美國有史以來最有權力的副總統。
A report that former Vice President Dick Cheney was behind the decision to conceal a C.I.A. program from Congress deepened the mystery surrounding it.
老布希時代的國防部長，營建包商的CEO, 小布希時代的副總統，911 攻擊時坐鎮白宮指揮，打獵時開槍打傷朋友，因不滿別人對布希政府的批評，就找人洩漏其中情局臥底的身分，.... 現在的反歐巴馬大將。
不像以往的副總統，離開白宮後，錢尼利用一個個訪談的機會，大力抨擊現在的政府。又是一個時勢創造的無賴英雄，共和黨內大概就屬他可以如此猛烈的批評歐巴馬，又能吸引媒體的關注了。這位前副總統最經典的就是在二月份警告說：有很高的可能性另一次的恐怖攻擊即將來臨。小布希和他在任內已經創造不少經典的鬧劇，現在他已無法派兵去打別的國家，殺幾個伊斯蘭教徒了，所以我想大部份的人也不在意他現在在那兒胡言亂語！我想大家就拭目以待吧！
幾天前(7/11)有個報導說：錢尼直接命令中央情報局進行一項秘密任務，而且這個運作都是沒有讓國會知道。雖然民主與共和兩黨從五月起，就對於中央情報局對國會的報告應做到何種程度而爭執不休。本來我想可這次錢尼終於被抓到小辮子了，可是1947年通過的國家安全法修正案，似乎讓錢尼這種欺瞞國會及躲避民意監督的行徑得以遊走於灰色地帶。錢尼下令秘密任務隱瞞國會的這新聞，我還是在西班牙國家報(El País)的網站上先看到的呢！El País還把它放頭條，不過沒讀它的報導，而是到紐約時報(The New York Times)網站讀這一則新聞的。
以「伊拉克擁有大規模毀滅性武器」為由發動侵略戰爭的布希政府，是不可能被移送國際戰爭法庭以戰犯身分受審的。本以為至少讓錢尼因違反國內法而入獄，算是出一點怨氣。比照紐倫堡大審的規模，布希(Goerge W. Bush), 錢尼(Dick Cheney), 邁爾司(Richard Myers),天南特(George Tenet)...這幾位都應該算是頭號戰犯吧。
以下是紐約時報裏錢尼的個人介紹。
Dick Cheney
Updated: April 29, 2009
Observers of the George W. Bush's administration may argue about just how much power Dick Cheney had within it, whether his standing went up or down, whether the reality exceeded or fell short of conventional wisdom. But virtually all would agree that Mr. Cheney was the most powerful vice president in American history.
No other vice president ever in essence picked himself for the position, as Mr. Cheney did as the head of Mr. Bush's vice-presidential search in the 2000 campaign. And none ever arrived at the White House as the most experienced member of the presidential team. In January 2001, Mr. Cheney's only rival in knowledge of Washington's ways was his closest ally in the Bush cabinet, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.
In the administration's early days, Mr. Cheney was put in charge of developing energy policy, one of Mr. Bush's top priorities. But his real preeminence was established after the Sept. 11 attacks. On that day, it was Mr. Cheney who took charge at the White House and directed the first response.
After the attacks, Mr. Cheney became the leading force in closed-door discussions for a sweeping and aggressive response. In public, he became the strongest administration spokesman for the invasion of Iraq, arguing in a speech in August 2002 that Saddam Hussein would "fairly soon'' have nuclear weapons. He also spoke of the possibility of a connection between Mr. Hussein and Sept. 11th, even after both the C.I.A. and Mr. Bush had discounted such reports.
During Mr. Bush's second term, the president was said to have moved away from Mr. Cheney's point of view on a number of foreign policy questions, siding with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on issues like the resumption of negotiations over North Korea's nuclear policy.
After Mr. Cheney left office, several former officials said that in the final days of the administration, he argued strongly and unsuccessfully with Mr. Bush to pardon his onetime chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby Jr., leaving him at odds with Mr. Bush on a matter of personal loyalty as the two moved on to private life.
Mr. Libby was convicted of four felony counts in March 2007 for obstruction, perjury and lying to investigators looking into the leak of Valerie Wilson’s employment with the Central Intelligence Agency. Mr. Bush commuted Mr. Libby’s sentence, wiping out the 30-month prison term imposed by a judge. He let stand the conviction and lesser penalties, which meant that Mr. Libby, a once-influential lawyer, could no longer practice.
Mr. Cheney's approach to his post-vice presidency has been as unconventional as his time in the job. He has upended the old Washington script for former presidents and vice presidents, using a series of interviews -- the first just two weeks after leaving office -- to kick off one last campaign, not for elective office, but on behalf of his own legacy. In the process, he has become a vocal leader of the opposition to President Obama, rallying conservatives as they search for leadership and heartening Democrats who see him as the ideal political foil.
