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David Addington: Where is Cheney's Architect of Secrecy?
Share / Recommend - Comment - Print - Thursday, Feb 16, 06, 5:57PM
I've seen Mary Matalin in a photo on the cover of the Washington Post walking with Cheney the day after news hit that the Vice President shot his hunting acquaintance. Matalin's even been out in the press taking a few shots for Cheney.
Karl Rove is in the Cheney shooting stories. So is the President's Chief-of-Staff Andy Card.
And there are probably other White House aides-de-camp who are getting some nods in the press as the media tries to squeeze this story to its farthest possible end.
But one name is oddly missing -- completely (well, nearly). He's not mentioned in a single blog or news article on this story.
And that is Cheney's replacement for Scooter Libby as his Chief-of-Staff David Addington.
For the record, Tom DeFrank, Washington Bureau Chief for the New York Daily News, did reference David Addington's disdain for the press in a Charlie Rose Show segment on the Cheney shooting incident:
CHARLIE ROSE: How about the fact that "Scooter" Libby is not there? Is that a factor?TOM DEFRANK: Well, I think so. David Addington, the new chief of staff, a very accomplished lawyer, a very hard liner, is basically even more disdainful of the press than many of the people around the vice president, and certainly more disdainful than, I`m told, than - than Cheney himself. And so you`re not going to have a chief of staff in there saying, "Chief, we`ve got to get this out. We`ve got to do something quickly." So for all of those reasons, I think, those - those -- those factors all kind of came together to create a perfect little political firestorm here.
TWN has been concerned that the shooting fiasco -- and the way that it has streteched out for days -- has helped the VP skate past the much more serious charge at hand that he has illegally promulgated leaks of classified national security information on numerous occasions.
My hunch is that David Addington has been lurking in the shadows -- busy at work -- preparing for the battles ahead regading the leak controversy, working to preserve the White House's prerogatives on warrantless wiretapping, rebuffing calls for any alterations in our detainee practices in Guantanamo, and just overall keeping the emergent Bush-Cheney monarchy in good shape.
It is useful to remind ourselves of Addington's objectives and tactics.
Here is a clip from this week's February 20th edition of Newsweek in a piece titled "Bush's Bad Connection" by Mike Isikoff, Mark Hosenball and Evan Thomas:
The White House is likely to be defiant. Cheney's chief aide and counsel, David Addington, has advised his bosses that even if the intelligence committee votes to subpoena secret documents from the executive branch, the demand will not be upheld by the courts.Cheney's attitude seems to be: bring it on. Last week the veep told cheering activists at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference that the White House intends to trumpet NSA wiretapping as a winning issue in the fall campaign. "With an important election coming up," said Che-ney, "people need to know just how we view the most critical questions of national security and how we propose to defend the nation."
The Washington Post's David Ignatius also offered a prescient profile of Addington in early January. In the piece he opened with:
Who is David Addington? The simple answer is that he's Vice President Cheney's former legal counsel and, since the indictment and resignation of Scooter Libby in October, Cheney's chief of staff.But behind the scenes, the polite but implacable Addington has been a chief advocate for the interrogation and surveillance policies that have created a legal crisis for the Bush administration.
But the zinger line in Ignatius' piece is:
Friends and former colleagues describe Addington as a man who thrives on his invisibility. He lives in a modest house in Northern Virginia, takes the subway to work, and shuns the parties and perks of office.He usually has the same simple meal every day -- a bowl of gazpacho soup. Though born in Washington, he styles himself as a "rugged Montana man" in the image of his boss, and he has a photo in his office of Cheney shooting a gun.
TWN has more on the way on Mr. Addington -- but for today, we'd like to ask some folks who are on the trail of Cheney to ask "Where is David Addington?"
This guy can't be permitted much time in the shadows -- and the Cheney quail-poaching distraction (that's what they call it when the upland game tax stamps aren't paid for) has probably helped strengthen Addington's hand in the battles ahead that DO matter.
-- Steve Clemons
TWN has been concerned that the shooting fiasco -- and the way it has been stretched out for days -- has helped the VP skate past the more serious charge that he has illegally promulgated leaks of classified national security information
Well, TWN can smooth its brow. As commenters have been saying for days, the shooting fiasco has been a perfect microcosm of the bigger crime, and the stretching out has been done by the VP himself almost as if to drive home the themes: not taking responsibility, behaving as if he is above the law, keeping secrets that make it obvious there is something to hide.
And then, to gift wrap it, the VP inserts into the Fox appearance the very crime TWM has been so concerned the public would forget about. (Of course, he asserts his right to declassify info legally, but the ludicrous assertion only draws more attention to the crime.)
So please, unclench. Yes, Addington's the key. He's been part of virtually every vile Cheney action since the Cheney-Bush administration began. But he isn't a spokesman, he's the opposite. TWN really thinks it has 'juice' enough to taunt him into speaking publicly?
