THE TWO MEN WHO CHANGED THE WORLD (FOR THE WORSE)
GEORGE BUSH II - "THE CONQUERER"
He is beloved by those of Texas and Family and others who co-share his oil wells. His record is outstanding, possibly doing more harm to this nation than any other President and he is still beloved. In the true Roman Emperor tradition, he claimed the title of “Idiot-us Maximus”.
Recently George W. Bush has criticized President Obama on his slow reaction and the way he has dealt with Ebola. “If I were still President I would have made the decision to invade Ebola months ago.” “The great people of the United States should not be threatened or intimidated by this fanatic Ebolian regime,” but there are many other achievements of note:
He attacked, invaded and destroyed two countries in the name of democracy and freedom while cutting healthcare benefits for war veterans.
He took a government surplus, bankrupted the treasury and created the biggest annual deficit in history.
He is the record holder for private bankruptcies filed in any 12-month period, the all-time record for biggest drop in the history of the stock market. He also set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12-month period.
He is the first president in US history to enter office with a criminal record and took vacation more days than any other President. He also appointed more convicted criminals to administration positions than any President in US history and had more people hired who went on to get indicted while in office.
He holds the record for most campaign fundraising trips than any other president in US history and put over 2 million Americans out of work while cutting unemployment benefits for more out of work Americans,
Under Bush more laws and executive orders amending the Constitution than any president in US history while holding the least amount of press conferences to explain why. He presided over the biggest energy crises in U.S. history and refused to intervene when corruption was revealed.
On his watch we had the biggest corporate stock market fraud of any market in any country in the history of the world. He removed more checks and balances, lowered the amount of congressional oversight, more so than any presidential administration in US history.
He also refused to allow inspectors access to US prisoners of war and by default no longer abide by the Geneva Conventions. He is the all-time US and world record holder for most corporate campaign donations while spending more money on polls and focus groups than any president.
Single handedly made the US the most resented country in the world and is the first US president in history to have a majority of the people of Europe view his presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and stability.
He allowed a number of administration appointees who violated US law by not selling huge investments in corporations bidding for government contracts. Like Halliburton.
He never did get Osama Bin Laden "dead or alive" and later on said it wasn't important. He removed more freedoms and civil liberties for Americans than any other President in US history.
NICE GUYS USUALLY DON’T WIN
Other than a few missteps above, he’s really a nice guy…a truly lovable person and a good parent. I think I have the answer to most of this disastrous presidency when a few points leaked out somehow transparency missed.
That’s what funded part of this mess, which did not have to be disclosed under Bush disclosure rules. Both Cheney and Carl Rove endorsed the secrecy. That’s where part of the cover-up is. It was then President George Bush who told us everything was wonderful till a week before the crash. How do you lose trillions in a week? And owe it to China.
His administration never was transparent and many of the things that occurred during that administration will come to the surface. And they are not pretty. When I hear a Congressman lamenting about how this is our kids future... hold on, this damage was already done, just in the works growing for the past eight years and you Mr. Congressman and Senator might have been or were part of it.
The truth is about the cash war. It is a war of money spent, money borrowed that John Q. Public did not know about. It will have to be paid back somehow. Add the billions paid to the mercenaries amidst other costs yet to surface and you’ll see the real mess the last administration put us in.
Economics works the same way it’s the strong that control. It’s not that we have weakened. It’s a world market that is bigger and stronger and accelerating. We have competition now. When "Bush the First" spoke of the New World Order, many of the less informed individuals envisioned a bunch of goose-stepping neocons ruling the world like the "Third or Fourth Reich". Was it mis-interpretation or poor communication? No, it was further fueled by the NRA.
Had they read the papers on the New World Order? It was about financial shifts in trade and the strength of countries of the world. A balance of power and fair-trading of the resources, they were told, someone was dreaming. Nevertheless instead of a chicken in every pot there was the NRA success with an AR-15 in every closet.
So is world leadership not by force, but by
economics? Possibly but while we are engaged in a war and nation
building, which will stretch into decades, and complete breaking of our
financial system, the world is changing. The other players are picking up a lot
of our slack, going through a quiet revolution, and we are not the only ones in
contention for world leadership. We are fiddling, burning down Rome, and
texting while the world is moving on.
