July 21, 2009 / by emptywheel

 

“Protecting” President Cheney

The NYDN confirms that President Obama has agreed to Cheney’s request that his secret service protection be extended for another six months.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney’s Secret Service protection has been extended for at least another six months, beginning Tuesday.

Breaking! Dick Cheney remains an imperious paranoid fuck!!

Actually, the more interesting news comes (unsurprisingly) at the end of the story.

I’m particularly interested in the narrative construction here. This story was written by James Gordon Meeks, NYDN’s intelligence reporter, and Thomas DeFrank, an associate of Cheney’s dating back to the Ford Administration. And here’s what the two of them report.

Cheney’s friends have said he has become more concerned about his privacy and personal safety in recent years.

Like all "protectees," Cheney can petition the government for additional extensions of Secret Service protection, and several sources close to Cheney predicted he will do so once this new extension lapses.

Normally, the "threat level" diminishes dramatically after Presidents and vice presidents step down. In the post-9/11 world, that may no longer be the case.

Since 1997, former Presidents have been limited to 10 years of government protection. Bill Clinton – and wife Hillary – is the last ex-President entitled to a lifetime taxpayer-funded security cocoon.

Cheney’s friends say their paranoid friend as been more concerned "about his privacy and personal safety in recent years." If the timing here is accurate, the change has less to do with 9/11 (which is not all that recent anymore) and more to do with being an incredibly unpopular thug who shat on our Constitution. Given that the Secret Service agents protecting Cheney have arrested private citizens for what appears to be free speech (and have gone on to tell inconsistent stories about that arrest), I’d suggest Cheney really likes being protected–on the taxpayer dime–from hearing from taxpayers.

And, on the first day of his six month extension of taxpayer funded protection, Cheney’s friends say he plans to ask for further extensions (plural) once this six month extension lapses. Given how old Cheney is and how fragile his ticker, he’s basically asking for lifetime protection. 

Now look at those last two lines. Whose voice is suggesting that it "may no longer be the case" that the "threat level" goes down once a President or (!) Vice President leaves office? Because it makes no sense! Al Qaeda loves Dick Cheney–he took their bait hook, line, and sinker! It’s his former subjects who despise him.

Finally, note the unspoken assumptions of that last line. Former Presidents used to get lifetime protection. Cheney’s friends are, for all intents and purposes, announcing Cheney’s intent to ask for Secret Service protection indefinitely.  And with it, Cheney is once again demanding he–the unelected President–enjoy the power Presidents used to have.

Copyright © 2009 emptywheel. All rights reserved.
Originally Posted @ https://www.emptywheel.net/2009/07/21/protecting-president-cheney/