Dick Cheney most likely to stage a coup to overthrow government

Image via Wikipedia

I don’t know if many people still read the book, “Seven Days In May” written by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey II and first published in 1962. If you haven’t read it, you really should. It’s a great story. And if you don’t want to read the book, check out the movie that was produced in 1964. With a phenomenal cast and a successful effort to stay true to the original material, I think you won’t be disappointed.

In the story, the President of the United States is about to sign a treaty with the Soviet Union calling for both sides to destroy all of their nuclear weapons. This displeases many in the government fearing it will weaken the United States. It particularly displeases the military whose stock in trade would be devalued were we to find peace with our greatest enemy. As a result, the Joints Chiefs, key members of Congress and influential members of the national media plan a coup d’etat to remove the president and his cabinet from office – one that almost succeeds.

As I read the many missives issued these days by the once but no longer taciturn Vice President Dick Cheney, I constantly find myself superimposing the ex-Veep into the story of the Seven Days In May. He fits so well as a character that it always kind of freaks me out. Still, I’ve always figured that this little game I play in my head is nothing more than an expression of my own paranoia when it comes to the man who I believe was rendered emotionally ‘unsettled’ as a result of the 9-11 attack. I say that because, while Cheney has long been a voice of neo-conservatism, something really seemed to change in Dick Cheney after the country was attacked and I think he’s never been the same since.

Yesterday, my Dick Cheney fantasies took on a new and frightening dimension.

When Cheney issued his latest barrage of attacks on Barack Obama, people seemed to lock onto the part where Cheney went after the president for his alleged failure to see the battle with terrorism as a full-fledged war effort.

I focused on something else- a passage in Cheney’s statement that really scared the crap out of me.

Why doesn’t he want to admit we’re at war? It doesn’t fit with the view of the world he brought with him to the Oval Office. It doesn’t fit with what seems to be the goal of his presidency — social transformation — the restructuring of American society.
Via Politico

I know the charge that Obama is a socialist is nothing knew. And while people are entitled to their opinion, I’ve viewed the accusation as part of the political game that has been kicked into overdrive by an obnoxious GOP and an overreaction on the part of a small, vocal minority ticked off at life in general. After all, not only do the facts fail to bear out the allegation, it’s difficult to see where the president has had time to focus on the very restructuring of American society given how busy he’s been continuing so many of the Bush Administration’s policies while putting out any number of fires raging out of control.

The Obama record to date turns out to be far more centrist than many of his supporters expected. Whether that is a good thing or bad thing is a conversation that will likely continue for at least three more years.

But hearing these words from Dick Cheney genuinely sent a chill down my spine. This guy really believes this stuff and appears to be in a mental place where he might see it as his patriotic duty to do something about it.

What’s so terrifying is that he probably could.

While Americans find it hard to imagine such a thing happening in this country, I cannot imagine the conditions being any more ripe than our current circumstances. A remarkable number of leaders in our country are now dedicated to scaring the hell out of Americans on subjects ranging from national security to government involvement in health care. And while you may or may not like it, these leaders are popular.

Where there is a dangerously high level of fear, bad things can happen.

A USA Today/ Gallup poll released yesterday reveals that Sarah Palin is the second most admired woman in America, a scant one percentage point behind Hillary Clinton. It’s not my intention to use this post to bash Gov. Palin. I raise the poll because it was Sarah Palin who successfully convinced a shockingly large number of Americans that a fairly insignificant clause in the health care reform legislation was designed to permit the government to create death panels who would decide when elderly people should live or die. In other words, she successfully scared millions of Americans into believing that their government might want to kill them.

Hopefully, Palin’s argument has now been discredited with the masses. However, the mere fact that one of our most revered leaders (like it or not) would embark on a campaign to do this speaks volumes on where we find ourselves.

Dick Cheney is much more than an embittered ex-Vice President seeking redemption and attention for the neo-conservative point of view that got his country into a whole mess of trouble. He is a central figure in the nation’s neo-con establishment, with unmatched contacts and influence within those circles. And don’t kid yourself, this is a very powerful circle of people.

As Cheney’s words reveal, his beliefs extend well beyond the feeling that his party would be better for the nation than the other party. He sees Obama as bent on restructuring the very fabric of American society- all evidence to the contrary. As much as I would hope to believe otherwise, I fear that the fact that Obama was elected to the office by a majority of Americans might not mean as much as it should to a man who operated in ultimate secrecy when in power and committed acts that we still suspect should be the subject of criminal prosecution.

Cheney scares me. If he wants to run for President in 2012 and can win, more power to him – literally. That’s the way we do things here.
But, until that time, I’m keeping an eye on this guy- and so should you.