for "honorably" letting the man go.

The second editorial is "He's Not Going Anywhere". by Eugene Robinson.

The vice president, whose Secret Service code name is "Angler," really does know all the angles. And above all, he knows how to survive. His onetime mentor Donald Rumsfeld is gone, his onetime top aide Scooter Libby is on his way to jail, yet Cheney -- defiantly, disastrously, unbelievably -- remains. It will take years to uncover and undo all the damage he has wrought.