The evil that is Richard Bruce Cheney

I have read tens of thousands of stories about politics and this administration, but rarely have I come across one that paints such a convincing picture of Cheney as a Rasputin like courtier working his tendrils of co-conspirators to commandeer US foreign policy.

But officials who have opposed Cheney believe that President Bush has “views” only about basic principles, and that in making dozens of complex decisions he relies on pre-determined staff papers. Says one insider deeply involved in U.S. policy toward North Korea: “The president is given only the most basic notions about the Korea issue. They tell him, ‘Above South Korea is a country called North Korea. It is an evil regime.’ … So that translates into a presidential decision: Why enter into any agreement with an evil regime?”

Last fall, when U.S. envoy Christopher Hill was planning to visit North Korea to try to resolve the impasse over that country’s nuclear weapons, Cheney’s staff intervened to kill Hill’s mission, according to sources involved in planning his trip. That the Office of the Vice President can kill a major initiative by the State Department and the NSC, on an issue of the highest priority, is stark testament to the sustained power of the vice president’s office.....

(The article closes)The true measure of how powerful the vice president’s office remains today is whether the United States chooses to confront Iran and Syria or to seek diplomatic solutions. For the moment, at least, the war party led by Dick Cheney remains in ascendancy.

There are several other fairly concrete examples of hijacked policy and undue influence in this article, but I thought this version of Bush as the foolish king might inspire a few more people to read it. This article depicts the halls of power as Shakespearean or operatic....

It's long, but if you've got a little time......