At a time when his party has no high-profile leaders on Capitol Hill, Mr. Cheney is in effect the ranking Republican speaking out against Mr. Obama. His message has been amplified -- on television, in op-ed pieces and elsewhere -- by an informal band of supporters.
In his interviews, Mr. Cheney has hit back at Mr. Obama's repeated repudiation of the Bush administration. Speaking to Politico in February, he warned of a "high probability" of another terrorist attack. On CNN, he suggested that Mr. Obama was using the economic crisis to justify a big expansion of government. On Fox, he agreed when Sean Hannity asked if Mr. Obama was "telegraphing weakness."
Mr. Cheney had appeared on Mr. Hannity's show to respond to Mr. Obama's release of Justice Department memos outlining guidelines for brutal interrogations of terrorism suspects to demand that the administration declassify other memos that he said would show the intelligence such techniques had produced.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/dick_cheney/index.html?scp=1-spot&sq=cheney&st=cse
Editorial
The World According to Cheney
Published: December 22, 2008
Vice President Dick Cheney has a parting message for Americans: They should quit whining about all the things he and President Bush did to undermine the rule of law, erode the balance of powers between the White House and Congress, abuse prisoners and spy illegally on Americans. After all, he said, Franklin Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln did worse than that.
So Mr. Cheney and Mr. Bush managed to stop short of repeating two of the most outrageous abuses of power in American history — Roosevelt’s decision to force Japanese-Americans into camps and Lincoln’s declaration of martial law to silence his critics? That’s not exactly a lofty standard of behavior.
lofty adj. 1. (塔、山等)非常高的,高聳的,巍峨的 2. 崇高的,高尚的
Then again, it must be exhausting to rewrite history as much as Mr. Cheney has done in a series of exit interviews where he has made those comments. It seems as if everything went just great in the Bush years.
The invasion of Iraq was exactly the right thing to do, not an unnecessary war that required misleading Americans. The postinvasion period was not bungled to the point where Americans got shot up by an insurgency that the Bush team failed to see building.
bungle vt.,vi. 笨手笨腳地做,弄糟;拙劣地工作
The horrors at Abu Ghraib were not the result of the Pentagon’s decision to authorize abusive and illegal interrogation techniques, which Mr. Cheney endorsed. And only three men were subjected to waterboarding. (Future truth commissions take note.)
Abu Ghraib 巴格達格萊布監獄
In Mr. Cheney’s reality, the crippling budget deficit was caused mainly by fighting two wars and by essential programs like “enhancing the security of our shipping container business.”
Well, no. The Bush team’s program to scan cargo for nuclear materials at air, land and sea ports has been mired in delays, cost overruns and questions about effectiveness. As for the deficit, the Congressional Budget Office has said the Bush-Cheney tax cuts for the wealthy were the biggest reason that the budget went into the red.
Some of Mr. Cheney’s comments were self-serving spin (as when The Washington Times helpfully prodded him to reveal that even though the world might have seen Mr. Bush as insensitive to the casualties of war, Mr. Cheney himself made a “secret” mission to comfort the families of the dead.)
self-serving adj. (不顧道德或他人正當利益而)為自己利益服務的,謀私利的
spin n. 9. (美選舉總統運動中,候選人的顧問公開作的)扭轉輿論的工作
prod vt. 刺激,惹起,激發(回憶)
Mr. Cheney was simply dishonest about Mr. Bush’s decision to authorize spying on Americans’ international calls without a warrant. He claimed the White House kept the Democratic and Republican Congressional leadership fully briefed on the program starting in late 2001. He said he personally ran a meeting at which “they were unanimous, Republican and Democrat alike” that the program was essential and did not require further Congressional involvement.
But in a July 17, 2003, letter to Mr. Cheney, Senator John Rockefeller IV, then vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he wanted to “reiterate” the concerns he expressed in “the meeting today.” He said “the activities we discussed raise profound oversight issues” and created “concern regarding the direction the Administration is moving with regard to security, technology and surveillance.”
Mr. Cheney mocked Vice President-elect Joseph Biden for saying that he does not intend to have his own “shadow government” in the White House. Mr. Cheney said it was up to Mr. Biden to decide if he wants “to diminish the office of vice president.”
Based on Mr. Cheney’s record and his standards for measuring these things, we’re certain a little diminishing of that office would be good for the country.
A version of this article appeared in print on December 23, 2008, on page A28 of the New York edition.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/23/opinion/23tue1.html
The articles in English were taken from the New York Times. The copyright remains withits original owners. The New York Times is not involved with, nor endorses the production of this blog.
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