Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency by Barton Gellman

[eleny]

I'm only just under 100 pages into this book and am impressed by how riveted I am. I'm still a novice when it comes to political biographies. So I appreciate how this book keeps me interested.

It starts with the search for W's VP running mate, so it's chronological. Now I'm into the Energy Task Force time period. Cheney is portrayed as if he had his hand in every damned thing. Both he and Bush well earned their respective caricatures as puppet master and the one with the wooden head.

Even though I've only gotten a little way into the book, I recommend it. It's well worth getting onto the library waiting list.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

1. It's brilliant

And you've just read the driest part of the book. It's almost like a legal brief, the way Gellman builds his case.

Then, it gets warmer, more personal, more anecdotal.

The best part of the book awaits you. I'm glad you like it.

There's another you have to read - "So Wrong For So Long," by Greg Mitchell. Another work of brilliance.

[eleny]

2. I see what you're saying

It's like he grabs you in the first chapter and then things heat up more and more.

I read slowly and became frustrated with myself. A fight got waged between savoring the facts and wanting to speed read the first sentence of each chapter. Savoring the details won out.

Thanks for the tip about the Mitchell book. I've added it to my wish list.

[elleng]

3. Sounds interesting.

"Barton David Gellman (born November 3, 1960) is an American author and journalist on the staff of The Washington Post.<1>

In 2008, he published Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency, which attracted attention for disclosures about Dick Cheney's alleged misuse of a confidential vetting file during the 2000 presidential campaign<2>, Cheney's concealment from President George W. Bush of Department of Justice objections to domestic surveillance without a warrant <3>, Cheney's refusal to take charge of recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina<4> and Cheney's false depiction of the Iraqi threat in a one-on-one meeting with former Republican House majority leader Richard Armey. <5> (Armey, who dropped his opposition to war with Iraq after the Cheney briefing, told Gellman he "deserved better than to be bullshitted by" Cheney.)

Several high-ranking figures in the Bush administration -- including Attorney General John Ashcroft, Deputy Attorney General James B. Comey, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, White House Chiefs of Staff Joshua Bolten and Andrew H. Card Jr., National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley, Counselor to the President Dan Bartlett, political counselor Karl Rove and some of Cheney's own senior advisers -- also gave on the record interviews about the vice president.

The Angler book expanded upon a series of articles on Vice President Dick Cheney that was published in the Washington Post in June 2007. Gellman and then-colleague Jo Becker (who since has moved to the New York Times) shared the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting<6> for those articles. Gellman previously shared the Pulitzer in 2002 with other members of the newspaper's staff for "comprehensive coverage of America's war on terrorism, which regularly brought forth new information together with skilled analysis of unfolding developments."<7> His contribution to that coverage was an article on October 3, 2001 about failed efforts to catch Osama bin Laden before the 9/11 attacks.'

wiki

[Captain Hilts]

4. I gotta get me one.

[eleny]

5. I'm almost halfway done and still think it's the beans

I'm itching to talk about some things he learned about Cheney. But I'm determined not to post spoilers.

[PRETZEL]

6. Instead of starting a new thread on Angler,

I thought it might be best to revisit this old one.

After reading Family of Secrets I wanted to read this. Actually I've wanted to read it for a long time and have now just gotten to it.

After the reading the first third of the book, I think I've actually have had some opinions of Cheney changed. Initially I thought that Cheney was there to be more of Skippy's minder than an actual participant. I was dead wrong. I really was under the impression that Cheney chose himself at the urging of both Poppy and the old Bush loyalist guard. I'm now of the impression that Cheney is much more of an opportunist idealogue than I had ever imagined. He literally used the process to both blackmail potential Republicans who would challenge him while at the same time put in places of power those who were extremely loyal to him and his neo-con agenda.

The saying of Bush as a "useful idiot" is very appropriate in speaking of the Bush/Cheney relationship.

[Captain Hilts]

7. This is MUST reading for me. nt

[PRETZEL]

8. Finished it last nite,

I think this is a must read.

I was somewhat suprised by some of his conclusions but after thinking about it I can see why he comes to them.