Best wishes for success.
But give the rest of the world out here some credit.
Followed by a pack of reporters eah ?
Wouldn`t that be fun !
Shining light into the dark crevices of the halls of Satan
Yea, go fo it
"The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist thinks it will change; the realist adjusts the sails." - William Arthur Ward
Addington's like Cheney and Libby, they feel power increases with mystery. If a loyal tool like Matalin is available to spout appetizing non-sense that the public will fall for, well let her do it then.
I'm surprised that Matalin is sticking her neck out so far considering Fitzgerald's still got her, and the WHIG, in his sights.
This guy can't be permitted much time in the shadows.
What is it that Addington can do in the shadows that he can't do with reporters asking him questions? Why wouldn't he just keep on doing what he does and stonewalling media types? He doesn't work through the media to begin with, so presumably it's only changed behavior of insiders that would affect his plans.
the [shooting] distraction ... has probably helped strengthen Addington's hand in the battles ahead that DO matter
How, exactly? Aren't the battles ahead political battles? Do you seriously want to maintain that the shooting, and the malignant qualities of the VP that it's helped magnify, has increased Cheney & Addington's influence in the administration, or with the Republican Congressional leadership, or the unbought parts of the media, or the public? (Or even the courts?)
I'm seriously asking, not just trying to be snarky.
My basic point is look, with these guys there are about a thousand scandals to choose from. You have to choose one - one that not only causes pain, but captures the public attention - and drive it home. Milk it for every drop of hurt you can wring from it, and when they can't hurt any more, you move on to the next one. In the rare event that one catches fire, you fan the flames, you don't help Rove stomp it out.
In general, Cheney (and Addington) have the media on a very good leash. Usually, the media complies with keeping a lid on things they don't want to get a lot of attention. Every now and then, something gets away from them. That's a good thing.
No one scandal is a magic bullet, and this one will die off eventually. When that happens, use it as a segue into the next one.
Vince Foster begat trevelgate begat Lewinski. Remember the Swift Boat Vets!
Kudos to you Steve for shining the light on those whose existence (and utility) depends on darkness. More importantly I'd like to see more pressure brought to bear on the media for neglecting their role and being complicit in the lies we are being fed. To me this is the REAL story of the last 6 years - the craven capitulation of the media at the altar of access, forsaking illumination and information. This is THE story of the 21st century. It is how we lost our republic.
Perhaps this is what Addington has been working on:
Sen.: White House Agrees to Spy Law Change
Senate Intelligence Chairman Pat Roberts said he has worked out an agreement with the White House to change U.S. law regarding the National Security Agency's warrantless surveillance program and provide more information about it to Congress... Without offering specifics, Roberts said the agreement with the White House provides "a fix" to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and offers more briefings to the Senate Intelligence Committee.
The deal comes as the committee was set to have a meeting Thursday about whether to open an investigation into the hotly disputed program. Roberts indicated the deal may eliminate the need for such an inquiry.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060216/ap_on_go_co/eavesdropping_4
All these scandals and mishaps (because of pending investigations)are in a holding pattern, so the fact that there is some shady behind-the-scenes activity going on should surprise no one. EVERYTHING this White House does is being watched closely by a lot of people, myself included, so I do think we can walk and chew gum at the same time-we just can't issue indictments.
Agreed about the distraction function of Cheney's "hunting" accident, diverting attention from real news.
On another note: I spoke with a friend back in Wisconsin -- this is a BIG deer hunting -- and fowl hunting region.
He said Wisconsin Public Radio had a call-in show on the late-night humor angle of Cheney's shooting.
But the topic was immediately diverted by angry hunters calling in to complain (I understate) about Cheney.
This was the hook-and-bullet crowd, self-identified Bush voters, who saw Cheney's actions as reckless and irresponsible -- and as a reflection on them.
And they did not like that at all.
They instantly saw through the story about Whittington being out of position, about who was to blame, about where Whittington was standing, about what the response was -- and about whether there was drinking.
They never did get to talk about late-night humor.
David Addington has been at work in der Fuhrer's secret library that has been clandestinely moved to the White House. There have been rumors of this move wafting around D.C. for some time and in privileged circles. The rumors are true and it can be revealed to TWN that this is indeed the case. It took some staggeringly large sums of money to make this happen. America didn't think that Congress was earmarking monies for Iraq did they? Why do you think that Congress doesn't hold the Bush team to account? Now that der Fuhrer's library is in the possession of Cheney and Addington, there is work to do and research to research and validation for sedition. This isn't rocket science people, this is treason and tyranny.
Cheney getting drunk and plinking off Republicans
is worse for the Republicans than everything
else they got caught doing, put together.
