Cheney to slam Bush in memoirs

[scandal 951]

Popcorn, indeed :pop:

http://atlanticwire.theatlantic.com/read-more.php?id=691

Aug 13 2009, 9:28am by Benjamin F. Carlson

Spoiling for a Bush-Cheney Fight

The former vice-president plans to slam Bush in his memoir, and pundits are oddly eager.

####### Cheney, the most powerful American vice-president in history, thinks his considered opinion was ignored under Bush's second term. His upcoming memoir, as reported by Barton Gellman in this morning's Washington Post, purports to detail the inconveniences he believed he suffered. These include:

* Bush bowed to hostile public opinion

* Bush "moved away" from him on waterboarding, secret CIA prisons, and domestic surveillance

* Bush ignored the possibility of "regime change" in North Korea and Iran

* Bush fired Rumsfeld and left Scooter Libby out to dry

Are these legitimate complaints for a vice-president, a position whose power and prestige were famously compared to a "bucket of warm piss?" Commentators tend to treat Cheney as his own category. Since he came out to do battle with Obama earlier this year, left-leaning pundits no longer need to hammer home the ex-VP's unsavoriness, instead adopting the tone of eager spectators.

Here's how pundits are receiving news of the Cheney tell-all:

* Now We'll Get the Full Scoop, says Annie Laurie at Balloon Juice. "I know a lot of us DFHs feared that the horrors of the Cheney Regency would never receive a public airing, if only for fear of the War Crimes Tribunal, but perhaps vanity will achieve what mere human decency and the rule of law never could I look forward to further revelations with interest, and popcorn."

* Proof of Cheney's Hubris, says Alex Massie at the Spectator (UK). "It's almost as if the Vice-President was horrified to discover that the President had ideas of his own."

* All He Cares About is Libby, says BooMan of Booman Tribune. " His loyal soldier was left on the battlefield without the right to a law license he could use to enrich himself in his post-government years...Strange what Cheney chooses to feel guilty about. Isn't it?"

* Bush Is Starting to Look Good, says The Cajun Boy at Gawker. "Cheney's post-presidency attacks on him are enough to make even the most dedicated Bush-hater feel sorry for him, even if only just a bit."

* Whatever Happened to Cheney's Loyalty? says James Joyner at Outside the Beltway. "Unless one resigns in protest, one owes a certainly loyalty to those whom one serves."

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

When the lights go out, the knives come out.

[scandal 951]

Here's the take in the LA Times

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington...s-on-bush-.html

Former Vice President ####### Cheney is writing his memoirs. That in itself is something of a surprise, because Cheney has long -- and openly -- disparaged people who do. The presidency is owed loyalty, or anyway that was Cheney's view when folks like former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and former White House press secretary Scott McClellan told tales out of school.

But now, writing his own account of his eight years as George W. Bush's vice president, Cheney is telling friends that "the statute of limitations has expired" on tensions between them. As Time magazine reported last month, Cheney was furious at Bush for not pardoning Scooter Libby, the vice presidential aide who, in Cheney's words, "was asked to stick his neck in the meat grinder" by not disclosing all he knew about who leaked CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity to the press.

Writing his memoirs out in longhand on yellow legal pads, Cheney is apparently sharing his recollections with groups of friends and associates, sort of prepping them for the disclosures to come in his 2011 book.

And, some of those friends have been talking to the Washington Post. After one group session, one Cheney associate told the Post's Barton Gellman that the former vice president is mad at 43 for being "shackled" by public opinion:

In the second term, he felt Bush was moving away from him. He said Bush was shackled by the public reaction and the criticism he took. Bush was more malleable to that. The implication was that Bush had gone soft on him, or rather Bush had hardened against Cheney's advice. He'd showed an independence that Cheney didn't see coming. It was clear that Cheney's doctrine was cast-iron strength at all times -- never apologize, never explain -- and Bush moved toward the conciliatory.

Some conservatives rebut the argument, noting that Bush was nothing if not stubborn in the face of political and public opposition. Commenting on the story, Joe Scarborough pointed out on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that Bush was defiant about the surge in Iraq despite the polls.

But apparently Cheney, sometimes called the Darth Vader of American politics, even disagrees with his old boss about what constitutes a good book.

Told in one session that Bush, in his own memoirs, hoped to explore his personal feelings, Cheney responded that he had no intention of doing that.

"He sort of spat the word 'personal,' " said one person in the room.

-- Johanna Neuman

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Expect to see a book in the works from GWB.

Cheney seems an awful lot like Nixon, albeit with less charisma.

[NickD 203]

Thought slamming Bush was Bill Mahers' job, but maybe, the more the merrier. Shouldn't Bush be advising Obama? Or is that Cheneys' job? I was hoping Cheny would take the time to teach me how to hunt safely.

[Peikko 1,575]

Who's going to write the Bush autobiography? Clearly not the man himself

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I doubt Cheney wrote his own book either.

[Peikko 1,575]

Probably not - it'll make for good sales though, all this controversy and probably not a whit of truth to be found anywhere

[scandal 951]

I doubt Cheney wrote his own book either.

He's apparently writing it out in longhand on yellow legal pads... as noted in the pieces above.

[almaty 19]

i doubt that..maybe, some notes...if i was him i hire a ghostwriter to do the heavy writing...

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I doubt Cheney wrote his own book either.

He's apparently writing it out in longhand on yellow legal pads... as noted in the pieces above.

Its common to use ghost-writers for this kind of thing. Cheney would obviously have to provide the notes - someone else would write (or at least heavily edit) the prose.

[mawilson 2,133]

* Bush bowed to hostile public opinion

* Bush "moved away" from him on waterboarding, secret CIA prisons, and domestic surveillance

* Bush ignored the possibility of "regime change" in North Korea and Iran

* Bush fired Rumsfeld and left Scooter Libby out to dry

So Bush was really one of the good guys?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

If nothing else this would seem to confirm what a lot of people thought about Bush already - that he was woefully underqualified for the position of President and relied heavily on his father's old friends to fill in for his obvious shortcomings.

A "nice guy" perhaps, but you can be a nice guy and still go to jail for gross incompetence. Bush's ineptitude and naiivete resulted in the deaths of thousands - that's something that won't be forgotten any time soon.

Edited August 13, 2009 by Private Pike

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

* Bush bowed to hostile public opinion

* Bush "moved away" from him on waterboarding, secret CIA prisons, and domestic surveillance

* Bush ignored the possibility of "regime change" in North Korea and Iran

* Bush fired Rumsfeld and left Scooter Libby out to dry

So Bush was really one of the good guys?

Compared to #######? No doubt.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Expect to see a book in the works from GWB.

Cheney seems an awful lot like Nixon, albeit with less charisma.

"See ####### Run"

By GW Bush, esq.

Chapter 1

See ####### run. Run, #######, run.

The end.