Additional ‘Insight’ into the inner-workings of the White House

February 28, 2006

As part of my ongoing fascination with the oddly anti-Bush articles appearing in Insight magazine, an off-shoot of Sun Myung Moon’s far-right Washington Times, the latest issue suggests that we won’t have Dick Cheney to kick around much longer.

Senior GOP sources envision the retirement of Mr. Cheney in 2007, months after the congressional elections. The sources said Mr. Cheney would be persuaded to step down as he becomes an increasing political liability to President Bush.

The sources reported a growing rift between the president and vice president as well as their staffs. They cited Mr. Cheney’s failure to immediately tell the president of the accidental shooting of the vice president’s hunting colleague earlier this month. The White House didn’t learn of the incident until 18 hours later. […]

“Nothing will happen until after the congressional elections,” a GOP source said. “After that, there will be significant changes in the administration and Cheney will probably be part of that.”

The opportunities for baseless speculation abound. Indeed, the article dovetails nicely with the Peggy Noonan-inspired boomlet about Cheney’s pending departure from a couple of weeks ago. (For the record, I still don’t believe Cheney is going anywhere. Bush is loathe to admit mistakes — and this would be a gigantic admission.)

Nevertheless, for those keeping score at home, this is the fifth Insight article in just the past few months that casts the Bush gang in an unflattering light. Two weeks ago, it was “the largest crackdown in decades against whistleblowers in government.” The week before, it was an item on Karl Rove threatening to “blacklist” any Republican who goes against the president on warrantless-wiretaps. In January, Insight quoted “administration sources” talking about internal turmoil at the Bush White House. In November, Insight ran an item explaining that Bush has become melancholy and paranoid.

One of these days, someone with inside access will explain why the far-right Washington Times’ “sister publication” keeps publishing pieces that make Bush look bad, but in the meantime, Insight is running some entertaining stories, isn’t it?

It makes no sense, does it? There must be an intriguing story inside the Washington Times … somewhere (in the editorial board no doubt). You suppose they’re trying to get the Bush Crime Family to (at least publicly) clean up its act before the next round of elections? The BCF may not care about reality, but I’d guess conservative papers (businesses) do.

  • Cheney could leave without Bush having to admit a “mistake,” though– Cheney could easily claim health reasons. I’ve wondered about this for a while, since it might give the administration a way to position their own candidate for the nomination. This group won’t give up easily.

  • They are entertaining stories…the only things juicier are the supermarket tabloids…But it makes me think that the Repubs are beginning to strategize for succession…ie. a successor to Bush.

    It has to be a dilemma. They must know that the Repub model of government – endless war and deficits – has run out of gas. A Democrat a la Bill Clinton might clean up the mess enough to allow for another looting cycle later.

    Yet they fear the endless investigations or worse if they lose their lock on government…

  • The ‘huh?’ factor in this is, why wait till ’07? If this is a political calculation, wouldn’t it better serve the GOP if Cheney ‘faced his health problems’ before the midterms? I know some think this is about anointing the GOP’s ’08 standard bearer. But would they really risk congressional control on a hunch about what might matter in ’08? Cheney is a very real albatross right now. The ’08 dynamics have yet to be carved into jello. What am I missing here?

  • Distrustful soul that I am, I have to wonder if all this sunshine is just a series of red herrings to divert people’s attention from more serious matters, even if only a little.

    When you look at the whole stream of stories, there’s really nothing serious enough to actually pose a threat to anything the WH is doing or would want to do.

    Cheney could step down at any time for any number of reasons. We expect Karl Rove to twist arms, it’s what he does six times before breakfast anyway. Any administration can be in turmoil from factional battles among the staff, no surprise there. Bush gets a little blue now and then? Ho hum, pass me the comics section.

    No, this is starting to feel like we’re being set up for something, or at least they want us to give time and attention to issues that really have no substance when you look below the surface.

    The real question is just what exactly is that sneaky Mr. Moon really up to? Pass the popcorn.

  • The White House didn’t learn of the incident until 18 hours later.

    Their reasoning sounds like a cover story for God only knows what. Rove was on the phone talking with Armstrong within hours. If the “White House” didn’t know until the next afternoon it’s because Rove didn’t communicate the information to any of his co-workers, not because of Cheney’s stone-walling. That whole incident still reeks of something.

  • What does Cheney have on George?
    Cheney can probably call his own shots now . He’s a mean dude who has a nasty way with power that is only just starting to leak out.
    Would Bush want a pissed and cranky Cheney headed into up coming trials and inquiries?
    “.

  • One reason for Bush to keep Cheney around as long as possible, it seems to me, is what one might call the ‘Agnew factor.’ Remember how they couldn’t force Nixon out of office during Watergate until they had eased Agnew out to clear up any messy issues with the succession? As long as Bush keeps Mr. Trigger Happy in place he has some insurance. Of course, he might replace him with Condoleeza Rice…and given the aversion of the base to an African-American woman who favors of abortion rights, he’d be just as safe. At least he wouldn’t need to worry about defections on his right.

  • As someone who prides himself on trenchant and witty posts, I’m dismayed to find that I agree with all of the above and have nothing useful to add.

  • Waiting until after the midterms sounds about right. The new VP has to be confirmed by both houses, and they’d rather do that in the lame-duck session.

  • Rove didn’t initiate Katrina. Rove didn’t pull Cheney’s trigger finger. Rove only knows how to be dirtier in electoral politics than anyone ever anticipated (at least since the Adams-Jefferson election). There’s no trick to being dirty; it just takes brass. Don’t give these guys more credit than they deserve: all they know how to do is swim lower in the gutter than most Americans are used to.

