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TechnoratiWhen The Prince of Darkness Visits
"I want to know when the Prince of Darkness comes to visit Mr. Cheney," the wife of a colleague said in response to the Vice President's most recent power grab.
The most secretive VP in US history has arbitrarily decided that the Secret Service logs of visitors to his official residence at the Naval Observatory are none of the people's business. In September 2006, Cheney's Counsel, Shannen Coffin, wrote the Secret Service that all logs should be handed over to the Office of the Vice President and that the agency "shall not retain any copy of these documents and information…. If any documents remain in your possession, please return them to OVP as soon as possible."
The letter was written as the Washington Post requested the logs under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) — a watchdog group targeting officials who "sacrifice the common good to special interests" — had sued the Secret Service for access to the records under the FOIA as well. CREW is seeking to identify conservative religious leaders who visited both the White House and Vice President's residence and the Coffin letter was filed by the Justice department in an effort to get the group's lawsuit dismissed.
"The latest filings make clear that the administration has been destroying documents and entering into secret agreements in violation of the law," said Anne Weisman, CREW's chief counsel.
Against Cheney's wishes, the Secret Service has retained copies of the records (though it maintains that these records — despite being "created as part of the Secret Service's performance of its statutorily-mandated function of protecting the President and Vice President" — are not subject to disclosure under the FOIA.) The Bush administration maintains that all of these records are protected under the Presidential Records Act of 1978, and it "quietly" signed an agreement to that effect with the Secret Service a year ago as the media sought to investigate Jack Abramoff's White House access.
"The scary thing about this move by the vice president's office is the power grab part of it," Tom Blanton, head of the National Security Archive, told the Associated Press. "We're looking at a huge problem if the White House can reach into any agency and say certain records have something to do with the White House and they are presidential from now on. This White House has been infinitely creative in finding new ways and new forms of government secrecy."
And no one has been more aggressive on this battle against transparency than the Man Who Should Be Impeached (first). From secret meetings with energy executives to craft an energy policy that does nothing to alleviate oil dependence and everything to increase their own profits; to setting up a rogue agency (Office of War Policy) that cherry-picked intelligence and lied our nation into this catastrophic war; to his close involvement with a parallel Justice Department (Office of Legal Policy — with David Addington and cronies) that sought to justify torture, use Presidential signing statements to ignore laws, and expand Executive powers at the expense of our system of checks and balances under the unitary executive theory. And now the Vice President is using and abusing his power to make secret what is the rightful knowledge of US taxpaying citizens.
What's next?
Katrina Vanden Heuvel is editor of The Nation.
© 2007 The Nation
54 Comments so far
Show AllNo one has mentioned one word about the narcissistic and psychopathic personality disorder of every one of these people. Therein lies the problem.
Repeat after me people "it's over". It's time to kick this thing we mistakenly call democracy over the edge and start over.
I have long been of the opinion that Cheney is one evil s.o.b. Nothing I have read or heard has disconfirmed this opinion in the slightest.
If you REALLY wanna punish Cheney just take his money. With types like him the next logical step is a pistola in the pie hole. Effective, profitable and no blood on OUR hands.
Saw it right here in West Michigan. A powerful IT company collapsed, being the shell game that it was, and the CEO took the cowards way out. I'm betting Cheney is the same type of gutless chump.
It will take more than two decades to right the wrong that this administration, AND military leadership under this administration have done. When we have puny, third-world countries giving us the finger, it sure tells me and the rest of AMERICA what a great leader, in so far as leading the world to peace and harmony, that this Bush character and his two=legged friends have accomplished.
navyvet
it will never stop...apathy reigns supreme over the bombs that you americans create....all the new nukes that you have on line----lovely world isn!t it
As I read about, and listen to, information about the NWO, our government, and all of these related issues (9/11, etc.), I am almost glad that I've a lot that will probably not make me endure too much of this impending future.
It's terrifying.
