Dick Cheney is Crazy. Really.

In 2002, my partner was driving his new van down a busy, but two lane, road near our house. He was slowly passing a major accident that crossed both lanes of the road, and it so happened that one of the tow trucks, which was going too fast, ran into the accident, was bounced off the vehicle it hit, and deflected toward my partner's van. It landed on the van. If my partner had been going any more slowly, the tow truck might have landed on him, but it didn't. The van was seriously damaged, but he drove home to tell the tale. And then there was the time, on the same road (though in a different spot), when a cop car making a U-turn in order to commence a car chase, hit him right in the front end. Nevertheless, and this is what I would tell Dick Cheney, we have managed to move on, to set aside our fears of automotive death, and go about our business.

We live in a valley. The road through our valley has been the scene of several horrific accidents since we moved here. We live north of Big Sur. Highway 1 along the Big Sur coast has seen its share of bad crashes, too. The one that sticks in my mind happened a few years ago, when an English couple forgot to pull back into the right lane after road construction and was killed at the next curve. There were accidents when I lived in Iowa, too -- four kids in the family sedan after prom, flipping over into a corn field. Every single person who survives or hears about one of these accidents could, in fact, go the Cheney route -- remain panicked and fearful about the next accident to the point of never driving (or of keeping a hazmat suit in his car, as Cheney was reported doing a few years ago), but most people recognize a couple of realities of modern life. The first of these is that life goes on. The second of these is that it doesn't.

Let's give Dick Cheney the benefit of the doubt. Let's say that he's terrified out of his wits that the US could be attacked again, like 9/11 (except there are no Trade Towers, so no attack like 9/11). What did we learn about 9/11? We learned that it happened (in large part because the Bush Administration ignored a clear warning that it could happen) and we also learned that we survived it. The other thing that most of us learned was in that in our fear and anger as a nation, we allowed our leaders (especially Cheney) to inflict on others, many others, much more death, pain, torture, horror, social disintegration, and gratuitous cruelty than was inflicted upon us. We learned that Cheney didn't know what the hell he was doing in his terrified effort to do something, anything, to respond to 9/11. And that's if we give him the benefit of the doubt.

The other thing we learn, especially once we get to Dick Cheney's age, is that death comes for everyone, even oneself. A sane person comes to grips with this and acknowledges that perfect safety is impossible, and that there are some things no decent person would do in order to save his own skin -- killing and maiming small children, for example. Those who don't learn this -- those who sacrifice others, many others, so that they might live, are also crazy.

If we don't give Cheney the benefit of the doubt, we have to say that he is pretending to be a man who is crazy with fear in order to once again achieve the sort of power that he lost when Obama was elected president. In that case, he's still crazy, he's just more coldly, viciously, sociopathically crazy than he is crazy with fear. If we don't give him the benefit of the doubt, we have to say he is crazy with evil.

Personally, I don't know which to pick -- I don't know the man. But I do know that he is neither laughable nor unimportant, and that every word out of his mouth, repeated in the press and the blogosphere, is destructive to us as a nation and to the psychological health of those who listen to him. Unfortunately, it is a trait of crazy people never to shut up. But we really really need to begin seeing him the way we see that paranoid old uncle we might have -- someone never ever to be listened to.

Comments

[BeasleysMom]

He does remind me of my dem ented old uncle before he left this earth. At first he just seemed angry all the time. Every family gathering was ruined by his carrying on about this and and that. After awhile it turned into true delusional talk until everyone realized that he was greatly im paired and not in touch with reality.

[The Meek]

No one has mentioned the fact that Cheney went to a game farm where they take birds that have been raised in a cage and set them up so people can blast them. That seems pretty sadistic to me. Then he apparently became so excited that he lost all judgment and shot his pal in the face. That seems like blood lust to me. He also advocated torture in spite of the fact that the military and the FBI said it wasn't effective.

Is being an amoral sadist crazy. I don't know, but i do know that I would prefer living in a society that wasn't controlled by people like him.

[dutch163]

good observation

[PuzzledinPeoria]

Cheney knows there will be another attack at some point. Then he (and his pundit supporteres) will say "I told you so" and try to look like geniuses.

If only the folks at The Hague weren't afraid of offending the U.S....

[wanttruth]

Good post. I know. Right!

[amadeusfg]

Cheney is consumed by his fearful visions of the conceivable threats to national security. By his own admission. he was "concerned with missile defense" during the summer leading up to 9/11. This is a program that spent over $250 billion dollars on trying to intercept missiles from N. Korea. A program that never worked. This is the apex of fear-driven folly while supporting this approach with idea that is it is somehow "weak" to maintain diplomatic dialogue with N. Korea - frankly a grade school level of conflict resolution.

