1 Boring Old Man

CQ Analyst Suggests ‘Rumsfeld’s Leaving Is Just The Beginning,’

Cheney Might Be Next

Appearing on MSNBC this afternoon, Congressional Quarterly political analyst Craig Crawford speculated that, as “neocons are heading for the hills,” Dick Cheney may be the next to leave the administration. He claimed the Vice President’s “authority is waning, if not gone.” “And my point is why would he want to stick around in this environment?” he asked. “All I’m seeing is a man getting isolated more and more.”

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CRAWFORD: I still wonder if he stays in this administration for the full term here. I really wonder if Rumsfeld’s leaving is just the beginning.

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CRAWFORD: My point is I don’t know why he’d want to stick around.

MATTHEWS: He has assumed an awful lot of authority under this President.

CRAWFORD: I know, and that authority is waning, if not gone. And my point is why would he want to stick around in this environment? He might just choose to leave.

MATTHEWS: Let me check this. I rarely do this on the show. Are you teasing? Are you — do you actually think there’s a reasonable plausible case for this Vice President to give up all the power he enjoys as the President’s first counsel?

CRAWFORD: Not if he doesn’t enjoy it anymore. I mean all I’m seeing is the man getting isolated more and more. This seems to be his most vulnerable position in the entire Bush administration.

Could it be a Civil War in the Executive? More likely, it’s just rats jumping ship before it goes down. Certainly, Craig Crawford has his finger on the pulse on one thing: "And my point is why would he want to stick around in this environment? He might just choose to leave." "…if he doesn’t enjoy it anymore." He hardly views Cheney as a dedicated public servant, more a petulent power monger.

This is hardly a time when we need a power vacuum in the Executive Branch of our government, but that’s what it looks like we’re going to have shortly. The Neoconservatives seem to be slithering back to their think-tanks, ready to add the incompetence of their falling leaders to their list of targets. So, with George W. Bush left in the White House, how are the Republicans going to fill the void? One of the things we’re not particularly used to in America is our government "falling." We’re accustomed to transitions in emphasis by political parties that slide in and out of power.

This is shaping up to be something very different…