Cheney's memoir: heads really did explode
He promised exploding heads, and explode they did.
Dick Cheney鈥檚 anticipated book, 鈥淚n My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir,鈥� hit bookstores today and 鈥� no surprise 鈥� like the man himself, it鈥檚 already creating a stir.
The 46th vice president spends the bulk of the book, co-written with his daughter, Liz Cheney, defending his controversial policies and practices, promising more than once that he has no regrets and would repeat his actions 鈥渋n a heartbeat.鈥�
Among those actions are his support of waterboarding, which he calls 鈥渢ough negotiations,鈥� and his support for the Iraq war and for military actions in Syria.
He also makes no qualms about breaking ranks with former administration members Condoleeza Rice, George Tenet, and Colin Powell, whom he said undermined the president when he expressed doubts about the Iraq war.
Today, Powell struck back. Former that many disclosures in Cheney鈥檚 book seemed to be "cheap shots that he's taking at me and other members of the administration who served to the best of our ability for President Bush."
Powell disputed Cheney鈥檚 claim that the vice president had pushed Powell out in 2004, saying that鈥檚 when he had intended to leave, and described the administration as dysfunctional at the time of his departure.
鈥淚t was clear by 2004 that the team was not functioning as a team,鈥� Powell said. 鈥淎nd we had different views, and not just views, not views that could be reconciled. And so I said to the president that I would be leaving at the end of the year, after the election, and he ought to take a look at his whole team to try to resolve all these issues.鈥�
Powell also said Cheney went too far to sell more copies of his book, using the tactics of a supermarket tabloid to promote it.
"I think Dick overshot the runway," , adding that he would have expected Cheney鈥檚 comment that the memoir would "makes heads explode" from a gossip columnist, not a former US vice president.
The twisted tale Cheney weaves in his memoir is a bald attempt to rewrite history, .
鈥淚f this book were read by an intelligent person who spent the past 10 years on, say, Mars, she would have no idea that Dick Cheney was the vice president in one of the most hapless American administrations of modern times," says Kaiser. "There are hints, to be sure, that things did not always go swimmingly under President George W. Bush and Cheney, but these are surrounded by triumphalist accounts of events that many readers 鈥� and future historians 鈥� are unlikely to consider triumphs.鈥�
But then again, what memoir isn鈥檛 self-serving?
鈥淭his is not surprising,鈥� . 鈥淭he genre of statesman鈥檚 memoir rarely produces self-criticism, or even much candor. Apparently, the point is to redeem your large advance from the publisher with a brisk, self-complimenting account of your life and times, with emphasis on your moment in the limelight.鈥�
was similarly unimpressed.
Cheney鈥檚 memoir, , is 鈥渟o unapologetic as to be a caricature.鈥� Although former President George Bush鈥檚 memoir made no apologies either, it wasn鈥檛 angry. Cheney鈥檚, by contrast, has done nothing to remove his 鈥�Darth Vader鈥� nickname.
鈥淭here is characteristically nothing kind or charming or insightful to be found in Cheney's tome,鈥� she writes. 鈥淓ven the cover is daunting 鈥� a grimacing Cheney inside the White House, looking like he's deliberately trying to scare away the tourists.鈥�
Throughout, Cheney has pushed back against critics, defending his stance on waterboarding, the Iraq war, and his harsh comments about his colleagues.
About waterboarding, he says, "The fact is that it worked. We learned valuable, valuable information from that process and we kept the country safe for over seven years."
About the Iraq war, he told NBC鈥檚 鈥�Today Show鈥�: "I don't think that it [the Iraq war] damaged our reputation around the world.鈥�
And on Powell, Cheney had this to say: "I wrote the events as I participated in them," he said, adding that he held Powell in high regard "but a balanced account, I think, also required me to put down what my opinion was, and I think that's what I've done."
Even if his memoir were 576 blank pages, or oodles of doodles, we wouldn鈥檛 be surprised by the blowback. After all, it鈥檚 penned by the man who left office with . The man who is among the most reviled politicians in US history. The man who former president Ronald Reagan鈥檚 son, .
Yes. Heads were exploding long before your memoir was even a stroke on the page, Mr. Cheney.
Husna Haq is a Monitor correspondent.
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