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The Mystery that is Dick Cheney

There's nobody more puzzling, or arguably disappointing, in the Bush Administration than Dick Cheney. And while for a long time he got a ridiculously unfair rap as if he were still on Haliburton's payroll, word on the street is that Cheney has fallen in to the President's disfavor for the obvious reason: Iraq.

Back in 2000 Cheney seemed the adult at the party. He was the cool, fatherly figure who had a black belt in self-control. He didn't seem to let emotions get in the way of decision-making. If anger makes you stupid, it seemed you could count on him to not get angry to the point of stupidity. In the vice-presidential debate there were not a few who thought: "I wish he was the presidential candidate."

Appearances often deceive, but personal virtues can manifest themselves and carry over into policy-making. The crucial thing for public figures at that high a level must do is to not make it personal, not make it about themeselves. And Cheney seemed to have that quality, although he was sorely tested by a mainstream media that thinks irresponsibility is more responsibility than right and more right than privilege. The fact that he didn't strike back, and took all the unfairness was in his favor. But then he told a Senator to go "f--- himself", which suggested there was anger there that could be affecting his decision-making.

Maybe this that would place too much emphasis on the personal virtues. What were/are Cheney's core values? One of the marvelous things about Ronald Reagan was that his core value was his Christianity which was attended by the marvelous self-control and understanding that this wasn't about himself. To paraphrase Archie Bunker - "Mister we could use a man like Ronald Reagan again..."

Even those who know Cheney for years ask about what happened: “The real anomaly in the Administration is Cheney,” Brent Scowcroft said recently in the New Yorker. “I consider Cheney a good friend—I’ve known him for thirty years. But Dick Cheney I don’t know anymore.”