Here and There

In reading an editorial in NYT this morning, I came across this gem of a quote from your vice president:

“But I do believe that especially in the day and age we live in, the nature of the threats of we face and this is true during the Cold War as well as I think is true now the president of the United States needs to have his constitutional powers unimpaired, if you will, in terms of the conduct of national security policy.” (full quote courtesy of Military.com)

So apparently Johnson, Nixon, and Reagan didn’t have enough power. Same goes for W.

Sorry, but last time I checked, these men (and I’d lump Clinton and Bush Sr. in there, too) had plenty of war power, even without formal declarations from Congress.

So what would Cheney like to see? Maybe something like what’s transpired over the last five years? Wars waged whenever and wherever the hell the executive branch feels like it; dishonest public relations campaigns; the torture of enemy prisoners; skirting the Constitution by establishing military tribunals; more torture; extraordinary rendition; a CIA program of secret gulag-esque prisons in former Soviet states; breaking the law by outing an undercover covert officer in an attempt to smear a critic of your policy; spying on your citizens; a little more torture; infiltrating and spying on “protest groups.”

I could go on and on, but I’d rather eat breakfast.

My question to Dick is: really, what more do you want? You’ve basically got the dictatorship you always dreamed of. Who cares if the Democrats regain the legislative branch next November and introduce articles of impeachment? After all, people in England (and other nations) consider your “boss” a bigger threat to world peace than any jihadist group out there. And the fact that other nations are disgusted with your flex of the American muscle (evident within a five-mile radius of anywhere you, W, Condi, or Rummy land on foreign soil) should be enough to show you that you’re well on your way to world domination.

Really, Mr. Cheney, relax by the fire. Have a cigar. Merry Christmas.

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