Watching Charlie Rose and a panel of writers dissect the current status of Dick Cheney, I was struck by the overwhelming feeling that Cheney is going to be leaving, and that they were all trying to make it look like George W. Bush was a victim of the Dark Lord, a great president undone by the evil manipulator.
I agree, but these guys are setting it up to look like the office of the Vice President was so powerful and expert at channeling and massaging information that Bush never had a chance to make good decisions because he never saw good information.
This seems a dangerous talking point. Suppose Cheney leaves now (Loot and Leave) and Bush nominates John McCain as Vice President. That gives McCain a leg up, and makes him the subject of all the news for the next year. Bush can then make a lot of fake proposals that Congress can't accept, and leave office looking much better than if he were the one responsible for all his mistakes.
Cheney, of course, could care less. His job was always to maximize profit for his Corporate Masters, not to help Bush.
"Only a paaaaaawn, in.their.game!"
UPDATE: off to the sack. motorcycling day tomorrow. catch ya in the morning. thanks for all the comments. hope Karl Rove doesn't see this! Ormond Otvos