Cheney's Resignation Is Imminent --The Ostroy Report

[Demeter]

http://www.ostroyreport.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

The rumormill is once again aflutter with talk that Vice President Dick Cheney will soon be sacrificed as the Busheviks bow to their plummeting poll numbers, and the ReTHUGlican-controlled Congress, with just a 35% approval rating, fights for its political survival. As the chief architect of the Iraq fiasco, and the poster-boy for divisiveness in Washington, Cheney, as I first predicted here February 15, will be forced to resign.

New polls show Bush earning the approval of just 38% of Americans. He's currently been under serious fire over his authorized leak of classified intelligence about Iraq to indicted Cheney chief Scooter Libby. Compounding this controversy is the fact that his military debacle there is raging out of control amid a rapidly expanding civil war, with calls from Democrats, Republicans and voters alike all calling for an imminent end to the carnage. Cheney's recent hunting incident only served to exacerbate Bush's growing frustration with his alleged subordinate. Shooter and Scooter have become not just political embarrassments, but liabilities. In short, in order to remedy the Busheviks' mounting leadership crisis to possibly salvage the November mid-terms for the GOP, heads need to be rolling down Pennsylvania Avenue. To date, the only head that's rolled anywhere belongs to former Bush chief Andy Card. There's also speculation that Press Secretary Scott McClellan is next. But combined, sacrificing these two would be like Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad firing his chauffeur and his food-taster. At least one or more major players must go, and with his approval rating hovering around the age of the average high school kid, Cheney will be the sacrificial lamb.

By June, it's likely that Rudy Giuliani, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour or perennial hopeful John McCain will be United States vice-president. Ladies and Gentlemen, place your bets.

[katty]

1. if possibly true,can't be soon enough-before or after Iran?!

[madame defarge]

2. No surprise...

I'm betting it's McCain. He's sucking up lots right now. And they'll position him for '08.

[pacalo]

10. Something tells me there was a deal between McCain & Bush

during the 2004 campaign that led to all the sucking up; however, the fact that Tim Russert & other WH media tools seem to be giving McCain a hard time now tells me Bush is reneging on the deal by having the media lower McCain's real estate.

[EC]

16. Exactly what I thought when

McCain hugged **. Ha, that would put him in the front running for Pres. too....

[longship]

12. NO!!! Not McCain.

Think people, think.

First, if McCain is appointed as VEEP, Governor Napolitano (a Democrat) will get to appoint his successor. There's *no* way that ChimpCo allows that to happen.

Second, McCain is perceived as a person who goes off script and has a long track record of being somewhat of a moderate (in spite of his recent rhetoric). The last person that ChimpCo will appoint to veep is somebody like McCain. ChimpCo wants somebody low-key, without a long track record, and who is unabashedly, but stealthily, lunatic right wing.

**Nothing** ChimpCo has done in the past five+ years gives anybody any reason to believe that he would select McCain. Have any of his appointments given anybody reason to think he'll appoint McCain as veep? The answer to that is a clear, "No."

[katty]

23. McCain: BiPolar express+ W's meds&alky bouts

[beltanefauve]

33. May I add

teaming up with Ted Kennedy on the guest worker proposal. Off script, indeed! (Not that I'm defending that shameless whore, of course!)

[ribrepin]

42. Good points

I guess it's George Allen--Nutcase from Virginia. He seems to be the darling of the rightwing. Or maybe not--I just checked and the governor of Virginia is a democrat.

[sharp_stick]

3. The only way crashcart will resign

is when they lower his oversized casket into the ground. That powerhungry POS hasn't killed enough people to guarantee his family eternal wealth yet.

[SteppingRazor]

9. His resignation won't be up to him. He'll be told that he's resigning. n/t

[katty]

21. right

[paparush]

4. That just means he can cash in his Halliburton options a few years earlier

[beltanefauve]

28. Its not about money.

Its about power. Its the rush they get from amassing that money and pulling the strings that matters to them. Cheney will only resign if asked to by powers greater and darker than he.

[CTyankee]

47. Wonder if he'll be able to enjoy his ill gotten gains

Wouldn't it be ironic if, after all that, his heart gives out before he has one day of enjoyment of his riches? Then, that plummet into hell where he spends an eternity for his sins...

oops, getting little too weird here...

