A Special Place in Hell

I thought that when the cluster%$&# that was the Bush Administration came to an end, its major players (save for Karl Rove, who would continue to be a mouthpiece) would fade into obscurity, enjoying the twilight of their careers. Memoirs written here, "Meet the Press" appearances there, but for the most part, they would have gone away.

I especially thought this would apply to Richard Cheney, whose ominous influence hung over the Administration from the beginning and who is largely responsible for driving the country into the ditch we are now in. Cheney had an anti-Midas touch. WMD in Iraq "a certainty"? Discredited. A definite link between al-Qaeda and Saddam? Nope. And my personal favorite: "Deficits don't matter" (sic). Despite these ludicrous assertions, Cheney mostly operated in the shadows; it's like God cast him to be an evil genious.

Totally against character, however, Cheney has recently been out in full force, trying to vindicate in any way he can his legacy that never was. Apparently in an appearance on "Face the Nation" on Sunday, Cheney basically said he hopes the President fails from a national security perspective and even said he thinks Rush Limbaugh is who the model Republican should be. To put this latter bit in context, he said this to snub Colin Powell, a man whose reputation was severely tarnished by steadfastly trying to sell Cheney's WMD argument in the run-up to the Iraq War.

Throughout the 2004 campaign - and even in 2008 - Cheney and Rove consorted to neuter the opposition by subtly suggesting if you voted Democrat, you were making the country less safe. It was cynical in 2004, cynical in 2008, and selfish in 2009. At least in the run-up to the elections in 2004 and 2008, you could make the flimsy assumption that this argument was used simply to get votes; it could be made because the one making it truly believes his national security plan is superior to his opponents'. It's morally dispiccable, but that's par for the course in American electoral politics (Obama's class-baiting in 2008 was no less admirable).

However, by not only saying the country is less safe, but openly wishing your opponent to fail (which, of course, would be at the expense of the people you swore you were protecting from 2001-2009), it's pretty clear all you care about is your own vindication - even if that means harm for innocent people in this country. "So what if the ends do not justify the means? I was right!" I think this really does reserve a special place in Hell for Dick Cheney.