  • I agree with the several posters who argue that this is ALL about succession and positioning for ’08; which is why, ever since Bush was first installed by the SC in ’01, I’ve suspected that Cheney would resign to make room for Jeb! before the end of his second term.

    I think Cheney won’t quit prior to the ’06 midterms because if Cheney goes, the Fundie base goes, too. Remember, they’ve always loved Cheney much more than Bushie — and with Bushie’s numbers in the low 30s, if the Fundies go, there’s no one to work the oars on the GOP trireme for the GOTV and swiftboat efforts this fall.

    And remember, too, that Rove’s overall program is NOT the Cult of Bushie — the Cult of Bushie is one of several means toward Rove’s end of the 30-year Permanent GOP Majority. With W’s numbers so low, I honestly think that Rove will continue to counsel W to “stay the course” and “let Bush be Bush” — because doing so will provide “negative coattails” for GOP Congressional candidates to run AGAINST in the fall.

    Ed Stephan is right: Rove has no idea how to run anything but a campaign — but that means “campaigning” is his hammer, and governance is the nail. This is all done with an eye to the midterms, first, and ’08, second. If the GOP retains solid majorities in both houses, it doesn’t matter much if a Dem takes the WH in ’08.

  • They wait until ’07 because they need to keep all hopeful successors in their court. Once Cheney is replaced, a good number of people lose their incentive to carry water for the Administration.

    I think Bush will name Barney his VP if Cheney resigns.

    Wouldn’t it be amusing if Jeb got appointed VP after Cheney and then HW Bush had some of his buddies eliminate Dubya so that the actual favorite son got to lead? Of course, a scenario like that depends on how “Diebolded up” they are.

  • Bush would want to nominate his new VP soon while he still has Republican control of both houses.

  • No need to worry about health issues. With the Libby trial kicking into gear in early 2007, Cheney can just say that the hullaballoo is keeping him from doing his job (a la Brownie, though that’s not necessarily the best example). He can step down, kick the media in the nuts again, and no one admits a mistake.

    Of course, the more interesting question is how does he maintain his legacy of the Unitary Executive? That’s still not clear.

  • If Cheney resigns, then both sitting Presidents who left office via resignation will have been Republicans.

  • That whole incident still reeks of something.
    I think the whole incident reeks of alcohol and stupidity. I agree that the story that Bush didn’t know is just another story to put out a potential fire. I think that even if Cheney is replaced, Bush is such a loser that no one will vote Republican next time. They will just try to steal as much as they can between now and 2008 and live to fight another day.

  • Bush didn’t dump Cheney–contrary to many predictions–before the 2004 election (even though politically it probably would have been a good move) because he was too dependent on him. What the shooting episode shows is how little control Bush has over Cheney. I’m sure a dumped and angry Cheney could do tremendous damage to Bush. That’s the real reason, not “admitting a mistake,” that Cheney won’t go: as a previous commenter noted, they could easily use the health reason to move him out without admitting anything. Cheney will be VP for the duration, which is actually a good thing politically, because (1) he’s extremely unpopular, and (2) his unelectability to the presidency reinforces Bush’ lame-duck status. It’s terrible policy-wise that Cheney’s had so much power, but at this late date, his leaving probably wouldn’t help much in that arena.

  • Cheney is also representing the real powerholders of the presidency (Halliburton and the military pharmaceutical, enegry industrial conglomerate)
    If Cheney goes, his replacement will need to be trustworthy to friends in high places with the promise of not disrupting the hidden business as usual understandings.
    They’d want an electable successor with Secretary Snow sensibilities..

  • Santorum loses Senate Race,Cheney retires,Santorum is Veep,base is happy and the 08 campaign is on the march.

    Seems simple really.

  • Moon no longer “has” to play games… he drag us where he wishes. When Insight first posted an anti Bush article on liberal blogger went so far as to say “thank God” …which I found rather troubling myself.

    Moon’s media is NOT on the right’s side. It is only on Moon’s side though most who work for him don’t know or undertsand how they are tools. Moon has played the right for chumps. They fell for his “anti-communist” BS when in fact he doesn’t like democracy either, he wants his form theocracy which he calls “Godism”.

    UPI was bought to give him a name and clout around the world. Always remember the articles written in it are often written for worldwide consumption. Moon intends for Korea to eventually be #1 and his sovereign nation, he doesn’t give a hooey about the USA or wingnuts, they/we are his toys to reach the world.

    Remember when Moon was crowned at the Dirksen Building in March 2004? Shortly after that there were stories being written that the ‘owners’ and people like Pruden at the Washington Times were infighting for control of the paper. What a crock of BS. That was just fiction to make the people who have been trained by the Washington Times the last 20 years to think that it is somehow “independent” of Moon’s plans for the planet which is utter nonsense.

    The paper was designed to prop up hard right politics while Moon funded the fundies like Falwell, LaHaye, Viguerie and created fronts like the American Fredom Coalition to gather the “christian” right together for political power. Moon says it is job as Messiah to ‘restore” Christianity to control America and he outspent Scaife doing just that. Moon is the conservative movement’s savior, literally, they do not control our nation without his ‘eforts’ the last 25 years.

    With an editor like Pruden, Moon doesn’t have to tell the WT what to write anyway. He is on auto pilot moving the nation right while Moon moved elsewhere to empower the theocrats.

    check these out

    http://www.cellwhitman.blogspot.com/

    pay close attention to the bottom couple quote boxes here:

    http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/12/15/221015/62

    good luck…

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