I found myself more outraged than usual at Dick Cheney's latest effort (i.e., calling Chuck Hagel and all who question administration policy "armchair quarterbacks"), and I couldn't figure out why. It was typical Dick-ness, and not even one of his most objectionable statements, so why was I so pissed about it?
I realized what really gets my goat this time is the bizarro spectacle of the Vice President calling a U.S. Senator an "armchair quarterback". Someone needs to remind Cheney that having the "vice" in front doesn't make you more important-- it means that you are only "vicariously" President, that you're in the back seat and it's annoying when you try to drive.
Of course we all know that noone in Washington is going to call Dick Cheney on the fact that he's not actually President and that he shouldn't be disrespecting U.S. Senators, who, I hasten to note, get to vote every day the Senate is in session, not just when there's a tie. The reason is that everyone suspects GWB is basically an elected puppet and the Vice President is some sort of shadow President; the Conventional Wisdom is that Dick really is the "quarterback".
But for the sake of our country someone should put Dick Cheney in his place-- something is wrong when a functionary of the Executive sees himself as the superior of the most illustrious Legislators in the land. Otherwise, we should stop calling our country a Republic and admit that it really is an Empire.
Chinese dynastic history is so long that the stories fall into a familiar pattern and the are a number recurring themes that herald an empire in decline. One of those themes is the rise of the influence of the eunuchs who surround the emperor at the expense of the Confucian officials who are supposed to be in charge of day-to-day governing.
We likewise are suffering a perversion of our national goverance. Someone needs to arrest our decline and that person could start by telling the Vice President that he's the "armchair quarterback" and can go Cheney himself.