If I could sum up the emotions on this site over the past few days, it would be "outrage revisited." Whether that outrage was subtle or overt has varied, but there's no doubt the frustration over BushCo has reached a feverpitch.
But as I learned today, The Washington Post has good news: Good Times are a comin'; 'cause Cheney is taking a backseat to Condi.
By all means, continue:
The
story starts out quite ironically considering the
top foriegn policy news story of the day:
The Dick Cheney era of foreign policy is over.
Yeah, sure it is. Quite honestly, I re-read this sentence over five times because I thought it was a misprint or something. But alas, it wasn't. Apparently, Condi has taken over Cheney's role as the Shaper of Foreign Policy.
The result is a kinder, gentler face on foreign policy, but also a void in the Bush administration foreign policy apparatus just where it matters most -- the White House.
The proof that Condi is taking control? She goes and "tempers" Cheney's sumbliminal (yet still wacked) chest-thumping threats to foriegn nations.
So the White House is still allowing Uncle Dick to rant and rave and shake his cane talking about "back in his day," but it doesn't mean much. And ignore his 18% approval rating. It means nothing.
Whatever.
Maybe the truth lies in Cheney's personality:
Then there is the matter of Cheney's personality. One former top Bush administration official says, "I have always felt that his relentless pessimism was unsustainable. After a while people want more than fear, they want a positive vision and that was not his strong suit."
That, I think is the key. Cheney isn't stepping back on foreign policy as a whole; he's just being sedated until Bush and Condi can drum up enough popular support for a war on Iran. After 9-11 and 3 years of war, people want a more positive outlook; and the "What Have You Done For Me Now?" crowd is growing, and growing more impatient with this Administration. And guess what? Cheney's hasn't changed, despite the fact that we're dealing with another nation. He's still signing the same songs he sung about Iraq.
Of course, Condi was no better.
This is a bait-and-switch of the worse variety.