Cheney and Icons

As some of you have seen, Vice President Cheney is getting pushed around today in a wheelchair. Thankfully, it’s no serious medical issue. He hurt his back lugging books while moving out of the old digs. But it’s iconic. There’s no escaping the symbolism of the tired and enfeebled old guard hobbling off the stage. On so many fronts the stage setting, the unpredictable coincidences, perhaps just the fates seem to be conspiring to give us a dose of hyper-reality, not just the truth of the moment but a scaffolding of trappings and symbolic exclamation points to make sure we’re paying attention.