Advice to Junior: throw Cheney under the bus

The noose is tightening on the Bush administration. The torture issue and Iraq lies threaten Bush's entire legacy. Rove might go down for firing prosecutors, Siegelman, and any number of other things. Gonzales has a lot to worry about including torture, NSA spying, the disgusting Ashcroft hospital debacle. There are dozens of other things. Bush cares about Rove and Gonzales, doesn't care so much for the puppeteer Cheney who made so many bad decisions that will live in infamy. It's time for an exit strategy. 9/11 and the PDB will remain huge questions. Fitzgerald reserves the right to re-open Plame. There's no-bid stuff out there and 9 billion missing from Irag. There's bribing congress over Medicare. There's using Afganistan funds for Iraq (should have been impeachable). Using generals for propaganda...etc etc.

Someone should approach Bush during one of his moments of clarity and suggest that he cut a deal to save his ass, protect some of his friends, perhaps take the high ground for once, and perhaps create one single positive for his legacy. He can blow the whistle on the rogue shadow government of neocons that misled him, fed him false information, made decisions without his knowledge, and operated outside the constitution (think the new intelligence gathering unit at the pentagon that found Curveball was Bush's idea?). No one thinks he was really in charge anyway...won't be a surprise. He can again claim he's just a regular guy with good intentions and he's trying now to correct some huge mistakes.

Cheney might be done anyway...time to cut losses and name a fall guy. Like a good prosecutor trying to turn accomplices, Obama and DOJ and maybe Congress are (or should be) lining up transgression after transgression to get someone to rat out his buddies. Even if Bush is untouchable in terms of prosecution, someone (in government or in journalism) could officially list the dozens (hundreds) of misdeeds, corruption, incompetence, theft etc and thoroughly trash his legacy for everyone to see. It would be wonderful and should be done in any case. But Bush might be able to avoid that airing of disasters by making a deal. I'd trade Rove and Gonzales for Cheney. One or more of those guys must go down.

Then again...Bush may not have that moment of clarity ever again so the whole thing may not make sense.

Popcorn sales would go through the roof.

I keep expecting Cheney to have a heart attack, followed by a quick cremation. If that does happen, tabs will need to be kept on Lynn Cheney just to make sure she doesn't suddenly leave the country.

When they were defining the word coward, they had Cheney in min. He is scared shitless and he knows that the same way he let Scooter take the fall for him, Father Bush will take him down to save his son.

Cheney will be in hospital any day now. Thankfully taxpayers' ambulances no longer follow his vehicle.

I don't think there would be any ritual mass transit sacrifices regarding either of these camps though. Both are too big and too strong. There will be some kind of compromise. Cheney making himself the frontman for this argument as he's been doing may well BE the compromise. It's a bit dangerous but not really.

This Iraq mess, along with others, threatens to bring down his son, his son's legacy, and perhaps his own legacy. The Bush name would be worthless and shameful, Jeb's future limited. Literally, one could (and should) end up mentioning the Bush name whenever listing the worst brutal dictators of the last hundred years. Cheney was certainly Bush Sr's friend, but blood is thicker than water. And, after all, Cheney is clearly responsible for the worst misdeeds. Junior doesn't have the wherewithal to orchestrate a 7-11 robbery, let alone the neocon wet dreams of the last eight years.

If I was Cheney I'd either be going through my files on both Bushes looking for foolproof blackmail material....or I'd be looking for a plastic surgeon and a hideaway in Argentina. And I'd avoid small planes.