Guardian: The Overruling of the President

[kskiska]

William Keegan
Sunday January 18, 2004


When I visited Washington in the spring of 2001 - the early days of the Bush administration - Professor Colin Campbell, the Canadian political scientist then at Georgetown University, told me that it wasn't really a Bush administration at all, but one run by Vice-President Dick Cheney. George W. Bush was more likely to be in the gymnasium than the Oval Office.

Perceptions changed after 11 September, 2001, and the President proceeded to assume the role of commander-in-chief. But it took him time to get his act together and in the initial stages he was upstaged by Tony Blair.

For all the publicity about the so-called special relationship over Iraq, it has become increasingly obvious that our Prime Minister has gained very little in return for 'hugging Bush close'. There are those who believe that, for all his public bonhomie towards Blair, Bush has never forgiven him for upstaging him in those early days.

Recently it has even been suggested by a leading US commentator that the administration has been deliberately trying to cause a rift between the UK and Europe over defence policy - hardly a help towards Blair's long-term goal of negotiating entry to the Eurozone.

All the suspicions about the Bush-Cheney relationship have been confirmed in the new book written by Ron Suskind but essentially containing the damaging memoirs of sacked US Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill (The Price of Loyalty). O'Neill used to confide his frustrations with Bush to his old friend Cheney, only to discover rather late in the day that his confessor was also his Control.

more…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1125507,00.html

[saltpoint]

1. Well, kskiska --

-- I didn't have a very favorable opinion of Cheney going into this evening and after reading this link, it's even lower.

I really think the U.S. media should do more of this sort of analysis, but then, I realize they are owned by a lot of pro-conservative interests.

Good post.

[kskiska]

2. Right now on cspan2 is Kevin Phillips

author of American Dynasty, and he's doing a bang-up job on the whole clan and their history.