Okay, Why the hell is Dick Cheney still around?

wth all the Zombie love on Chud why don't you guys like Dick?

Damn you modern medicine for being the answer to the OP's question!

Because he has eight years of pent-up shit that he wants to say. I say let him. He's one of the most unpopular figures in the country and the Republican party is just cringing every time he opens his mouth because he's just reminding people of the last eight years and that's the last thing the GOP wants people to think about.

Because evil never dies.

No, the Hard Right loves Cheney for not putting up with them eeeeeevvviil Muslims!

Cheney should have learned his lessons from McCain and Jindal. Giving a speech after Obama is like going on stage after the Clash.

That he comes of as a petty, fearmongering coward is something else entirely.

The most cogent theory I've heard so far is that he wants his statements on the record about if the country gets attacked again it'll be a direct result of Obama rolling back Cheney's torture policies. And he's banking on another attack to vindicate his legacy.

The fact that he's getting so much attention and is still the main voice of the Republicans is only possible because there's such a void in Republican power that he wins by default. And the best theory I've heard about that was that for so many years Republicans have come up as log-rollers, glad-handlers and followers of the Bush/Cheney cabal that now that there's a power vacuum they don't know how to act boldly and independently.

Plus, he's really got nothing to lose by shooting his mouth off. He's unlikely to ever be appointed to high public office again, and not likely to win any elected posts, either. He can say what he thinks without fear of "hurting" his political career. But yes, I very much agree with the "legacy" theory as well. He's ready to point the finger and say "I told you so" if something goes down.

As for the Republicans, I'm betting they're gladly letting him say all the things they're afraid to say for fear of coming across as "Anti-Obama" who remains intensely popular. Send the unpopular guy to say the unpopular things.

Oddly enough, Dick Cheney's approval ratings have gone up 7 points in the last few months.

He's out of office so there's less reason to hate him, by default. I'll bet Bush's numbers are up, too, if anyone bothered to take a poll.

On a smaller scale, this also works with the memos he wants released regarding the information gained through waterboarding. He's trying to make the issue about whether or not we got useful info out of tortured prisoners - so that if there's anything at all in those memos, Cheney will "win." This is pretty slick on his part, since it dodges the more important issue, that torture is wrongy wrong wrong no matter what info comes out of it.

Awesome commentary by Andrew Sullivan:


LINK.

Indeed. Meanwhile, Feingold read those memos and evidently came away with a different impression.

There is another possible reason for Cheney hogging the spotlight

GOP Wants More Help From Cheney

Cheney will never die, and he needs a new career to pass the next century. GOP King maker could be it...

The book Angler is really good to help process Cheney's thinking in terms of stuff like this. It talks about the bunker, and how 9/11 would have looked to the VP with the information coming in (and how he may have briefly been in control of the country), moment by moment. Without watching the nation get attacked on his watch and being kind of helpless, we would have never gotten this incredibly energetic and Machiavellian old man hung up on the idea of torture, who 1) seems to believe what he's saying, and 2) has tremendous skill at manipulating processes to his own ends (at least the internal White House balance of power), which makes him still completely terrifying. Calling him Darth Vader gives me no comfort, because I imagine over 40% of the country believes him when he says he saved thousands of lives, and that amount could grow.

NPR today said the terrorists caught today were amateurs, but I saw some of either CBS or NBC and I don't think it was part of their report, and it came right after the one on Cheney's speech.

Hopefully, media and public relations are all he has. But he was the most powerful VP in history, and he carefully timed his speech to come minutes after Obama's historic one. As public theatre at least, it's the most interesting thing in Obama's presidency so far.

RE: Abu Ghraib

Ugh.

War without supervision, and outsourced to private companies. Are you surprised?

I honestly can't recall an ex-vp given this much goddamn attention.

Fuck this son of a bitch.

It's mostly speculation at the moment, but I wouldn't be surprised, Cheney for president, anyone?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/0..._n_273470.html

Well who else does the Republican Party have? Seriously? Sarah Palin? Mitt Romney? Chuck Norris?

Dont tempt the Limbaugh !

Joe the Plumber. Er, I mean, Samuel The Plumber. Or, well, ok, he is not really a licensedplumber. But his name is Sam! .... That's kind of like "Uncle Sam", isn't it?

Huckabee, if he doesn't eat himself out of politics.

A lot of retards who aren't even Republican would probably vote for Norris.

Supervillians always tend to ramble on and monologue about their nefarious deeds.


I'm almost 99% certain that Cheney is the Red Skull at this point.

"My plan is elegant in its simplicity! Mwu hahahahahaha!"

Seriously, the only Republicans I can think of right now that are somewhat viable are Romney and Gingrich. I also get the feeling we might see a Pat Buchanon like wildcard with Sean Hannity. If I had that kind of bench, I'd be looking at Cheney too. Can't do much worse.

Bring Back Brownback!

Bring Back Brownback!

Bring Back Brownback!