If we weren't so rich and so terrifyingly powerful, we would have to consider cost-effective measures of maintaining our security - like diplomatic dialogue, as opposed to trillions of dollars in taxpayer expense. While chanting a mantra of "less taxes, less government", we have been giving free license to Defense Dept. (gov't) expenditure. Cowardly, by the standards of nations with much less wealth and much less military power.

All in the name of national security. Small-minded, fear-based and cowardly, if you ask me - and Cheney epitomizes that. Very ironic when you consider he was the co-president of the world's greatest nation. But that is the lesson we must keep learning from history. The bitter irony that what appears to be true is very often not.

[JulieSA]

Missile defense does work. That's why we have systems set up in Alaska, the pacific, and soon Czech Republic and Poland.

[maxgen1]

Who says the missile defenses will work. Their test results were cherry picked to make them seem effective, and propaganda stated that destroying a satellite (which was on a known trajectory and velocity) proved they were effective.

When facts don't support an argument, start looking for the real cause. For example, who makes how much money out of the project and who contributes the most to the politicians who decide to fund it? We taxpayers have paid for many boondoggles which didn't work before.

[camper65]

Missile defense to protect the country seems a much more relevant expense than $318 billion PER YEAR wasted on illegal aliens!

[maxgen1]

Not if the missiles don't work.

[MNinWI]

You're off topic.

[Jazzman323]

Personally I hope Dick Cheney and his daughter Liz are in the public forum every week, until the record is set straight regarding the left's accusations of the Bush administration regarding Iraq and the war on terror.

For instance, there is not one shred of evidence that the enhance interrogations of the three Al Quaeda terrorists have led to an increase in their recruitment. There is no facts supporting a "mess" at Gitmo. There is evidence that the interrogations led to info to stop an attack in Los Angeles and other information.

We should have had this debate last year, but better late than never.

[iheartfoxnews]

what do you make of what John McCain said the other day on Fox News?

"I was at Camp Bucca a couple of years ago with Senator Lindsey Graham. And there was 20,000 prisoners in that prison at that time. We were taken by the Army general to meet in a secluded area with a former high-ranking al Qaeda member, a very tough guy. In the course of our conversation, I said, What was it that made you succeed so well? And he said, Two things. One, after the invasion was total disorder and chaos, murder, all kinds of bad things, and that allowed us to gain a foothold. He said, But my greatest recruiting tool, he said, I recruited thousands of young men -- Abu Ghraib."

Don't you think the same applies for Gitmo? And...

"And finally, could I say that it (waterboarding)is not as effective as the other kinds of techniques that are not in violation of any treaty or obligation we have."

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/05/21/mccain_on_the_record_may_21_96625.html

[RaviVesely]

Jazz, wrong. We'll set aside for the moment how Rummy and Cheney made up the potential L.A. attack, and instead we'll just grant you its possibility as a hypothetical truth and proceed here from dates anyways. So, having said that, waterboarding didn't start until SIX MONTHS AFTER this alleged L.A. potential terror attack was circumvented. So, to use your words, "there is not one shred of evidence" that torture has given anybody any actionable "intelligence" anywhere anytime on any planet. Your "evidence" argument should apply also to your own ideology, Jazz. That's just a basic imperative. It has nothing to do with "accusations"--as you so eloquently put--but the extent to which it is utterly peculiar (and borderline criminal) that Cheney has racked up more media time in the past three weeks than he did during his entire eight years as President combined...ya know, when he was Mr. Transparent! But thanks anyway for your insights, for all opinions are welcome here, no matter how illogical they are. We do appreciate it.

Peace.

[camper65]

AAAAHH! I see - there was just ONE planned attack on L.A.! Thank you for clearing up that bit of incorrect thinking on my part. I'm in your debt.

[postman66]

I hope they are out there too. On the point of torture increasing AQ recruitement, the Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff says all intel indicates it has.

[anelder]

Just as there is not one shred of evidence that the administration prevented othrs attacks similar to 9/11.
And, if you paid more attention to world news and particularly the muslin success in recruiting suicide bombers and terrorists you would know more about what sent them in that direction.
What there is in GITMO is a constant visible blot on America as a nation most definatley not to held up as any kind of example of what we preach. Democracy and freedom with the rule of law.
And, as to attacks in Los Angelos and most currently in New York, a little furthr knowledge on your part would show that this was a result of real old fashoned police/FBI investigation.
Finallyh there is much more evidence of intelligence acquired through means tried and true - not torture. And if one has to waterboard someone 180 times in one month, after going through other advanced methods, than what was happening is your looking not for intelligence you weren't aware of but rather verification of your pre concevied decisions. Something similar to the torture of our aimen during the Vietnam war was to have them confess to lies.

