"Cheney's war is swallowing Bush's presidency."

[BurtWorm]

No shit.

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20051114091809990008

...

Cheney, according to friends and subordinates, sees himself as an uber-staffer whose mission is to shape and promote the President's agenda, even at the expense of his own popularity. Lately, with the Vice President making a signature issue out of opposing new restrictions on the treatment of suspected terrorists, the price has been steep. In one poll, Cheney's approval rating slipped into the 20s, and a former White House nemesis has gained traction on the issue.

Republican John McCain, the Senate's most famous prisoner of war, has won strong bipartisan support for a ban on inhumane treatment of suspected terrorists and other detainees, and is fighting Cheney's push for an exemption for the CIA. With the issue in the headlines, McCain raised just over $1 million last week for his probable presidential campaign.

A former Administration official sees Cheney's lack of interest in running for President as a liability. "It liberates him to risk his own standing on behalf of the policy and the President," the official said. "But it can be a real problem when that approach starts to affect the President's standing." And while the Vice President's partisans remain convinced that most conservatives still love him, even some of those bedrock fans are expressing growing doubts.

"Cheney's war is swallowing Bush's presidency," said a conservative leader who is an ally of the Vice President's. "The cost of Iraq is everything else Bush wanted to do." ...

[donco6]

1. The cost of Iraq . . .

"The cost of Iraq is everything else Bush wanted to do." ...

So, is that a good thing, or a bad thing? :scared:

[indepat]

10. Everything else was dismantle SS & all safety nets, implement an even more

regressive tax scheme, privatize almost everything so cronies could be awarded even more lucrative no-bid contracts and....

[Warren Stupidity]

2. Any suggestion that Bush is somehow less complicit

in the crimes committed by The Cabal is spin and bullshit. All of them belong in jail for a very long time.

[BurtWorm]

29. You got that right, Warren Stupidity!

:toast:

[ComerPerro]

3. That's why McCain's speaking out. He's pandering

to the moderates, trying to keep them within the party.

It's funny, I almost would have not minded seeing him win in 2000. I could have supported him. At least, that's how I felt then.

Now I see what a pathetic, party-line whore he is.

And, honestly, I don't even trust him to not torture once he actually gets to the White House.

[Lerkfish]

5. I was similarly fooled in 2000, I thought Mccain wouldn't

be so bad as a moderate republican.

LOL shows you how well crafted spin is.

[William Bloode]

6. Make it a trio.

I was fooled too.

[Einstein99]

17. Not me

During the 2000 campaign, McCain told an insulting joke about Chelsie Clinton, a mere child at the time. I thought it was an insight into a very dark soul.

[Lerkfish]

20. I missed that at the time, and I don't know about it now..g'head and spill

what was the joke?

of course, now I know him for the whore he is, so I'm interested what kind of joke he would tell.

[Einstein99]

25. I don't recall the details, but

it had something to do with questioning her parentage, I think.

[Coventina]

24. McCain has been known for insensitive jokes. Many years ago he upset the

seniors around here for referring to one of their retirement communities called "Leisure World" as "Seizure World."

I was much younger and dumber then, and often abused by seniors in my job, so I thought it was funny at the time.

Now I am more evolved and don't find it funny anymore.

[Loge23]

4. Let the finger pointing begin

IMO, this is just yet another WH spin wash.
This nation cannot afford to believe that the shrub is any less culpable for the Iraq mess than anyone else in his evil clique. The people, according to the spin, are supposed to believe that all of the horror of this admin is caused by others as the good little president struggles to do the right thing for the country.
The "bus" is gaining momentum. Now we can watch as the subordinates are flung beneath it as the bus continues along it's route to the oval office. All aboard!

[rodeodance]

9. Incourious George could not have cared less about foreign policy other

than to prove he was not a wimp (the wimp label was attached to Poppy you recall).
Jr was a 'carrier'---then 'grew' into power--and he liked it!! He liked being the war president. He is into this big!!--even as they try to isolate him from wrongdoing.

[annabanana]

12. "another spin cycle"

good phrase,
resonates with everyone who does laundry!

[afdip]

7. dubya would like nothing better than to have this known as

"cheney's war," as if it might absolve him of some responsibility.

