Are they making Cheney the "fall guy?" What do you think?

[autorank]

I think so. It's been more than a decade since the Washington Post
wrote a "fair and balanced" article. This one barely passes muster
and guess what

Cheney is the cause of all of our problems. He's the evil doer
who ran behind the back of the "good" Colin and Condi and anyone other
than Cheney and his pet human, Bush. Load of garbage if you ask me,
but that's the script.

I cold be wrong. Maybe the Post is just randomly doing a three day
tear down on the guy. You never know.

This was my original theory End Game

[Cooley Hurd]

1. The WP article by GOP insider Sally Quinn was an eye-opener for me...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/25/AR2007062501038.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

<snip>
Removing a sitting vice president is not easy, but this may be the moment. I remember Barry Goldwater sitting in my parents' living room in 1973, in the last days of Watergate, debating whether to lead a group of senior Republicans to the White House to tell President Nixon he had to go. His hesitation was that he felt loyalty to the president and the party. But in the end he felt a greater loyalty to his country, and he went to the White House.

Today, another group of party elders, led by Sen. John Warner of Virginia, could well do the same. They could act out of concern for our country's plummeting reputation throughout the world, particularly in the Middle East.

For such a plan to work, however, they would need a ready replacement. Until recently, there hasn't been an acceptable alternative to Cheney -- nor has there been a persuasive argument to convince President Bush to make a change. Now there is.

The idea is to install a vice president who could beat the Democratic nominee in 2008. It's unlikely that any of the top three Republican candidates -- former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Sen. John McCain of Arizona or former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney -- would want the job, for fear that association with Bush's war would be the kiss of death.
</snip>

I wonder what happened in that meeting today?:wow:

[autorank]

5. Tell me about the meeting. I've been working all day. On Sally...

That is nice speculation but I don't think that there are three Republicans in the Senate and House
combined with the guts to tell Bush to go. That's the sad part. Their party discipline is so rigid
and consistent, they can't be unlogged from doing nothing. We can't find a major leader to call for
impeachment. Quinn remembers a better time, I'm afraid.

Warner is one of my Senators. He opposed Ollie North for the Senate when north tried to run and that
took guts. North went down, thankfully. Aside from him, I'm struggling here to get a few more
names. Lugar is very political and won't do it until it's too late. Hmmm...help!

[Emit]

55. It was for me, too, and it's a devious plan that is right up their alley, IMHO.

The perfect diversion (i.e., pretend solution) for the present and the perfect set up for '08. Cheney would likely still not be far away, though, if this happened. He's been a permanent fixture for much too long to really let go of.

Seems they're grooming Thompson now:

Fred Thompson's Christian Nationalist Pander
By Frederick Clarkson Tue Jun 05, 2007 at 10:16:14 PM EST

~snip~

When prospective GOP presidential candidate Fred Thompson auditioned at a recent meeting of the secretive, far right Council for National Policy, he probably did not have to wonder which buttons to push. The CNP has, since 1981, been a key conservative movement leadership network, dominated by the religious right. As a man who entered electoral politics as moderate, he has been at some pains to establish his conservatie bona fides. And these days if you want to show the religious right that you are one of them, one of the things you do is to let them know you share their Christian nationalism. Thompson, whose unofficial campaign is on a fast track, was quick to make a transcript of his remarks available to The National Review Online.

Our founders established an independent federal judiciary to decide cases, not social policy. Yet more and more that is exactly what it is doing. Roe v. Wade is a classic example. And nowhere is it more apparent than with regard to the issue of church and state.
Many federal judges seem intent on eliminating God from the public schools and the public square in ways that would astound our founding fathers. We never know when a five to four Supreme Court decision will uphold them. They ignore the fact that the founders were protecting the church from the state and not the other way around.

~snip~

...Thompson was to be introduced at the CNP meeting by none other than Richard Land, a leader in the fundamentalist cabal running the Southern Baptist Convention -- who is now positioning himself as moderate.

~snip~

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/6/5/221614/8213

Law & Error: Fred Thompson Misunderstands High Court’s Church-State Rulings
May 17th 2007

~snip~

... Thompson’s misguided assertions probably went over well with the theocrats at the CNP. That secretive group has been plotting behind closed doors since 1981 to turn our nation into a fundamentalist theocracy.

News reports indicated that Thompson was to be introduced at the May 12 CNP meeting at the Ritz Carlton in Tysons Corner, Va., a suburb of Washington, D.C., by none other than Richard Land, chief lobbyist of the tax-exempt Southern Baptist Convention. Land and other fundamentalist leaders are desperately searching for a GOP candidate who can successfully carry the Religious Right flag into the battle in 2008.