It's the greatest irony of all, for me, that committees have been held in the past without incessant childish displays of vetreol toward the "opposite political party," not to the DEPTHS of how it goes, THESE days, no, not DECADES ago, to judge such things as Watergate (I was old enough to catch the tenor of the speech and the relative professionalism with which almost everyone conducted themselves at most times, being about 16 years old at that time), and that they DID INDEED do so with SOME degree of tact, decorum, and professionalism.
Nowadays, they sound like a bunch of two year olds, our politicians, fighting with each other in the MANNER which they do it.
Mind you, I know FULL WELL that they FOUGHT BACK THEN, too.
I think we're adrift because of the GENERATION IN QUESTION that is AT THE HELM, and we are, rather sadly, DOOMED.
DICK is aptly named.
Personal responsibility and accountability is for everyone else. Not the ones who make the rules. Who really bought into that lie any way.
Katrina, my dear, you can tell your colleague's wife, even the devil will not associate with Dick Cheney.
We ALL have our standards.
bluebird
I'm proud to say that I didn't vote for these war criminals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cheney is the anti-Jefferson of Democracy, far worse than the anti-Christ of religion; more treasonous than Aaron Burr or Jefferson Davis. No one so high up in government has ever told more lies or been more consistently wrong than Dick Cheney. His evil knows no bonds. Remember that on 9/11, with the country under attack, Cheney was immediately spirited away to a bunker while Chimpy was left unattended in a public classroom - so who's really in charge here? If Chimpy is assassinated by "Arab terrorists who hate our freedom" before the elections of 2008, lock up Cheney - he will have been the one who ordered the hit.
THESE RECORDS SHOULD BE AVAILABLE FOR HIS TREASON TRIAL
"Quite a high percentage of the money we pay for gas goes to our enemies, directly and indirectly"
One wonders why those countries are designated as 'enemies' in the first place. It is precisely because they have oil, and they wish, not unreasonably, to be paid a fair price for it.
A cursory glance at Iranian history shows that the British and US preferred the brutal Shah to the democratic Mossadegh because the latter wanted to take back control of Iran's oil. And today we have the US machinations intended to remove Hugo Chavez from office for much the same reason. And Iraq was of course invaded to gain control of its oil - the only ministry protected from looting and general mayhem. Saddam was not much of a threat now, was he? WMD? That's called manufacturing consent, i.e. lying to get what you want.
It's time to "just say no" to US imperialism.
Jensonee--You forgot Clinton-Gore--or is it politically incorrect to note the continuity of the Democrats as well as the Republicans in the corporatization of the government.
Oh yeah there's our new designated Democratic miracle worker, Al Gore, and he's just like one of us... (puke and vomit!)
Oil is the problem. Quite a high percentage of the money we pay for gas goes to our enemies, directly and indirectly.
We can easily find alternatives to oil. If the money spent so far for the war in iraq had been spent on research for alternative energy sources instead, we would be much better off.
It's time to "Just say no" to foreign oil.
nixon to reagan to bush the 1st to cheney/bush who's next? each of these bastards gave the next bastard permission to go further to the right. just how far can the usOa go without goose stepping gun toting soldiers of god protecting america. not far at all. with no impeachment the future is clear, clear as blood.
Poet: Good points. Although all those complicit will be held to account in some court of justice on this plane or higher ones.
next thing they will do is contract out government services; "privatize" if you will, they TRY to claim what some corporation is doing is beyond the our right to know. they'll probably claim some sort of "trade secret" or some other utter scam.
well then, we can just revoke the corporate charter of said corporation, as we always could do in all of US history. corporations are law creations that are given a license(charter) to act in the interests of the community. if not done, corporate charters can be revoked. always has been that way in US history. american as apple pie.
whatever happened to "open & democratic" government?
oops. we never had it - yet. the secret police(cia) & national political police(fbi) (and others?) are unconstitutional because there is no annual accounting of their budget by the congress as required of all dollars by the us constitution.
how can there be consent of the governed if there is secrecy?
when the story began i thought it was going to say, 'keep a log of everybody that visited'. which might be reasonable. but this guy's going to far - again.
making of mockery of consent of the governed with secrecy. oops. see a pattern here? revoke the 'national security act' that truman screwed us over with.
secret government? try illegitimate government.
but aren't they all?
