Harwood Wrestles Hayes For Cheney Fluffer Position

Whoa, boy, the balls' in Stephen Hayes court now, for sure.

Thinking perhaps, with the former Shadow President, running all over town, proverbially shouting "I'm innocent, I'm innocent", would have the long standing Cheney Fluffer in good stead.

A few 15-minute phone calls, pumping up his idol, Hayes could coast for weeks, or as long as this "My Sister/My Daughter", "I'm shocked to find gambling going on here" prattle over the Bush Grindhouse Torture Policy rages on.



Ah, but along comes John Harwood, given his "Letters of Transit" from the Murdoch Street Journal, by the NYT, throws down some serious lavish, such that, it is entirely likely, causing Hayes anxiety attacks today, perhaps even having Hayes' new colleague, John King, thinking up even easier softballs to lob at the former exposer of covert CIA agents, should he stroke his ego again.

Exit Growling - Dick Cheney: The Visible Man

But on the issue of terror investigations, which dominated last week’s headlines, more than the others, Mr. Cheney remains a commanding figure on the right. Mr. Cheney’s defense of brutal interrogation techniques like waterboarding still resonates for many within his party. And by leading the counterattack, Mr. Cheney “relieves Republicans of the newer generation from having to fight old fights,” said Ed Gillespie, a former Bush White House official and Republican National chairman.

Mr. Graham credits Mr. Cheney with causing the normally steady new president to wobble on his stance concerning a possible Congressional inquiry into the Bush’s administration’s handling of terror suspects. After Mr. Cheney called publicly for declassification of memos he contends show the benefits of “enhanced techniques,” Mr. Obama took a tougher line against an investigation, though he earlier appeared to have left the door open for one.

[Snip]

Some veterans of the Bush White House say Mr. Cheney had little choice but to speak out given the barbs directed his way by Mr. Obama, who — in a pointed rejoinder to the Bush administration’s interrogation policies — said, “we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.”

And there is also the matter of history. Mr. Cheney’s vocal defense of the national security policies he did so much to create seems to reflect his determination to retain a measure of control over the narrative of the Bush years, though in fact Mr. Bush himself began to reassess Mr. Cheney and his counsel. In his second term, Mr. Bush leaned more heavily on the advice of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. He also dismissed Mr. Cheney’s longtime colleague Donald Rumsfeld as defense secretary. And — in a direct blow to Mr. Cheney — Mr. Bush declined to pardon his onetime chief of staff, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby Jr., after Mr. Libby was convicted of lying to a grand jury and to F.B.I. agents investigating the leak of the identity of a C.I.A. operative.

“Dick’s a true believer,” said Thomas Cronin, a political scientist at Colorado College who has known Mr. Cheney since both began their careers in Washington four decades ago. In some ways, Mr. Cronin added, “He has more vested interest in this than George W. Bush.”

Yeah, vested interests like a War Crimes Trial, and, potentially, getting his future medical treatment for that bionic heart of his in a prison hospital.

Steve M., over on No More Mister Nice Blog, also noted the extensive fluffing Harwood is practicing;

Opening sentence of John Harwood's article on Dick Cheney in the New York Times Week in Review section:

Dick Cheney became a one-of-a-kind vice president for two reasons: he cared deeply about governance, and not a bit about his future political standing.

Wow. Don't you just love that? Cheney "cared deeply about governance." Yup -- kinda the way Timothy McVeigh "cared deeply" about the power balance between ordinary citizens and the federal government, or Eric Rudolph "cared deeply" about the decline of traditional morality, or Bull Connor "cared deeply" about law and order.

[Snip]

Oh, and there's one other possible explanation -- Cheney can't not attack Obama! Obama's forcing him to attack!

And BagnewsNotes calls attention to the photo used to accompany Harwoods' foray into Cheney Fluffing.



Your move, Stephen Hayes.


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