Land thinks Thompson is the chosen one, calling him a “southern-fried Reagan.” Unfortunately, Land’s erstwhile colleague, James Dobson of Focus on the Family, has declared that Thompson is “not a Christian,” which complicates any immediate coronation. Dobson seems to be tilting toward former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who confessed on Dobson’s show to moral failings in his marriage and repented of them.

~snip~

http://blog.au.org/2007/05/17/law-error-fred-thompson-misunderstands-high-courts-churchstate-rulings /

[ClassWarfare2008]

2. One possible theory

The Repukes looked at their field of 2008 candidates and came to the same conclusion any sane person would have...

"You gotta be fucking kidding!!"

So Dick "resigns" - knowing him, he'll claim health reasons anyway. They find a new Jerry Ford for the 21st century.

But who can step in as pResident in the middle of this mess?

Could they pay Colin Powell enough to return to the Bush Crime Family??

There are probably some in the GOP who would love a Powell vs Obama election.

[autorank]

7. There are no GOP VP subs who are untainted....Powell is interesting but

he is on tape lying about the WMD scam at the UN and he's not as popular as he once was.

The assumption that Cheney is toast is valid though. He's just a mess and the Post is
slaughtering him.

Maybe they go with someone who is conservative but very clean, someone whose credentials we'd
know but not his or her name. This perosn would be a bookmark and the race would be untouched
with either a small benefit to the Republicans for pulling the switch or free fall for being in
that position.

[tularetom]

3. I think it's an attempt to salvage bush's "legacy"

by blaming the entire clusterfuck that has been the bush administration on the dick. However the impression it gives is that bush is a gullible, childish, insecure baby with such a fragile ego that he needs constant propping by others to function and is all but ignored by those in his administration.

IMHO it makes bush look a lot worse than cheney. If it comes down to a pissing contest would you bet on the dick or the boy king? Cheney knows where the bodies are buried.

[Demeter]

10. But Tom, Bush IS "a gullible, childish, insecure baby"

"with such a fragile ego that he needs constant propping by others to function and is all but ignored by those in his administration."

That much is testimony by unimpeachable witnesses (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) and verifiable fact. Reality sucks, W.

[autorank]

11. Right on target, imho, this assumes it's over, but save the "Bush" franchise

Not for George or Jeb but for that next generation of Bush folks.

They've spend decades building the brand, now it's going down in flames.

Unfortunately for the Bush's, you're entirely on target. Bush looks really
stupid in these articles, without even being mentioned. What kind of leader
or what level of intellect and self respect allows Cheney to run the show and
run the country into the ground.

It's lose - lose for the clan Bush. All about vanity in the service of greed.

[burythehatchet]

4. from the time he got his third heart, about 6 years ago, I knew he would be

the William Casey of the current criminal enterprise.

[autorank]

12. That's brutal.

Casey was a negative guy but Cheney is the new "gold standard for obnoxious and incompetent use
of power...

...and he appointed himself. How convenient!

[Old and In the Way]

6. I really don't see Dick doing the right thing for anybody.

Only way he leaves is via impeachment. Bush isn't going to kick him out....I suspect Dick has plenty of incriminating stuff on Junior, too. Leaving early for anything but a medical reason would be a disgraceful exit in Dick's mind....

[autorank]

16. Why should he leave? It's taken 7 years to get to this point.

I find the Post guilty of journalistic malfeasance. What took them so long. This is just a much slower,
less engaging version of Foleygate. They need to pick up the pace.

I see these clowns running out the clock, at this point. Bummer...

[mmonk]

8. Hard to make him of all people, a fall guy.

[autorank]

17. I wonder if he'll stand for it. And I agree, the options are so limited

the Republicans are just temporizing. And the Washington Post, which defended these criminals is now
part of the cover up. Go figure.

[Jack Rabbit]

9. Could be.

These could be congressional Republicans ready to throw Cheney under the bus on the chance that Bush without Cheney couldn't get his way on funding the war or keeping Gonzo around. The war and Gonzogate have already sunk the Bush regime and rest of the GOP wants to cut its losses before they go down, too. For them, they've got to get the problems behind them now. The war can't end and these scandals can't be cleared up soon enough. That means heads must roll.

[autorank]

20. The butcher with the sharpest knife has the warmest heart...

Jack, that better be a big bus. Like a Hummer Bus.

