Posted on 02/15/2006 9:11:39 PM PST by Yankees98a
Hit Refresh? Why Bush may be thinking about replacing Cheney. Thursday, February 16, 2006 12:01 a.m. EST The Dick Cheney shooting incident will, in a way, go away. And, in a way, not--ever. Some things stick. Gerry Ford had physically stumbled only once or twice in public when he became, officially, The Stumbler. Mr. Ford's stumbles seemed to underscore a certain lack of sure-footedness in his early policies and other decisions. The same with Jimmy Carter and the Killer Rabbit.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
Looks like she's just gone native. It happens to the best of them sometimes. I gather she's not writing speeches for anyone anymore, so she probably has way too much time on her hands. Maybe she should take a break--go to NOLA and help clean up or something.
Fox reporter just said, "Not only Dems saying Cheney should resign, BUT EVEN REAGAN SPEECHWRITER, PEGGY NOONAN is saying it...."
She wanted attention. She got it. Sad.....
"Condi would be the grinch that stole the libs christmas in 2008... The Ultimate Trump Card.."
Is that the kool-aid that is fueling the Condi bandwagon? I've been trying to figure it out ever since I first started hearing it. What makes so many people think that Secretary Rice would be a shoo-in to the White House in 2008? What makes her "the ultimate trump card?"
What are her positions on immigration, abortion, social security reform, government spending, private property rights, energy, the growth of government, education, taxes, health care, small business or any other domestic issues? What kind of judges would she nominate for the federal courts? Having never held elective office nor even campaigned for one, what does she know about getting legislation through the congress or getting conservative candidates elected to national office?
George Allen has what Condi lacks - experience in the legislative, executive and political fields. He's been a U.S. Senator, a U.S. Representative, a Governor of Virginia and a member of that state's legislature. He's an expert on commerce and transportation and had considerable success in bringing high tech firms to Virginia. As a member of the Foreign Relations Committe in the Senate, Allen isn't as weak on foreign policy issues as Condi is on domestic ones. He's a former Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and under his leadership, the GOP picked up four seats in the U.S. Senate in 2004.
Allen is a solid conservative (do we know the same about Condi?) with an ACU lifetime rating of 91. He's been a faithful backer of the president on Iraq and the war against terror. Since the Senate must approve whoever the president would name to succeed Cheney should he decide to step down, Allen, as one of their own, would face less opposition from his fellow Senators than would Condi.
Don't get me wrong. I admire Secretary Rice, and I think she's been an excellent security advisor and an outstanding SecState. But before holding those postions, the total of her experience was as a Stanford academic. She's strong on defense, but so is Joe Lieberman, and on other issues, he's as liberal as John Conyers. What do we know about Condi, aside from her positions on foriegn policy matters?
Perhaps Secretary Rice, if she were actually insterested in the job and once we find out where she stands on domestic issues, could run on an '08 GOP ticket headed by Sen. Allen. As vice president, part of her duties would be to preside over the Senate, and doing so would give her some much needed experience in legislative matters. This would serve her well if she decided to follow Allen into the White House in 2016.
Breathing in the peroxide fumes since she became a blonde?
She was snubbed by the present republican administration in the WH. She appears to have never gotten over it.
Stated much more succinctly than did I... LOL!
I'll tell you what happened to Peggy Noonan. She volunteered her speech writing services to Bush for the 2004 campaign and got turned down, cold. Never mind that her wordy, flowery style would be a terrible fit for Bush's down home manner of speaking, she's been in a snit, ever since.
..she has written some inspiring speeches and powerful articles--the pen has run out of ink...
Makes sense...in a twisted sort of way.
Now about the news script on Fox that put that spin on it...sounds exactly like CNN or MSNBC, doesn't it? Not a hair's width of difference.
Makes one thank God all the more for Brit Hume.
Good point.
I think a lot of under-the-radar libs have been exposed by this Cheney hunting incident.
So, if nothing else, the whole affair has outed the enemy.
She might be more receptive to persuasion from the president, and a sense of duty if VP Cheney has to step down (I am NOT hoping that happens but with his health concerns it's always been a possibility), than from a senator who she may or may not know, and in the heat of a political campaign. I take Condi at her word, and can understand why she feels this way, that she is not at all interested in running for president or anything besides Commissioner of the NFL. But if Dubya asked?
I don't see Dr. Rice as being interested in this, nor do I think that she has the "fire in the belly" required to run such a campaign. She has often said she doesn't want it, and I see no reason to think she is lying.
Noonan is displaying remarkable ignorance on how any of the players in her little drama operate. Just to name a few:
1. Dick Cheney doesn't need an excuse to resign...he could always plead a worsening health problem and no one would question it.
2. George Bush is, above all else, loyal, and would never ask him to resign.
3. The President knows that "annointing" someone like Rice would set the backs up of millions of people, including the millions who LOVE Dick Cheney (like me) and do NOT consider him a "hate-magnet."
4. As ken5050 points out, she would have to go through a Senate confirmation, which would be terrible in the poison the Rats would spew, negating any perceived advantage she would have in being named.
All in all, this is a non-starter of a theory and Peggy should take a sabbatical and try to get her head screwed back on straight.
Be wary of the McCain Bush deal that was cut in 2004. McCain played the loyal trooper and campaigner. In addition, McCain has recently been talking with Bush presidetial consultants.
McCain could breeze through the Senate -- and despite the distate for him on this Board -- he is the clear frontrunner (to the extent there can be a Frontrunner in '08)
We may be seeing the ground work for one of the more obvious Presidential pairs of all time. McCain/Allen.
Frankly, I never cared for Noonan's flowery, pretentious, overly wordy, style. Noonan's style always caused the same impatience that I experienced, trying to read James Fenimore Cooper's, Deerslayer, in junior high school. I just wanted him to get to the point, forget all the description. While that beautiful prose may have a place in literature, it doesn't belong in news articles, especially the fanciful type that Noonan is prone too.
LOL...
If Cheney was thinking about retiring, he could do it anytime he wanted. The notion that this was a "stunt" to bring that on is absurd.
I would think that Peggy Noonan would be bright enough to realize that Bush can't just "fire" Cheney. Cheney is a Constitutionally elected officer, unlike cabinet officials, he DOES NOT SERVE AT THE PLEASURE OF THE PRESIDENT.
Maybe Peggy should take up writing romance novels.
Well "RIGHTttttt"! There is just no way GWB can get reelected in )* with Trigger Dick as his VP.
It would be a much better fit.
There is a serious flaw in this argument.
Bush is unpopular, with low approval numbers. True even if not acknowledged by many on FR.
A new VP would have some advantages of incumbency but also the taint of the close association with Bush.
That VP will lose in 2008.
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