alternative hippopotamus

progressive cyberdadaism from our nation’s capital

June 24, 2007

The Educational Use of Power

by AltHippo @ 10:43 pm. Filed under Wilson/Plame

There’s a quote from today’s Washington Post piece on Cheney that has gone thus far un-dissected in the blogosphere. It’s hardly a trivial point, even though it’s located well into the article. I would argue that this speaks volumes about Cheney’s approach to government:

In the years that followed, crossing Cheney would cost some of the same officials their jobs. David Gribben, a friend from graduate school who became the vice president’s chief of legislative affairs, said Cheney believes in the “educational use of power.” Firing a disloyal or poorly performing official, he said, sometimes “sends a signal crisply.” Cheney believes he is “using his authority to serve the American people, and he’s obviously not afraid to be a rough opponent,” Gribben said.

I read this and thought immediately of Ron Suskind’s “One Percent Doctrine.” Suskind describes Cheney’s philosophy towards Iraq as setting an example in a way that closely resembles the “Educational use of power.” (page 123)

“The primary impetus for invading Iraq, according to those attending NSC briefings on the Gulf in this period, was to make an example of Hussein, to create a demonstration model to guide the behavior of anyone with the temerity to acquire destructive weapons or, in any way, flout the authority of the United States.

“In Oval Office meetings, the President would often call Iraq a “game changer.” More specifically, the theory was the United States- with a forceful action against Hussein- would change the rules of geopolitical analysis and action for countless other countries.”

Continuing on this theme, I’d argue that the “educational use of power” was one of the motives behind the whole Plame affair. It wasn’t just that Wilson needed to be discredited. After all, Libby could just as easily have written an op-ed in the NYT that rebutted Wilson’s original op-ed. Wilson needed to be destroyed, and this would set a chilling example for future critics.

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