Dick Cheney is Right! (And So Are You.)

I've been tuning in to some of the recent interviews that former Vice President Dick Cheney has been giving. He's got some new book out about his time in the Bush White House. Anyway, the guy is 70 years old now; thin, feeble, pale as a ghost (of course he's been that way since he was born, probably). And he's espousing his ultra-right wing... no, it isn't even fair to call Cheney “right-wing.” He's a paranoid, slightly insane, firmly-rooted, well-meaning, megalomaniac. He is what he is. His world view is reptilian, he sees an enemy lurking under every rock, he is the classic archetype – the guy who strikes first before he is struck (whether or not he was ever going to be struck remains open for debate.) That's Cheney. He says himself: “I didn't change – the world changed.” I don't know the context of that remark, but it's dead-on. All the shit went down while he was in office (and he was in office since fucking Nixon!) - He didn't change an iota. This is the kind of person we ought to look out for (cull?); but this is also the kind of person that inevitably gravitates up the power chain.

Look, Bush Junior buckled under the power. He had second thoughts, reservations, deep, dark hours; because, in spite of popular belief in some circles, he's a fucking human. Cheney is something else – another species, a mutation, an abomination. And he's also fucking right.

He's not right because he has to be – he's right because of our stunning lack of vision and execution as a people – not just us in the U.S. - but everywhere. We collectively, consistently, let the wrong people into the hallways of power.

The problem is us, but it isn't. Most of us, 95% of us, maybe 98 or 99 – we don't ask for much: a roof over our heads, a toilet to shit and piss into, some food, a little entertainment and fuck it, we're good to go. We are not really the problem. The problem is that little wad of people, those “1 percenters,” who crave power, who crave impossible wealth, who relish the opportunity to engage in wars – hell, they'll never fight in them. It is a gluttonous, detached, schizophrenic and manic condition – and totally unnecessary. We don't have to let these assholes lead the world.

Obama was elected as a counter-point to this madness. Now he is battling against the very traits that put him in office: He is humble, he is thoughtful, he compromises. All he does is give a good speech (When is the last time you saw a politician pick up a shovel or pull a trigger?) He is who we wanted – now we don't want it, because the fear has crept in, and we need someone more determined, less reasonable.

Well, no problem; there are plenty of candidates out there to fill that criteria. Have at them.

madbob@madbob.com