But these are my own conclusions of the Vice Presidency of Dick Cheney.

First, it was very obvious that Dick Cheney was a cut throat opportunist. I got that impression in the very beginning in reading how he concluded he was the best candidate to run with Bush. He saw an opportunity to bring back the neocon ideology that Bush shared, but for different reasons. The opportunism of Dick Cheney comes through in the vetting process he used for everyone on the short list but himself. The adage "keep your friends close and your enemies closer" seems appropriate here. Cheney used any and all resources to make sure he knew beforehand what was potentially dangerous and what wasn't.

Secondly, Cheney is without a doubt very meticulous and thourough. That quality while good for the most part, is also dangerous when abused. I think Cheney abused this in every way shape and form. He left no stone unturned, but at the same time only allowed that information he wanted out to be put out. In this regard, he most certainly was President. The case of the dispute between the Indians and the farmers over the river basin is I think an example of this. The NSA wiretapping program is also very relevant in this instance.

Thirdly, without David Addington and Scooter Libby there is no Dick Cheney. And without having the precedent set whereby Scooter Libby is an "Assistant to the President" Cheny cannot maintaing the access he had. Libby gave him the lifeline to all the information coming and going to the President and kept Cheney in the loop on all things relevant to Cheney's goals. Dick Cheney only cared about what Dick Cheney did. If he wasn't involved or chose not to involve himself, it was of no concern to him. It didn't matter what the issue was or how it affected the country.

Finally, go "Fuck yourself" Cheney. You may not have been in it for the money either for yourself or your friends. You may have felt that you did this out of love for our country and upholding of the Constitution. But your warped vision of the Constitution coupled with your driving ideology has left this country in a much worse position than when you were handed it. You viewed governance as "what you felt best" not stewards of the will of the people. You are so wrong you little self serving jackass.

[eleny]

9. Just a couple of thoughts...

About the process of finding a VP - It was chilling to me when one of the candidates realized just how much personal information he'd turned over to Cheney. That made my skin crawl with a chill because just for a moment I felt like I was in his shoes. It's been a while since I finished the book but I think it was the man from Oklahoma. Gellman made me think that this person understood what Cheney had done to him.

Cheney wasn't vetting, he was all about gathering information on certain individuals from the very start. From the start there was an extensive "application" and he extended the invitation to apply to certain people. It's utterly creepy.

I thought that Addington's personality is illustrated in vivid detail. That's why it's heartwarming that Spain has included him in their plans to investigate administration officials. I don't know if he even gives a damn. But I like knowing that he's not off the hook and he has to live with that annoyance at the least and ultimately may not be able to leave the U.S.

[PRETZEL]

10. That was Gov. Keating,

and if I recall, that pretty much soured his relationship with Cheney and Bush.

I agree on Addington. If Rove was Bush's brain, Addington most certainly was Cheney's brain. These two were most certainly joined at the hip.

[eleny]

11. Thanks, P, that's him

I believe that Cheney wanted to insulate W from as many people that could likely make it to the Cabinet and were not of Cheney's circle. As it unfolded, Cheney's people made it into each of W's own advisory teams.

[PRETZEL]

12. I'm not sure it was to insulate Bush

or to make sure Cheney stay in the loop without actually being in the loop.

I think we saw where Cheney (and his ideology) wanted to be relevant Cheney was able to get people who he trusted. Granted, many of them like Rumsfeld and initially O'Neill, went way way back with Cheney to the Ford Administration. I think when you look at the Bush Cabinet in it's initial stages there were striking differences.

Where Cheney wanted to exert his influence you saw Rumsfeld. Where he didn't care, you got Christie Todd Whitman.

[eleny]

13. The book asserts that Cheney could usually manipulate W into decisions

He did it by what information W received. Cheney was the loop. When W veered off, Cheney moved swiftly to reign him in and get him to see things Cheney's way. That's what I got from the book.

[grillo7]

14. I'm about half-way through, and it's a page turner...

Easily the best work of non-fiction I've read this year. I approached it curious about Cheney, but I expected it to be rather dry. It isn't. I would highly recommend reading this one.