How is someone supposed to run a Shadow Government if "the people" keep demanding things like facts and truth and stuff? Dick and his band of merry patriots know what's best for the country and, fortunately, they also know we're too stupid to understand what's best for us. That's why they lie - for our own good. And that's why they keep so many secrets - for our own good. And that's why they keep stealing our money - for our own good. And that's why they keep killing people - for our own good. And that's why...
It has been said, "Everybody's got something to hide except for me and my monkey."
For all who slobber over the opportunity to see the VP (or his Chimp) tortured or dead--be careful about what you wish--you may just find something worse in its place.
The greatest brilliance of Rove and his ilk just may be managing to get this pair into positions of power not becasue of what THEY do, but because of their diversionary value to take our attention away from what the REST are doing (the rest to include the military, the corporations,and the "think tanks"--who are our secular equivalent to the Medieval Roman Catholic Church (unelected, unappointed, and unaccountable to any but themselves as well as possesing the power to "ride the beast of government"!--See the biblical book of Revelation).
Bush and Cheney's greatest contribution is the breaking and looting of the existing government structure not its strenghtening as Naomi Klein so clearly illustrates in her excellent book "The Rise of Disaster Capitalism".
For more information see:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/04/20/1427251
then get very angry at the real deciders and not their little sock puppets trotted out for that very purpose (think Punch 'n Judy show).
Maybe the next time Cheney flies he should be put through electronic screening like the rest of us. I hear it can wreak havoc on pacemakers.
To moonbutterfly: "somebody...anybody...join in to this conversation for a plan."
Well, for starters, I think the USANs are pretty much unable to get off their butts for anything but another coke or beer or whatever. However, I do believe that if enough of us really wanted to have an impact, we would have to sacrifice on the same level as the lone vet who is walking around the Capitol 24/7 for every soldier killed in the Iraq war so far. He is in effect committing suicide. I read a blog the other day advocating a stop shopping effort, consistent and enduring. Chop credit cards and send them in to the company. Tear up department store cards and any other kind of credit line you have. Park your car in the garage and use the bus. Spend money only on essentials and keep the essentials as simple as possible. Stop visiting back and forth via airlines. Well, you know what I am getting at. Join the Green Party. Sign the Peace and Justice leave Iraq petition. It may come to pass that we will have to go on a massive nation-wide work slowdown and eventual sitdown strike. We could be facing during this process shootups from the Blackwater "security" mercenaries, neocons with rifles and whatever other killing devices they possess. You get the picture. What we're doing is fighting for our country, nothing more and nothing less.
It's about time someone else noticed that all of Bush's advisors leave smoking hoofprints when they walk across a wooden floor. I've found that alarming from the beginning.
Silly me. I thought Dick Cheney WAS the Prince of Darkness. Who knew?
Will people please stop fanasizing about removing these people from power?
It's as if people think they live in a democracy.
Stupid people.
Yes, you can do a write in (at least I think you can?) come election time. (This man has my vote, because of his platform: http://www.gravel2008.us/ -even if he's not nominated, which doesn't seem likely given that he's been marginalized due to lack of money; he doesn't play the political game the way Clinton / Obama et al do. To which I say, GOOD!)
If we MUST wait that long, so be it. But I don't believe it's necessary to wait that long. What do we do in the meantime? Writing faxing and calling your congresscritters are options. Not that this helps much; the ones who've deigned to answer me with something besides a formletter all say that they feel their hands are tied because they don't have a large enough consensus in the House or Senate. Politics as usual.
