Cheney Sweats Out the Summer by Ray McGovern

[Joanne98]

So far the summer has been mild in the Washington, D.C., area. But for former Vice President Dick Cheney the temperature is well over 100 degrees. He is sweating profusely, and it is becoming increasingly clear why.

Cheney has broken openly with former President George W. Bush on one issue of transcendent importance - to Cheney. For whatever reason, Bush decided not to hand out blanket pardons before they both rode off into the sunset.

Cheney has complained bitterly that his former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby should have been pardoned, rather than simply having his jail sentence "commuted."

Cheney told the press that Bush left Libby "sort of hanging in the wind" by refusing to issue Libby a pardon before Bush left office. Libby had been convicted of perjury, obstruction of justice, and lying to federal agents investigating the leak of a former CIA operations officer's identity.


"I believe firmly that Scooter was unjustly accused and prosecuted and deserved a pardon, and the President disagreed with that," Cheney said. He would disclose no details of his efforts to lobby Bush on Libby's behalf, saying they would be "best left to history."

It is getting close to history time. You do not need to be a cracker-jack analyst to understand that Cheney is feeling betrayed - that he is thinking not of Libby, but of himself, and fearing that, if our system of justice works, he could be in for some serious, uncommuted jail time.

His situation has grown pathetic. Aside from the man himself, it has fallen almost solely to faithful daughter Liz to defend her dad and to start a political backfire to keep him out of prison. She is to be admired for her faithfulness. In the process, though, she has unwittingly given much away.

Liz on the Offensive

On Washington Times' "America's Morning News" radio program Monday, Liz acted again as designated hitter, responding to the recent New York Times report that her father had given "direct orders" to the CIA to withhold "information about a secret counterterrorism program for eight years."

Not for the first time, Liz Cheney disclosed what has her father so worried and agitated. She said he is "very angry" over recent press reports that Attorney General Eric Holder may be about to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate "the Bush administration's brutal interrogation practices."

She branded this "shameful" - worse still, "un-American." Not the interrogation practices, mind you, but the notion that her father should be held to account for them.

Typically, Ms. Cheney did well in sticking closely to her talking points, arguing that the issue is "somebody taking office and then starting to prosecute people who carried out policies that they disagreed with, you know, in the previous administration."

As if unprecedented decisions to torture, in violation of international law and the War Crimes Act of 1996, can be accurately described as "policies" over which there can be honest disagreement. This is about crimes, not "policies."

Pulling out all the stops, Ms. Cheney worried aloud over what this does to "morale at the CIA," where the practitioners of what Bush called "an alternative set of procedures" for interrogation believed they were acting with the blessing of the Justice Department. (Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity addressed that bromide frontally on April 29, 2009, in a Memorandum to our new President.)

Liz Cheney went on to argue that this could in the future inhibit CIA functionaries from various actions, out of fear of criminal liability. (To me, that sounds like a distinct plus.)

The Decider

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Continued>>>
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Cheney-Sweats-Out-the-Summ-by-Ray-McGovern-090714-977.html

[opihimoimoi]

1. Paranoia of the HOT SEAT then Orange suit puts them in a dither

Their unlawful excesses is what did them in will be a phrase soon muttered everywhere.....

The Bullyness of their behavior was toxic to good gov't....NOW they want to self cleanse? Too widdle too lateness me thinks.

[Chemisse]

2. Hot and sweaty? How about a cool, refreshing waterboarding session?

[Peace Patriot]

3. I think it's pretty clear why Bush issued no pardons. He had no need to.

He and Cheney and other Bush Junta principles (probably Rumsfeld; not sure about Rove, Addington, Rice & the rest of the gangsters) had already been immunized, in some sort of deal to get them to, a) leave office when the time came, and b) not nuke Iran.

I think this "deal" occurred circa 2006, shortly after Pelosi's strange announcement that "impeachment is off the table" (WHAT "table"?), and was followed shortly by Rumsfeld's resignation (assured that he would not be prosecuted).

Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld (at least) are already immunized. It couldn't be any more apparent. And what Cheney was whining about, as to Libby, was probably the failure of "the deal" to extend immunity down the line, or to the already convicted (Libby).

We. Will. Not. See. Bush. Cheney. Or Rumsfeld. Prosecuted. In. The. U.S.

Period. End of story.

And Panetta (who is no "civilian," believe me) will not permit CIA agents who were under Bush Junta orders, to be prosecuted. It. Will. Not. Happen.

More vulnerable: Military commanders and officers, and private contractors--although WHO has been prosecuted thus far? A few "grunts." I suspect that's how it will remain. The torture policy was bipartisan, in my opinion, as was the entire, outrageous, criminal, mass murdering, thieving Bush Junta. Our entire political establishment (with damn few dissenters) is complicit, and will not seek justice and accountability towards itself with any seriousness.

And what is more, President Obama had to agree to this, in order for Diebold & brethren to count the votes more or less accurately. (I think they shaved off a lot of his votes, to reduce his mandate and prevent any real reform of our government.) If there was such a deal--only an hypothesis, at this point--brokered, say, by Daddy Bush, Panetta (a member of his Iraq Study Group), and some generals, corpos and politicos, on Daddy Bush's part to save Junior, and on the part of some of the others, to prevent Armageddon and outright martial law here--then such a group would not neglect a vetting of the presidential candidates, to insure that the next president would abide by the deal. Evidence that Obama agreed? Only his lame, and quite absurd, statement that we "must look forward, not backward." Do we fail to prosecute murderers because the murder occurred in the past? I mean, come on, Barack--you can do better than that! And, two, all of the main Bush Junta perps remain free, running around giving "advice" on TV shows, and collecting interest on the vast sums of money that they stole from the American people. Rumsfeld may be plotting Oil War II in South America.* Cheney and Rove have been prominent as well--seemingly unafraid and unintimidated. (I think Rove--Bush's brain--was included in the immunity deal--another reason for Cheney's whining--that his guy, in that rivalry, Libby, was not pardoned.)

---------------------------------------

*(Rumsfeld op-ed in the Washington Post, 12/1/07, about a year after he resigned: "The Smart Way To Defeat Tyrants Like Chavez," in which he urges "swift action" by the U.S. in support of "friends and allies" in Latin America. By "friends and allies," he no doubt meant the white separatists in Bolivia who tried to secede from Evo Morales' national government, this last September, and take Bolivia's main oil/gas fields with them, funded and organized right out of the US embassy; the various coup plotters in Venezuela and Ecuador (big oil reserves), and very likely the successful coup plotters, recently, in Honduras (no oil, but strategic importance to the planned Oil War). The usual US suspects--Reagan/Bush killers such as Otto Reich and John Negroponte (adviser to Hillary)--are deeply involved in the Honduran coup, which didn't require "swift action" by the US military, just inaction, to let the coup go forward and to continue funding the Honduran military and the coup government. When Rumsfeld wrote his op-ed, the Bolivian attempted coup was in the works, but time ran out on the Bushwhacks (the attempt occurred this last September) and South American leaders proved amazingly unified (not to mention "swift") in their support of the Morales government. The Honduran coup indicates that the plan for Oil War II: South America is still on.)

[condoleeza]

4. Jesus, I hope you're wrong n/t

[Peace Patriot]

5. Actually, I hope I'm right, because it explains so much.

And enlightenment is so much better than confusion, and disappointment, and malaise. Why oh why is our government continuing the Forever War, when we elected a President mostly because he opposed the Iraq War? Why oh why can't we get any reduction in military, and "dirty war" and secret government, spending, with Great Depression II staring us in the face--not even proposed and discussed, let alone implemented? Why oh why are torture, secrecy, spying, indefinite detention without trial, unjust war, bailouts of criminal banks and speculators, outsourcing of all our jobs, credit card usury, insurance dragon dictation of health care, and yet more fascist policy on every hand, now the policy of the US government, no matter which party is in charge? Why oh why is there no accountability? Why oh why are small marijuana retailers in jail for 10, 20 years, and Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld--two of the most heinous criminals ever to hold power in this country--are walking free?

