CBC News: The Fifth Estate - The Unauthorized Biography of Dick Cheney was first aired in October, 2004. (43:14 min)
American Vice-President Dick Cheney has walked the corridors of world power for three decades. Cheney’s remarkable life story involves the relentless accumulation of power in every form. Serving for a second term, he continues to be one of the most powerful and well-connected men in the world.
The fifth estate will show how he accomplished this, what it involved in terms of costs for others and what history’s judgement could be.
Read more at www.CBC.ca/fifth
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on Jun 27th, 2008 at 10:29 am
wow, hard to believe its bee nearly 4 years since that first aired. The thing that continues to baffle me is with all the former government officials and bureaucrats etc that have spoken out in these documentaries, virtually nothing has changed and its been business as usual for the Bush admin.
One area I wish they could have shed more light on was how Cheney made the jump from college drop out to becoming part of the US government. They also didnt say too much about his family history. Clearly family history was a big part for GWB.
The 5th Estate is one of the top documentary programs in this country featuring 4 outstanding journalists.
A bit of trivia: I wonder if you know the reference “5th Estate’? It traces its roots back to the French Revolution. Originally there were 3 estates of the realm: clergy, nobility and commoners.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estates_of_the_realm
The fourth estate I belive was the journalistic press whose job it was to watch over the balance of power of the other 3 estates. And so in modern times with the realization of electronic media, this could be concieved as the Fifth Estate.
on Jun 27th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Thanks for the info, Sean. I actually did wonder about the Fifth Estate but not enough to look it up right away.
You’re right about how nothing changes even though everyone knows the score. It’s kind of funny in a funny twisted way.
on Jul 28th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
The fact that Chicanery, I mean Cheney, prefers to work in the shadows is telling in itself. I’m not sure the film brought home what a truly frightening character he is, but then my preexisting loathing for the man may have led me to expect more juicy details than were delivered. Given the man’s secretiveness, the film can hardly be faulted for not trying. With Bush as his front man, Cheney has probably done more harm to the commonwealth and subverted the idea of government by, for and of the people more than any single individual in our history. By constantly manufacturing crises, or exacerbating those that naturally arise from competing, narrow self-interests, he has been able to operate freely, committing the most egregious acts for which he may never be held accountable. Though I place little store in patriotic symbols, I find his flag lapel pin an affront.
The annals of crime are filled with heinous acts committed by two individuals together who would never have committed them alone. There’s something about the alchemy of the 2 personalities that produces a single malevolent intent. Any suggestion that Bush and Cheney might be 2 such individuals is entirely intentional.