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In yesterday's Washington Post, columnist Sally Quinn clues us in on a plan being circulated among the few remaining sensible individuals in the Republican Party to give Dick Cheney a way out in the face on the onslaught on revelations about his myriad impeachable offenses. The plan would let Cheney step aside as he undergoes pacemaker replacement surgery later this summer and then would have Dubya appoint Fred Thompson to serve out the remainder of the term.
Not only would this let Cheney escape, it would give Thompson a serious leg up on the rest of the Republican presidential field. As Quinn notes, none of the current front-runners would want the job, nor would Bush want to give it to them (for a variety of reasons). But Thompson would be seen as a moderating influence in the waning days of the Worst Administration Ever, and it would be a great big "fuck you" to the likes of John McCain (and, as we all know, Dubya is all about petty revenge like that).
I'm a bit conflicted about this particular idea. Cheney really, seriously, has to go. He's done enormous damage to the government, to the Constitution, and to American prestige abroad. My personal opinion is that he richly deserves impeachment and a public humiliation of the worst sort, then imprisonment for the remainder of his mortal days. But it's obvious that the Democratic leadership in Congress has absolutely no interest in doing anything of the kind. So the question is whether letting him slink away just for the sake of getting rid of him is in any way acceptable.
Where my alarm goes off, though, is that the B-side of the plan, putting Fred Thompson in his place, is exactly what the Republicans need to wind up with a viable nominee next year. And what America needs least is a new Republican president completely beholden to all of the political interests which have been steering the Bush Administration for the last 7 years. Thompson on his own might not be completely awful, but if he owes his job to these people, there's no question about what to expect -- more of the same.
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