"It would be important to pick his moment carefully to make his concern known. It was late on a weeknight. Two lifelong workaholics were still at their posts: Mr. O'Neill and Dick Cheney.
"He marched to Mr. Cheney's office. "Dick, I think we need to talk," Mr. O'Neill said. He reasoned that Mr. Cheney would understand the importance of establishing sound processes to manage the White House and executive branch -- entities that were truly beyond human scale. Mr. O'Neill said that he was concerned that Mr. Lindsey was masquerading as the honest broker and was anything but. Without strongly positioned honest brokers and a rigorous, disinterested vetting of various proposals, Mr. O'Neill said, 'all you've got are kids rolling around on the lawn.'
"The need to really run the traps' on every potential presidential move was more important for this Bush than for his father or Gerald Ford, both of whom had vast experience in the federal government. God knows, Mr. Cheney would understand that as well as anyone."
..."Mr. Cheney welcomed Mr. O'Neill and Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan into the foyer of his two-story brick town house, where boxes were packed for the move to the vice president's mansion. It was late in the afternoon of Jan. 14, the Sunday of the final week of the transition. They settled at the kitchen table, three men in ties, blazers, and slacks, CEO casual, making final preparations for the coming era.
"They raced across topics, a kind of review of what had been already decided by the president's closest advisers. The president-elect had said little about foreign affairs during the campaign or since. Domestic issues were all anyone was focused on. The tax cut was the priority, they all agreed. After the close election, Mr. Cheney said, it was important that the new president score a clean victory on taxes. If it went the other way, opponents would feel empowered and all anyone would talk about was how he'd lost the popular vote.
"But Mr. Cheney, speaking often to Mr. Lindsey, had been concerned that the economy was weakening fast -- a central issue both materially and tactically to the tax cut -- and asked both men to give their views.
"Mr. O'Neill gave his 'don't panic' rendition of what the numbers said and then added, 'The best, first stimulus, truth be told, may be monetary policy.' Leave it to the Fed and the power of lower interest rates.
"Two hours passed. Mr. Cheney moved to close the circle. The shape of things to come? Tax cuts, Mr. Cheney said, front and center. A task force on energy, which he would run. And everyone stay in close touch about the condition of the economy. All other matters would move on a slower track. Mr. O'Neill left the meeting with a glimpse of the future: that Mr. Cheney would be the most powerful vice president of modern times"
..."When a president doesn't offer explanations, even to his most senior aides, the problems are many. Mr. Bush often ascribed action to a general 'I went on instinct' rationale, leaving Mr. O'Neill and others in the cabinet to ponder the intangibles that drove the president -- from some sweeping, unspoken notion of how the world works to a one-size-fits-all principle, such as 'I won't negotiate with myself.'"
..."He stopped by Mr. Cheney's office. The fears he had harbored during the transition -- about "kids rolling around on the lawn" -- had been confirmed, he said. 'You can't just move on instinct. You end up making too many mistakes,' Mr. O'Neill told the vice president. 'We need to be better about keeping politics out of the policy process. The political people are there for presentation and execution, not for creation.' As before, Dick nodded. He thanked Paul, as always, 'for his sharp insights.'"
..."After the midterms, though, Mr. O'Neill could sense a change inside the White House, from Messrs. Rove, Lindsey and others. A smugness. No one mentioned to Mr. O'Neill that the proposals were back on the launch pad. They knew better.
"Now Mr. Cheney mentioned them again, how altering the double taxation of dividends would provide some economic stimulus.
"Mr. O'Neill jumped in, arguing sharply that the government 'is moving toward a fiscal crisis' and then pointing out 'what rising deficits will mean to our economic and fiscal soundness.'
"Mr. Cheney cut him off.
"'Reagan proved deficits don't matter,' he said.
"Mr. O'Neill was speechless, hardly believing that Mr. Cheney -- whom he and Mr. Greenspan had known since Dick was a kid -- would say such a thing.
"Mr. Cheney moved to fill the void. 'We won the midterms. This is our due.'