I guess another question the ask would be - Where is the Swiss Miss?
I wonder if he outsourced to Matalin and the like on this issues, just because he is preparing for other things?
This administration believes that its simply beneath their dignity to have to explain things to us. They want us to just trust them with a bling faith (the way we conservatives use to accuse Dems of blindly trusting Clinton)
When McCllelan does his press conferences he's really speaking to us citizens--that's the true purpose of the press conference--to inform the public; not to inform reporters--reporters simply relay the message to us.
Making it all about the reporters is just a handy way for the GOP to give us citizens the "brush off" and convince many of us to embrace this insult at the same time
Its a shame so many Republicans supporters agree this brush off is appropriate
Some republicans so clueless they actually think we should be grateful. Grateful that Bush and Cheney and the whole team have taken time out their busy lives to base themselves to do a stint in this filthy institution called our government so we should be honored.
Used to be a time when the person being elected was honored and humbled to be given the faith of the public; to be given the opportunity to serve.
How things have changed.
Do any of the living room pundits here think they are being just a bit dramatic?
I was perusing through the Abu Ghraib photos released the other day, and found this one: http://www.antiwar.com/photos/perm/ag17.jpg. Perhaps you folks have better eyes than I do, but it looks to me like this guy had a banana shoved up his ass. Then I come over here and listen to Clemmons and company wondering if the chief cheerleader of our government's right to shove banananas up people's asses -- VP to an administration who threatened to make its first veto about securing this God given right, who then reluctantly signed the law while vowing to continue the practice of inserting produce into orifices as it saw fit, and who is the architect of our government's extradition of suspects to foreign prisons if the inserting of foreign objects into a person's anus proves too "restraining" -- might be suffering unjustified criticism for shooting a 78 year old man in the face. And I think, what nice people. How decent. How civilized. No wonder no one trusts putting you in charge to face down a madman like Bin Laden.
If you're worried about whether capitalizing on the VP's shooting of the elderly makes you "as bad as they are", get over it. Not on your darkest, most cynical, debauched day could you muster an ounce of the depravity Cheney practices as a matter of principle. We're better people than they are. We can't help ourselves. Guys like Clemmons make this painfully obvious, God help us.
This notion of a nation working again in bipartisan harmony, with a media who takes its journalistic job of informing the public seriously, and where both parties can differ but still see themselves as "Americans" is sweet, in a naive sort of way. I want those things, too. But the only way that's ever going to happen is if the Cult of W falls, and the politics of Rove are repudiated in the most spectacular way. You can't play nice with a group of people who see anything short of your complete eradication from the planet as treasonous. Hand-wringing over the morality of fighting is akin to debating the ethics of striking back at Japan after Pearl Harbor.
When I was a kid, I used to get the crap beat out of me every day. My mother told me to try passive resistance. "They'll get tired and leave you alone," she said. They never got bored of beating the crap out of me. Finally, I punched the ringleader in the face -- ONCE -- and he ran home blubbering like a baby. He never bothered me again.
Last I heard, that kid was in jail for murder. I'm a successful family man. Was it wrong of me to engage in violence? Was it stooping to his level? Does that make me any better than he is? I don't know, but I'll tell you this: I was right to punch that son-of-a-bitch. I'd do it again.
Let's concentrate on what the Congress is not doing as they are the ones in the driver seat. If Congress will not oversee the President then that leaves the People to do it for them...
America has stumbled through the looking glass.
Were any American citizen to shoot a fellow "hunter" in the face, fail to report the incident in a timely manner, and have allegations of drinking tied to the incident, - there would be legal proceedings, an investigation, and if the person were found negligent or criminal, - there would be consequences.
Not our leaders. Our leaders operate above, beyond, outside, and in total disdain of the rule of law. Our leaders are not accountable to any one - and certainly not quaint focus groups like congress, the courts, or the American people.
Our leaders intentionally pervert and distort our own core principles and break the laws of the land repeatedly and insistantly.
Our leaders aid, abet, and shield America's enemies, and shun, insult, and ignore our allies.
Our leaders rob from the poor and middle class to feed the superrich.
Our leaders have dismembered and re-engineered the constitution with the specific intent of conforming or shapeshifting the laws and our core principles to align with the leaderships select secretive fascist imperialist totalitiarian dictates and designs, and all without review, recourse or remedy for or by the people.
Our leadership conducts it's and the peoples business within secret fascist cabals, beholden to select oligarchs and again without access to, or review, recourse, or remedy of or by the people or any legal or political mechanism.
Our leadership repeatedly and insistantly throws sand in the face of the both the political and judicial system, resisting, cloaking, and ultimately preventing disclosure, thorough investigations, and the independent vetting of facts, information, and truth relating to a long and festering list of radical deceptions, obscene abuses, cataclysmic failures, systemic cronyism, derelictions of duty, grotesque mismanagement, acts of financial malfeasance, perfidy and wanton profiteering, and savage concerted slime and demonization attacks on anyone daring to question or challenge the Bush governments fascist, designs policies, and activities.