[neoprimordial]

Does anyone really know Dick Cheney? Maybe his wife, his daughter? Do we really need to know him? I don't think so. All we need to know is what he did, whether he upheld the law and the Constitution, and is he doing so today. I believe it's safe to say that he actively encouraged breaking the law and betrayed the Constitution with his actions, and even now he's, arguably, on the wrong side of the law with his latest errant speech. He should be prosecuted, convicted, and imprisoned, in my humble opinion.

I find that there are basically two kinds of crazy: the kind that leads to inadvertent self-destruction, and the kind that doesn't really interfere with ones capacity for self-preservation. Dick Cheney is the latter. He's lost perspective to the point where he's advocating for torture, but he's not absentmindedly walking in front of any speeding limos any time soon. He has taken the cowardly path for a long long time now, so it's no surprise his position today, but I think he should be listened to--in a court of law. I think it's the one place he may finally be brought to his senses, besides the therapist's couch.

[waitforme]

Good thinking.

[neoprimordial]

Thanks. I appreciate your thoughts as well.

[wilinot]

I agree with you on what type of crazy Dick Cheney is - and that he has seemingly lost his mind. I wonder if he's just going thru a little shock, now that he's out of the bubble of the White House, at what the public really thinks about the Bush administration. And I'm wondering if he isn't a little mad and worried at the idea he could ever be personally accountable for the torture abuses.

A month ago I was in agreement with Obama that we just needed to move on. But after Cheney's remarks of late, I want a full investigation. Let's clear this up once and for all so that Mr. Cheney's words no longer have any sort of weight to them.

That's my thoughts anyway.

[RickMN2MA]

I think Cheney's behavior may be explained in a very simple way. It now appears that he had a major role in authorizing and driving the torture of captives. If there is a prosecution, Cheney may well be a target. Being this vocal in his criticism of the President and in his support for torture, Cheney is setting up a poltical/legal defense: "I'm being prosecuted by this administration because I'm using my first amendment rights to strongly criticise this administrations policies."

Cheney is not much of a man (ducked service during Viet Nam, hid out during much of his term as VP, tried, and often succeeded, to hide his actions and positions while VP), but he is a clever political operator.

[Jackalheadedgod]

Well said.

Cheers, Jack

[waitforme]

...All of the above...except that

'ducked service during Vietnam' does not mean 'not much of a man'. There were many young men who were drafted or attempted to be drafted who, by principle, did everything they could not to get into the Army to kill Vietnamese in a very uncalled-for war, much like the non-good-reasons for Iraq and Afghanistan. Many thousands of people were killed in that war, without reason. To not sign up or not go when asked, in such circumstances, does not mean someone is weak or scared (although not to be scared would be stupid) or not a man. Nobody should fight windmills for scared men like Cheney who willy-nilly send other people's sons and daughters to get killed -- again without reason.

[RickMN2MA]

In general, I agree with your statement. Many good people stood up for their convictions and avoided fighting in Viet Nam. And they paid a price for it, for example Mohammed Ali.

However, in the particular case of Cheney, we have a man who supported the war in Viet Nam and still used every means he could to avoid service. There are words that describe men who talk tough but hide behind others when it comes to the actual fighting.

[anelder]

It seems Cheney had three occasions in which he had to manage to avoid service. At least a couple of times he noted that what he was doing was too important to go - tell me that doesn't say something about this man's ego driven life.

[neoprimordial]

It may well be Cheney's strategy, to make a First Amendment defense, but it should not stop the Justice Department from going forward with a case against him. Whatever spin needs to be applied, Obama and/or others could apply it, but Dick Cheney really ought to have long since had his day in court. We shouldn't wait another week for this, not even another day.

[Gmoney1]

Dick Cheney has 9/11 post traumatic stress - that's in essence what he told you guys in his speech - I think he should be required to be observed medically given his admission that he is inordinately really fearful -

[captainkirk]

Absolutely, I've been convinced of Cheney's PSD since 2003. He went to the Dark Side, and sadly took us with him.