They should dump these guys but the costs will be huge. We'll find out so much it will
turn our stomachs.

[Jack Rabbit]

30. It seems your OP presupposes the idea that they don't need a large bus

They just need one big enough to roll over Cheney, back up and roll over him again, maybe two or three times, to make sure he doesn't talk.

Seriously, the idea would be to pin as much of this shit on the Big Dick (meaning not very much on Bush) and push. Bush finishes out his term lobotomized, so to speak, and we all feel better because the proverbial monster Cheney has been symbolically slain.

The war is over (except in Iraq, where people will continue to kill each other). Gonzo is gone. And the Big Dick is on his way to the federal pen to ride his little Scooter.

And all the presidential candidates are happy because their ambitions are put on hold by the imposition of President Pelosi in the White House.

Which brings up this little thought: is it really the presidential candidates of either party who want Bush left in power? The only one actively trying to remove a tyrant from power is Mr. Kucinich, who isn't going to be president, any way, and he knows it.

The second best scenario (if not a better one) for the Republican presidential wannabes is the impeachment and removal of Bush and Cheney. They might feel they would have better luck against President Pelosi running for a term in her own right. Then again, they may be willing to take the chance (a good one, IMHO) that President Pelosi will not want a term in her own right, but choose to be a caretaker president of a national unity administration with Chuck Hagel as Vice President. It seems reasonable that a 67-year-old woman would think she has better ways her twilight years -- like being surrounded by admiring grandchildren -- than have to keep one eye on batshit crazy Congress critters and the other on batshit crazy loonies like Ahmadinejad or Kim Jong Il. That can be left to a batshit crazy politician who actually wants to be president.

[autorank]

34. The "little bus that could" ... and the system saves itself.

The system is in deep trouble...a Restoration is in order...

Look at this great post
From DU Poster arendt
McClellan Democrats and the Death of the Republic

We don't need references like Vichy to describe the cowardly Democrats. We have our own All-American, gold standard for cowardice - Civil War General George McLellan. No matter how many troops he had, it was never enough. At the slightest repulse, McLellan bolted into full retreat. He was constantly defeated by inferior armies. He probably single-handledly prolonged the war by six months.

I don't yet think the cowardly Dems have gone completely over to Bushism, as the Vichy epithet would imply. And, the Neville Chamberlain analogy has become toxic. So, let's stay on this side of the pond and just call them McLellan Democrats.

Its a good analogy, because McLellan was just an appointed general who could be replaced. Lincoln eventually found Grant. And the working base of the Democratic Party can...

OH, SCREW IT. Enough with the erudite historical analogies. Let's just tell the truth.

The First Republic of the United States, based upon the Constitution of 1789 is dead, dead, DEAD. The Dem cave-in was just the final flat-lining of a comatose system that has been on life-support for years. We need to give it a decent burial and move on. We need to tell the truth. Let someone else parade the corpse around like some holy relic.

The post-flatline truth, no matter how much CPR is given to the corpse, is that we now live in a friendly fascist, corporatist state. Politicians represent only the interests of corporations, theocrats, and other group organizations. They do not protect the individual rights of citizens - neither their medical rights, their labor rights, their environmental rights, their voting rights, their rights to free speech, and on and on.

arendt's post continues gloriously here...

[Jack Rabbit]

42. I don't like my scenario, either

But it's the one I come up with if I try to think like a power-hungry, selfish, megalomaniacal politician who wants to be president.

The faster we get rid of Bush and Cheney, the better, and I don't care what it does to anybody's presidential ambitions. We had better get them out before they get into more mischief (like invading Iran). That's more important than making Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama president.

As for replacing the system, I invite all here to look at this thread (I'll fix the link in a minute).

[autorank]

45. Read it, K*Red it...that's nice work

The comment about rewriting the Constitution was provocative. What Constitution? It's been torn down, demolished by these vandals.

[ljm2002]

51. Thanks for the link...

and arendt's was indeed a glorious post! So I am here to encourage anyone else reading this thread, do follow the link you won't regret it.

[Mr Rabble]

13. I think you are spot on.

Today, and in your 2005 thread.

Really, this is an obvious script being played out for us.

However, this is as close to pulling back the curtain as I have ever seen.

If Cheney does not go, there is a very real risk of people actually beginning to question the system. They cant allow that to happen however, so he resigns right after the operation.

We can already start to think about the Democrats bending over backward to avoid any substantive questions during the confirmation hearings.

