According to
this story in the National Journal (mentioned in an earlier post and at TPM in the last few hours)
David Addington is in line to replace Scooter Libby as Cheney's chief of staff. There's some good background on Addington in this story, about a number of issues, such as his role in the White House torture memo, and his role in deflecting requests by Congress and the GAO to learn about the energy task force in 2001:
As early as May 2001, Addington was the point person for the White House in deflecting requests by congressional Democrats and later the General Accounting Office (now named the Government Accountability Office) for information about the energy policy task force convened by Cheney's office.
...but I'd like to focus for a minute on a lighter, but equally sinister moment in his past...
On March 6, 2003, Newsday reported that:
An unusual skirmish has erupted between Vice President Dick Cheney and a humor Web site, showing that you can make fun of the Bush administration but you'd better not lay a funny bone on their gals.
John Wooden, editor-in-chief of www.Whitehouse.org, penned a mock bio of Vice President Dick Cheney's wife, Lynne. It claims that, as a youngster, she loved Victor Hugo's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," from "which she would later take her cue when selecting a mate."
Then Wooden and his Chickenhead Productions Inc. received a letter from David Addington, counsel to the vice president, on White House stationery.
"It is important to avoid using her name and picture for the purpose of trade without her written consent," Addington wrote. "It is also important to avoid portraying her in a false light."
Addington twice requested that Wooden remove Lynne Cheney's photos and the bio, and he cautioned Wooden against unauthorized use of the Presidential seal. Jennifer Millerwise, press secretary for Cheney said, "The letter is authentic," but declined comment on any other matter.
Wooden said yesterday that he was shocked to read Addington's two-page letter and felt threatened.
"Everything we write falls within what is fully kosher and what the law protects," Wooden, 31, said. "The notion that the Office of the Vice President is spending taxpayer's money to send threatening letters like this is shocking."
This sounds a lot like the letter that the White House sent to The Onion recently. (By the way, what was Addington doing at http://www.whitehouse.org/ in the first place? Maybe he has trouble using the Internets).
A day later the NY Daily News reported that:
Vice President Cheney apparently is too busy to defend his wife's honor.
Cheney and his wife were not aware of a letter sent by the veep's lawyer protesting a parody Web site that mocks Lynne Cheney, an aide said yesterday.
Not aware, huh? That's a very familiar defense in the Vice President's office these days...
Evidently the Vice President's office eventually let the matter drop, but it's worth asking: why was Addington spending time on such a trivial matter less than three weeks before the start of the Iraq War? Didn't he have anything better to do?
Also, as a p.s., this WaPo profile of Addington from about a year ago by Dana Milbank is worth reading:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...