A Powell Counterattack on Cheney

Last Sunday's sneer that he preferred Rush Limbaugh to Powell ("I didn't know he was still a Republican") has inspired a response to Dick Cheney from Lawrence Wilkerson, chief of staff for Colin Powell, when he was Secretary of State.

In a blog post to The Washington Note, Wilkerson reveals that, starting in 2002, the torture Cheney is now defending "was not aimed at preempting another terrorist attack on the U.S. but discovering a smoking gun linking Iraq and al Qaeda."

In a full-bore counterattack, Powell's former aide describes Cheney's role in the demise of the party:

"He and Rush Limbaugh seem to be its leaders now. Lindsay Graham, John McCain, John Boehner, and all other Republicans of note seem to be either so enamored of Cheney-Limbaugh (or fearful of them?) or, on the other hand, so appalled by them, that the cat has their tongues. And meanwhile fewer Americans identify as Republicans than at any time since WWII. We're at 21% and falling--right in line with the number of cranks, reprobates, and loonies in the country.

"When will we hear from those in my party who give a damn about their country and about the party of Lincoln?

"When will someone of stature tell Dick Cheney that enough is enough? Go home. Spend your 70 million. Luxuriate in your Eastern Shore mansion. Shoot quail with your friends--and your friends.

"Stay out of our way as we try to repair the extensive damage you've done--to the country and to its Republican Party."

Colin Powell has too much dignity to swat Dick Cheney this way, but it's gratifying that someone has done it for him, his party and the rest of the country.