[Ganja Ninja]

8. It seems to me that there was really no difference of opinion ..

going into this war. Why now are we being sold this "Cheney's War" meme? Hasn't Bush always been in charge? Having disposed of Scooter to save Rove are they now dumping Cheney to try and save Bush? Looks like!
:eyes:

[DemonFighterLives]

11. Now it is GFY cheney's war

Yesterday it was for International reasons because the all the worlds intel was fouled up. The day before that it was the democrats fault for voting for it supposedly. Before that it was to keep the mushroom clouds over there so we didn't have them here.
:nuke:

[Boo Boo]

13. This article is bizarre.

He's promoting the President's policies: That's good!

But the President's policies are unpopular: That's bad!

Stop it, Dick! Stop supporting the President. You shouldn't be trying to help him achieve his policy goals, because that makes him unpopular! If only you cared about yourself, everything would be fine, but no... you've gotta be such a great unselfish guy. Your stalwart support of the President has become a liability, Dick.

:eyes:

Face it: Dick is out of control, and Bush has crawled back inside the bottle. Somebody is going to have to put a tranquilizer dart in Dick's ass, a radio collar around his neck, clamp a tag on his ear, and then air-lift him to some remote location in the Alaskan wilderness where he won't come into contact with Humans. Cheneys and Humans are a volatile combination.

Maybe that Aussie crocodile guy would do it for us. Talk about must-see TV!

"Watch out! He'll bite ya!"

[Batgirl]

16. Alaska might not be remote enough

Maybe they should keep going and drop him off on a frozen land mass -- I believe that's how they disposed of "The Blob".

[Boo Boo]

19. I like that...

Dick "The Blob" Cheney. It has a nice ring to it.

Hundreds, even thousands of years in the future, some unsuspecting frozen land mass explorers will dig him up out of the ice, fail to keep him adequately frozen, and then...

"Arrrrrrrgh!"

He suddenly comes back to life and classifies everything in sight.

[Spinzonner]

14. I expect that Eichmann had a similar point of view

about his role.

[lonestarnot]

15. Nope not falling for this shit! Birds of a feather flock together.

[Einstein99]

18. Who's your daddy?

For four years, media wonks shied away from suggesting that Bush was out of touch and merely a puppet for Cheney & Co. Bob Woodward's first book on Bush reinforced the impression that Bush was really in charge. Recently, however, I've been picking up on lots of "winks" and "nods" and Freudian slips (e.g., "President Cheney") among the wonks and reporters. It seems as if they are finally willing to admit what they have really known all along.
This issue came up on a recent "Hardball" when Byron York challenged what he saw as as Chris Matthews' suggestion that "Cheney is really running the country." Matthews replied, though, that he believed that Cheney pushed the war really hard but that Bush made the final decision. In other words, whether Cheney is pulling the strings or not, Bush cannot escape responsibility.

[Bouncy Ball]

21. The buck's supposed to stop with the president.

I don't accept any of these excuses, they are ALL guilty, they are ALL involved.

[AlCzervik]

22. Like Bush isn't supporting Cheney's stance on torture? Of course he is.

[gratuitous]

23. Oh, so Mr. "I'm a war president" doesn't own his war anymore?

What manner of shit be this? Clearly Cheney supports the Iraq invasion, it's made him a big pile of money. But there's a reason the guy in the big chair is the president and his running mate is the vice president. This war is George W. Bush's all the way baby. Cheney is certainly in line for his own round of approbation and vilification, but for Republicans now to whine about "Cheney's war" is disingenuous at best, downright rat-fucking lying and justice obstructing at worst.

I don't know who the unnamed "conservative leader" is from the story, but he's no ally of Cheney's. Co-defendants, every last one of them.

[KansDem]

26. Notice he said "...*a* war president" and not "...*the* war president."

But no matter, this will only deflate Bush standings with the masses. They were looking for someone strong and decisive, but when they realize Bush can be had and conned into giving up "his" war, and when they realize Bush is really not in power, they will turn away, after the obligatory disbelief, denial, and anger periods.

[Solly Mack]

28. Exactly. But it is why Bush campaigned with the "I don't know a lot but

I surround myself with smart people" BS.

So he could allow others to take the blame for his actions.

His campaign talking point came with it's own built in defense.

It's an easily seen through defense but it's still why they used it.

[LeftCoast]

27. Ah, so now it's Cheney's war?! But I though Commander Codpiece wanted us

to go to war? "I'm a war president" Isn't that what he said a year or so ago?!