Traitorgate subtext: Rove vs Cheney?

[DrBB]

All right, I've tried this a few times in other threads and haven't gotten a response. But I think it's a possible subtext for what's been going on--particularly the mysterious "High Official" who leaked details of traitorgate to the WPost last weekend.

Two facts:
1) Some deep insider outed Plame.
2) Some deep insider recently spoke to the WPost, revealing details (six reporters were contacted) without quite spilling all the beans.

My theory: As for 1) Rove did the "outing"--easy enough. It's his style, top to bottom, and until David Corn pointed it out no one seemed to know this was a crime--hey, Rove's gig is politics and he thinks that trumps all other considerations. Oops.

As for 2) though, that's trickier. I'm guessing Cheney. Yup. Why? Cause Rove has been setting him up. Rove needs Bush to pretend to move to the center for the election, especially with Iraq going so bad for 'em. Politics is like outerspace: you need something to push off of to change your position. So three weeks ago they let Cheney go out on the Sunday shows and blab his ass off about Saddam being behind 9/11 and the rest, when they KNEW that wasn't the plan--the plan was to come out and show They Told The Truth, They Never Said Saddam had anyting to do with 9/11. I think they--Rove--set Cheney up. I have absolutely NO question that they coordinate carefully before any admin figure opens his mouth on the Sunday talks, and for some reason Cheney didn't get the memo. Maybe even got a different memo, a deliberately misleading one. Laying the foundation for him to be cut loose as the "bad guy" who's responsible for Iraq and by extension everything else. (They'd never make that argument directly, but the reichpundits would happily do it for 'em, given the proper indications.)

My theory: Cheney talking to the WPost was his way of telling Rove to back off. The message was short 'n' sweet: "I know what you did last summer." His way of saying "I can take you down any time I want so don't start looking for me to start talking about how I want to spend more time with my family."

All shear speculation of course. But I think it fits how these Bush-league Machiavels play the game.

[grasswire]

1. what you are saying...

....is that it is Cheney + Libby v. Rove + his top staff. Hmm. A battle for control. Jettison Cheney and you can send all the baggage with him. It could very well save George. I always said their last ace would be painting George a victim.

How does Karen Hughes fit in all this, I wonder. Is it possible that she's the leaker? If so, it would be possible for Novak to say the WH didn't call him. (She's just a consultant now.)

[Terran]

9. If George were a "victim"...

would that not make him appear like a complete ninny to the entire public? Is it possible a President can be manipulated like that, to the point of going to war 'against his will'? It seems a dangerous game to play, if that's the end result they're hoping for.

Of course, I DO believe he's a ninny, but a willing one.

[mndemocrat_29]

2. So they were setting up Cheney why?

I'm just inquistive. This sounds very interesting.

[DrBB]

5. Because he IS responsible for IraqNam

...which has done more damage to the Flying Chimp than anything. Wolfowitz begat the PNAC plan in response to a Cheney directive under Bush I, and the PNAC plan begat Iraqnam. All the worst ideas of this admin have come from Cheney. And Rove knows it. The Chimp is Rove's meal ticket, and anything that threatens same is by definition anathema. So the idea is, you jettison Cheney. All very decorous at the top level--wants to spend time w/family etc. But you let the reichpundits know it would suit you if they made it clear Cheney was responsible for pushing the whole Iraq thing--bad, ill-conceived idea. Other stuff too. Bush the nice guy; Cheney the hard ass. Led our boy astray. Get rid of him, so we can get back to Kompassionate Konservatism. Anything else we did? Cheney's fault. Just don't quote us on that. And thus we move to the middle without admitting we did anything wrong. That's how scapegoating works.

The theory is that the leak over the weekend was Cheney telling Rove, "Back off jack, I know where the bodies are buried."

[Jackpine Radical]

3. A very interesting theory.

It has a real ring of credibility to it, at least to my tin(foil) ear.

[DrBB]

7. If it's true, we won't hear anything more

...from the "high official" who was so forthcoming over the weekend. The message has been sent, in unmistakable terms, and nothing else need be said if Rove behaves himself. AshKraupf's DOJ is doing the investigation, so all they have to do is sit tight until the news cycle moves on. Some Friday in February there will be a brief announcement that the investigation turned up nothing, but hey, Governor Schwartzenegger is reportedly having an affair with a starlet....

[Nottingham]

4. Two Top WH officials Cheney & Rove

Don't forget Cheney made frequent visits to the CIA

and Rove has done this before!

and Condi Rice was majorly shaking and I think she may have a hand in there too! :bounce:

[frank frankly]

6. Condi sure looked nervous

She must be wondering how long she can change her story and use various forms of incompetence as cover...

Deep in the bowels of the CIA, they are a'gunning for you, Condi!

[proud patriot]

8. Indeed

What would happen if one thought another outgrew their britches.

look at it this way :

you have

bush (not running the show)
Chenney thinks the most powerful badass
Rove thinks he controls the president

What happens when two of the most Arrogant
Assholes Ambitions get in the way of each others ?

[DrBB]

10. That's it in a nutshell

I may be off on the details, but the broad outlines strike me as plausible. As a sometime professional medievalist, this *admin continually makes more sense to me in terms of a monarchical court than a democratic executive branch--everything determined more by factional infighting and fealty and personal ambition than public interest.

[cliss]

11. DRBB: my thoughts exactly!

What the hell are they doing? There's a country to run, for God's sake. Over 3 million people have lost their jobs, and many more are about to. We're getting sucked into the quagmire called Iraq. The economy's down the toilet. We're having problems with the armed forces.

And they're fighting just like a medieval court! It kinda reminds me of a ship that's sinking. The BushCabal is getting awfully nervous. They're fighting over who's going to get thrown overboard.

Should be non-stop entertainment for the next 2 weeks. (I'm munching on popcorn)