Letter: Cheney banished because he has outshown Bush

Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2002 | 8:59 a.m.

This letter is in reference to Thomas Friedman's Jan. 13 column, "Come home, Mr. Cheney":

Let's put some common-sense into perspective and ask ourselves: Why is Mr. Cheney out of sight and in hiding?

Why is it more important that our vice president be kept out of communication with the world, when our No. 1 man, the president of the United States, remains as "free as a bird" to roam at will, hold press conferences, go abroad, even make speeches in our high schools?

The vice president's role is to take over the presidency -- when, and if, something happens to our president, and he is unable to continue in office.

Why, if the world has become so dangerous that our vice president has to go into hiding, wouldn't it be more prudent to limit George W. Bush's actions -- after all, he is our commander in chief and more apt to be in peril than our VP.

Could it be that the Bush administration put a "clout" on Mr. Cheney after he was interviewed by Larry King. Could Mr. Cheney have taken some of George W.'s glory when he told the nation that on Sept. 11 -- after the attack on the World Trade Center buildings and the Pentagon -- he was in the confines of the White House basement and took over the "command of the presidency," giving the necessary orders as need be while George W. was "winging it" across the country.

It is the opinion of this writer that Mr. Cheney is not in hiding, Mr. Cheney has been put in "isolation" by the GOP because he overshadowed their man, George W.

GLORIA GRADY