[autorank]

22. "bending over backward to avoid any substantive questions" - excellent!

That's the challenge, getting the right answers. But will we? I hope so.

That 2005 thread stays bookmarked until it comes true;) I'd forgotten all about
it until I posted this. They've run out of "clean" replacements but they'll find
someone. The real tragedy, though, is the possiblity that they'll do nothing; that
we've become weak, we can't even replace flagrant incompetents.

Let's hope that's not the case.

[momster]

14. Couldn't Happen Too Soon for Me

Make him the fall guy...throw him under the bus. Then when they get a new VP and *nothing changes*, the people may finally figure out just how many times we've been had.

[autorank]

24. Great point...

"There's a sucker born every minute." P.T. Barnum

What will it matter, we'll still have the Iraq War, a huge deficit, and a diminished future.

Cheney shoudl go...right to jail and room with his pal, the boy king.

But the real work is finding people who are honest, tell the damn truth, and read at a sixth grade level to serve in Congress. Better yet, we can randomly select 535 Americans and get the job done.
But then somebody would try to rig the selection process.

[Patsy Stone]

15. I think he's the guy everyone thinks he is.

When you see Bush, it seems he's too stupid to remember to breathe. Cheney elected himself VP. You don't think the man had a plan? Oh, he so did.

I think the arrangement for Bush to stay out of his way was made before the election, right before Cheney agreed with himself that he was the best possible choice after his exhaustive search of one applicant.

As governor, Bush was a figure head, as President, he's a figure head. Cheney's the man, and always has been.

Now, why the WaPo has decided to run this now is another fascinating question altogether.

[koopie57]

18. They might try but

as we all know "dickie wobbles but he won't fall down".

I know, I know stupid joke but it makes me laugh to picture that fat jerk's face on a weeble.

[autorank]

32. I like it;) "Ohhh 'mental picture'"

[Middle finga]

19. Cheney is not a fall guy

He's the boss the shot caller of this criminal outfit Bush is like the under boss when it comes to this administration and everyone knows that, thats why Bush seems to get a pass on all their screw ups. But just like a Mafia crime family the Don eventually slips up and get bagged especially when start acting reckless and creating a lot of enemies like Cheney has.

[autorank]

36. But who is the man behind the man...

I think Cheney is being tossed overboard but also that he's the great operative who has done
most of what he intended to do...but who else is involved. Cheney is "new money." Where are
the real culprits?

[L. Coyote]

21. NOT. There has been a focus on non-impeachable Cheney stuff. A Fall guy implies falling

and to make him fall, the focus would be on impeachable actions, not if he spies on staff, his relationship to Bush, who took which memo to whom and who did not know.

Distinguish the trivia from the impeachable offenses. You will see it is a lot of distraction on the week we all should have been talking about the White House subpoenas. It worked. Evefryone went over the cliff again.

Focus on this: Yesterday was a GREAT DAY for Falwell TO DIE. Or, the Buffalo Jump to Hell.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x899312

[Me.]

23. Ok Feller, What Have You Done With The Real Autorank?

I mean like, have you lost your mind? Cheney is no fall guy. He's
failing because his policies are so wrong. It's all
starting to go against him and if you read part 4 it is clear why.
He has come from such a wrong place it had to back up on him sooner or later,
like an untreated sewer.

[autorank]

26. Dr. Rank is in the house... Are you saying that I don't know Dick?

...but, but, can't Cheney be two things at the same time, both the "fall guy" and the "full participant" in the grimy, blood drenched history of this administration.

I paused in responding to read the article. It's pretty good, if you like fish - and I do;.
The "angler" irony is abundantly clear but what about the real crimes, the deaths of all those people in Iraq...why don't we hear about that in the PentaPost.

"Cheney is no fall guy." True but that doesn't mean they won't try to stick it to him as the Rasputin of the feeble minded ruler. Poor fellow, George, all those mean things done by the evil Darth Cheney.

So lets see, I can weasel out of your excellent argument if I really try: The Post is generating Cheney as the evil minded serpent behind Bush the Bumbler in order to preserve the Bumbler franchise.

[Me.]

28. You'll Have To Tell Me What You Know About Dick

As for your argument of his holding both places at once, if you are instigator and you fall down in a hopscotch square, because you tried to jump too far, you don't get to whine about the scrape on your knee. The real fall guy may be the sock puppet in the WH, who is a less effective leader than Tickle Me Elmo.

[autorank]

31. You mean this guy...

[Me.]