"Mr. O'Neill left Mr. Cheney's office in a state of mild shock. Yes, he knew Mr. Lindsey believed this brazen ideology. And Mr. Rove, and others. But to hear it from the vice president seemed to stop the world turning. The inscrutable Mr. Cheney had finally shown himself.
What a nightmare (sorry, subscription required).
*****
From a recent episode of "The Daily Show:"
"John Kerry: 'You said we can't pre-judge Osama Bin Laden! What were you thinking of?'
"Howard Dean (paraphrased by Jon Stewart): 'Oh, I guess I was thinking that I can say all these crazy things and still beat John Kerry.'"
In the same show, "Special Correspondent" Stephen Kolbert reports that the "Howard Dean is an angry, vein-popping, lunatic" stories are true because the press is reporting that he is, although no one can point to one example of him showing disproportionate rage. As Kolbert explains, "'widely reported' is fact-esque."
Speaking of that -- widely reported -- nabob of negativity, that prickly prophet of pessimism, that doyen of doom...Eric Boehlert on Salon de-bones the media's laziness towards Dean (and Gore in 2000) and its slavish coverage of Bush.
More weird coverage of Dean.
Are gossip columnists our last line of defense against Bush's unabashed hubris?
"He didn't free the slaves.
"He didn't rid the world of Hitler.
"He didn't even - like his father - preside over the destruction of the Berlin Wall.
"Yet George W. Bush tells New Yorker writer Ken Auletta: 'No President has ever done more for human rights than I have.'"
Thanks to Eschaton for the link.
Rumsfeld, the straight-shooter:
"Reacting to O'Neill's assertion that Bush had begun planning for regime change in Iraq long before the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Rumsfeld said that Bush made the decision to go to war in March 2003 'after trying everything else in the world.'"
Apparently, Bush didn't get the memo:
"'Like the previous administration, we were for regime change. And in the initial stages of the administration, as you might remember, we were dealing with desert badger or fly-overs and fly-betweens. And then all of a sudden September 11 hit.'"
Then, again, what is he talking about?
A war that hasn't made us safer. Not by a long-shot.
Michiko takes out her long knife and skewers the Horse Act of Perle and Frum.
If you were wondering what Halliburton would do once the long, hard slog is over in Iraq. There's always Mars.
"He marched to Mr. Cheney's office. "Dick, I think we need to talk," Mr. O'Neill said. He reasoned that Mr. Cheney would understand the importance of establishing sound processes to manage the White House and executive branch -- entities that were truly beyond human scale. Mr. O'Neill said that he was concerned that Mr. Lindsey was masquerading as the honest broker and was anything but. Without strongly positioned honest brokers and a rigorous, disinterested vetting of various proposals, Mr. O'Neill said, 'all you've got are kids rolling around on the lawn.'
"The need to really run the traps' on every potential presidential move was more important for this Bush than for his father or Gerald Ford, both of whom had vast experience in the federal government. God knows, Mr. Cheney would understand that as well as anyone."
..."Mr. Cheney welcomed Mr. O'Neill and Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan into the foyer of his two-story brick town house, where boxes were packed for the move to the vice president's mansion. It was late in the afternoon of Jan. 14, the Sunday of the final week of the transition. They settled at the kitchen table, three men in ties, blazers, and slacks, CEO casual, making final preparations for the coming era.
"They raced across topics, a kind of review of what had been already decided by the president's closest advisers. The president-elect had said little about foreign affairs during the campaign or since. Domestic issues were all anyone was focused on. The tax cut was the priority, they all agreed. After the close election, Mr. Cheney said, it was important that the new president score a clean victory on taxes. If it went the other way, opponents would feel empowered and all anyone would talk about was how he'd lost the popular vote.
"But Mr. Cheney, speaking often to Mr. Lindsey, had been concerned that the economy was weakening fast -- a central issue both materially and tactically to the tax cut -- and asked both men to give their views.
"Mr. O'Neill gave his 'don't panic' rendition of what the numbers said and then added, 'The best, first stimulus, truth be told, may be monetary policy.' Leave it to the Fed and the power of lower interest rates.
