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The White House

Challenging Cheney

A National Archives official reveals what the veep wanted to keep classified--and how he tried to challenge the rules

By Michael Isikoff | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Dec 24, 2007

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  • Posted By: Duck Soup @ 12/30/2007 11:00:52 PM

    Comment: How are Democrats supposed to argue for transparency when their leading candidate, Hillary Clinton, still won't release her records as First Lady or those associated with her and Bill's mega-"charity"? That's right, Hillary says her "experience" that places her above Obama is her time in the White House, yet she won't release her records until after the Primary. And her and Bill's charity has raised over $500 MILLION dollars from the same people who are their major donors and lend them their jets to hop around in. The "charity" also employed their leading campaign staff. This is a lot of money sloshing around and they won't let us see the details.

    How can we demand that Cheney release his records when Hillary and Bill won't release theirs. We need a change already. We need Obama. We need someone honest. Obama has the guts to take the right position even when it's unpopular, like in opposing the Iraq war from the start. He is for transparency. He has not used government to amass a personal wealth of tens of millions of dollars (over $30 mil for Hillary, over $40 mil for Bill, over $50 mil for Cheney, over $50 mil for Edwards) etc. - Obama's net worth is just over $1 million. Obama is one of us. It's time to take back our goverment. We can't afford to take the chance of letting the Bush/Clinton/Bush/Clinton cycle continue.

  • Posted By: Markwri @ 12/30/2007 4:53:12 PM

    Comment: Always been amazed that Cheney, who could go out around the World and actually DO some things simply stays in dc and runs clusterfrick maneauvers which do nothing but act as a flanking draws supposedly to guise the things that are really happening.
    GW, Cheney and a few of their annointed Club....truly a 3 Stooges network.
    Maybe that's why we keep tuning in.

  • Posted By: roncraw @ 12/28/2007 9:35:30 PM

    Comment: Short and sweet impeach Cheney

  • Posted By: tokyorose @ 12/27/2007 10:30:49 PM

    Comment: This admisistration simply kicks and screams when it comes to playing by our historical laws and regulations. No wonder Judiciary Committee members have got a website collecting signatures: wexlerwantshearings -com
    that has collected over 100,000 signatures, and seeks 200,000 to make public sentiment clear about the VP.

  • Posted By: StanfordGrad'90 @ 12/27/2007 3:42:11 PM

    Comment: From this article, and the overall reaction by the OVP, like most readers, I've got to begin to wonder if the VP isn't doing something shady similar to Watergate period in political history. On a scale of 1-10, this pushes my trust level of the VP and the White House in general to a 1. Otherwise, why wouldn't this internal policy change as to how to treat the OVP started in 2000? Why did it change only when the Plame affair begain?

  • Posted By: StanfordGrad'90 @ 12/27/2007 3:40:38 PM

    Comment: From this article, and the overall reaction by the OVP, like most readers, I've got to begin to wonder if the VP isn't doing something shady similar to Watergate period in political history. On a scale of 1-10, this pushes my trust level of the VP and the White House in general to a 1. Otherwise, why wouldn't this internal policy change as to how to treat the OVP started in 2000? Why did it change only when the Plame affair begain?

  • Posted By: Want A Change @ 12/27/2007 3:00:35 PM

    Comment: Hey, when you're screwing the public you have to do what you can to cover your tracks. This is what the BUSH administration is all about: These Neo-Cons used 9/11 as a God-send to push their agenda down our throats while we all waved the flag and they stirred blind nationalism and promoted hatred, discrimination and a pro-business/wealth agenda. Cheney and Bush are working for their Masters and they will do whatever they can get away with to accomplish their goal of allocating wealth and power to a few in this country. Anybody with a brain can see that Cheney and Bush represent wealth and power and not the working class in this country. 2008 will be the year of reckoning for the Neo-Con backed GOP, the class struggle is about to swing in the other direction and Cheney can go pick daisies in Wyoming.

  • Posted By: eddiewhere @ 12/27/2007 2:51:53 AM

    Comment: Hillary Clinton voting for the war, and a blank check for the war is against everything she stands for, unfortunately there are forces that control individuals in Washinton that is beyond our realm. Inotherwords if a politician is in trouble they will go against their own principles just to save themselves. This is why I say Hillary should be appointed to a health and childrens welfare committee under an Obama presidency. That way she will not be susceptible to scandal. The Clintons have shown time and time again that they are too political. Their decisions are based on what's best for them first and the people second. Hillary Clinton laughs at the fact that there are individuals who can tell her what kind of president to be. If going negative assists her she will do it, if going family helps her she will do it. These individuals in Washington have been programed to adhere to the will of special interst lobbyists. Why do you think we fund Israeli security forces. The politician is guided by their own narrow interests. This the conclusion I have come too over the holidays. The democrats that have been in the Senate and in the Congress for the last 6 years and have done nothing on a national scale. Edwards has done nothing as a Senator, his voting record indicates he has gone along with whatever the mainstream has wanted him to do, Clinton has done what ever the mainstream has wanted her to do, and pelosi has been playing games and is getting schooled everyday. I have no choice but to vote for OBAMA, what other hope is exist. We need someone who is not programmed and that can bring unity. Obama has not flip floped, he has run a steady and unified campaign even when he was down in the polls, his campaign has stayed focused and positive. Clinton went from negative, to bashing, to family . What is going it is like a script has been written everyday and Hillary is just the actor reading the lines. Like I said there are those that think they are far more experienced and knowledgable than us, but when you look at their individual record it is as if they never had experience. We are stupid and this is why our candidates act stupid. Remember our candidates are a reflection of our society, do what you half to do to get ahead even if it means going against your principles. Experience.

