Think Progress Highlights from the WaPo Cheney Profile, Pt. 2 "All The Vice President's Men"

[Hissyspit]

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/06/24/all-the-vice-presidents-men/

All the vice president’s men.

The Washington Post has posted the second in its four-part series on Dick Cheney. (Read part one here.) The most recent article develops in more detail the role of Alberto Gonzales as one of Cheney’s key enablers:

On June 8, 2004, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of State Colin L. Powell learned of the two-year-old torture memo for the first time from an article in The Washington Post. According to a former White House official with firsthand knowledge, they confronted Gonzales together in his office.

Rice “very angrily said there would be no more secret opinions on international and national security law,” the official said, adding that she threatened to take the matter to the president if Gonzales kept them out of the loop again. Powell remarked admiringly, as they emerged, that Rice dressed down the president’s lawyer “in full Nurse Ratched mode,” a reference to the ward chief of a mental hospital in the 1975 film “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”

Neither of them took their objections to Cheney, the official said, a much more dangerous course.

In another instance, the article recounts a meeting over the administration’s denial of due process to detainees. At the meeting, “Gonzales listened quietly as the Justice Department and his own staff lined up against (Cheney lawyer David) Addington. Then he decided in favor of Cheney’s lawyer.”

[Hamlette]

1. Gonzo is coming off as bad as Cheney. Or almost n/t

[proud patriot]

2. This WaPo article is very important

this remonds me of a watergate editorial

[Hissyspit]

6. Interesting. "Deep Throat" (Felt) was disgruntled.

[WCGreen]

3. Vice President Richelieu

They claim, in the article, that Bush is the big picture type of guy but time and time again it portrays Cheney as a defacto president and Bush as half witted pawn who keeps himself above the fray...

[Kagemusha]

4. I've said for years - that's the fault of the leader for being weak.

Cheney may be evil and an ass, but it's Bush's damned fault.

[DURHAM D]

5. It seems to me that the writers may be at odds with

each other and the editors.

I think Powell is clearly one of the main sources.

I also think most of the info is coming from disgruntled former Bush WH aids. I can not even imagine the turf war that has gone on for years between Bush staff and Cheney staff but was not detected - or just not reported. Imagine being in a policy position on Bush staff (or cabinet), you think you are in the room, and then you pick up the newspaper only to find out the President has adopted a new policy that was never discussed.

[WCGreen]

7. I bet it happened more than anyone wants to admit...

This article really portrays Bush as a disengaged figurehead...

[Kagemusha]

9. I've seen others speculate similarly. Might be something to it.

Would not surprise me.

[orleans]

8. yeah, ole "angler" probably threatened to blackmail the fuckhead

with some dirty frat boy parties he attended

and the fuckhead falls for it!

all he really has to do is confess his sins to america, remind us of the fact that he has found god, and his ugly little party will all forgive him & suck his d*ck again.

(too graphic? sorry. and for those who don't know who "angler" is--READ THE FIRST WASHINGTON POST ARTICLE IN THIS SERIES.) (sorry again. didn't mean to yell. much.)