[waynesmyer]

But! But! as any fool can plainly see, I am not a crazy! Why, I don't even know what a crazy looks like!
I am a great patriot and a wonderful GOPer who got five deferements so I could serve the beautiful Republican party! and I'm a just as sane as any Repukican! Right?
your beloved and truly "vice" Great War Profitnator, Lil Dickie "F-U" Cheney

WHAT'S GOOD FOR HALLIBURTO­N/KBR/BLAC­KWATER/BEC­TEL IS GOOD FOR AMERIKA!

[waitforme]

I agree with the thoughts in Jane Smiley's article.

As a trauma and family psychotherapist and educator for 25 years, and as someone with a scientific mind, I have only just come to the conclusion that Dick Cheney is indeed on the far end of the sane-crazy spectrum. His droning compulsion to repeat the same speeches he has been making for years, despite the facts having been disproven for years seems nuts; his lopsided face, narrow left eye and sneering left lip, suggest an unintegrated brain.

Dick Cheney has had four heart attacks. Anyone would be fearful after such experiences. Cheney repeatedly promotes fear, rather than mediating, positive visions for society. He continues to insist that beating up human beings is legal and effective in ‘keeping our country safe’. This is crazy thinking on its face. He ignores completely how much this bullying activity promotes and evokes even more unsafe thinking and activity toward our country.

Presumably Cheney is afraid to go home to Wyoming and be with his own thoughts. Presumably also he is afraid to go home and realize his actual power over the world is gone, which he may (crazily) believe protected him from a worse heart attack. His fear is projected onto Obama, onto outside enemies: Obama isn’t showing signs of being the aggressive, threatening, surrogate parent Cheney would need to feel safe -- enough -- from a heart attack! Though these may not be consciously connected in Cheney's mind. Craziness is not fathomable.

[Bladernr1001]

You don't very scientific to me. Seem very partisan.

[JayInDallas]

The post may not be scientific, but the conclusions reasonable...

[waitforme]

You give me a chance to add beyond my 240 words, above.

'Scientific', when it comes to understanding the mind of someone else is not really a useful term; I meant it as having waited until I had enough facts about Cheney to make a conclusion. If I had had more words to use I would have; and later wished I had had space to write that my thoughts are conjectures, not knowing Mr. Cheney except what I see of him on television, hear in his voice and read in his words. My training and background in bioenergetics therapy, understanding of the brain, experience working with former mental patients, years of work as a psychotherapist, study of acting and voice, etc., are what give me some confidence in making the above conjectures. I still like them; and today have heard some others, including one psychologist (Bryant Welch, author of 'State of Confusion:Political Manipulation and the Assault on the American Mind', which I haven't read, just heard about today -- interviewed on Ian Masters' Background Briefing, KPFK,), say virtually the same things. Welch also said he hasn't seen any 'warmth' in the Cheney couple and that Cheney has been afraid all his life (I don't know how he knows that; he writes about Cheney in his book).

'Partisan' is not relevant here. Did you hear Colin Powell today against Cheney? More and more Republicans are coming out to chastise him for his rigid, warped world view, fanaticism and lies.

[waitforme]

I am very much in tune with what Jane Smiley says here. As a trauma and family psychotherapist for 25 years, and as someone with a scientific mind, waiting to have things proven to me before making conclusions, I have just recently come to the same conclusion that Dick Cheney is on the end of the sane/crazy spectrum, the crazy end. His constant droning, saying the same things he has had in his craw for years, things that have been proven wrong for years, his fear-mongering rather than mediating or offering constructive suggestions or offering positive visions for the society of which we are all a part, put him into a category of fanaticism, a crazy-level fanaticism. He seems to have a tiger by the tail and cannot let go of it, get out of it, go back to be with his own thoughts at his home in Wyoming. Presumably his own thoughts would engulf him, remind him he has little power in fact -- any more. Presumably he cannot stand this idea or his own fears of his heart giving out. So he projects his fears onto the world, the country, projects his fear of death onto Obama, his surrogate parent now, who has not convinced him, by agreeing to beat up detainees, that he has what it takes to keep he, Cheney, safe.

[Tim303]

There's a big problem with the Cheney phenomenon­--somehow, despite our being bombed on 9.11, many Americans seem to feel like he's the go-to person in a crisis. So he gets to be the "real" ruler because he's more of a bully and more liable to declare a state of emergency or exception than Obama, who is painted as weak because he's actually the better leader. Americans must be all beat up inside to accept this kind of abuse in their political world.

