PEGGY NOONAN: Hit Refresh? Why Bush may be thinking about replacing Cheney

[kpete]

PEGGY NOONAN

Hit Refresh?
Why Bush may be thinking about replacing Cheney.

Thursday, February 16, 2006 12:01 a.m. EST

The Dick Cheney shooting incident will, in a way, go away. And, in a way, not--ever. Some things stick. Gerry Ford had physically stumbled only once or twice in public when he became, officially, The Stumbler. Mr. Ford's stumbles seemed to underscore a certain lack of sure-footedness in his early policies and other decisions. The same with Jimmy Carter and the Killer Rabbit. At the time Mr. Carter told the story of a wild rabbit attacking his boat he had already come to be seen by half the country as weak and unlucky. Even bunnies took him on.

..............

But what are they thinking that they're not saying? Here's a hunch, based not on any inside knowledge but only on what I know of people who practice politics, and those who practice it within the Bush White House.
I suspect what they're thinking and not saying is, If Dick Cheney weren't vice president, who'd be a good vice president? They're thinking, At some time down the road we may wind up thinking about a new plan. And one night over drinks at a barbecue in McLean one top guy will turn to another top guy and say, "Under the never permeable and never porous Dome of Silence, tell me . . . wouldn't you like to replace Cheney?"

Why would they be thinking about this? It's not the shooting incident itself, it's that Dick Cheney has been the administration's hate magnet for five years now. Halliburton, energy meetings, Libby, Plamegate. This was not all bad for the White House: Mr. Cheney took the heat that would otherwise have been turned solely on George Bush. So he had utility, and he's experienced and talented and organized, and Mr. Bush admires and respects him. But, at a certain point a hate magnet can draw so much hate you don't want to hold it in your hand anymore, you want to drop it, and pick up something else. Is this fair? Nah. But fair has nothing to do with it.

This is a White House that likes to hit refresh when the screen freezes. Right now the screen is stuck, with poll numbers in the low 40s, or high 30s.

http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=110007972

[YOY]

1. Putting Bush in any statement that suggests computer literacy is idiotic

Then again...Peggy Noonan...

[Norquist Nemesis]

2. If he's looking at the approval ratings, Dick's just one more oops

away from getting kicked to the curb.

[DoYouEverWonder]

3. Rove will try to spin it that way

Rove and Bush were never really accepted into the Neocon inner circle and I believe there is a lot of resentment between both groups. Nice to see them finally turning on each other. This will be fun.

[bluethruandthru]

4. How can they possibly replace the president?

..er, vice president?

[Talismom]

9. That's my question too! I just listened to Seymor Hersh on the

Rachael Maddow show saying that one of the most important aspects of this story is that it demonstrates who actually is the acting president! Even Card, the presidents guy, did not give the WH the whole story--that Cheney was the shooter. It first reached Karl Rove who released the spin that the victim was to blame! This is BIG and potentially devestating to Bush. Talking points--he is totally incapable of any leadership--impotent and dependent of Dick and Karl to give HIM his marching orders.

[Burried News]

5. Cheney is the administration, there is no way Bush can remove him. nt

[BeyondGeography]

6. Junior's loyalty factor, thankfully, will prevent this from happening

And we'll have Cheney to kick around until January of 2009.

[lakeguy]

7. won't happen. it would amount to an apology for crashcart

and we know that "apology" isn't in the neocon vocabulary.

[liberal N proud]

8. Duck is part of the neo-con master plan

He is essentially doing the presidents job, bu$h is nothing more than an idiot they put in front of Duck Cheney, because Duck was never electable.

[The Backlash Cometh]

10. The problem, Peggy, is that the entire Republican party has become

a hate magnet.

[LibDemAlways]

11. Noonan actually thinks the chimp has some

authority over Cheney? Where has she been? Memo to Peggy: You are confusing the President with the chimp. Chimp is the guy they keep on hand for photo ops, speeches to carefully screened audiences, and fundraisers where he can joke about the "haves and have mores." Otherwise they send him out to ride his bike. Chimp has no more decision-making authority at the WH than you do. If any thinking needs to be done, Rove does it for him. Chimp doesn't know what the hell the President (Cheney) is doing in that bunker and he doesn't much care as long as he gets to land on an aircraft carrier wearing a flight suit or strum a guitar in San Diego while a major city washes away.He's a bad actor with a part to play.

Cheney, the evil neocon, works from a bunker, plotting global death and destruction and making life worse for ordinary Americans at home. He makes the decisions and he makes no apologies. He's the guy behind the curtain and he has no intention of going anywhere.

[RobertSeattle]

12. HuffPo picked this today as well

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2006/02/16/bush-sr-speech-writer-pe_n_15824.html

[DearAbby]

13. Gawd everyone knows who really is the President

Remember 5/11 when the plane strayed into restricted airspace...and they allowed * to peddle his ass, on his bike ride, instead of informing him that his own wife and former first lady Nancy Reagan had to be hurdled into the WH shelter???

It seems everytime there is some sort of scare where the NORMAL AMERICAN would assume the President was right on top of it, he was left out of the loop..

[Disturbed]

14. The Silverspoon Sociopath is a Sock Puppet.

Get rid of Darth Cheney? LOL

[Roland99]

15. Kick!

[Sparkly]

16. "Refresh" my azz.

The whole cabal is made up of recycled "loyalists." As I've said for years, they'll replace Cheney with their '08 pick when it suits them.