Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Who was that shotgun really pointed at?
Okay, so Dick Cheney shot and almost (so far, anyway) killed a man. There's something very smelly about the whole affair, but what I'm smelling most strongly from the Bush White House and the Republican leadership is this: it may be that Dick Cheney's days as VP are growing very short.
In the last week or so, we've been reading an awful lot about how Scooter Libby's "immediate superiors," i.e. Dick Cheney and George W Bush, authorized him to 'leak' classified information . High-ranking Republicans have been suggesting, in public, that this might warrant an investigation ... and then the dicey sounding shooting/coverup. It looks to me like "Big Time" is being prepped for a resignation.
Dubya may be dumb but he's not stupid - he has to know that some public house-cleaning is needed to preserve any semblance of an effective Presidency over the next 3 years. Rove certainly isn't going anwhere unless and until he's escorted out of the West Wing with cuffs on. While throwing Cheney overboard might enourage some of the impeachment fans, it would put a lid on such talk from the more moderate members of both parties - they'd perceive it as a signal that the administrations problems were being acknowledged and dealt with. It would push impeachment talk back into the fringes. So it's looking to me like Cheney may be asked for his resignation soon.
Look for someone like first-term Virginia Senator George Allen to be tapped as the new VP. He's relatively young (54), has a photogenic family, has pretty good conservative credentials, is up for re-elction this year, and is already being described as a front-runner for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination. Considering Democrat Tim Kaine's strong win in the recent Va. Governor's race, and former Dem Governor Mark Warner's continued popularity there, even in parts of the state long considered Republican strongholds, Allen might look kindly on being given a free pass out of a potentially bruising Senate campaign - especially if he gets to stay in the thick of things while not actually being responsible for anything other than optics. The RNC may see him as a fresh, new, exciting face - just as the Dems see Warner - and want him in position for a 2008 run.
In the last week or so, we've been reading an awful lot about how Scooter Libby's "immediate superiors," i.e. Dick Cheney and George W Bush, authorized him to 'leak' classified information . High-ranking Republicans have been suggesting, in public, that this might warrant an investigation ... and then the dicey sounding shooting/coverup. It looks to me like "Big Time" is being prepped for a resignation.
Dubya may be dumb but he's not stupid - he has to know that some public house-cleaning is needed to preserve any semblance of an effective Presidency over the next 3 years. Rove certainly isn't going anwhere unless and until he's escorted out of the West Wing with cuffs on. While throwing Cheney overboard might enourage some of the impeachment fans, it would put a lid on such talk from the more moderate members of both parties - they'd perceive it as a signal that the administrations problems were being acknowledged and dealt with. It would push impeachment talk back into the fringes. So it's looking to me like Cheney may be asked for his resignation soon.
Look for someone like first-term Virginia Senator George Allen to be tapped as the new VP. He's relatively young (54), has a photogenic family, has pretty good conservative credentials, is up for re-elction this year, and is already being described as a front-runner for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination. Considering Democrat Tim Kaine's strong win in the recent Va. Governor's race, and former Dem Governor Mark Warner's continued popularity there, even in parts of the state long considered Republican strongholds, Allen might look kindly on being given a free pass out of a potentially bruising Senate campaign - especially if he gets to stay in the thick of things while not actually being responsible for anything other than optics. The RNC may see him as a fresh, new, exciting face - just as the Dems see Warner - and want him in position for a 2008 run.
