Not That There Really Was Any Doubt, Wilkerson Confirms Cheney Was The Prez....

[leftchick]

December 17, 2001 Kellogg, Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton, where Dick Cheney had been C.E.O., is awarded a 10-year omnibus contract to provide the Pentagon with support services for everything from fighting oil-well fires to building military bases to serving meals. As defense secretary under George H. W. Bush, Cheney had pushed strenuously to outsource a variety of military functions to private contractors—part of a broader effort to transfer government functions of all kinds to the private sector.


Lawrence Wilkerson, top aide and later chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell: Cheney brings this accumulation of power and ability to influence the bureaucracy to a fine art. He surpasses Kissinger even. This is all the more ironic because Cheney was the antithesis of this when he was chief of staff of the White House under Gerald Ford and when he was secretary of defense. He was very deferential. He was not trying to insinuate himself.

But he turns everything on its head and he becomes the power. And he does it through his network. This is a guy who’s an absolute genius at bureaucracy and an absolute genius at not displaying his genius at bureaucracy. He’s always quiet.

So are most of his minions, not all of them. Addington is brilliant, and Addington is a strange beast, and Addington is sort of the Ayman al-Zawahiri for Cheney, the brains trust. Libby was the doer. Libby was a real bureaucrat’s dream.

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2009/02/bush-oral-history200902?printable=true¤tPage=all

[SpiralHawk]

1. "I was, um, The Decider. Smirk." - xCommander AWOL (R)

"And since you all know you can trust me (smirk), then you also know for a fact (smirk) that VP Dickie 'Five Military Deferments' Cheney was, like, um, totally under (smirk) my Decidership and stuff. Smirk."

- xCommander AWOL (R)

[roguevalley]

9. it annoys me when I hear positive superlatives applied to these pricks.

they are none of that. they are evil and they had a perfect tool in W.

[Uben]

2. He couldn't get Libby a pardon

.....and he can't stop us from looking at his energy papers, now. I figured he would take the blame for everything since he is on death's front porch, but I'm not so sure now that Bush wouldn't pardon Libby. I wanna see the Cheney name ruined forever.

[Mist]

3. The article quotes Lawrence Wilkerson, Powell's aide:

"What in effect happened was that a very astute, probably the most astute, bureaucratic entrepreneur I’ve ever run into in my life became the vice president of the United States."

"He became vice president well before George Bush picked him. And he began to manipulate things from that point on, knowing that he was going to be able to convince this guy to pick him, knowing that he was then going to be able to wade into the vacuums that existed around George Bush—personality vacuum, character vacuum, details vacuum, experience vacuum."

So they knew at the time that * was just a big vacuum? A whole lotta nuthin'?

But Unka Dick was gonna make it all okay....

Didn't any of these people wonder at the utter weirdness of the situation of a Prez. that was, to quote Wilkerson again, "Sarah Palin-like"?

[leftchick]

4. I have heard Wilkerson speak many times

I truly believe these are his thoughts in retrospect. He and Powell were totally screwed by Cheney. Not that I forgive either of them for their actions. Wilkerson really does come across as above board now and regretting his part in the maladministration. Powell? Not so much.

[Uncle Joe]

7. The keyword here is "vacuum"

because Bush sucked liked nothing else, but in this case "power didn't abhor a vacuum", the emptiness was sought out, and thoroughly stroked.

[JerseygirlCT]

10. Does that surprise you?

It doesn't me. I think that's precisely why the idiot son was chosen by the real PTB. He was a convenient puppet, who would play the role for them, and allow Cheney to manipulate the gov't to his and his crony's ends.

And here we are. Right where they wanted us. Except finally their boy couldn't find a way to stay, and they couldn't be totally sure that McCain would play. And phew! I'm sure Palin looked like a wild card to them too. That would have been an interesting conflict...

And now Dickie's out of power, and he's sulking. Publicly. If he can't have it, he's going to do his best to make sure it's not worth having.

[Mist]

12. Well, I've had 8 years of many acting like * ran things, when it was obvious

from day one he didn't--that Cheney was running the show. I know I'm not the only one who sees * as a sock-puppet--I'm just surprised at how many people still think he was the "deciderer." Drastic perceptual differences, I would say.

[JerseygirlCT]

13. He's still quite evil

but I think he was probably quite willing to trade in real responsibility (geez, it might mean he had to stay up past 9 or skip a few months of vacations!) for the appearance of such - especially when he was undoubtedly surrounded by carefully groomed yes-men to tell him how almighty he is around the clock. And probably to assure him that he was much more important than his father ever was.

[Mist]

15. I'd put it this way: If * had any brains, he'd be a true monster. He never got past the

kid-monster stage of blowing up frogs.

And those yes-men were falling off the job the last few months of the (p)Residency--I kept noticing how saggy and depressed-looking * was the last few months.

[JerseygirlCT]

16. That meal-ticket was a has-been then. Lame ducks

don't have the power anymore to attract that sort of sycophancy. (sp?)

Which, I will admit, was fun to watch. No sympathy was forthcoming from me!

[WI_DEM]

5. On the other hand, Cheney wanted Scooter Libby to be pardoned and Bush didn't

but on the whole I would say that Cheney was exeedingly influential and dangerous especially with a disengaged president like Bush.

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. This is a great read...thank you.

[leftchick]

8. Wilkerson has been spilling his guts for a while now

Lawrence Wilkerson, top aide and later chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell: Based on what the secretary and Will Taft were telling me, I think they both were convinced that they had managed to get the president’s attention with regard to what they thought was the governing document, the Geneva Conventions. I really think it came as a surprise when the February memo was put out. And that memo, of course, was constructed by Addington, and I’m told it was blessed by one or two people in O.L.C. . And then it was given to Cheney, and Cheney gave it to the president. The president signed it.

[dixiegrrrrl]

14. About this ariticle...so many people KNEW the BS and no one said a word at the time.

I am re-reading the article.
and what I hear is exactly the kind of bs thinking and stupidity that I have heard around conference tables in the 30 years I have worked in organizations.
The lying and ass covering and totally inane crap coming out of people's mouths that leave you shaking your head, and leave you positive you must have mis-heard what was just said.
And egos...my god, the egos of 2n and 3rd rate people like Ari Fleisher who are convinced every bs word is gold flowing from the Oval Office.
And the article reports on people who knew it was bs when they heard it, and they never ever said one word.
We are so doomed...there are not enough smart people doing the right things for the right reasons, even in the "changed" WH.

[bertman]

11. Looking at that picture of Cheney makes me wonder: has anyone ever punched that

fucking asshole in the face?

Man would I love to be the one to do it.