CHENEY, THE FLIM-FLAM MAN

So now our glorious vice president wants to have things both ways. He wants to still enjoy executive privilege, but he doesn’t want to be bound by the secrecy rules of the executive branch so he has ruled that he is really part of the legislative branch because he has to vote with them in the event of a tie.

First off, if the vice president isn’t part of the executive branch why does he run on the same ticket as the president? You can’t vote for one without the other.

I wonder if Cheney has really thought this out. If he is not part of the executive branch then he should no longer be entitled to executive privilege and investigators can look anywhere they want. His meeting with all the heads of energy will no longer be protected. His visitor logs will now be available to the investigators.

In addition his office should no longer be funded by the executive branch and he should no longer be offered the protection of the Secret Service. Senators don’t get such protection.

And how about Air Force Two? He shouldn’t be able to use that because it belongs to the executive branch. Also no more driver to pick him up and take him to the White House either.

But suppose everyone is flim-flammed and accepts that he is part of the legislative branch? Then he cannot withhold information from legislators under the separation of powers doctrine. And if, as he says, he is fundamentally a member of the Senate, they can now bring him up on Senatorial ethics charges. He can be subpoenaed, and if he refuses to appear, he can be arrested. I’ll bet he didn’t think about that.

There will probably be no uproar about this. Believe it or not, most folks not only don't know what's going on, deep down they don't really care. The scandals have become so frequent in the Bush administration that people have become jaded to anything that seems to smell coming from Washington D.C.

I think this factor is what Cheney is counting on. This complacency of the American people. The vast majority is focused on supporting their families and having a little fun out of life. So go ahead people, sit back, remember how it used to be, and then remember how you did nothing.

Insanity is a curious thing to watch, especially when it seems to be running rampant in our government. What’s more interesting though is that Cheney believes, and expects us to believe that this new ruling of his means he is exempt from the following the rules of either branch, when actually he should be subject to both.

Just because I am a citizen of California doesn’t mean that I don’t have to obey the laws of the nation.

In your gut, you know he's nuts!

The California Curmudgeon