Josh Marshall has a great post on Cheney's profane outburst

[lancdem]

But for those who have few good things to say about the vice-president, I think, the correct response is less outrage than the sort of grim (or perhaps not so grim) satisfaction one feels when malign character unwittingly reveals himself to a larger audience. Because even if Cheney "felt better" after his outburst, this wasn't a show of strength but one of desperation or, perhaps, impatient impotence.

Consider for a moment. Who is Dick Cheney? What do we know of him? None of us like being questioned or critized. But in him the disinclination runs particularly deep. He prefers to act in secrecy and is a man to whom government transparency has all the allure that a shaft of sunlight has to a vampire. When challenged, violence seems always to be his preferred method of response, that of first resort --- often a literal sort on the world stage, but with bureaucratic (viz. Plame) and what we might call verbal violence at home. By verbal violence I mean specifically tough talk and threats meant to frighten people away from challenging him further, to knock them on their heels. Even this new case -- saying Leahy et al. had it coming -- is but another example. When that doesn't work, he gets sloppy.

Cheney et al. can see all sorts of bad business coming down the pike in the next few months -- much of it already on the public radar screen, some of it still clogged up no doubt in back channels, newsrooms and new rounds of dirty-tricksterism. It seems clearly to be getting to them.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com

[Lindacooks]

1. I love this statement:

"He prefers to act in secrecy and is a man to whom government transparency has all the allure that a shaft of sunlight has to a vampire."

Very apt.

[gpandas]

7. love the statement also n/t

[RobertSeattle]

2. FYI - When possible, provide a permalink...

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2004_06_27.php#003105

In just a few hours this will be waaaay down the webpage.

[hlthe2b]

3. Put in context with his prevous posts on the yellow cake biz and the

tantalizing suggestion of disruptions to the tectonic plate.... I think we can be sure this all really DOES involve CHeney to the nt degree....

[Rose Siding]

12. He seems to be gritting his teeth not to go into detail

I picture Josh white knuckling it as he drops breadcrumbs...

[cliss]

4. Right on, LC.

This is NOT a man at the top of his game. I recall looking at some photos in Time magazine, when they were putting together their "cabinet" in early 2001. Old Cheney actually had a sly smile as he was walking down the corridor, with panting reporters following him like little puppy dogs. He sort-of brushed them away, and got back to the "real" business of pillaging this country.

Now? Take a close look. Anyone who would say, "Go fuck yourself" to someone in a public position, and not even apologize for it later, is finished. Take my word for it. Old Dick is tired of having to fight. It was MUCH harder than he imagined. It pisses him off to think that he and Rove put together such a seamless plan, designed to the nines.

And then along comes a rogue like Moore and shoots it to shit. It's got to feel crappy right now. He knows he's on the losing team.

[VolcanoJen]

5. So Josh's research really does appear to be about Plame/Wilson/Niger.

He definitely frames the Cheney stuff in that context, and in his previous post, he eludes further that his forthcoming report that will cause the "shifting of the tectonic plates under Washington" indeed involves the Niger Yellow Cake affair, if not Plame and Wilson as well.

Hmmmm.... :D :D :D

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. DUCK!

The shit is about to hit the fan!

[pleft]

8. Man you gotta love...

this line...


------------------
Because even if Cheney "felt better" after his outburst, this wasn't a show of strength but one of desperation or, perhaps, impatient impotence.
----------------

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2004_06_27.php#003105

[sui generis]

9. well now that you've laid it out like that

it's pretty apparent that he is suffering from a mix of narcissistic and borderline personality disorders:

Among other things in the literature that include the overwhelming hostile response (Gunderson's definition):

Impulsive behaviors that often embarrass the borderline later.

AND

The diagnostic criteria for narcissistic personality disorder is characterized as a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and lack of empathy. These individuals display an exaggerated sense of self-importance, which is manifest in a pretentious, boastful overestimation of abilities.

[cliss]

11. I've got one to add to the Old Charmer:

Randi Rhodes claims he's gay. She's said it several times. On Friday last week, she played a clip of him talking about the outburst. He said, "yeah, I felt better". She said, "God, he's gay. He's gay. I can hear it". "But he's a repressed gay".

Interesting, no? Now think about the Abu Ghraib prison abuse. Randi said that all of it followed a pattern of homo-erotic porn. ....hm.

[sui generis]

13. in my humble experience

homoerotic porn doesn't involve electroshocking genitalia, having dogs bite your face off, or getting beaten to death. Let's not give homoerotic porn a bad name now.

[al bupp]

10. BCCI Connection to Cheney's Bad Business

If you all haven't already, check out this DU GD thread which spins out what might be putting Cheney's panties in a bunch.

"These guys make Iran-Contra look like amateur hour"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1877227