America is in the midst of it's own Waterloo. Can’t pay your water utilities, you too will have “no water in your loo”. As history presents itself over and over again.
Napoleon had his Waterloo. A decisive battle that turned the tides of history and led to his defeat. Sound familiar? Like former President George W. Bush. George Genghis Bush II thought the proper approach to his dad's failure was to rid the world of Saddam Hussein and breathe democracy into the Middle East. It was a classic ego driven act of stupidity.
Napoleon went after Russia, Bush went after the legacy of the Crusades. A legacy so carefully written about for centuries and documented that even with a Librarian in the White House he never finished the book. He reads kids novels better.
As I predicted these will be tough times for the new government appointed leaders. Bad decisions create bad times. Bad times linger on long after the creator of the bad times is gone. New administrations inherit a lot of dirty laundry and it will take many loads of wash to clean up this mess and that costs.
Hopefully, intelligence will prevail and they will contrast the bungling of the previous administration by removing our sons and daughters from places that nation building is more readily changed by plagues and locusts than the western approach. As someone said to me bombing Afghanistan into the fourth century would be an upgrade.
It might be based on selecting persons of intellect and common sense, rather than how well the applicant one Michael Brown “Kept the sperm bank records on Arabian Stallions”. Those were the credentials of the Bush director of FEMA. He got the job on the recommendation of a Bush friend, to pay back a favor. This applicate with no previous experience in the job, combined with communication problems, an inaccurate chain of command, and poor leadership resulted in the starving, drowning, and displacement of people in scenes reminiscent of the Tsunamis in Indonesia.
Meanwhile the former President is patting him on the back, telling us "What a fine job you are doing Mike Brown". On channels not covering the photo-op they were showing floating bodies in the water and people starving for food and water. Waterloo.
There were many clues to the fact, your leader and mine, our former President was out of the loop, most think of this as his Waterloo. It was just another Waterloo for Bush. The incompetence of the chain of command, the photo-ops contrasted by truth, the press had this debacle covered better than the government knew what was going on, what to do about it, and finally to react.
Thank goodness for the heros of Katrina, a certain General name Honore and the calvary who came to the rescue. The unselfish efforts of the Active/Reserve Coast Guard, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and those wonderful civilians who pitched in to save the day. It was not a shinning moment for the President, his staff, his appointees and anyone else locally, statewide or federal who happened to think they needed camera time.
TOO HARD TO BELIEVE
The 911 attack on the twin towers went down. Our leader was reading children’s books in a Florida school, his brother Jeb was a Florida Governor and didn’t want to be disturbed during his feel good photo op. Maybe children’s books were a comfort to George, but he never moved till the second tower went down moments later.
Unfortunately 3000 innocents were about to die, when the towers, the Pentagon and an aircraft in Pennsylvania went down. It was as we all knew (being a pilot I know no airliners operate in that specific area) we were under attack.
Then the Secret Service agent tells him the second building went down. We are under attack Mr. President, put the book down and we have to get the hell out of here. The problem with photo-ops is some times they catch you at a bad moment, all too common in that foo-pah laden administration. It was Katrina and Waterloo again and again.
MY PERSONAL WAR AGAINST BUSH and CANCER
President Obama, on his first day in the OVAL OFFICE, in fact twenty minutes after he got there, signed Presidential proclamations one and two. As the new President of the United States government Obama acted quickly and decisively and signed into law the bill for equal pay for Men and Women and the second bill allowing Federal funding for Stem Cell research.
The restrictions on Federal participation in stem cell science which is God send today were imposed by President Bush for claimed religious reasons. President Bush was aided by his political Evangelical cronies. Those ideological morons whose answer to all questions starts with Jesus said; and who don’t quite understand the Separation Of Church and State and the advance of science in the medical field.
His eight years of denial of that funding and showing no compassion for those people who were dying from a multitude of illnesses is part of his real legacy. My wife of 31 years was one of them. Like the space programs thousands of ideas and advancements were the gifts of the space program. Knowledge learned from the unborn might have been instrumental in the treatment of multiple cancers via transplant methods. Fortunately the French and Japanese continued research in this field fighting Cancer.
Recently, OCT 2016, the Pulitzer prize in Physiology or Medicine went to Yoshinori Ohsumi for his discoveries of mechanisms for elucidated mechanisms underlying autophagy, a fundamental process for degrading and recycling cellular components.
