Quickhits
McClatchy has a piece on the blowback from the recent US special ops raid that killed a Maliki relative.
(Telegraph) "Vice President Dick Cheney fought furiously" to kill the N. Korea deal.
(Same article) "Mr Cheney's office is believed to have played a key role in the release two months ago of documents and photographs linking North Korea to a suspected nuclear site in Syria that was bombed by Israeli jets last year."
(Guardian) "Three key US-backed measures on oil, provincial elections and the future of US troops are mired in the Iraqi parliament..."
(AP) The Kurds still claim their independent oil deals stand regardless of what the central government says.
(PressTV/release) Ahmed Chalabi is in Tehran meeting with the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament Larijani.
And, a very sad NYTimes article pointing out that, after all the war, the Iraqi Paralympic team is significantly larger than its Olympic team.
(Telegraph) "Vice President Dick Cheney fought furiously" to kill the N. Korea deal.
(Same article) "Mr Cheney's office is believed to have played a key role in the release two months ago of documents and photographs linking North Korea to a suspected nuclear site in Syria that was bombed by Israeli jets last year."
(Guardian) "Three key US-backed measures on oil, provincial elections and the future of US troops are mired in the Iraqi parliament..."
(AP) The Kurds still claim their independent oil deals stand regardless of what the central government says.
(PressTV/release) Ahmed Chalabi is in Tehran meeting with the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament Larijani.
And, a very sad NYTimes article pointing out that, after all the war, the Iraqi Paralympic team is significantly larger than its Olympic team.
posted by mikevotes at
6:58 AM
8 Comments:
In a little foray into fantasy land...
I'm wondering if it's possible Bush might be persuaded to throw Cheney under the bus as the fall guy for all failures and corruptions, from Iraq, and run amok secret CIA renditions, to Valarie Plame. As the Bush administration stumbles toward extinction and eyes turn toward legacy, is it possible the Rice faction will convince W to self-purge by hanging Cheney out to dry. It would help W distance himself form "the enemy within" who was the reason for all the failures.
I wonder if Bush really despises Cheney, but, as with Rummy, has stuck by him (and let him run out of control) out of that perverse frat-brother view of "loyalty" above all else.
By
-epm, at 10:10 AM
No, Cheney's there to the end. That small percent that still supports Bush would not be happy with such a move.
However, In the post-presidential era, I would not be surprised if there was something of a movemnet to pin alot of it on Cheney. It would serve alot of people who are alot more liked by the media to do so (Bush as well.)
I can't imagine it would ever come out of Bush's mouth, but I could see a rewriting happen.
(And I think the Cheney defense would be limited. )
By
mikevotes, at 10:59 AM
Yeah, as I said "a trip down fantasy lane."
Still, in my fantasy, the instruments of the sacrifice of Cheney would "unnamed sources" and strategic leaks wherein the Congress begins the dirty work. Bush would be "shocked. shocked, i tell you" to find how his friend had undermined him.
By
-epm, at 11:13 AM
Yeah. Again, post presidential, that may well happen.
By
mikevotes, at 11:16 AM
I'm wondering if it's possible Bush might be persuaded to throw Cheney under the bus as the fall guy
The other way around is more likely. IOW, Cheney's brilliant plans were spoiled by Bush's incompetence and the incompetence of Bush's crony staff.
I'm not saying this is the case (not by a long shot), but it could very well be the way Cheney spins it to fellow Republicans. And the Republicans would be the only ones even remotely likely to buy it. The GOP still believes in the neocon vision, and Cheney was one of its architects. Blaming Cheney would tend to invalidate the neocon vision. Blaming Bush lets them keep the neocon premise and maintain that Bush bungled the job. Bush is still supported because he is the CiC, and this is a "time of war", blah blah blah. Once he is out of office, that defence no longer holds and he is fair game as a scapegoat.
By
Todd Dugdale , at 11:23 AM
"The GOP still believes..."
Well this brings up an interesting question: Who are the GOP?
Off the top of my head I see three, maybe four, denominations: the Traditionalists (Arlen Spector) who still respect the institutions of governance, the Internationalist Neocons (Cheney, Pearle, etc) who are really Hamiltonian Imperialists and the Domestic Neocons (DeLay, McConnel, etc.) who are perversly consumed with greed and self promotion/enrichment. Maybe there's an Christian Fundamentalist wing, but I'm not sure.
Granted there's overlap in these groups, for example Bush seems to have one foot in each of the neocon wings and prefers to see himself as the administrator of Gods will. I just don't know who the GOP are, except that they're angry, mean-spirited and more comfortable bullying than negotiating.
By
-epm, at 12:54 PM
Well this brings up an interesting question: Who are the GOP?
Excellent point. Obviously, I'm referring to the "International Neocons", who are currently in control. I've never in my lifetime considered a serious schism in the GOP due to their fanatic internal control and purging, but I'll readily concede that the centrifugal pressures are increasingly irreconcilable.
The International Neocons hold the high cards at the moment by holding the Executive (and the Fourth Branch), but there will be a big power struggle if they lose the WH.
I would also add a Nativist wing that bears a remarkable resemblance to the brownshirts - actually, the American equivalent were the silvershirts.
Still, Bush is more of a ventriloquist dummy than a solid representative of any of these wings, IMHO. This makes him a more likely scapegoat than Cheney, who has the full backing of the International Neocons.
By
Todd Dugdale , at 2:24 PM
But, you know, the problem is the ventriloquist dummy thinks he's the one running things. He's the one with the platform, and he's the one affiliated with all the people who want to blame Cheney.
Cheney will not pop Bush in any way, so the question is, can the folks at State, the Pentagon, and the few dissenters at Justice manage to find cover from Bush. Their trick will be to blame Cheney to make Bush look good. Does Cheney then go after Bush? No.
Here's your questions. Does Bush's threadbare legacy make the fighting more intense? Is it really about this presidency, or more about the various factions trying to tarnish each other to keep them out of power?
By
mikevotes, at 3:47 PM
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