The "wisdom" of Dick Cheney

"The hallmark of the Dick Cheney administration is its illegitimacy."

Does that get your attention? It should. It's the first line of "The long march of Dick Cheney," Sidney Blumenthal's latest piece at Salon.com (thankfully available in full here).

Here's the next line: "Its essential method is bypassing established lines of authority; its goal is the concentration of unaccountable presidential power."

It's provocative, with an excellent overview of Cheney's rise to power in the Nixon Ford, and Bush I administrations (and as a Congressman during the Reagan years). Make sure to read the whole thing. (Even you Cheney defenders. Needless to say, I'm not one of them -- see here, here, here, here, and here.)

To tempt you, here are a couple of key passages:

-- "Even though experts and pundits contradict his talking points, Cheney presents them with characteristic assurance. His rhetoric is like a paving truck that will flatten obstacles. Cheney remains undeterred; he has no recourse. He will not run for president in 2008. He is defending more than the Bush record; he is defending the culmination of his career. Cheney's alliances, ideas, antagonisms and tactics have accumulated for decades."

-- "The making of the Iraq war, torture policy and an industry-friendly energy plan has required secrecy, deception and subordination of government as it previously existed. But these, too, are means to an end. Even projecting a 'war on terror' as total war, trying to envelop the whole American society within its fog, is a device to invest absolute power in the executive."

-- "Dick Cheney sees in George W. Bush his last chance. Nixon self-destructed, Ford was fatally compromised by his moderation, Reagan was not what was hoped for, the elder Bush ended up a disappointment. In every case, the Republican presidents had been checked or gone soft. Finally, President Bush provided the instrument, Sept. 11 the opportunity. This time the failures of the past provided the guideposts for getting it right. The administration's heedlessness was simply the wisdom of Cheney's experience."

But when and where will that heedlessness end? I'm not sure America can take any more of Cheney's "wisdom".

(See also The Left Coaster and The Sideshow.)