http://www.democrats.com/view2.cfm?id=603

24-Nov-00

Who speaks for the Bush administration? It appears that the Bush administration is secretly being run by Lynn and Elizabeth Cheney. Isn't it time reporters confronted the Cheney women to demand the truth?

Anatomy of a Lie: Blame Lynn and Elizabeth Cheney
by Bob Fertik

On Wednesday morning, George W. Bush went on TV to declare to the American people that Dick Cheney "had no heart attack." This was a flat-out Lie, because Cheney's doctors already knew that Cheney had suffered his fourth heart attack. Yet even as Cheney was undergoing surgery to open a blocked artery, most Americans believed that Cheney was only suffering from chest pains.

Who is responsible for this Lie?

Bush aides insist that Bush was "out of the loop" on Cheney's medical condition. They say Bush's advisors did not realize that Cheney's elevated enzyme levels meant that Cheney had indeed had a heart attack. They blamed George Washington University hospital officials for concealing the significance of the elevated enzyme levels.

But GWU officials would not accept the blame. They pointed the finger at "the Cheney family", specifically Lynn Cheney and their 34-year-old daughter Elizabeth. They said they were trying to protect Cheney's "privacy."

As reporters dug deeper, it turns out that doctors have been protecting Cheney's "privacy" – or lying to the public - all year. Over the summer, two of Cheney's doctors wrote vague and misleading reports on Cheney's health. Cheney "repeatedly declined requests to interview him and his doctors about his health, even though the doctors said they wanted to talk," according to the New York Times. Even the Times has accused Cheney's doctors of lying and spreading "misinformation."

In the wake of Cheney's surgery, Cheney's cardiologist admitted for the first time that Cheney's "ejection fraction was low and unchanged at 40%, showing that his heart had been 'moderately impaired' for a number of years."

How significant is a 40% impairment? Stay tuned.

Still, this Lie raises a fundamental question: who speaks for the Bush administration?

Apparently not George W. Bush, who relies on second-hand information from his aides.

Apparently not Bush's aides, who rely on second-hand information from Cheney's family.

Apparently not Dick Cheney, who went on Larry King Live to say "I feel good... I should be out of here in a day or two."

It appears that the Bush administration is secretly being run by Lynn and Elizabeth Cheney.

Isn't it time reporters confronted the Cheney women to demand the truth?

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