I expected Dick Cheney to defend Don Rumsfeld, but his choice of words belies a far more serious problem with this White House.
U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney moved to support Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld amid a firestorm over Iraqi prison abuses, with a statement that people should “get off his case” and let Rumsfeld do his job.
“Don Rumsfeld is the best secretary of defense the United States has ever had,” Cheney, who has sometimes taken a lead role in advancing White House positions, said in a statement issued by his office late on Saturday.
“People ought to get off his case and let him do his job,” Cheney said.
Obviously, the very idea that Rumsfeld is the best man ever to head the Pentagon is ridiculous, but I was more fascinated with the “get off his case” comment.
Even conservative Bush allies in Congress didn’t care much for the remark.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a member of the Armed Services Committee, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Cheney’s statement was misguided. But he also said critics calling for Rumsfeld’s resignation were “missing the boat.”
“Secretary Rumsfeld’s resignation may happen, it may not. That’s not the focus,” said Graham, a South Carolina Republican. “And as to the White House, please don’t say things like ‘You should get off his back.’ Nobody is on his back. We have an independent duty to look at this.”
But I don’t think Cheney was merely taking a slap at Congress’ oversight role, though he was certainly doing that. I think the comment perfectly captures this White House’s unparalleled arrogance.
A couple of years ago, when Bob Woodward was writing his first book about Bush, the president told him why he doesn’t like to say much during cabinet meetings.
“I’m the commander — see, I don’t need to explain — I do not need to explain why I say things,” he told Bob Woodward. “That’s the interesting thing about being president.”
Decisions require certainty, not reason. Bush’s orders don’t require explanation, because, well, they’re Bush’s orders.
I thought of the Bush/Woodward exchange when I saw that Cheney perceives criticisms of Rumsfeld as some kind of annoyance. The implication of insisting that we “get off his case” is not just that Cheney doesn’t like these questions; it’s that Cheney disapproves of any questions.
Rumsfeld has overseen a Defense apparatus that has gotten virtually everything wrong, especially on Iraq. When it comes to the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, Rumsfeld not only created the policies that led to the tortures, but subsequently tried to cover them up. Through it all, Rumsfeld is confident that “the system works.”
When the public, lawmakers, and journalists who don’t work at Fox News express outrage over the failures, Cheney isn’t content to offer support to his colleague; he insists that the questions themselves are inappropriate. Why? Because Cheney says so.
Cheney sounds as if he sees himself as a leader of a powerful autocracy in which checks and balances are a charade. When a member of the “court” falters or is proven incapable, it’s imperative that everyone just look the other way. Voicing concerns is a hindrance that interferes with the system. After all, the autocrat is busy and doesn’t have time to deal with our complaints. Just have faith that the leader is benevolent and everything will be fine.
Just “get off his back.” It’s not our job to question anyway.