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Cheney’s Not Talking

Published by marco on

The New York Times published Cheney Is Set to Battle Congress…, which covers statements he made in a series of interviews over the weekend. Apparently, he feels that, as a public servant, with the public paying his salary, when he has meetings with other public officers (Secretary of Energy, for instance) about public energy policy, Congress has no right to know about it. In fact:

<q>We’ve seen it in cases like this before, where it’s demanded that presidents cough up and compromise on important principles,“ Mr. Cheney said. As a result, he said, “we are weaker today as an institution because of the unwise compromises that have been made over the last 30 to 35 years.</q>

The 30 or 35 years would seem to land just around the Watergate affair. Is he suggesting that the demands of information from Nixon were unreasonable and did not serve the country well? Is that the kind of stuff he thinks “constitutional officers” have the right to keep private?

Plastic has a discussion (Fighting the Good Fight) on the topic, in which Argus Defthammer points out:

<q>After eight years of the conservatives practically wanting everyone around Clinton…and maybe Clinton too, to wear a wire, all of a sudden Presidential conversations should be kept secret? Sorry, boyo. The right-wing gleefully eroded presidential power over a blow job and a failed business venture. Now that something substantial like Enron comes along Bush et al may find their chickens coming home to roost.</q>

Of course, those that are a little more familiar with the machinations of the current administration probably aren’t too surprised to hear Cheney arguing stridently for less information to be presented to the public. Chickenhawk Down at the now defunct Suck has some stories about Cheney and his good friend, Colin Powell (as well as some well-placed shots at the disengenuity of Gore and Lieberman during the 2000 campaign).