Reply #22: Here's the quote from Clarke's book:

[RoadRunner]

From p 17:

“Cressey told me that Fenzel was looking for me. I picked up the open line to the Presidential Emergency Operations Center, only to find that once again it was a dial tone. When I punched the PEOC button, the person answering the line grunted and passed the phone to Major Fenzel. “Who is the asshole answering the phone for you, Mike?” I asked.”

“That would be the Vice President, Dick.”


And, from p. 18:

“It’s fine,” Major Fenzel whispered, “but I can’t hear the crisis conference because Mrs. Cheney keeps turning down the volume on you so she can hear CNN … and the Vice President keeps hanging up the open line to you” Mrs. Cheney was more than just a family member who had to be protected. Like her husband, she was a right-wing ideologue and she was offering her advice and opinions in the bunker.”