[copestir]

I do not know if this man is crazy or not. I do not know him personally. However, given his behavior, paranoia, his double standard when criticized, I would guess he would benefit from treatment. He might want to consider that his heart will one day not work, and he is mortal. He might want to come to terms with the fact that there are people in the world that hate the United States. He might want to think about the fact that with torture and lack of due process: he gave them reason.

[lastcallmd]

Wow. I have no idea what you won a pulitzer prize for, but this piece tells me that if work this shoddy can win someone a pulitzer, then that prize isn't what it used to be. You set up several strawmen, easy enough, but very transparent. And then assert that Cheney is "crazy" and needs treatment.

This is exactly the kind of writing/commentary ad hominen attack that forces out reasonable debate on almost every controversial issue our country faces. Most of the media described the dueling speeches as a debate that should have taken place in the election campaign but, because politics is politics, did not. That does not mean it's too late. I've never heard of you, so don't know if you are influential or not. But, it you are, try sticking to policy arguments if you are talking about policy, not personal attacks. You may disagree profoundly with Dick Cheney, but he is clearly not "crazy." He is a former VP who by virtue of his 8 years of access to information neither you nor I have access to, obviously believes that our country is in danger and is willing to say so. Instead of trashing him, you might ask why.

[noamjunior]

you are assuming honesty from a man with an extensive public record for making dishonest statements- the very definition of gullibility

[uscitizen]

It's kind of nice to point out specifics if you'd like to debate something. For example, you basically attack Smiley, too, apparently because you disagree with her, and you call her writing shoddy, etc., by alluding to straw men arguments. How about actually examining her arguments briefly and then describing why you find them to be straw men?

Some of us would find a person crazy simply if he or she condones torture. That's not just a basic policy disagreement. It's a profound philosophical and ethical one. Those types of concerns strike at the core of who we are as a nation and how we choose to conduct ourselves in the world. Those ideas also form a framework on which we build policies.

I'm not so sure a person needs to be a vp with access to special information to make valid philosophical and ethical judgments. After all, this country has a government that is supposed to be of the people, by the people and for the people, right?

[EvaDee]

I completely agree with you on every point.

[JulieSA]

I know people who know him personally, and they like him, and don't think he's crazy.

It's one thing to disagree with someone's policies--that's fine, but all this long-distance pop-psychology fantasizing just makes you all look silly.

[anelder]

Not that I would equate Mr. Cheney with the devil but I would like to say that I'll bet the devil himself would likely appear to be a nice guy and many people would personally vouch for me. So I'm afraid your analysis is a bit specious.

Then there are the many Socio and Psychopaths who manage to convince many of us of their likability. I'm sure you don't need a list of names. You would know some yourself. Those who manage to bilk people left and right with their charm.

And yes I do disagree with his policies. Not the ones associated with the republican party but rather those known as the NeoCons and those of the power hungry.

If by now you are not aware and convinced of the wrongs and the lies that have occurred over the past eight years than you are either gullible or an ideolog. One I can relate to the other I find repulsive.

[TommyMcCarthy]

I would say that Mr. Cheney has already recieved FAR more "benefit of the doubt" than he deserves..... a quote...if I may

"I know what I think because I've thought about it for a long time......
...if there aren't some rules then what is there? There's got to be something,...order, rightness, JUSTICE for God's sake!.....
I can't tell you how it makes me feel that.. (he's)...taking some sort of refuge in being crazy now.
You know who they(ll) blame don't you?..But it isn't even that.
Now there isn't even a chance that... (we'll)...look him in the eye, and see that he knows what he did and what it means. As long as he acts crazy,...he gets off scott-free"

-Rose Cook from Jane Smiley's pulitzer-winning "A Thousand Acres"

SO....very glad to see Ms.Smiley posting here again......As I was pleasantly surprised to find her posting here when I first stumbled across Huffpo several years ago.

Already then a fan of Ms. Smiley's literature, I knew nothing about her political views.....for all I knew, she might have been a right-wing Republican (imagine!)

Better than any other, in that terrible summer of 2006, her uncompromising pieces gave voice to the anger and frustration of myself and many others over the war and other Bush administration policies.
They were (and continue to be) quite literally, breathtaking.

Highest Regards, Jane
tm

[winchestereast]

crazy like a fox - keeping that creepy mug in the press, all the better to negotiate a seven figure book deal - - not like he needs the money, if we believe he's made millions with the old halliburton and for-profit prison investments, but he belongs to the club of financial executives and revolving door d.c. operatives: there is never enough money - it's how they measure themselves - would love to see the book deal disappear, but the conservative press seem to take care of their own - pity -