The disloyalty of Dick Cheney

Posted By Thomas E. Ricks Friday, May 8, 2009 - 7:04 PM Share

I've long suspected that former VP Cheney's judgement is off, but his post-White House campaign convinces me. He now plans to hold forth on "Face the Nation" this Sunday. My sympathy goes out to his Republican colleagues. The last thing they need is him out there beating the drums and reminding people of the dark side. For a guy who prized loyalty above other virtues, he sure doesn't seem to be showing much.

Win McNamee/Getty Images

EXPLORE:BUSH ADMINISTRATION, MEDIA

(9)

HIDE COMMENTS LOGIN OR REGISTER REPORT ABUSE

BILL KELLER

12:35 AM ET

May 9, 2009

Sometimes I suspect....

he has the strongest distaste for us all regardless of political affiliation - almost an unaccountable compulsion for revenge. All that he is has been extracted from the public wealth. He has walked upon the shoulders of fools who have demanded nothing in return. He fills the billable times for the circus barkers.

DAVE-T

9:50 PM ET

May 8, 2009

So he is going to go on "soft

So he is going to go on "soft ball" Face the Nation?!

Mr. Cheney could I interest you in a trip to Spain?

Wake me when we start enforcing our treaties....

Keep up the great work Ricks.

MDREW

8:32 AM ET

May 9, 2009

Wishful thinking

The Repubs are irrelevant right now, and Cheney doesn't care about them. You're telling yourself bedtime stories if you think this guy cares about the Republican party. He cares about his legacy, staying out of jail, and straight-up influencing policy even out of office. He will be speaking to the country and significant portions will listen. He is a malign force to the nation, and we can't pretend he is irrelevant, or cares about irrelevant things like the Republican party. If we get hit again, he will be trying to guide us back to the dark side, and pretending it isn't happening will not stop it. He needs to be taken seriously. He was president for 8 years, and now he is throwing that weight around in an unprecedented way. No complacency.

DRDAVE91

10:36 AM ET

May 10, 2009

He doesn't care

Now that Cheney is out on his post-Vice Presidential propaganda/smear tour, I am reminded of his interview with Martha Raddatz last year:

Raddatz: Two thirds of Americans say [the war in Iraq] is not worth fighting.
Cheney: So?

Cheney should wake every day thankful that he is a free man, able to enjoy his life and his wealth, and what health he has left. But for him to be out doing what he is doing demonstrates just how damaged he is.

MUSTARD OIL

3:18 PM ET

May 10, 2009

stop the lies

The more the former Bushies oppose our demands to know what they did in secret, lying all the while, the more I want to know the truth.

Cheney is the worst of them all in this regard.

I'm not interested in prosecuting anyone BTW.

WALKING WOUNDED

1:41 AM ET

May 11, 2009

informed voters

are the foundation of democracy. You can't believe in accountable, representive gov't without defending the voters and representatives right to information and context.

Former VP Cheney says:
"what’s happening here, when you get rid of enhanced interrogation techniques, for example, or the terrorist surveillance program, you reduce the intelligence flow to the intelligence community upon which we based those policies that were so successful."

The Iraq invasion and occupation war is a major product of our collection and use of information on Al Q. and related threats. Iraq is reckoned a 'wag the dog' sideshow by many sober analysts, a breeder of suicide-terror, not a success story for our side. Cheney's pronouncement of intel success is also at odds with the belated 'burn notice' on Curveball's biowar trailers, and with David Kay's informed sworn testimony that 'we got it almost all wrong' in the post 9/11 rush to Iraq. Stratfor/Friedman thinks too much unfiltered info acting on too little situational awareness actually saved Al Qaeda in 2002-4. The TV war images recruited for the bad guys; the reality exhausted our resources and poisoned relationships.

We have mostly false premises for a major war giving succor to a difuse 'enemy' in a global struggle, posed against Cheney, Addison and Yoo's claims that their policies were great successes. It's not an 'agree to disagree' kind of thing. It's at the center of ongoing wars that are still bleeding two regions. What happened needs to be explored in detail, and an official historical record created similar to the Pentagon Papers at DoD and the Church Commission report in Congress.

We do need to know about what we're voting on. But let's not stop with two cherry-picked memos from a man known for citing his own leaked misinformation as corroboration

The FTN/Cheney transcript is at:
http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000003114272

THECARDINAL

3:34 PM ET

May 11, 2009

Crazy Old Uncle

As a Republican all I can say is...Please go away, you've done enough damage. It's as if he wants to help the Dems by going all crazy on national TV. The Bush 43 admin was ruined the day he picked Dick to be his VP. W would have screwed up anyway, but not HALF as bad.

WALKING WOUNDED

8:35 PM ET

May 12, 2009

Crazy like a fox

Replay what folks were saying and writing in 2000. Cheney was supposed to balance W, provide maturity and experience. It seems unlikely that W would have carried Florida without that perceived strength on the ticket.

As it turned out, the über-VP routinely outmaneuvered his boss and peers for 6 of 8 years, working from what used to be regarded as the least powerful office in the cabinet. He set the standard by which VP power will be measured.

Give him his due, he's still in the game. Has any other retired VP got his kind of press?

I'm glad that he's there waving the banner, reminding both parties why the Cheney phenomena should be studied for take-home lessons.

MDREW

3:13 AM ET

May 13, 2009

Here here

One looks like a fool trying to laugh this man off.