It is good to understand these things, to dig deep, to analyze what it is possible to know, and to make educated guesses at the scenarios and forces that brought them about. We need to do this. We need to think--not to demoralize ourselves, but to devise the right strategies for restoring our democracy. Personally, my investigations and thinking have led me to the conclusion that the best, and first, thing we must do is get rid of 'TRADE SECRET' vote counting. Congress isn't going to do it. It has to be done at the state/local level, where ordinary people still have some influence, and where the power over voting systems still resides. Transparent vote counting is fundamental to democracy. Without it, we really don't have a democracy. We have THIS: A Bush/Cheney fascist coup, followed by a well-meaning President with his hands tied, because far rightwing corporations have the ability--the EASY ability--to un-elect him in 2012. The best thing we could do for Obama--bar none--is to toss out the 'TRADE SECRET' voting machines, or at least demand and get a paper ballot backup that is actually counted--before 2012.

One other thing: "The deal" that I have hypothesized may have saved us from Armageddon (horrrendous death and suffering in the Middle East, and potential "nuclear winter" for the planet, i.e., death of the planet), and/or outright martial law here. I think that the motives of some of the dealers, of this hypothesized deal, were good, although not democratic. Military people, 'white hat' CIA, major corpo and political players decided that Cheney/Rumsfeld had gone too far, and had become extremely dangerous. (China, Russia and possibly India could well have become involved--all with nuclear weapons.) Their plan was probably to nuke Iran, and stay in power here. You may recall how imminent an attack on Iran seemed to be, circa 2006. Then it all went away. Rumsfeld resigned. And Bush/Cheney clearly were lameducks after that point--except for their Financial 9/11 in late 2008 (to further hamstring any real reform, and to reward their ultra-rich pals).

So, it wasn't all bad, if it happened. It's just that it leaves us with far less of a democracy than we should have--a battered and truncated democracy, and economic ruination, due to eight years of the most phenomenal looting of a country that has ever occurred. But at least we did not nuke the Middle East, or destroy the planet with 'nuclear winter,' or suffer outright fascist rule. "Normalcy" was restored--but a "normalcy" that is not very good, that cries out for revolutionary reform of the kind that this country was founded upon. We need to throw off our Corporate Rulers, and we need to do it peacefully, because some of them would just love to see a violent rebellion here, that they could crush with all their fancy weapons. That's what our Founders gave us democracy for--to periodically rid ourselves of whatever tyrants gain power over us. And we do that by VOTING. We must restore the integrity of that process--as the first and most vital step toward recovering our power as a people.

[Demeter]

6. Who Was At the Other End of This Supposed Deal?

Who was the other party, the negotiator, who calls in the chips?

[condoleeza]

7. It's just hard to live with the fact that we've been lied to all my life about every fucking thing

and I am just tired of being demoralized no matter how hard I have worked on my "little projects" like getting Obama elected and child abuse. Clearly we little people have no say and likely never will, since it's all about money and I am not a player in that realm, guess I'm just an ante'ier". I've voted in every election since I was 18, been involved nationally and locally all these years and it always seems to mean nothing in the end. Even our local Mayor is being recalled now, I didn't vote for him, campaigned for the other guy, but "business" wanted the one who got elected and they ruled the news. Now nobody wants him, as he is a pariah because of his sexual exploits and lying about them, so now all the papers (business) want him gone. It is always like this, all my life, and I just really hope those younger than I have the energy to fight because I have paid my dues.

They can fuck with paper ballots too, that's why they brought in electronic balloting in the first place. The bastards will always find a way. I just really need to believe that the entire world isn't made up of fuckers before I die. I don't expect that will ever happen. Keep fighting Peace Patriot, I wish you well.