Our leaders repeatedly and insistantly deceive the people, and betray the peoples trust by and through a concerted propaganda and disinformaiton warfare campiagn (information domination, perception managment, and slime operations) prosecuted by the Bush government against the American people.
Our leaders are criminals, fascists, corporatists, imperialists, supremist, and depraved satanic cultists, and/or rapturist religious zealots and fanatics.
The America people refuse or resist recognizing or accepting these grim realities because the facts are too terrible to acknowledge, and each and every one of us, must then take responsiblity for allowing this level of malevolence, deception, malfeasance, perfidy, depravity, and perversion to rise to, and actually commandeer control of the United States Government.
Better and easier to bury our collective heads in the mud, and pretend our leaders are trustworthy, honest, civil, dignified, compassionate, caring, and honorable. Sadly - none of this, not one single false claim or dim hope has any semblance of truth. In the case of the Bush government, quite obviously - the exact opposite is true.
Watching this Cheny shooting parable unravel should be a lesson to all of us who once cherished the American dream. Here the VP recklessly shoots someone, covers-up the story, excuses himself from any accountability, and then has the obdurate gaul to assume the mask of the traumatized victim.
America is being LIED to yet again, and yet again the dim sheeple simply bah and neigh, and stumble blindly and pliantly into the pit.
The democrats and the democratic party are complicit.
We have no independent press.
The fascist warmongers, profiteers, and incompetent chickenhawks in the Bush government are bent on engorging their own off sheet accounts and advancing the insane delusions of the Pax Americana neverendingwar and empire designs and machinations.
America as we knew it, is dead.
We are living on the cusp of the New World Order, wherein America is shapeshifted into a totalitarian dictatorship commandeered by fascist cabals and oligarchs seeking world domination through military hypersuperiority.
Our future under this nefarious (and I mean evil in the demonic sense) leadership is neverendingwar, radical redistribution of the wealth and resources to the superrich and the fascist cabals and oligarchs, systemic dismantling, restriction, and re-engineering of the peoples core rights, freedoms, privilages, protections and our standard of living, and days of horror, hardship, and depravity like none the world has ever known.
"Is this the course of wise men, engaged in the great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to being of those who having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not, - the things that so nearly concern our temporal salvation? ... Forbid it allmighty God. I know not what course others may take, - but for my self - Give me liberty, or give me death. "
Patrick Henry.
"When they come knocking on your door, - how you gonna come? With your hands on your head, or on the trigger of a gun?"
The Clash.
The political and judicial systems are irrepairably broken. The people have absolutely ZERO access, or mechanism to influence the conduct of the government.
Our leaders are accountable to no one, operate above, beyond, outside, and in total disdain of the rule of law, and unilaterally proclaim heretofore unrecognized powers and authorities of infallibility, unaccountability, and kings rights to dictate to and impose upon the people whatever war, perversion, depravity, abuse or offense the fascist cabals deem necessary.
The political system is no help to us. Politicians and the asskissing spawn and complicit parrots in the socalled MSM are part of the problem, not the solution.
Americans must stand up en masse, and demand accountability from, and a change of our leadership.
Americans must stand up and voice our firm rejection of this fascist leaderships pernicious (not to mention failing policies)!
American must stand up and take back America ourselves, - or there will be no America.
No one will helpe us. The people are the only hope for salvaging what little remains of our once more perfect union and the unique experiment in democracy that once was America.
The time is fast upon us, where the possibilities of reversing this wayward course, correcting the destructive trends, and righting the terrible wrongs of the Bush government fascist totalitarian dictatorship - will be lost and gone forever.
The noose is around our collective kneck and tightening. The tomb is set, the last nail ready to shut the lid forever. It is now or never.
American's either act now, or resign our childrens future to neverendingwar, seething well justified hatred of America, and pronounced anti-Americanism globally, continued Pearl Harbor like event security threats, a radical reversal of our standard of living, or core rights, freedom, privileges, and protections, and the shapeshifting of America into a totalitarian dictatorship commandeered by fascist cabals, oligarchs, and truly evil men - and women.
"If Congress will not oversee the President then that leaves the People to do it for them..."
Congress does not "oversee" the President, at least according to the Constitution. Yes, the people oversee both the executive branch and the legislative branch of government.
The mold has been cast all is in place.Repuglins control both houses,supreme court and dictator chimp and puppeters rove and cheney plus news media.this all came about by swift boat Repugs carring out roves dirty lies and win at all cost tactics.And a media owned and muniplated by King George and cabal of tainted two faced chicken hawks that sit in the nest.they have destroyed America from within.
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