I am a proud cancer Caregiver who just spent six months literally isolated with a patient who has gone through stem cell transplantation. I lost my wife to Cancer and this friend is the second closest person to me. When she asked me to participate, I said I was glad to. Not realizing nor caring the scope, care and time the process entails.
It’s a 24/7 six month operation. I am very happy I did it. On Sunday 11/08/2015 we attended a reunion of 5780 survivors, 817 days after her treatments. Three almost terminal chemo’s, the stem cell reductions, and a significant drop in her body weight. to 100 pounds. Today she is back to 130 pounds because of a diet I am working on that concentrates good stuff into palatable dishes and she has rebuilt her body and she has never looked better.
Basically the trials which went nine months and practically takes the patient to the brink of life by suppressing their immune system, removing their stem cells, giving enough chemo to kill the multiple myeloma, and then replacing the neutral stem cells back in the body to replant themselves. It was those unborn stem cells which were the keys to this form of treatment and not used anymore. He wasted eight years politically.
And Bush’s “deeply held beliefs” his religious conviction was not shared by the other thousands of patients also looking to live a little longer. I have seen and witness to the pain and fear these folks with cancer go through. I will never forgive him for this, one of the many really bad political, mis-informed, evangelically stupid decisions he made. 7200 Killed on the war front, 52,000 wounded, and untold patients on the home front another reason for The Separation of Church and State.
George W. Bush Denies Stem Cell Research Funding -
In 2001, President George W. Bush restricted federal funding for research on stem cells obtained from human embryos because the technology required the destruction of human life. “At its core, this issue forces us to confront fundamental questions about the beginnings of life and the ends of science,” Bush said.
“My position on these issues is shaped by deeply held beliefs,” he said. “I also believe human life is a sacred gift from our creator.”
Your beliefs are not the beliefs of others. One day the toll will be taken of those who have lost their lives under your beliefs. Bush’s ban limited government funding for research on embryonic stem cells — which have the potential of curing diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and Parkinson’s — to already existing stem cell lines. Federal dollars could not be used to start any new cell lines or to conduct research on any newly derived cell lines.
President Obama put it back in the hands of the doctors and researchers. Without that these new breakthroughs would not be taking place. Bone marrow transplants have come a long way in those five years since the door opened. New techniques in stem fell transplantation today on my friend and 2000 others show promise.
The idea of cloning organs is incredible and preliminary testing by the Japanese has shown promise. Whether Georges decision like the other bad calls he made was a personal choice involving his beliefs over the beliefs of science and humanity was an affront to all. Maybe eight years of his reign interrupting the science could of saved me writing this piece.
Cloning was used for the first time to create human embryonic stem cells, advancing the prospect of growing new organs from a patient's own tissue. Scientists inserted a skin cell from an 8-month-old baby into an unfertilized human egg that had had its own DNA removed.
The cells fused and began to reproduce, yielding embryonic stem cells genetically identical to the baby's. These were then extracted and transformed into "various cell lines and tissues, including beating human heart cells," says lead researcher Shoukhrat Mitalipov. The method could someday yield genetically matched replacement livers, kidneys, hearts, and other body parts for the seriously ill.
FAMOUS QUOTES BY GEORGE W. BUSH
• Quotes by George W. Bush • Photography by Al Jacobson
Here are some of the most important simple "points of light" as expressed by our former Commander in Chief at critical times in our nations history. However, as some had suggested, "points of light" are best expressed when you pick a flashlight with a bulb in it.
11-14-09
Former President G.W. Bush announced today the New $300 million Dollar Presidential Library at SMU. None of the $212 million raised so far has come from foreign donors. The money has been raised from hundreds of donors, with those in Texas playing a particularly large role who have an oil well in every back yard.
The foundation has declined to name any of the donors, saying that some prefer anonymity. Some made lots of money from oil which got deregulated during his term.
The former President gave a keynote speech outlining his vision for the Bush Institute, which will be in the same building as the archive and museum. No other presidential library has an institute, and questions have lingered about the purpose and scope of this one.
Critics have worried that it will be a mechanism for reworking Bush’s legacy, but supporters have said it will draw scholars and world leaders to campus to focus on global concerns in an academic setting.
One critic replied.”When I heard that I bought up all the manure futures I could find. Brings new meaning to the word bull market" !
