Bob Herbert: Mr. Vice President, It's Time to Go (NYT)

[kpete]

Op-Ed Columnist
Mr. Vice President, It's Time to Go
By BOB HERBERT

Published: February 16, 2006

..........

A vice president who insists on writing his own rules, who shudders at the very idea of transparency in government, whose judgment on crucial policy issues has been as wildly off the mark (and infinitely more tragic) as his actions in Texas over the weekend, and who has now become an object of relentless ridicule, cannot by any reasonable measure be thought of as an asset to the nation or to the president he serves.

The Bush administration would benefit from new thinking and new perspectives on the war in Iraq, the potential threat from Iran, the nation's readiness to cope with another terror attack, the development of a comprehensive energy policy and other important issues.

President Bush's approval ratings have dropped below 40 percent in recent polls. Even Republicans are openly criticizing the administration's conduct of the war, its response to Hurricane Katrina and assorted other failures and debacles.

Dick Cheney is a constant reminder of those things the White House would most like to forget: the bullying, the intelligence failures, the inability to pacify Iraq, the misuse of classified information and the breathtaking incompetence that seems to be spread throughout the administration.

Mr. Cheney would do his nation and his president a service by packing his bags and heading back to Wyoming. He's become a joke. But not a funny one.

http://select.nytimes.com/2006/02/16/opinion/16herbert.html

[blm]

1. Excellent article - also wondering, What was Cheney doing during Katrina?

.

[PA Democrat]

2. Wasn't he busy buying some very exclusive real estate on the

Chesapeake Bay? In St. Michaels, Md. I believe.

[mod mom]

3. Wasn't he busy house (read: mansion) hunting? At least it's safer for his

acquaintances.

[burythehatchet]

4. He flew down to the gulf region to make sure

whatever power was available went to the oil rigs. True story.

[eppur_se_muova]

15. and snapped to a reporter, "Hey, I got back four days early!"

Funny, I thought when you were VP you were pretty much "on call".

How many days early would he come back if ** kicked the bucket? Three? Two?

[madaboutharry]

5. The tragedy is how a man like this

has garnished so much power.

[burythehatchet]

6. Mr. pResident - its time to go

[otohara]

7. Breathtaking Incompetence

has a nice ring and dang if it isn't the truth!

[cliss]

8. Dick Cheney has never been

very successful as a career person. He's made tons of mistakes in his career as a government "servant". There are some articles that call him the "curse of Cheney". It seems that everything he touches, turns to dust (sound familiar?)

Last November during the VP debates, I listened closely to what Cheney had to say. I had never heard him speak before (why? in 2001, I turned off my TV permanently -- I couldn't stand to look at Bush).

While listening to him, I thought Cheney is very articulate, has a very good vocabulary. He appeared tough, objective, older, all the things you would want as your VP. But when I listened to what he said, I discovered it was all bullshit. He told several lies. He made stuff up about Iran and several other countries. He blatantly lied about the AIDS thing which took him by surprise.

The interesting thing though, is that he never missed a beat. He's sharp - there's no doubt about it. But he's a cunning liar, not much different from Bush. Bush is an idiot. He's also a Hologram President; nothing there really.

Cheney is every bit as much window dressing as Bush.

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

13. Bush is not an idiot. Thinking so is a bad mistake.

Bush has above average intelligence, he is just very lazy intellectually. You can call him ignorant, but to call him stupid is inaccurate and dangerous.

When it comes to gutter politics and influence peddling, he is very sharp and knowledgable. Unfortunately for us, this is all he wants to know. Hence the breathtaking ignorance on so many issues our leader should understand.

[centristo]

14. he's certainly smart enough

to know which side his bread is buttered on.

[Wilms]

9. Cool. Recommended.

[RobertSeattle]

10. Go Dick Go!

Go Dick Go!

[Iowa]

11. OK, I like the reference to Cheney being a joke, but...

the editorial leaves the impression that there's a desire to "rehabilitate" the Bush administration, and it implies that Cheney's departure would accomplish that:

The Bush administration would benefit from new thinking and new perspectives...

What a crock of shit! They've had five years along with immediate access to any "new thinking and perspectives" they could ever desire to hear. Everything they did, every crime they committed, was done deliberately and with premeditation. They knew it was wrong. They knew why it was wrong. They knew what they wanted to accomplish. Their choices were evil, not incompetent, and no amount of "new thinking and new perspectives" will derail their evil agenda.

Cheney is the heart and soul of the entire Bush administration. If it's time for Cheney to go, it's time for the whole rotten bunch to go.

[Catherine Vincent]

12. Yes, please go and take that puppet with you too!