No shit, Sherlock? "Newly empowered Dems in Congress should not expect the W.H. to cooperate"

[Human Torch]

Cheney bypassed acts of Congress as defense secretary in the first Bush administration. And his office has been the driving force behind the current administration's hoarding of secrets, its efforts to impose greater political control over career officials, and its defiance of a law requiring the government to obtain warrants when wiretapping Americans. Cheney's staff has also been behind President Bush's record number of signing statements asserting his right to disregard laws.

A close look at key moments in Cheney's career -- from his political apprenticeship in the Nixon and Ford administrations to his decade in Congress and his tenure as secretary of defense under the first President Bush -- suggests that the newly empowered Democrats in Congress should not expect the White House to cooperate when they demand classified information or attempt to exert oversight in areas such as domestic surveillance or the treatment of terrorism suspects.

Peter Shane, an Ohio State University law professor, predicted that Cheney's long career of consistently pushing against restrictions on presidential power is likely to culminate in a series of uncompromising battles with Congress.

"Cheney has made this a matter of principle," Shane said. "For that reason, you are likely to hear the words 'executive privilege' over and over again during the next two years."

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2006/11/26/hail_to_the_chief/

[Joanne98]

1. Cheney is going to prison someday....

And that is a fucking fact...

[emanymton]

3. Don't Bet On It. - Nixon Never saw A Day In The Slammer.

[fooj]

5. Nixon wasn't half the criminal these treasonous, rat bastatds are.

[emanymton]

8. Yes. But The System Is So Much More Gamed Today.

Cheney is a master at gaming the system. There is absolutely _NOTHING_ he cannot do and the system will protect him.

[fooj]

19. "Gamed"...

That's a good way to look at this mess. You may be right. He IS a master at "gaming" the system. He has lots of practice.

[acmavm]

9. Nixon picked his successor. bush** will not have that luxury

unless he has the friggin' sense to resign (and we ALL know that he won't).

And by picking his successor anyone familiar with the times and the players knows what I mean.

Gerald Ford was unfit for that office. His only qualification was that there was nothing he wouldn't do to go down in history as a pResident of the United States.

[emanymton]

11. In The End, shrub Will Give Cheney A Pardon. Case Closed.

[acmavm]

15. Who's gonna pardon shrub? And I don't think that shrub will

be allowed to pardon Cheney.

Unless some heavy-duty blackmail comes into play.

[emanymton]

20. Presidential Pardons Are Absolute. ... Heck, shrub Probably

can give himself a pardon. And no one could or would overturn it.

[aquart]

12. Never. He'll claim health issues.

Rich white males are allowed time off for being over-indulged sons of bitches.

Or he can have a Ken Lay special and spend the rest of his life in Paraguay. (Yeah, yeah, I know there's no proof of a scam in the Lay death...but until I see that corpse on an autopsy table, I ain't buying it.)

[Joanne98]

14. He's going to prison for this....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNDzLYpN_Q8

It's so big the only way for him to get out of prison is to DIE!

[blondeatlast]

2. Another shining example of your dedicated, hungry press corps at work.

If Watergate happened now, we'd never have heard of it. can't track that gang from the cell phone and laptop.

[EST]

7. If boosh were on trial for impeachment, right as his term ends,

could he still preemptively pardon his fellow crooks?

[EST]

4. THe worm has turned, is turning, so fast it looks a bit like

a republican spin machine.

Cool picture-siamese assholes

[wryter2000]

6. It's going to be interesting

It's clear they're going to defy subpenas. I suspect a lot of things are going to be thrown into the Supreme Court. I think we're going to have a real constitutional crisis on our hands, much bigger than Nixon. Scalia and Thomas will do whatever their puppet masters want. Even if Alito and Roberts go along, that'll still leave the other five. I wouldn't be astonished if one of the Bush nominees does the right thing. These issues are a no-brainer, constitution-wise.

OTOH, we've had a constitutional crisis for a long time but no one has noticed because the dems had no power to say anything about it.

[nolabels]

16. I can handle a few more years

I hope most of that effing SCOTUS sell-outs take sides with the BFEE. It would be a pleasure seeing that majority thrown out on it's ear in the near future also. Let's just say I like that high stakes double dare

[truth2power]

10. Re: that pic.. Did you ever notice...

Whenever you see a photo-op of any of the reptiles in the Bush administration - at least they look, in their demeanor, approximately their true age. Except for junior. He always looks like a 5 year old at the amusement park with mommy and daddy.

Bush is pre-pubescent, emotionally! :(

[LongTomH]

13. And, so what else is news, Bubby? Hmmmmmmmmmm

Same old, same old!:eyes:

[jimshoes]

17. One of these

duo's brought joy and happiness to the world, the other did not. Can you guess which?

[OzarkDem]

18. My tax dollars at work

supporting the likes of overpaid right wing sock puppets like Peter Shane at Ohio State Univerisity. During the Taft and Voinovich administrations, they politicized the state university system and used it to support many of the members of their campaign money laundering operations.

Here's hoping the new Strickland administration removes these right wing piggies from the University trough and sends them to the unemployment line.

[Cobalt-60]

21. Apply the Iron Hammer to Cheney

Just think, if this one gets stressed enough - pop goes the ventricle.
So let's keep him on the ropes 24/7.
Mother nature may clear him away for us.