No such thing as Coincidence

Manifesto

Last week was notable to me for the number of stories that, on their surface appear to be about two different things. The first thing I noticed was, after the Libby verdict, the number of stories about the decline in influence of Vice President Cheney. For example, see cover of Time:

Cheney has become the Administration's enemy within, the man whose single-minded pursuit of ideological goals, creaking political instincts and love of secrecy produced an independent operation inside the White House that has done more harm than good.

So the conventional wisdom is that Cheney is the bad guy in the administration. Now I'm not going to point out all the articles in 2000 that said that Cheney was such an asset because he would guide the President with his experience. But I do find it interesting that this story makes the cover of Time right around the same time that this headline appears in the Washington Post, Rove Doing His Part to Help Shape a Positive Legacy for Bush.

Does anybody doubt that throwing the Vice President under the bus isn't a key part of "shaping Bush's legacy"? I guess it is fitting given that the most lasting "legacy" of the Bush administration will be its never ending attempts to pin responsibility and blame for any and all failures on others.