There’s really no way you can make a list of worst Bush moments without including a few of Dick Cheney’s greatest moments. After all, Cheney is, in many ways, a more important figure than Bush in the grand scheme of things. He set the tone for a Bush Administration that was bellicose, secretive, given to shoot first and ask questions later.
And that’s why Cheney shooting a guy in the face has to be on this list. Because it’s such a perfect distillation of everything wrong with Dick Cheney and the Bush Administration.
Do we have a reckless disregard for human life? Check. Buck-passing galore? Check. An attempt to hide the truth? Check. The only thing we didn’t have was a self-serving explanation of why we’d do this even knowing everything we know, but Rob Corddry helpfully provided that:
(My favorite line in that sketch is “In a post-9/11 world…”, which had decidedly jumped the shark by that point.)
Of course, this has been Dick Cheney’s — and the Bush Administration’s — modus operandi since day one. React, don’t think. When things go bad, blame someone else. When confronted on it, pretend that it was very important all along. Whether we’re talking about the U.S. Attorney scandal, Harry Whittington getting shot in the face, or torturing prisoners, this is what the Bush Administration does.
Sorry, I disagree. Cheney proving that it was legal to shoot lawyers (at least in Texas) was one of the high points of the Bush Administration and should lead to an improvment of the legal profession.