If George Bush dropped dead tomorrow, or was otherwised removed from power in very short order, what would two years of a Cheney Presidency look like?
It’s this question which makes a Democratic pledge not to impeach Bush seem less craven. At best I see about 3 more years of the same stay-the-course-flexibly bullshit Iraq policy, which includes a year under a Democratic president after the 2008 elections, because even now most of the Dems can’t yet face the reality that the war is lost.
Cheney isn’t president now?
Pretty much the same policy-wise, but with none of the folksy, gee-whiz charm.
Talk about scaring the crap out of me. Don’t do that.
For real. That’s exactly what I opened this thread to post.
I always assumed Cheney was chosen simply because he was the perfect foil for any assassination plot on Bush.
Damned hard to find someone worse than Bush, but got to give those Republicans credit where they deserve it, and they picked a VP who would scare the bejesus out of Satan.
Just dawned on me - the best thing the Democrats could do would be to have Hillary run as VP! As much as the Republicans loathe her, they would bend over backwards and forwards to keep the Democratic President alive and kicking…hell, they might even take some money from Halliburton and fix Walter Reed, just in case.
Moving thread from IMHO to The BBQ Pit.
It would look a lot like the last year and a half of the Nixon Administration. Cheney’s been in an incredibly strong position - one of great power with virtually no accountability. He’s got GWB to be his frontman and draw fire away from him - sure, we know he’s evil, but on a day-to-day basis, he’s not in the news like his putative boss is. Being President would force him out of hiding.
Given what we know of his health problems, unless he put a new VP in place pronto, I suspect we’d see Hillary imploding at the thought of saying “Congratulations, President Pelosi.”
At this point, I’m afraid that anything short of Independence Day spaceships targeting the Capitol during a State of the Union speech would leave us with something awful. Who’s the Secretary of the Interior?
Charm? Bush has charm? Are you sure you didn’t mean to type “chimp”?
is still breathing into a paper bag
[INTERIOR: DOCKING BAY - DEATH STAR]
[Thousands of Imperial troops in tight formation fill the mammoth
docking bay. Vader and the officer walk to the landing platform,
where the shuttle is coming to rest.
The shuttle’s ramp lowers and the Emperor’s Royal Guards come out
and create a lethal perimeter. The assembled troops move to rigid
attention with a momentous SNAP.
Then, in the huge SILENCE which follows, the EMPEROR appears. He
is a rather small, shriveled old man. His bent frame slowly makes
its way down the ramp with the aid of a gnarled cane. He wears a
hooded cloak similar to the one Ben wears, except that it is
black. The Emperor’s face is shrouded and difficult to see,
except for his piercing yellow eyes. Commander Jerjerrod and
Darth Vader kneel to him. The Supreme Ruler of the galaxy beckons
to the Dark Lord.]
Cheney is this president’s Dan Quayle. The ultimate life insurance policy.
“Kill me? Sure, go ahead, but look what I got in the wings waiting…”
Well, I certainly don’t like the man, but he seems a lot friendlier than Mr. “Go Fuck Yourself”.
a rabid wolf would also be friendlier.
Gale Nortam? 
Anyway she’d only serve until the handful of Reps left alive picked a new Speaker.
Bush would have done very well as a used car salesman on a second or third rate lot; his “charm” (smirk) is just a prelude to a lie.
That’s because Cheney was in charge of picking a VP candidate for Bush. From your perspective, that’s sort of a good thing: if Cheney had picked someone else, it implies that Cheney thinks someone else is scarier than he is.
Like all vampires, Cheney recoils at being exposed. Making him President would cause him to burst into flames. I’m not seeing the downside here at all.