BUSHIDOO-DOO-DOO
“I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe and what I believe — I believe what I believe is right.” —Rome, Italy, July 22, 2001
“We need to counter the shockwave of the evildoer by having individual rate cuts accelerated and by thinking about tax rebates.” —Washington, D.C. Oct. 4, 2001
“People say, how can I help on this war against terror? How can I fight evil? You can do so by mentoring a child; by going into a shut-in’s house and say I love you.” —Washington, D.C., Sept. 19, 2002
“The really rich people figure out how to dodge taxes anyway.” —explaining why high taxes on the rich are a failed strategy, Annandale, Va., Aug. 9, 2004
“My plan reduces the national debt, and fast. So fast, in fact, that economists worry that we’re going to run out of debt to retire.” —radio address, Feb. 24, 2001
“See, free nations are peaceful nations. Free nations don’t attack each other. Free nations don’t develop weapons of mass destruction.” —Milwaukee, Wis., Oct. 3, 2003
“The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.” —State of the Union Address, Jan. 28, 2003, making a claim that administration officials knew at the time to be false.
“The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him.” —Washington, D.C., Sept. 13, 2001
“I don’t know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don’t care. It’s not that important. It’s not our priority.” —Washington, D.C., March 13, 2002
“But all in all, it’s been a fabulous year for Laura and me.” —summing up his first year in office, three months after the 9/11 attacks, Washington, D.C., Dec. 20, 2001
“I try to go for longer runs, but it’s tough around here at the White House on the outdoor track. It’s sad that I can’t run longer. It’s one of the saddest things about the presidency.” —interview with “Runners World,” Aug. 2002
“I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we’re really talking about peace.” —Washington, DC June 18, 2002
“I trust God speaks through me. Without that, I couldn’t do my job.” —to a group of Amish he met with privately, July 9, 2004
“Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.” —speaking underneath a “Mission Accomplished” banner aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, May 1, 2003
“We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories … And we’ll find more weapons as time goes on. But for those who say we haven’t found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they’re wrong, we found them.” —Washington, DC, May 30, 2003
“Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be somewhere!” —President George W. Bush, joking about his administration’s failure to find WMDs in Iraq as he narrated a comic slideshow during the Radio & TV Correspondents’ Association dinner, Washington, DC, March 24, 2004
“If this were a dictatorship, it’d be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I’m the dictator.” —Washington, DC, Dec. 19, 2000
“There’s an old saying in Tennessee — I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again - Nashville, Tenn.
“Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB-GYNs aren’t able to practice their love with women all across this country.” —Poplar Bluff, Mo., Sept. 6, 2004
“Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.” —Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004
“My answer is bring them on.” — About Iraqi insurgents attacking US forces, Washington, DC, July 3, 2003. They did.
VP DICK CHENEY - CODE NAME “HUBRIS”
“Hubris”, the true story of the lies Dick (Darth) Cheney brought to the table. The distortions and mistruths he championed costing 190,000 dead, 7000 American soldiers and other combatants, almost three trillion dollars we know of and 50,000 wounded. The truth is out now and the coverup exposed. He should have been charged with Treason.
Filled with news-making revelations that made it a New York Times bestseller, Hubris takes us behind the scenes at the White House, CIA, Pentagon, State Department, and Congress to show how George W. Bush came to invade Iraq - and how his administration struggled with the devastating fallout.
Hubris connects the dots between Bush's expletive-laden outbursts at Saddam Hussein, the bitter battles between the CIA and the White House, the fights within the intelligence community over Saddam's supposed weapons of mass destruction, the outing of an undercover CIA officer, and the Bush administration's misleading sales campaign for war. Written by veteran reporters…
Michael Isikoff and David Corn, this is an inside look at how a president took the nation to war using faulty and fraudulent intelligence. It's a dramatic page-turner and an intriguing account of conspiracy, backstabbing, bureaucratic ineptitude, journalistic malfeasance, and arrogance. Available at Amazon.
THE MEDIA PLAYS A ROLE
False gods, read Exodus, your time will come. Who are these spinners and what are their qualifications? It will surprise you to know many of them have no political experience, nor military served time, no college or higher learning, but consider themselves experts in the fields.