33. That's The Bozo

With apologies to Bozo

[autorank]

38. Bush, face man for the Cheney's back room operation...

Now I've refined my notion of this.

Both picking every apple in the orchard before they leave; stealing everything that's not
nailed down; leaving wreckage behind in their wake. And all at the bidding of ...

[Me.]

40. I Hear He's Cutting All That Brush

To use am camouflage for the AF1 he's planning on parking in his lot.

[autorank]

44. Spotted...

Chainsaw Massacre

[Me.]

50. Spotted Owl?

As in endangered species?

[Fiendish Thingy]

25. So two theories re: Cheney stories so far- save the GOP, or save the Bush legacy...

These stories aren't coincidences, all this attention on Cheney is being synchronized behind the scenes, the questions is by who and why?

Is the motivation to save the GOP and increase their chances at winning in '08? If so, this may be orchestrated from outside the WH, and may have to end in impeachment, or at least the threat.

or is the motivation to save the Bush name/legacy? If so, this impetus may be coming from within the WH, and I thought I read somewhere that Babs and Laura were behind some of the leaks of the past week. Karl may be manuvering for a behind the scenes role in the next GOP administration, or at least to reduce the chance of his and Chimpy's crimes actually being prosecuted by a Dem. WH; perhaps Thompson is willing to take a shot at being the heir apparent, despite the risk of being tarred with the Bush brush...although if Karl's counting the votes again, all bets are off...

or it could indeed be a mixture of both, with all the players jumping on board for their own selfish motives; if the media continues to play along with the script, perhaps America will remember what real investigative journalism is about, and demand, or better yet, seek out, news sources that ask the tough important questions instead of practicing 21st century stenography...

I guess there's the slim possibility of another theory, that as these stories leak and develop, there's true concern and outrage by "true conservatives" and the corporate media, who are responding out of a new found sense of responsibility and duty...

Nah, not a chance.

[Hekate]

35. This is Godfatherish:but wouldn't the best "save" of the Bush legacy be for him to--um--get whacked?

A Brazillion dollars would get spent on a state funeral and nobody would be able to say anything bad about him for a long time. His famiglia would get a lot of pity from everybody and even Babs would look more sympathetic in the public eye.

Weird thoughts.

Hekate

[rucky]

27. I think Congress has the right guy in their crosshairs.

for now.

[Hekate]

29. He's not the fall guy. He really is Darth Vader,& the sooner we blow up his Death Star the better.

[upi402]

37. "republican" must become our label... not BUSH or DICK

The Republican Party is 100% culpable.
When I hear "pundits" and "pols" on the propaganda box I hear, "Bush Bush Bush".
And the Republican Party is just rubbing its hands in anticipation. All they have to do is run away from the Bush WH legacy. And nobody will question it.

[autorank]

39. Excellent point...now we need some "fighting Democrats" to say it, over and over.

Bring Webb back to the tube, have him everywhere, let him open up the can and then
get some new fighters in there. No more retreat, no more pin striped apologists for
the way things are and real politic.

We have any Democratic governors out there who can kick ass?

Oh, bring back Dean too. He was right all along.

[Swamp Rat]

41. Impossible... since he is not a "guy."

[autorank]

43. That's it...He's not Dick, he's a Head of death

But whatever he is, he's got do know that somebody very big is going after him.

The Post has been neocon central for years and now they're after the big con artist,
the "Floating Head of Death."

:hi:

[upi402]

47. yes yes, Dick head of doom. yesssssss

:evilgrin: it is pleased

[autorank]

49. ...as long as those caps are used properly, we're decent;)

:evilgrin:

[Marr]

46. How does this story make Bush look better? It makes him look ten times worse.

This narrative yanks the rug out from under the myth that his core supporters cling to. The take-charge, in-your-face, bully president is in fact a delusional dolt, strutting around, thinking he's in charge, while his own staff ignores his orders.

The mess is there either way. The *best* image Bush can hope to project is that it was all intentional. This makes him look like a spoiled, oversized toddler.

[blm]

48. I agree it is quite likely - he's taking it for Bush, just as the family requires.

The first test is WILL you fall on a grenade for Bush? The answer has to be yes before you get in to that circle.

[lovuian]

52. We get Cheney We get Bush and Rove lest not forget Rove

the Brain

[lonestarnot]

54. Never forgetting that rotten bastard. Train com'n! I'm on it!

Woot! IMPEACHMENT TRAIN!

[lonestarnot]

53. No sheenie first then bushitler. two fall on ea. other.