Conspiracy Theories

Do you believe in conspiracy theories? I'm torn on the issue, because I'd like to think we live in a world devoid of them, but with such a corrupt GOP party in power right now, I can't be sure of anything anymore.

I'm gonna share with you two theories of mine, one about John Bolton, the Bush-appointed US Ambassador to the UN, and the other about Vice President Dick Cheney.

I just heard that today Judith Miller, the New York Times reporter jailed because she refused to testify about the Valerie Plame case, will finally testify. Will she reveal her source? We know Karl Rove and Lewis Libby are both involved, but there is a third person from the Bush administration who is still unknown.

Is that person Bolton? At the time of the leak, he was working under then Secretary of State Colin Powell, and was very adamant to go to war with Iraq, to avoid reaching an agreement with Iran, and to hold steady against North Korea. The main weapon against him at his confirmation hearings -and the reason why he wasn't confirmed by the Senate for his Ambassadorship- is that he wouldn't accept intelligence that didn't confirm to his wishes and needs. He would threaten people with being fired if they didn't give him what he wanted. And what did Joe Wilson -Valerie Plame's husband- do? He told the world the intelligence Bolton had worked so hard to fabricate was a lie. How hard is it to imagine that Bolton wanted to get back at Wilson by divulging his wife's CIA identity?

Now, my conspiracy theory regarding him goes like this: Bolton comes up with the plan to out Ms. Plame. He tells Rove (nothing escapes the big black hole in the White House,) who approves, since he's no stranger to smearing campaigns himself, and somehow Libby gets involved. The plan backfires, since apparently it's sort of illegal -who would have thought?- to out a CIA operative, especially an undercover one like Ms. Plame, and an independent investigation is launched. Rove and Libby are unmasked, and soon the trap might snap around Bolton, so what can Bush do to help one of the people who helped him steal the election in 2000? (He was involved with the legal team that eventually would plead Bush's case to the Supreme Court.) He makes him an Ambassador, who enjoys diplomatic immunity and cannot be arrested (Bush's hand was forced here when the Democrats in the Senate threatened a filibuster to block his nomination; but fear not, Bush protects his own, no matter what!)

Brilliant. Rove must have thought of that one. Although, you'd think Rove would try to save himself first, unless the case against him and Libby isn't as strong as it is against Bolton.

What do you think of that?

Now, Cheney. He just went for knee surgery this past weekend (it was supposed to be on one knee, but they ended up operating on both.) It seems like it went well, and he's recovering, but he's had several heart attacks in the past and has at least a bypass and a defibrillator in his chest, so his health is not what I would call "great."

Usually a presidential ticket tries to hold on to the White House as long as it can. The president can run twice, and then he usually passes the baton on to the vice president, who can himself run twice. However, since the day he was selected by Bush, Cheney always held he'd never run for president. He would serve with Bush and be done. And nothing suggests he might change his mind and run in 2008 (also, I don't think he would EVER be able to win, which means that Rove would never allow him to run.)

Now, this means, plainly, that Bush's reign is over in three years (and not one moment too soon!) He doesn't have a 'prince' who someday might be 'king.'

And this is where my conspiracy theory comes in. Given that the Iraq war is terribly unpopular, Bush's poll numbers are in the crapper, the GOP's widespread corruption dominates the news, it's unlikely that Bush might try to attack another country, say Iran. What does he need Cheney for then? If no war can be waged, a hack like Cheney has very little to do, and we saw it when Katrina struck and the vice president stayed on vacation even longer than the president did. Rove might then force Cheney to "resign for health reasons" (who would doubt that, given his medical chart is probably longer than the Odyssey?), so that Bush can appoint a new vice president who WILL run in 3 years. Someone like Rudy Giuliani, vastly liked by Republicans and even some conservative Democrats, who could pose a real challenge to any Democratic challenger. He would even have 3 years of on-the-job training to show as credential. He might be unbeatable.

I wonder if that's what's in the cards. What do you think?

Discuss.