[cassiepriam]

5. And he will laugh all the way to the bank. Vastly wealthy forever. nt

[goclark]

6. Then who will be the President?

No one else is President.

[SteppingRazor]

7. Not to say I told you so, but...

I told you so. Hell, I've been predicting a Cheney resignation for months now, and I've done so in print since a blog entry dated Feb. 10. However, I've called Sec. of State Rice to take over the VP slot.

The Bush administration is a sinking ship. No GOP politician with dreams of running in 2008 is going to tie himself to it now. That rules out people like McCain and Giuliani, and probably Barbour and Romney as well. Simply due to the fact that outside GOPpers won't touch it with a 10-foot pole -- and also given past precedent, such as promoting from within when Andy Card resigned -- I think the Bush administration will both have to promote from within, and will want to in any case. And the obvious choice, once you admit that they'll do so, is Rice.

[IntravenousDemilo]

11. You might want to save that until it actually happens. n/m

[SteppingRazor]

17. It was a preemptive "I told you so." I just followed the Bush Doctrine`

:evilgrin:

[IntravenousDemilo]

22. You'll just feel so much more fulfilled if it's after the fact, though.

[AndyA]

8. Cheney can resign, it won't matter - nothing will change.

The Republicans will still manipulate the American legal system, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. The only way Republicans could change things now would be for a mass exodus of Republican Senators and Representatives, all of whom have enabled The Bush Administration to compromise the laws, citizens, and policies of the United States of America.

Edit: Spelling...

[acmavm]

13. If he resigns it will be all for show. He's running the show now,

he's not gonna let go. He'll still have a bloody hand in no matter what.

[Why Syzygy]

15. From his Pinky and the Brain

deep bunker. I believe he prefers to live underground.

[cyclezealot]

14. But, American's are suckers for myths: Guilani

would do the Repugs the most bang for the buck in the polls. Whole new start for them. Debts are soon forgiven in politics if practacility is necessary. McCain would be very happy to be Secretary of Defense in a Guilani administration?

[Buck Laser]

18. I don't care whether it happens or not,

but it's kinda fun to help keep the rumor alive.

[FrankLee]

19. Replace Cheney with Al Gore

Then, when Bush resigns or gets impeached and convicted, the rightful President Al Gore can take over and unite the country.

Hey, pass me some more peyote!

[juajen]

20. I believe it will be Mitt Romney

He's looking good to go, me thinks.

[beltanefauve]

38. Well, he WAS looking good

before he signed that (gasp!) socialized medicine health care bill for Massachusetts!

[Kber]

24. I suppose bush might prefere to replace cheney before he looses

the congress and has a much tougher confirmation fight.

[MasonJar]

25. No, Bush and Rummy go with Cheney.

[IndianaGreen]

26. Cheney should be offered as a burnt offering to appease the gods

Bush can't fire Cheney even if he wanted to. Cheney is the real power behind the throne!

[Jack Rabbit]

30. Wouldn't that anger the gods?

Wouldn't that anger the gods to slight them with such a "gift"?

[IndianaGreen]

31. You are right, the gods would reject such a sacrifice

How about offering Cheney to his Father Satan instead?

[cliss]

27. Well, let's look at this from the public's point of view.

What are the Americans going to think about this? What will the rest of the world think? In the middle of a WAR?????

Now, you don't need to tell me about the celebration parties. I will be one of them.....beautiful spread, I'll be opening the champagne bottle, lots of smiling happy faces....dips, laughter. Cursing, too!!! Some of my friends will have tears running down their cheeks from joy.

But as far as stability....can this be seen as a good move? Becaquse they're kinda stuck together, the lot of them. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfailed. If one goes, maybe they will all so.

FOR GOD'S SAKE what can Bush do on his own? I for one will be watching with bated breath.

[saltpoint]

29. Uncle Dick is such an obstinate, reptilian monster that it's hard to

picture him going willingly. Bush might have to sack the guy, and Bush doesn't seem all that resolute these days.

But it could happen.

I for one won't miss Dick Cheney.

If Cheney leaves, Bush's pick would become the de facto front runner, seems like.

If the GOP had any sense at all -- by no means a reliable claim -- Cheney wold go and Haley Barbour would step in. It would piss off Bill Frist, THE CAT BUTCHER, and George Cement-Head Allen, too.

