The Blue State

Cheney trying to undercut Bush on Iran

There is a strong disagreement within the Administration over policy with Iran.  Dick Cheney favors a confrontationalist approach, while Condoleezza Rice, although she is still very far to the right, favors diplomacy.  According to the Washington Note, Dick Cheney is worried that Bush favors the Rice-approach, and it prepared to undercut the President:

Multiple sources have reported that a senior aide on Vice PresidentCheney's national security team has been meeting with policy hands ofthe American Enterprise Institute, one other think tank, and more thanone national security consulting house and explicitly stating that VicePresident Cheney does not support President Bush's tack towardsCondoleezza Rice's diplomatic efforts and fears that the President istaking diplomacy with Iran too seriously.

This White House official has stated to several Washington insidersthat Cheney is planning to deploy an "end run strategy" around thePresident if he and his team lose the policy argument.

The thinking on Cheney's team is to collude with Israel, nudgingIsrael at some key moment in the ongoing standoff between Iran'snuclear activities and international frustration over this to mount asmall-scale conventional strike against Natanz using cruise missiles(i.e., not ballistic missiles).

By "end run strategy," it likely means that Cheney's people will speak to Israel on behalf of the U.S. government, even if their message is opposite the policy of the Bush Administration.

This strategy also includes using Chalabi-like tactics to control what the media reports about Iran.  For example, a story this week in the UK's The Guardian cited unnamed Administration officials who speculated that Iran will try and push the U.S. out of Iraq this summer.  Could this story have been planted in order to influence Israel's policy towards Iran?  Remember, Israel, more so than any other nation in the world, is particularly uneasy about Iran's meddling in Iraq.

Apparently this is much more serious than just a few rumors.  It is drawing a close eye of Congress.  In a letter sent to the White House on Tuesday, a bipartisan group of lawmakers demanded that the Bush Administration release a clear a report regarding U.S. strategy towards Iran.  The letter urgently asked for a response "as soon as possible."

The problem is that Cheney, who is ideologically miles apart from Condoleezza Rice on U.S.-Iran policy (and that is saying something!), is not running for president in 2008.  He has nothing to lose by acting insubordinate to Bush.  So what will Bush do -- fire him?  Not likely.   Since Bush refused to fire Gonzales -- why would he fire Cheney, even if he undercuts the President?

To put it in layman's terms: Cheney is like an 8th grader in the last week of school.  He knows that anything he tries to pull will go unpunished.

A Stroll Down Memory Lane aka. Lying Culdesac (o'crap)

With all the "fresh" elephant Sh*t flying around these days from theadministration, I thought posting a few of the old charms would bereminiscent of looking through an old family photo album. There are probablymany more, but let's start with these.

"The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought
significant quantities of uranium from Africa." - President George W. Bush,
State of the Union, 2003

"You can't distinguish between Al Qaeda and Saddam, when you talk about the
war on terror." - President George W. Bush, September 25, 2002

"There's overwhelming evidence that there was a connection between al Qaeda
and the Iraqi government - Vice President Dick Cheney, 2004

"What I want to bring to your attention today is the potentially much more
sinister nexus between Iraq and the al Qaeda terrorist network." -Secretary
Colin Powell, 2003

"The reason I keep insisting that there was a relationship between Iraq and
Saddam and al Qaeda - because there was a relationship between Iraq and al
Qaeda. - President George W. Bush, 2004

"We don't know." - Vice President Dick Cheney, on whether there was a
relationship between Saddam Hussein and the 9/11 attacks

"Imagine those 19 hijackers with other weapons and other plans, this time
armed by Saddam Hussein." - President George W. Bush, State of the Union,
2003

'Keith Olbermann takes a “look back” at Bush’s first months in office leading up to 9/11' Thanks to Crooks & Liars (from Sept 2006)

Saudis can thank US for strengthening Iran

As you might recall, Vice President Dick Cheney visited Iraq yesterday to urge the Iraqi parliament not to go on its scheduled two-month summer recess.

But as Time Magazine's Robert Baer writes, the most important part of Cheney's oversees trip is his meeting with the Saudi royal family:

The real work is to be done in Saudi Arabia, where Cheney will try tocalm Saudi nerves over Iran. U.S. officials who visit the Gulf tell methat their Saudi interlocutors all ask the same questions: When theUnited States is forced to cede Iraq to Iran, what happens next? Or,more fatefully, what happens to the Arabs when one day the U.S.reconciles with Iran?

And it's not as if the Iranians have been helping ease Saudinerves. On Tuesday the Iranian deputy foreign minister offered to givethe United States a "face saving withdrawal." When the Iranians talklike this, the Saudis draw on their worst nightmares, like an Iranianhelicopter evacuating the last American troops off the roof of ourembassy in Baghdad. The nightmare ends with an isolationist U.S.handing the Gulf over to a "pragmatic" Iran.

This confirms the concerns that the war in Iraq helped Iran establish what academics call a Shia Crescent, which spans from Tehran through Baghdad to Beirut.

Translation: the Iraq war has helped benefit Iran's political influence in the region, and their government's ability to purge dissent from the young liberal minority.

Cheney is Not the Right Choice

With his cocky arrogant persona, is Cheney the guy we really want torepresent us and try and negotiate with the warring factions in Iraq? Ipersonally don't think so. He can't even participate in an interview and remainhumble.

WASHINGTON -- A group of Republican lawmakers were waiting for an elevator onCapitol Hill when one of them said in frustration, "What's with Cheney?Anybody know?"

One colleague muttered, "The guy's getting a little strange, seems tome. Big chip on his shoulder."

So we decide to send old Dicky boy to set the leaders straight and "putpressure on them"?

Dick Cheney, the US Vice-President, made an unannounced visit to Baghdadtoday to put pressure on the Iraqi political leadership to heal the country'ssectarian divide.

