Bush, Cheney legacy

G W Bush is now officially out of office. Heard an interesting take on the Bush years - I think this was on NPR. Essentially, the claim was that Cheney was pushing policy during the first 1/2 of the 8 years Bush was in office. [Cheney, btw, in my opinion, was nuts. In a position such as VP of the US, this is a dangerous thing.] Bush deferred to Cheney time and time again during those years.

Bush finally started distancing himself from Cheney when Cheney was pushing for some highly suspect program that was, in the mind of a dozen or so top Justice dept officials, clearly illegal. The program almost went through, but when these officials threatened a mass resignation in protest, then finally at this 11th hour Bush saw the light and pulled the plug on the program (actually - he insisted that its authors go back to reformulate it in a more legal manner - whether they succeeded is an entirely different matter)

I will attempt to find some info on this ... OK, found it. Written by Barton Gellman in the Washington Post, Sept 14, 2008:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/14/AR2008091401974_pf.html

Near the end of the article appears this quote:

"In the aftermath, the White House senior staff asked questions. Was the president getting timely information and advice? Had he relinquished too much control to Cheney?

"Bush, aides said, learned something he would not forget. Cheney was the nearest thing to an anti-politician in elected office. Bush could not afford to be like that. In his second term, his second chance, the president would take greater care to consult his own instincts."