A Nation in Cheney

Dick Cheney continues to gripe, grumble, and snarl from his redoubt in... well, where _does_ he live, anyway? Does anyone know? It's a far cry from the glory days when as (heh heh) "vice" president he gazed down from his Naval Observatory home upon the unwashed and the unworthy... and entertained the sordid cabal that was responsible for getting us into wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan. They would arrive at all hours of day and night, in black limousines -- the Neocons, the arms makers, the Evangelicals, the Zionists... and hold secret meetings in the bowels of the vice presidential mansion, planning ways to destroy the country and its economy. Oh, well, that's not how they identified their efforts to themselves -- it was more like making a whole lot of money for the arms makers and keeping the rest of the gang happy, like that was some kind of ultimate value. Their efforts would, in turn, produce things like "draft policy statements" which would be hand-carried to the White House, where George W. Bush had spent a relaxing time watching Saturday morning cartoon shows on TV and choking on pretzels... while the folks up on Cathedral Hill ate "man food" and puffed on cigars. And of course "W" would sign whatever was thrust in front of him, because, after all, didn't he have the wisest, and most trusted, team of advisors in all of American history? And didn't they always and infallibly want what was best for the country? And besides, he knew he was trapped... he knew that the only things that got him into office were being a Republican (remember when that was actually an asset? Hard to believe... ), his ability to act like a good ol' boy rather than a member of the power elite, and a whole lot of money and political moxie from the cabal -- which he was now bound to obey and defer to in all things, even if the occasional objection should arise from the depths of his tiny brain.

But hold on! This is not what the Dickster claims... or will be claiming, in his forthcoming book. Now it seems that "W" occasionally bridled, and decided to ignore the advice of all of his many "handlers". Who did he think he was, anyway? And what's worse, "W" even occasionally started "making concessions to public sentiment". What did he think this country was, a democracy? And to top it off, the Dickster considers Bush's wandering off the reservation as having been "moral weakness" -- I guess like the "moral weakness" that some members of the German army showed when they refused to work in the death camps. And, worst of all perhaps, Cheney now pronounces Bush "an ordinary politician" -- as opposed, I guess, to his own exalted status as a man of principle. Well, let's see... when your moral principles lead you to plunge this country into two unwinnable wars that not only bankrupt the country but wind up killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people, for the sake of your buddies in the armaments business, delusional Neocons, fanatical Christian Zionists, and the Israel lobby... I say, to hell with moral principles! At least of the kind that Dick Cheney seems to feel he exemplifies.