In meetings held this lunchtime, Mr Cheney demanded that Nouri al-Maliki, theIraqi Prime Minister, and the Kurdish President, Jalal Talabani, increase theirefforts to fight the insurgency and do more to effect a process of nationalreconciliation. As one of his officials told accompanying journalists:"It’s game time."

I am sure they could have found someone much more qualified than Cheney.

Tenet: Irrelevant to Administration whether Iraq was a threat

This is from the new book by former CIA Director George Tenet, titled At the Center of the Storm:

“There was never a serious debate that I know of within theadministration about the imminence of the Iraqi threat,” Mr. Tenetwrites in a devastating judgment that is likely to be debated for manyyears. Nor, he adds, “was there ever a significant discussion” aboutthe possibility of containing Iraq without an invasion.

Tenet went on to add that his infamous "slam dunk" comment about WMD's in Iraq was taken out of context, and that it had no impact on whether the Administration went to war.  His frustration with Vice President Dick Cheney was quite evident on one passage:

Mr. Tenet described with sarcasm watching an episode of “Meet thePress” last September in which Mr. Cheney twice referred to Mr. Tenet’s“slam dunk” remark as the basis for the decision to go to war.

“I remember watching and thinking, ‘As if you needed me  to say ‘slam dunk’ to convince you to go to war with Iraq,’ ” Mr. Tenet writes.

Tenet, who is scheduled to appear this Sunday on CBS' 60 Minutes, will lash out at the Administration for throwing him overboard.

The Bill Moyer's Documentary.

For anyone that didn't get a chance to see Bill Moyer's Documentary "Buying The War", you can view it online HERE. It's a "Two Thumbs Up" (the admins. thumbs up America's ass).

You can go to News Hounds and scroll to see the Fox nut jobs wrongly "bash" (and lie about) Moyers.

Four years ago on May 1, President Bush landed on the aircraft carrier USS Lincolnwearing a flight suit and delivered a speech in front of a giant"Mission Accomplished" banner. He was hailed by media stars as a"breathtaking" example of presidential leadership in toppling SaddamHussein. Despite profound questions over the failure to locate weaponsof mass destruction and the increasing violence in Baghdad, many in thepress confirmed the White House's claim that the war was won. MSNBC'sChris Matthews declared, "We're all neo-cons now;" NPR's Bob Edwardssaid, "The war in Iraq is essentially over;" and Fortune magazine'sJeff Birnbaum said, "It is amazing how thorough the victory in Iraqreally was in the broadest context."

Bush approval at 28%

President Bush's job approval rating has fallen to 28%, the lowest level of his presidency, according to a new Harris Poll released today:

"How would you rate the job President Bush is doing –excellent, pretty good, only fair, or poor?"

Excellent - 7%
Pretty Good - 22%
Only Fair - 22%
Poor - 48%

Positive - 28%, Negative - 70%

And don't turn away just yet.  Cheney's approval rating is at an all-time Harris Poll low as well:

"How would you rate the job Vice President Dick Cheney is doing –excellent, pretty good, only fair, or poor?"

Excellent - 5%
Pretty Good - 20%
Only Fair - 25%
Poor - 44%

Positive - 25%, Negative - 69%

Yet, President Bush thinks he can fight his war without any congressional oversight, and ignore bipartisan calls for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to be fired.  Bush is not only disconnected from most Americans, but his own party as well.

(Video) Kucinich to file articles of impeachment against Cheney

Bless the guy for trying.  But is he really the person we want filing articles of impeachment?  Dennis Kucinich sent a letter to his Congressional colleagues yesterday informing them of the decision:

Dear Colleague:

This week I intend to introduce Articles of Impeachment with respectto the conduct of Vice President Cheney. Please have your staff contactmy office . . . if you would like to receive a confidential copy of thedocument prior to its introduction in the House.

Sincerely,

/s/

Dennis J. Kucinich

Member of Congress

Below is a video of Kucinich's call for Cheney's impeachment.  Is it just me, or is he about 99% more subdued than normal?:

Maybe people would take him seriously if he actually spent the entire video laying out, issue by issue, the legal grounds for impeaching Dick Cheney -- because there certainly is a good case.

Even though the Virginia Tech school shootings will delay Kucinich's impeachment effort to next week, his presidential campaign is wasting no time making the case on blogs.  A staff member from the Kucinich for President team commented on the blog of Michael Stickings -- who I have known for about one year -- and assured everyone that Kucinich is serious about this.

Cheney scaring people about nukes again

With power comes great responsibility to use your authority to help bring people together.  Or, maybe I have just been listening to Obama too much.

Welcome to Dick Cheney's world.  On CBS' Face the Nation, the Vice President used his role as intelligence brief-reader to play the role of fear-teller:

Just before I came down here, I wentthrough an intelligence briefing this morning.

The fact is that the threat to the United States now of a 9/11 occurringwith a group of terrorists armed not with airline tickets and boxcutters, but with a nuclear weapon in the middle of one of our owncities is the greatest threat we face. It's a very real threat.  It'ssomething that we have to worry about and defeat every single day.

Yes, and we have to worry about people like you scaring people every single day.

Cheney says Democrats are stuck in the past

Yesterday, Cheney added another item to the list of his far-fetched quotes.  The Vice President claimed the Democrats are modeling themselves after George McGovern:

"That was the last time the national Democratic Party took a hard leftturn," Cheney told a conference hosted by the conservative HeritageFoundation. "But in 2007, it looks like history is repeating itself.Today, on some of the most critical issues facing the country, the newDemocratic majority resembles nothing so much as that old party of theearly 1970s."

If opposing Bush's war of choice is taking a "hard left turn," then 70% of the country must be liberal.