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Usually political books take some effort to read, but this one I'm reading almost as fast as a novel. Not quite so fast, because I have to slow down and re-read parts because they're stunning and horrible.
The Barton Gellman book, Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency, is one I think George Bush should read, for an eye-opener.
It begins with the 2000 election, when Cheney (already in close proximity to the campaign) was asked by Bush to head up the search for a VP. The method by which he did it ruined one career politician, and is still holding several others in a kind of hostage situation, because after being vetted, Cheney holds way, way too much information about them.
We never elected him to be 75-80% of the presidency. I think that percentage is about what he has been handling for the last 8 years. He also chose every single cabinet member.
He is like a silent, giant country-eating shark. (With a laser on his head.) The book is getting more frightening the farther I get.
One thing is really odd. The author Gellman mentions who some of the biggest intellects in Washington have been (in recent history): Cheney, then Bill Clinton, and Richard Nixon. I have heard this before about Nixon, but thought it was a joke. It shows that having high intellect doesn't mean your administration can't go horribly wrong. (I'll leave that alone for anyone who wants to apply it to Clinton too. It's only fair.) Gellman makes no mention of Karl Rove at this point, and I'm not surprised. The article in Atlantic by Joshua Green some time ago showed how wilfully blind Rove can be.
One thing that really, really bothered me to read was about Arlen Specter and the Republicans in Congress, how they let Cheney do any damn thing he wanted, from the very start. It is obvious they are afraid of him, and they made no effort to stop his bullying. Each week Cheney sits in on the Senate Republicans' private briefings and so he knows exactly what they are up to. There has been no separation of these two governmental branches. Arlen Specter actually seems to accept Cheney's assertion that he "belongs to the Senate and is paid by the Senate."
He is also the president, as well as the Senate. We may find that he has also been the Supreme Court, but I hope not.
Cheney is and has been a dangerous person.