"Two hours passed. Mr. Cheney moved to close the circle. The shape of things to come? Tax cuts, Mr. Cheney said, front and center. A task force on energy, which he would run. And everyone stay in close touch about the condition of the economy. All other matters would move on a slower track. Mr. O'Neill left the meeting with a glimpse of the future: that Mr. Cheney would be the most powerful vice president of modern times"
..."When a president doesn't offer explanations, even to his most senior aides, the problems are many. Mr. Bush often ascribed action to a general 'I went on instinct' rationale, leaving Mr. O'Neill and others in the cabinet to ponder the intangibles that drove the president -- from some sweeping, unspoken notion of how the world works to a one-size-fits-all principle, such as 'I won't negotiate with myself.'"
..."He stopped by Mr. Cheney's office. The fears he had harbored during the transition -- about "kids rolling around on the lawn" -- had been confirmed, he said. 'You can't just move on instinct. You end up making too many mistakes,' Mr. O'Neill told the vice president. 'We need to be better about keeping politics out of the policy process. The political people are there for presentation and execution, not for creation.' As before, Dick nodded. He thanked Paul, as always, 'for his sharp insights.'"
..."After the midterms, though, Mr. O'Neill could sense a change inside the White House, from Messrs. Rove, Lindsey and others. A smugness. No one mentioned to Mr. O'Neill that the proposals were back on the launch pad. They knew better.
"Now Mr. Cheney mentioned them again, how altering the double taxation of dividends would provide some economic stimulus.
"Mr. O'Neill jumped in, arguing sharply that the government 'is moving toward a fiscal crisis' and then pointing out 'what rising deficits will mean to our economic and fiscal soundness.'
"Mr. Cheney cut him off.
"'Reagan proved deficits don't matter,' he said.
"Mr. O'Neill was speechless, hardly believing that Mr. Cheney -- whom he and Mr. Greenspan had known since Dick was a kid -- would say such a thing.
"Mr. Cheney moved to fill the void. 'We won the midterms. This is our due.'
"Mr. O'Neill left Mr. Cheney's office in a state of mild shock. Yes, he knew Mr. Lindsey believed this brazen ideology. And Mr. Rove, and others. But to hear it from the vice president seemed to stop the world turning. The inscrutable Mr. Cheney had finally shown himself.
What a nightmare (sorry, subscription required).
*****
From a recent episode of "The Daily Show:"
"John Kerry: 'You said we can't pre-judge Osama Bin Laden! What were you thinking of?'
"Howard Dean (paraphrased by Jon Stewart): 'Oh, I guess I was thinking that I can say all these crazy things and still beat John Kerry.'"
In the same show, "Special Correspondent" Stephen Kolbert reports that the "Howard Dean is an angry, vein-popping, lunatic" stories are true because the press is reporting that he is, although no one can point to one example of him showing disproportionate rage. As Kolbert explains, "'widely reported' is fact-esque."
Speaking of that -- widely reported -- nabob of negativity, that prickly prophet of pessimism, that doyen of doom...Eric Boehlert on Salon de-bones the media's laziness towards Dean (and Gore in 2000) and its slavish coverage of Bush.
More weird coverage of Dean.
Are gossip columnists our last line of defense against Bush's unabashed hubris?
"He didn't free the slaves.
"He didn't rid the world of Hitler.
"He didn't even - like his father - preside over the destruction of the Berlin Wall.
"Yet George W. Bush tells New Yorker writer Ken Auletta: 'No President has ever done more for human rights than I have.'"
Thanks to Eschaton for the link.
Rumsfeld, the straight-shooter:
"Reacting to O'Neill's assertion that Bush had begun planning for regime change in Iraq long before the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Rumsfeld said that Bush made the decision to go to war in March 2003 'after trying everything else in the world.'"
Apparently, Bush didn't get the memo:
"'Like the previous administration, we were for regime change. And in the initial stages of the administration, as you might remember, we were dealing with desert badger or fly-overs and fly-betweens. And then all of a sudden September 11 hit.'"
Then, again, what is he talking about?
A war that hasn't made us safer. Not by a long-shot.
Michiko takes out her long knife and skewers the Horse Act of Perle and Frum.
If you were wondering what Halliburton would do once the long, hard slog is over in Iraq. There's always Mars.
posted by John at 6:04 PM
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