Evil personified

Steve Clemons tells us that Cheney is trying an end run around Condi Rice to force Bush to go to war, instead of negotiate, with Iran:

This White House official has stated to several Washington insiders that Cheney is planning to deploy an "end run strategy" around the President if he and his team lose the policy argument.

The thinking on Cheney's team is to collude with Israel, nudging Israel at some key moment in the ongoing standoff between Iran's nuclear activities and international frustration over this to mount a small-scale conventional strike against Natanz using cruise missiles (i.e., not ballistic missiles).

This strategy would sidestep controversies over bomber aircraft and overflight rights over other Middle East nations and could be expected to trigger a sufficient Iranian counter-strike against US forces in the Gulf -- which just became significantly larger -- as to compel Bush to forgo the diplomatic track that the administration realists are advocating and engage in another war.

Usually, I don't like black-white, good-evil observations. The world is too nuanced with shades of grey to go that root most of the time, but I have to say there is something truly diabolical about Cheney -- something deep seated and really, really evil. And, you can see it in the attached photo. The man just seeths with hatred for almost everyone and everything.