Damned when he thinks, damned when he don't.
This story is a sad one, and since I caught it on the Prospect, I'm linking to their post (above). But the article under discussion (here) is yet another disturbing record of Cheney's crimes, and highly recommended.
Cheney, Gellman and Becker report, drew up and vetted a list of five appellate judges from which Bush drew his Supreme Court appointments. After naming John Roberts to the Court and then to the Chief Justice’s chair, the President, for once, rebelled: without getting permission from down the hall, he nominated his old retainer Harriet Miers for the second opening. (“Didn’t have the nerve to tell me himself,” Cheney muttered to an associate, according to the Post.) But when Cheney’s right-wing allies upended Miers, Bush obediently went back to Cheney’s list and picked Samuel Alito.
The implications are astounding. First, that the POTUS is quite literally a puppet-- with Cheney's hand up his ass. Second, that the POTUS is such an imbecile his occasional attempts to think for himself embarrass the entire nation. Or, as Lemieux writes:
The Miers nomination really was remarkable; even when trying to show independence Bush is so incompetent and so dedicated to ludicrously unqualified cronies that it didn't matter. This story also reminds us, however, that virtually every bad thing that Cheney has done is 100% the responsibility of Bush as well. The Vice President has virtually no formal authority within the administration, and in any power struggle the President is determined to win the President will win. Cheney has enormous influence and power because Bush has given it to him, and either supports what Cheney is doing or doesn't care enough to stop him.
Cheney, Gellman and Becker report, drew up and vetted a list of five appellate judges from which Bush drew his Supreme Court appointments. After naming John Roberts to the Court and then to the Chief Justice’s chair, the President, for once, rebelled: without getting permission from down the hall, he nominated his old retainer Harriet Miers for the second opening. (“Didn’t have the nerve to tell me himself,” Cheney muttered to an associate, according to the Post.) But when Cheney’s right-wing allies upended Miers, Bush obediently went back to Cheney’s list and picked Samuel Alito.
The implications are astounding. First, that the POTUS is quite literally a puppet-- with Cheney's hand up his ass. Second, that the POTUS is such an imbecile his occasional attempts to think for himself embarrass the entire nation. Or, as Lemieux writes:
The Miers nomination really was remarkable; even when trying to show independence Bush is so incompetent and so dedicated to ludicrously unqualified cronies that it didn't matter. This story also reminds us, however, that virtually every bad thing that Cheney has done is 100% the responsibility of Bush as well. The Vice President has virtually no formal authority within the administration, and in any power struggle the President is determined to win the President will win. Cheney has enormous influence and power because Bush has given it to him, and either supports what Cheney is doing or doesn't care enough to stop him.
posted by Matt Sandwich | 10:49 AM
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