Dick Cheney's no-sail zone

[donsu]

http://www.pnionline.com/dnblog/attytood/archives/002629.html


What are the hallmarks of an imperial presidency vice presidency? Well, you could cite the usual stuff -- spying on fellow citizens, checking out their tax records, claiming to be above any laws, invading other countries without just cause, yadda, yadda, yadda.

But for Dick Cheney, living like an emperor is what Dan Quayle used to call "another lifestyle choice." From the lofty Grand Tetons to the lower elevations of Maryland's Eastern Shore, Cheney is beginning to acquire a string of vice presidential palaces that would make Saddam jealous. (Wonder where Cheney keeps the lions?) In fact, we're getting nostalgic for the "undisclosed location" days, and so are the veep's new neighbors:

According to well-to-do residents near their waterfront estates, Don and Joy Rumsfeld blend in, don't inconvenience their neighbors and get around town with minimum fuss since they bought their weekend house a year ago.

But Dick and Lynne Cheney, who settled into St. Michaels last fall, are being blamed by the locals for stopping traffic, keeping neighbors barricaded in their homes while the motorcade passes by, and disrupting sleepers' REM cycles with low-flying Chinook helicopters.

"I hear that Mrs. Cheney is delightful," a disgruntled neighbor, who lives within sight of Ballintober, the Cheneys' $2.7 million estate, told me yesterday. "But I've had great big helicopters fly over my house at 3 o'clock in the morning and at 1 in the morning. I can tell you I'm not happy. They're very noisy. The dogs start barking, and we can't get back to sleep."

The neighbor continued: "When they travel, the Secret Service clears Church Neck Road and prevents people from leaving their property. When they drive into town, people are actually told to stay inside their houses until the Cheneys go by. And I hear that two weeks ago, they told the DNR Police to keep their boats away from Cheney's house because it was ruining his view."

That last bit is unconfirmed -- although we were thinking it would be neat if a bunch of lefty boaters tried to check this out this spring with a public "Sail-In" on the formerly open waters of the Chesapeake near the vice presidential palace. But we reconsidered after reading this about his top aide (via War and Piece):

Though born in Washington, he styles himself as a "rugged Montana man" in the image of his boss, and he has a photo in his office of Cheney shooting a gun.

OK, forget the protest. Let's just hope there's not a nude beach in St. Michaels. Because nobody wants to see the emperor's new clothes.
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since when are sailboaters cowards?

the Chesapeake Bay has seen a lot of fighting in it's history and has been polluted to the max and doesn't deserve to have the Cheneys on it's shore

may snake Cheney and the she Cheney trip and fall.

[wakeme2008]

1. boy are they for a come down when Dick is out of office.

While he will still have SS protection, nothing like it is today. This will be interesting over time how much these well to do people put up with being locked into their houses because Cheney is going for a drive.

[No Exit]

2. So... how's it feel, rich people?

To be fucked over in much the same way he's been fucking over the rest of the country?