What America really needs is to WAKE UP. (Yes, this means turning off the msm as much as humanly possible, switch to more informative media please! try the internet!) If you wake up enough, you will not be able to sit still, and you will Educate yourself and others and Engage in meaningful discussion and -- most important -- involvement.
Democracy requires a well informed, participating citizenship. Without it, it is a democracy in name only.
Bush has the plan. Bush knows.
The winking picture of Baby Bush (SHRUB) on commondreams's homepage is a perfect example of him trying to seem like an honest, "down home," "good 'ol boy"…When he is really a sly fox in a hen house. We need to get this administration out of office now. I feel like our generation has become apathetic and hopeless. We need to be the change we wish to see in this world and take our democracy back. Ever since 911 the government has been sneaking our rights out from beneath our feet. All the while we have been distracted with threats of terrorism and fighting wars that we never were and still haven't been able to win. The reason for being in Iraq has changed so many times, and something like 80% of Americans have been brainwashed by our propaganistic media to believe that Saddam had something to do with 911!
Somebody…anybody… join in to this coversation for a plan. I am so overwhelmed. But I need to, we need to do something! Can we take this Administration to the UN or something, because they surely do not represent the general public any longer. 78% of Americans disprove of Shrub and his policies. I personally have lost faith in the democrats, and never trusted the republicans. This could be a crazy and naieve idea but; I don't trust our electoral system any longer…can we write in our own canidate and start a massive quiet movement to do so? Via the internet or something? Because I am sure that pretty soon we are going to see more of this lumping together protesters with terrorists. Look at the article that was published the other day on commondreams about the one protester who had the flag draped coffin outside of Hillary's fund raiser. They called in a bomb squad!
Again please; SOMEBODY PLEASE RESPOND TO THIS POSTING WITH BRAINSTORMS FOR A PLAN. Or at least send me a link that will send me in the right direction.
Peace, love and hope...
greg, 186,000 is the speed of light in miles per second--coincidence?
Just one correction: When the author mentioned the "Office of War Policy," I believe she was actually referring to the Office of Special Plans.
born2bwild: well, the flatulence does have its poetic justice. Forget the coronary button. You win this debate, and made me laugh, too.
All the signs right in front of us.
Fascism anyone?
(Let's put the "Fun" back into the F-word!)
Greg Bacon. The Prince of Darkness goes to Richard Perle who is a neocon warmonger who pushed along with Wolfowitz for the start of the war in Iraq
siouxrose
"there must be a channel that would turn off his" - if one were to actually do the deed, he would end up a martyr to the right-wing.
of course, anyone assigned with composing a eulogy would be hardpressed to say anything even remotely endearing about this sorry excuse for a man. to say nothing of the weeks or more of media sympathy he would receive. no, i'd prefer a slow, agonizing demise...preferably with the gradual loss of bowel function, inability to stop farting and outbreaks of pustules all over his butt. dutifully and fully reported by the msm, including fox.
The Prince of Darkness is also known as Richard Perle, a neocon. See Corn's article here on alternet: http://www.alternet.org/story/13098/
Remember when all sorts of Hades was raised about Al Gore's $12,000 a year utility bill?
Then why don't we hear about Cheney's astronomical bill?
Why Is Cheney's Electric Bill $186,000?
Chris Suellentrop
Posted Wednesday, July 18, 2001, at 6:16 PM ET
The House Appropriations Committee voted Tuesday to send the electric bill for the vice president's residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory to the Navy instead of to the executive branch. Press accounts estimated the cost of this year's bill at $186,000. Why is the veep's electric bill so high?
