I reiterate my prediction -- Dick Cheney will resign
Back on my old Myspace blog, I predicted a Cheney resignation in a blog entry dated February 10. I figure I should restate that here, especially in light of current evidence that Cheney is the Bush administration's Judas goat in the whole Plame/Libby affair. Back in February, the National Journal reported that Scooter Libby, Cheney's former chief of staff who now faces indictments and is squealing like a pig in heat, testified that Cheney told him to release classified documents.
The big news of the last few days in this area has been that Libby testified that Cheney told him that Bush had given the order. Of course, this doesn't tie Bush directly to it. He'll disavow any knowledge, and Cheney will take the fall. I predicted back in February that Cheney would retire after the November elections in 2006, but before the new Congress takes its seats, and I want to reiterate that prediction on my new blog. That way, when it happens, I can get all smug and say "I told you so," the way I did when we didn't find any WMDs in Iraq.
No doubt Cheney will resign for "health reasons" or "to spend time with his family" or "for the good of the nation," but we all know that's a load of horse manure. Cheney will resign because somebody's got to be the nail that takes this hammer. Libby is cooperating to make sure it isn't him, and the president sure as shit won't let them pin this on him.
There's all sorts of rumors that Press Secretary Scott McClellan, Political Advisor Karl Rove or some other loyal soldier will take a metaphorical bullet in the next few weeks, the way Andy Card did. But none of them will solve the Plame problem. Cheney's a dead man walking, even if he doesn't know it yet. His approval ratings continue to hover in the low 20s, up from an unbelievable low of 18 percent a few months back, which made him one of the least-liked major politicians in American history -- Nixon had higher numbers than that when he resigned.
The big question remains -- Who would replace Cheney? The Bush administration is like the Titanic after a jaunt through the North Sea. Only a complete dupe would sign on now. Likely, the new VP would be a promotion from within, much like Josh Bolten taking over for Card. I'm tempted to think it will be our current Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice. Quite simply, she may be the only option. All the big-time Republicans outside this administration don't want anything to do with it -- they all plan on running in '08, and they don't need to be saddled with shameful memories of this administration. No Senate Republican with presidential aspirations would take on the white elephant of the VP position. John McCain? Bill Frist? Forget about it. Rice may be the only option -- at least, the only politically viable one. No doubt they could stick Rumsfeld or one of the other war loonies in there, but Lord knows what the blowback would be. We wouldn't see another Republican president for 50 years.
So, Rice may be the next VP out of simple process of elimination -- The Taint is too big for anyone else. But a Rice vice presidency would serve another function -- it would kill the Cheney resignation story overnight. While every major media outlet in the country all screamed "BREAKING: AMERICA HAS A BLACK FEMALE VICE PRESIDENT!!!!!!!" Cheney would slink off into the sunset, scowling to himself and muttering vague threats about the NSA.
Condoleezza Rice, alleged future vice pres ... whoops. My bad. That's The Condoleezza Rice, the largest oil tanker in Chevron's fleet. The name was changed in 2001 to "avoid confusion."
There we go. That's better.