NYT's Ross Douthat: Cheney For President

New York Times:

Watching Dick Cheney defend the Bush administration's interrogation policies, it's been hard to escape the impression that both the Republican Party and the country would be better off today if Cheney, rather than John McCain, had been a candidate for president in 2008.

Certainly Cheney himself seems to feel that way. Last week's Sean Hannity interview, all anti-Obama jabs and roundhouses, was the latest installment in the vice president's unexpected -- and, to Republican politicians, distinctly unwelcome -- transformation from election-season wallflower into high-profile spokesman for the conservative opposition. George W. Bush seems happy to be back in civilian life, but Cheney has taken the fight to the Obama White House like a man who wouldn't have minded campaigning for a third Bush-Cheney term.

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[MilwaukeeMike]

Dictators don't run for office, they take it any way they can.

[billygore2000]

It would be worth the price of a book to know just what Bush came to think of his vice president at the end.

[Querent]

You're saying you're willing to pay Bush for his "thinking"? OK . . . .

[KarmaTheDog]

It seems to me that many either did not read the article or did not understand the article. My take is that what Douthat is saying is that Cheney should have run so that all his complaints now could have been aired and debated during the election. In my opinion, and perhaps what Douthat is getting at, is that Cheney not running makes him a coward, like his service during Vietnam. He will shoot his mouth off without actually taking any risk himself.

[billygore2000]

I agree the article is more subtle and nuanced than the title suggests. My take is that it's saying politely that the time has come and gone for Cheney to mouth off. And that the torture issue should have been addressed during the campaign.

[eyepatch]

wow ...the entire premise of this
article is obsurd!...Dick Cheney
running for President ontop of
the ticket!

Dick Cheney has lower voter approval rating
that George W. Bush......This artcle is a
waste of space!!!

Dick Cheney is the most UN-American of Americans
for his comment about President Obama making the
country more unsafe!!! what a joke when 911 happened
on his watch....Cheney's a joke and so is this article!

[bdaved]

It's not that funny. I read it.

[jacobomorales]

What kind of drug are these people on? McCain/Cheney the results would have been the same and probably worst had cheney ran. Just keep it up guys, pretty soon the republican party will be the party of about 2 dozen fanatics.

[bdaved]

That's kind of what Ross Douthat was getting at.

[swift goat pet for truth]

Ezra Klein thought Douthat would be good.
And, as usual, Ezra was right.

For those of you who don't know Ezra Klein, try www.progress.org.

Krugman likes him.

[LaurieLee]

Remember his president saying that war crimes would be prosecuted? I guess that only applied to war crimes committed by people other than US intelligence, upper level military or government contractors. Do you think Cheney wrote this Orwellian little speech?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkzUGguIKWA

[billygore2000]

I had no use for "Dubya" even before 2000. This said, I sometimes felt for him towards the end because he seemed to have finally realized, too late, that Cheney was the cancer of his presidency. If Bush were ever to come clean about Cheney, and he probably won't, it would be worth the price of a book.

[illinoisan]

We almost had a Cheney presidency in the form of HRC.

[skmbho]

Cheney likes to be the man behind the curtain. He wouldnt want to be the front man taking it on the chin! He's just speaking now trying to keep from being prosecuted for crimes against his country and his countrymen.

[TheWanderer]

Cheney can't run, he's already served two terms.

[Agent420]

Not true. He has served two terms as VP and could (but will never happen) run and be elected president.
http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#Am22
There are term limits for president, but not the VP

[nirek]

Just a guess, Wanderer was getting at the FACT that cheney was the puppet master of the bush terms.
That said you are correct his two terms were as VP and he could run for P. However I doubt he could be elected dog catcher now.

[Ms Fu]

I think what TheWanderer was trying to say (removing the veil of sarcasm) is that Cheney already 'served' two terms as 'President,' using Bush as his puppet. It is well known that Cheney is the real brains of the pair.

[bdaved]

Irony alert!!!!

[DKLabRat]

OMG! Are you guys TRYING to freak me out?!? It was bad enough thinking how Palin would ruin the world. Cheney? *shudders*

[CRA1]

SEE DICK RUN! away from the truth

[motoGpifupleez]

Ah, the man who would be King.

[nirek]

Would like to be , but is in reality jester !

[aliceinks]

Seriously!! LOL Are you trying to give us readers a stroke? Wasn't 8 years with him enough? jeez lol

[force fed up]

Excellent Article. I read it. He is not "pro" Cheney. Had any of you bothered to read the article, you would agree that Cheney would've have been the best thing for the Conservatives, as his absolute loss would have smacked rightwingers everywhere in the face with the fact that it wasn't a loss of "Conservative Values" that lost them the election.