They all start in Radio. Why Radio? Simple you can hide. You may start in talk radio where no one sees your face so you can wear your uniform and not be seen, recognized or assaulted. That must be "where the expression talk is cheap came from". Makes sense to me. If you said some of the things they said to someones face, they would in some cases be lying horizontal on the ground.
In TV, we start with an introduction to media, not necessarily journalism. Pretty faces and lots of prompters make anyone into a faux journalist. The real journalists have one commodity these folks don't have…integrity.
Radio attracts a lot of folks who are dissidents they too hide when they express themselves and frankly violence sells on talk radio as the only other stations on AM are fundamentalist religionists who are even more boring…. read on, it was this combination of radio and TV that sold the war to the American people and most of it was never verified.
DRAFT DODGER
When Cheney became eligible for the draft, during the Vietnam War, he applied for and received five draft deferments. In 1989, The Washington Post writer George C. Wilson interviewed Cheney as the next Secretary of Defense; when asked about his deferments, Cheney reportedly said, “I had other priorities in the '60s than military service”.
Cheney testified during his confirmation hearings in 1989 that he received deferments to finish a college career that lasted six years rather than four, owing to sub-par academic performance and the need to work to pay for his education. Initially, he was not called up because the Selective Service System was only taking older men.
When he became eligible for the draft, he applied for four deferments in sequence. He applied for his fifth exemption on January 19, 1966, when his wife was about 10 weeks pregnant. He was granted 3-A status, the "hardship" exemption, which excluded men with children or dependent parents. In January 1967, Cheney turned 26 and was no longer eligible for the draft.
Note: Though I respect the office of the Vice-President this man should have been arrested for treason, murder, lying to Congress and the people of the United States.
A TRUE WAR CRIMINAL
“US doesn't prosecute its war criminals. It honors them” — Glenn Greenwald. The truth in Greenwald’s quote, and the sentiment, is felt around the world as former Vice President Dick Cheney was honored Thursday.
A white bust was created that now sits at the US Capitol, bought and paid for by the American people. The event brought out Cheney’s poignantly true “partner in crime,” former President George W. Bush.
Someone had commented it should be covered with a dirtied diaper.
Sarah Lazare at Common Dreams remarks: The ceremony was the first public appearance of Cheney and Bush together since Jon Meacham's biography of George H.W. Bush was released in November.
George Bush 41 is quoted criticizing Cheney for being “hard-line,” “ Iron-ass,” and "knuckling under to the real hard-charging guys who want to fight about everything, use force to get our way in the Middle East."
George Bush 43 made light of the comments about the former vice president, who has recently used his considerable media platform to rail against the nuclear deal between world powers and Iran, declare he is unapologetic about the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and call for military escalation towards ISIS.
Lazare reports that when Bush told his father about the Cheney ceremony, Bush said “send my best regards to old iron-ass.” How about “old torturer” or “old murderer” or “old war criminal?”
Dick Cheney is responsible for the deaths of over 7,200 US troops—and reportedly hundreds of thousands innocent civilians. All of my spirituality leaves me when I think of Dick Cheney. The world damage he created, and the lives he destroyed is beyond forgiveness, much less worthy of an honor. Shame on US for allowing this man to walk free.
IN THE PAST DECADE
Cheney’s company Halliburton was involved in a kickback scheme that prompted Halliburton to fire two workers and reimburse the Pentagon $6.3 million. Yea, two guys just happened to skip with millions. Sacrificial lambs. additionally, the possible overcharging for food services which Halliburton reimbursed the Defense Department for nearly $30 million. Halliburton has set aside $141 million to pay other possible reimbursements.
A separate DCAA audit which accused KBR of overcharging by $61 million for gasoline delivered to serve the civilian market in Iraq last year. Halliburton has said the charges were proper. Right... like I believe them. Critics say Halliburton is an example of war profiteering by companies friendly to the Bush administration. Company and administration officials say politics had nothing to do with Halliburton's contracts in Iraq.
CIA LEAK SCANDAL (GUESS WHO BLABBED)
Plame affair - CIA leak grand jury investigation and United States v. Libby. On October 18, 2005, The Washington Post reported that the vice president's office was central to the investigation of the Valerie Plame CIA leak scandal, for Cheney's former chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, was one of the figures under investigation. Following an indictment, Libby resigned his positions as Cheney's chief of staff and assistant on national security affairs. On September 8, 2006, Richard Armitage, former Deputy Secretary of State, publicly announced that he was the source of the revelation of Plame's status. Armitage said he was not a part of a conspiracy to reveal Plame's identity and did not know whether one existed.
