"Side by side wing chairs"

[deminks]

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/014802.php

The article is not explicit, but an underlying theme of the Washington Post's profile on Dick Cheney is that his unprecedented power is only possible because Bush is anxious to get out of the way.

Waxing or waning, Cheney holds his purchase on an unrivaled portfolio across the executive branch. Bush works most naturally, close observers said, at the level of broad objectives, broadly declared. Cheney, they said, inhabits an operational world in which means are matched with ends and some of the most important choices are made. When particulars rise to presidential notice, Cheney often steers the preparation of options and sits with Bush, in side-by-side wing chairs, as he is briefed.

Before the president casts the only vote that counts, the final words of counsel nearly always come from Cheney.

"Side-by-side wing chairs"? I'm reminded of the embarrassing point in 2004 in which the President agreed to talk to the 9/11 Commission, but only if Cheney could sit with Bush, and help answer questions, during the discussion.

(end snip)

What is it like, Darth? Always the bride's maid and never the bride? Always slithering into that undisclosed location? Your approval rating was in the teens years ago. No one likes you, Dickey-poo. Does the money console you? The power and the prostitutes (the press and otherwise), do they console you? Did the torture console you? Katrina, was that fun for you, too? Do you sit in the side by side wing chairs and whisper in his ears? Bet that gets old for you, tricky dicky II.