The average Washington, D.C., residential customer pays less than $700 for electricity each year. But the vice president's electrical needs exceed those of your average apartment dweller. The Navy encourages reporters to think of the vice president's three-story residence as a small business, not a home. The 33-room, approximately 10,000-square-foot residence on Massachusetts Avenue contains not only the veep's living quarters, but also communications equipment and security systems that must function 24 hours a day, as well as surveillance lights that glow all night long. The local power company doesn't have an estimate for its average commercial customer.
http://www.slate.com/id/1008002/
Will "The Nation" support impeachment by
issuing a call to all civic organizations, political and otherwise? Only a groundswell so big it cannot be ignored will have any results with this administration. What was it that FDR said, something like, "I agree with you, now make it so I have to do it."
I'm confused. Isn't Cheney "THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS?"
I prefer the 'N' word.
NOOSE.
he's out-dicked the original "tricky" man, nixon.
Cheney is the biggest criminal in the history of the US. He needs to be sent to Guantanamo, and tortured into confessing his crimes against humanity, then locked up for life, along with Bush and all the other neo-nazis.
I though Cheney WAS the prince of darkness (if there was one).
"This White House has been infinitely creative in finding new ways and new forms of government secrecy."
Easy to do when he has Big Money's lawyers and consultants doing all the work for him 24/7 with the goal of consolidating the fascist empire.
Actually, Dillan, you are not resorting to name-calling when you refer to Cheney as a "fascist."
According to Mussolini's definition of the word (and he ought to know) a better term would be corporatism
and he defined that as the situation in which corporations are running the government. So, one might say you are simply stating a fact about the vice-president...not calling names like Cheney when he bandies about the same term in reference to anyone he wishes to attack to further corporate policy.
INVESTIGATE, INDICT, IMPRISON.
Exactly!!!! Burn bush. Chain dick. Fry rice. etc. etc.
Cheney needs to be jailed. He is so anti-democratic in his approach to America and society that he really should just pay for some of his crimes and simply be jailed.
I would be happy with impeachment. I just want them out of office so they can't do anymore damage. What I want to know is... how do we impeach them when the Congress is unwilling to acknowledge "high crimes and misdemeanors" perpetrated by this administration? The Democrats have been beseiged by letters and emails renouncing their approval of funding for the war, but, with a few exceptions, they don't seem to care what we think. There may be 28% of us who aren't paying attention. That means that 72% are aware of what's going on. How do we most effectively put our collective shoulder to the wheel?
"You are hereby under arrest for a long list of high crimes and acts of treason committed against the people of the United States of America. You have a right to remain silent (or did you also got rid of the Miranda Act?) or anything will be used in court against you."
Will the PEOPLE's Congress please utter these words!!!! Our "representatives" can even use these same words for the other criminals in the warmongering, profiteering cabal:
Bush-Rove-Rice-Rumsfeld-Gonzales
Will all you 28 percenters please get off your meds, turn off the TV, and stop shopping! Clear all that propaganda between your ears and just try a little to think logically.
The word to use isn't Impeachment, though it still begins with the letter "i":
INVESTIGATE, INDICT, IMPRISON. Impeachment is merely a soft slap on the wrist.
Somehow, some way we have to hold this fascist accountable. I tried to ressis the name calling. But Cheney is the anti-thesis to anything having to do with democracy and the freedom that the founding fathers established. He must and should be impeached and imprisoned. He has not just merely circumvented the U.S. government and the U.S. Constitution, he has violated the laws which form are the foundation upon which democracy depends. IMPEACH and jail this dishonest, power crazy man.
Who would dare have Bush, Cheney, Rice and their cronies arrested? They overthrew the US Government and turned it into a Dictatorship, with the help of the Neo-Nazi Supreme Court. Peloski and Reid seem to have joined them. Peloski needs to be replaced by the Honorable Marine Colonel Jack Murtha. The California Mama needs a one way trip on the extra sized Jet back home or to Bush's ranch.
When all judicial routes are blocked, maybe simple mechanics can call forth some juridical progress. The guy's heart (what exists of a human heart) is kept beating based on some probably fairly simple apparatus. I remember hearing about people's pace makers that could turn off televisions, and so forth. There must be a CHANNEL that would turn off his?