In February 2006, The National Journal reported that Libby had stated before a grand jury that his superiors, including Cheney, had authorized him to disclose classified information to the press regarding intelligence on Iraq's weapons.
March 6, 2007, Libby was convicted on four felony counts for obstruction of justice, perjury, and making false statements to federal investigators. In his closing arguments, independent prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said that there was "a cloud over the vice president”, an apparent reference to Cheney's interview with FBI agents investigating the case, which was made public in 2009.
Cheney lobbied President George W. Bush vigorously and unsuccessfully to grant Libby a full Presidential pardon up to the day of Barack Obama's inauguration, likening Libby to a "soldier on the battlefield".
FAILED ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT (Better luck next time fellas)
2007 Bagram Airfield bombing On February 27, 2007, at about 10 am, a suicide bomber killed 23 people and wounded 20 more outside Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan during a visit by Cheney. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack and declared that Cheney was its intended target. They also claimed that Osama Bin Laden supervised the operation.
The bomb went off outside the front gate while Cheney was inside the base and half a mile away. He reported hearing the blast, saying "I heard a loud boom...The Secret Service came in and told me there had been an attack on the main gate." The purpose of Cheney's visit to the region had been to press Pakistan for a united front against the Taliban.
WHO REALLY RAN THE WHITE HOUSE?
Cheney has been characterized as the most powerful and influential Vice President in history. He has been characterized as a “War monger and cold hearted bastard” yet his supporters and critics of Cheney regard him as a shrewd and knowledgeable politician who knows the functions and intricacies of the federal government. Which is a nice way of saying he knows how to beat the system.
He also liked to stay close to the bone, one sign of Cheney's active policy-making role was an office near the House floor for Cheney in addition to his office in the West Wing, his ceremonial office in the Old Executive Office Building, and his Senate offices (one in the Dirksen Senate Office Building and another off the floor of the Senate). Nothing got passed him.
Barack Obama could of used Cheney who actively promoted an expansion of the powers of the presidency, saying that the Bush administration’s challenges to the laws which Congress passed after Vietnam and Watergate to contain and oversee the executive branch—the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the Presidential Records Act, the Freedom of Information Act and the War Powers Resolution—are, in Cheney's words, "a restoration, if you will, of the power and authority of the president”. But when Barack Obama exercises those rights, Cheney is out there plummeting him with his unique kind of bitting rhetoric.
POWER HUNGRY SURFACES IN A DOCUMENTARY
In June 2007, the Washington Post summarized Cheney’s vice presidency in a Pulitzer Prize-winning four-part series, based in part on interviews with former administration officials. The articles characterized Cheney not as a "shadow" president, but as someone who usually has the last words of counsel to the president on policies, which in many cases would reshape the powers of the presidency.
When former Vice President Dan Quayle suggested to Cheney that the office was largely ceremonial, Cheney reportedly replied, "I have a different understanding with the president." The articles described Cheney as having a secretive approach to the tools of government, indicated by the use of his own security classification and three man-sized safes in his offices plus whips and chains, running water and boards, portable generators and other assorted devices.
The articles described Cheney’s influence on decisions pertaining to detention of suspected terrorists and the legal limits that apply to their questioning, especially what constitutes torture. Obviously this was a man of medieval institutional thinking pertaining to questioning and he would rewrite the laws if needed as to their usage.
U.S. Army Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, who served as Colin Powell's chief of staff when he was both Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the same time Cheney was Secretary of Defense, and then later when Powell was Secretary of State, stated in an in-depth interview that Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld established an alternative program to interrogate post-9/11 detainees because of their mutual distrust of CIA.
The Washington Post articles, principally written by Barton Gellman, further characterized Cheney as having the strongest influence within the administration in shaping budget and tax policy in a manner that assures "conservative orthodoxy." They also highlighted Cheney’s behind-the-scenes influence on the administration’s environmental policy to ease pollution controls for power plants, facilitate the disposal of nuclear waste, open access to federal timber resources, and avoid federal constraints on greenhouse gas emissions, among other issues. The articles characterized his approach to policy formulation as favoring business over the environment.