Cheney Still In Charge

As anyone who reads these virtual pages knows I think "it's all about Cheney". Now Dick Cheney is as insane - as evil as any villain Ian Flemming was able to create for James Bond to combat. Unfortunately there are not a lot of 007 agents available these days. Now with his best buddies, Rumsfeld and Bolton gone and the Democrats in charge of both Houses of congress you might think that Cheney's wings had been clipped. Not so says Laura Rozen over at the Washington Monthly.
Cheney’s Dead-Enders

With the departure of his longtime friend Donald Rumsfeld, John Bolton’s resignation as U.N. ambassador, and Democrats taking over Congress, times seem grim for the Dick Cheney wing of the Bush administration. The vice president’s vision of a “unitary executive”—otherwise known as the imperial presidency—will almost certainly be challenged by congressional oversight committees, and perhaps by the courts. But Cheney—former aide to Rumsfeld in the Nixon administration, chief of staff in the Ford administration, defense secretary in the first Bush administration, and House intelligence committee chairman during the Iran-Contra scandal (in which he backed the Reagan White House)—is no novice in the art of bureaucratic warfare. He has long surrounded himself with impeccably loyal aides who both share his worldview of a powerful presidency unchecked by the legislative branch, and who have also installed like-minded allies throughout the government. Such allies provide crucial intelligence of inter-departmental debates, enabling Cheney to make end-runs around the bureaucracy and head off opposing views at key meetings. Call it Cheney’s state within the state. Herewith a brief guide to the Cheney network, dwindling and beleaguered, but by no means to be underestimated:

She then goes on to give us a who's who in Cheney's imperial presidency.