[depakid]

32. This would be a smart thing to do

which is exactly why it won't happen....

[rodeodance]

34. both rummy and cheney will go their twin mansions after the 06 election is

my prediction.

I read somewhere that cheney recently bought a house next Rummy.

[winston61]

35. I'm not convinced

the thing that always remains true about Cheney and the neocons, is that they NEVER acknowledge error,never acknowledge reality, never acknowledge anything except their own goals. They've learned nothing from the chaos of Iraq because in their eyes everything is fine. The invasion of Iran is just next on the list. Let the white house implode, they've still got rigged electronic voting, a nation of ignorant sheep (I live in Texas, I should know). They will fight change tooth and nail and will only be stopped by arrest and trial.

[teryang]

36. the formal structure of government is no longer relevant

...at this point. One wonders whether the capability to restore it even exists any longer. The federal organization other than the constitutional vestiges, is a meaningless labyrinthine quicksand. The three branches are mere facades diguising the face of corporate fascism.

It's all about the triumvirate of evil, George HW Bush with his "son will make a fine president" in the white house, Cheney actually running the covert national security infrastructure (as HW did during the reagan regime), and Rumsfeldt running the day to day of the military contractor complex. They currently preside over a lawless regime of looting, fraud, and belligerence and compete to control the levers of terror and lucre. They have a corrupt and superficial understanding of the world balance of power and international affairs. Hence, their repeated foreign policy diasters and seemingly undaunted drive to repeat one failure after another.

The really perilous developement is the demise of HW. W will be flushed out very quickly if George I dies or has a stroke. Idiot boy is only PR figurehead, considered to be a good cheerleader for the cause, someone fundie morans recognize as, and corporate moguls pretend is, a legitimate leader. The guy couldn't lead a boy scout troop. Deference to W is only kissing the Bush family ring. They are the enforcers for the upper, upper, crust of have mores, who still think they are calling the shots. I look for Cheney to continue behind the scenes no matter what his nominal government position. Party membership in the ruling clique is more relevant than constitutional offices. By that I'm referring to the dictatorial cadre of a regime implementing totalitarian rule for the upper corporate crust.

[tom_paine]

37. Sadly, I believe yours is the most accurate assessment

I hope we are wrong.

[Bucky]

39. I so don't believe this. They ain't quitters.

They're chickenhawks, not chickens. They won't go down with the ship, but they won't jump ship to save the rest of their crew either. None of 'em. Scooter is the perfect example. Team player until betrayal becomes more profitable. No force on earth can make this VP resign before he's legally compelled to.

[bklyncowgirl]

40. This goes with what I've been thinking all along--but it won't be McCain

Senior Republicans are scared.

The party will force Bush to do something the way that they did with Nixon-- Something will be "allowing" Cheney to resign.

The replacement will be someone Bush and the senior leaders of the Republican party, and the corporate types that own them trust implicitly. This person will be presentable enough to show to the general public and will be greeted with praise by the media.

It may be Condi Rice who seems to be the only member of the administration who gets decent press and who is one of the few people that Bush actually trusts.

It will not be John McCain who may well have been led by Bush to believe he will get it. The look on McCain's face when he realizes he sold his soul for an empty promise will bring much joy to the heart of George W. Bush.

[LevelB]

41. Well as long as we are guessing..

Yah, Cheney could make a credible (to FOX) resignation at any time for reasons of health. And receive a pardon (if the heat is too much) to spare this great American who has devoted his life to freedom, yadda, yadda, yadda.

IF that happens, I would guess that Bush will reach to the Senate for a replacement, like Nixon did - but I am guessing that if he chooses a senator it will be Frist - not McCain.

B.

[lovuian]

43. I'll believe it when I see it...

Until then its wishful thinking... I have always thought Cheney would have to be pulled out of there by the police...

[Skittles]

44. the only way that bastard will leave is on a stretcher

that's my bet

[yurbud]

45. Guiliani damaged goods, Barbour TOO redneck, so leaves McCain, Romney

or some seemingly moderate northerner. The southerners look too much like the snake oil salesmen they are.

[greymattermom]

46. vice president

Sam Brownback. Brownback mountain here we come.