March 11, 2009
What "Renegade" is Learning from "Angler": Obama and the Cheney Inheritance
Bart Gellman
Pulitzer-Prize Winning Correspondent, The Washington Post,
and author of Recent Book on Cheney
Minutes of the 22nd Meeting of the 67th Year
President George Hansen called the 22nd meeting of the 67th year to order at 10:15 AM. The invocation was lead by Don Edwards; minutes of the previous meeting were read by John Burton. About 105 members attended. Guests and their introducers were: Lloyd Gardner (Don Edwards), Charles Taggart (Charles Jaffin), Bobbie Pervin (Larry Pervin), Caroline Mosley (Charlie Stenard), Liz Morgan (Perry Morgan), Mary Berkelhammer (Jerry Berkelhammer).
Our speaker, Bart Gellman, was introduced by Lanny Jones. Mr. Gelman titled his remarks, “What ‘Renegade’ is Learning from ‘Angler:’ Obama and the Cheney Inheritance.”
Bart Gellman is a Princeton graduate who went on to Oxford as a Rhodes scholar, then joined the Washington Post, where he has won two Pulitzer prizes for his reporting. Today’s presentation was based on his recent book, “Angler,” a study of former vice-president Cheney and his impact on American policy during the Bush administration.
Mr. Gellman drew from his book some 20 of what he called,” Cheney’s Rules;” each rule was illustrated by an anecdote. That approach made for a lively and entertaining presentation, but posed some problems for this scribe, who is limited to a five minute reading of the minutes. So I will read selectively, from the “Rules” ascribed to Mr. Cheney, mention one or two anecdotes, then I will try to summarize Mr. Gelman’s own reflections on the former vice-president.
Two complementary rules said to be important to Mr. Cheney were: “Silence is Powerful” and, “Screaming is Powerful.” Another was, “When the Vice-President calls, pick up the phone.” Still another pair of rules attributed to Mr. Cheney was, “Truth is like Fiction,” and its antithesis, “Fiction is like Truth.” Mr. Gellman offered example of these truisms. As an example of truth that is like fiction, Mr. Gellman cites the novel, “Executive Privilege” written by Lynn Cheney, the Vice-President’s wife. In it she depicts a vice-president who unapologetically defends what he believes to be the prerogatives of the president, using whatever arguments and schemes worked. As an illustration of the dictum, “Fiction is like Truth,” Gellman refers to the briefings in which Cheney reported certain evidence that Iraq was building a nuclear device that could be transported in a suitcase, a worse-case scenario for intelligence and defense analysts.
Still another rule was, “If you’re angry at Cheney, kick someone else.”
I will try to summarize remarks the speaker made during both his presentation and the question period that depict Mr. Gellman’s own opinion of Vice President Cheney. Gellman’s observations are based on covering Mr. Cheney’s political career over several decades since he served as Secretary of Defense. Mr. Gellman’s impressions are these:
Respectfully submitted,
James Deneen
Our speaker, Bart Gellman, was introduced by Lanny Jones. Mr. Gelman titled his remarks, “What ‘Renegade’ is Learning from ‘Angler:’ Obama and the Cheney Inheritance.”
Bart Gellman is a Princeton graduate who went on to Oxford as a Rhodes scholar, then joined the Washington Post, where he has won two Pulitzer prizes for his reporting. Today’s presentation was based on his recent book, “Angler,” a study of former vice-president Cheney and his impact on American policy during the Bush administration.
Mr. Gellman drew from his book some 20 of what he called,” Cheney’s Rules;” each rule was illustrated by an anecdote. That approach made for a lively and entertaining presentation, but posed some problems for this scribe, who is limited to a five minute reading of the minutes. So I will read selectively, from the “Rules” ascribed to Mr. Cheney, mention one or two anecdotes, then I will try to summarize Mr. Gelman’s own reflections on the former vice-president.
Two complementary rules said to be important to Mr. Cheney were: “Silence is Powerful” and, “Screaming is Powerful.” Another was, “When the Vice-President calls, pick up the phone.” Still another pair of rules attributed to Mr. Cheney was, “Truth is like Fiction,” and its antithesis, “Fiction is like Truth.” Mr. Gellman offered example of these truisms. As an example of truth that is like fiction, Mr. Gellman cites the novel, “Executive Privilege” written by Lynn Cheney, the Vice-President’s wife. In it she depicts a vice-president who unapologetically defends what he believes to be the prerogatives of the president, using whatever arguments and schemes worked. As an illustration of the dictum, “Fiction is like Truth,” Gellman refers to the briefings in which Cheney reported certain evidence that Iraq was building a nuclear device that could be transported in a suitcase, a worse-case scenario for intelligence and defense analysts.
Still another rule was, “If you’re angry at Cheney, kick someone else.”
I will try to summarize remarks the speaker made during both his presentation and the question period that depict Mr. Gellman’s own opinion of Vice President Cheney. Gellman’s observations are based on covering Mr. Cheney’s political career over several decades since he served as Secretary of Defense. Mr. Gellman’s impressions are these:
- Virtually everyone who knows Mr. Cheney well agrees that personally, he is a witty, interesting, and considerate man.
- His major flaw is that he unreasonably expands basic truths and elements of law. The constitutional provision that the President “interprets the law ” for example, became inflated to, “the president can define and change the law.”
- Given a desirable goal, for example, protecting the country against terrorists, Mr. Cheney was remarkably adept at devising means to reach that end. The worthiness of the goal, however, sometimes overwhelmed consideration of the appropriateness or even the legality of the means he chose to attain that goal.
- Mr. Cheney was the most influential vice-president ever to hold that office. He understood the importance and uses of power as few others have. His ability to maintain secrecy about his intentions and actions, (a rare quality in Washington), greatly enhanced his own and the administration’s agenda.
Respectfully submitted,
James Deneen