  • Posted By: eddiewhere @ 12/27/2007 2:51:34 AM

    Comment: You do not control the Government the Government controls you, and this has to change. We are not talking race we are talking constitution. The Government is cleverly taking over our civil liberties, slowly, intelligently. Keeping us dumb. Romney is playing the same card Bush did. There stupid so do not play smart.

  • Posted By: truthbtold @ 12/27/2007 1:11:32 AM

    Comment: its almost funny that Clinton had a 40million dollar special investigator on his butt for a bad real estate deal and was almost impeached for lying about a sexual encounter. When this administration has lied about weapons of mass destruction, outted CIA agents, fired state attorneys who wouldn't help them rig elections, tortured POW's, given executive priveledge to people who were not executives and I could go on and on but you guys get the point . Where is the 40million dollars worth of our tax money now for the special investigator. Why do Bush , Cheney, Rumsfeld, scooter, Alberto and the rest of these guys get to put up middle fingers to the Constitution, UN, Geneva Convention , the Grand Jury and the other two thirds of the government this thing with the Archives is just another of a long line of questions the world wants to see answered. Maybe thats what democrats are worried about?

  • Posted By: starspell @ 12/26/2007 7:56:37 PM

    Comment: How does accusing someome else of doing something similar address the subject? Anyone who is following the actions of the Bush Administration (and this idea started long before Bush) to change the Constitution and don the mantle of all three functions of the government is certainly not surprised. It is time that t he electorate-who, although they don't seem to know it, or care-have the power. It's the government of the people , for the people ahd by the people. The government works for US. I agree with Takeitback, It isn't going to change until we, the People, rise up and challenge their attempt to t ake over OUR government - nothing is going to change. No newly elected president is going to willingly give up all the little goodies that t he last regime has left them.

  • Posted By: ffakr @ 12/26/2007 4:01:29 PM

    Comment: Please check with our own government before you say something stupid. the GAO stated that Sandy Berger printed out COPIES of electronic documents and violated the law by removing the COPIES to study at home. Sandy Berger, according to the Government Accounting Office, DID NOT DESTROY ANY DOCUMENTS.
    Berger's crime was in being so arrogant that he didn't feel constrained by the rules that his legal access only pertained INSIDE the national archives.
    Morons.

  • Posted By: Toonzes @ 12/26/2007 2:33:23 PM

    Comment: Wow. People who post comments here are scary stupid. I can actually feel my own IQ shrinking as I type this...

  • Posted By: Tipper @ 12/26/2007 2:18:06 PM

    Comment: The Archives did a swell job protecting documents as Sandy Berger stole them! Screw partisan bureaucrats and liberal journalist who peddle their lies and propaganda. You've done enough damage to our country and the live of US serviceman. Never vote for a Democrat again.

    • Posted By: Want A Change @ 12/27/2007 15:05:44

      Comment: Please.......spare me your blind Nationalism. You should consider moving to Pakistan, I hear they need some staunch extremists unwilling to see the difference between honoring our troops and throwing out the lying bastards that sent them to war: wake up Tipper.

  • Posted By: pinkpanther87413 @ 12/26/2007 1:01:10 PM

    Comment: I see thankfully Cheney is not quit liked as was Bush Sr. or Quail all GOP VPs. Now we all can see why these leaders were never taken out! Who wants Cheney or Quail to run our country??? So the GOP picks VPs so bad, they look to good to get rid of! The Dems however in the last 25 years there has only been one Dem VP and that is Gore and if Clinton had been taken out at least he left a proper person to run the country.
    The GOP has got to go, and we want our country back, so if we spend 2 billion a day in Iraq 2 billion comes back to American soil ,to Americans, not Dubui to Halliburton!!!!!

    • Posted By: Takeitback @ 12/26/2007 18:39:07

      Comment: And who has had the power to say 'No more money' and has been too cowardly to do so. The Dems will be as irresponsible as the Republicans. Hillary is a conservative in Dems clothes. This is all C***. No one wants to say "This is our country". Not corporate america. Not the military or all of those receiving gov't dollars for spending a bit of time in uniform doing what they intend to do - e.g. make a career off the largesse of the american citizen - e.g. get a bunch of freebies for the rest of their lives. It is not a government for a bunch of religious fanatics - be they right wing or left wing. It is a government for the people. When all get off their respective and proverbial 'fat asses', and tell their representative, "I have had enough", we will continue in the same vein - be it Hillary, Barrack, Mitt, or Rudy.

  • Posted By: pinkpanther87413 @ 12/26/2007 12:50:16 PM

    Comment: ALPHA
    i have not made up my mind yet and sorry to all for breaking topic but ive herd the same time and time again words or quips from Ron Paul followers and want to know more from the people not the person they are not the pulse of the country we are! I just wanted to ask as i know where to look but is he GOP, Dem or Ind???
    As for the CIA it seems that the CIA and Global warming have a few things in common! One there are a myth [unknown factor]. Second with the population explosion, in the days of now, the population seems to be more in there way these days, so more is far more noticable! Last but never least [with the CIA] they both do exsist and both do need to be delt with,NOW! We have become a corupternation [spelled right] instead of a Natiion once called the Greatest in the world, that is when we lead by example, not Rule [or own] by force and occupation.

  • Posted By: DesertSun @ 12/26/2007 12:03:55 PM

    Comment: The GOP in the Senate and House will not vote to impeach because no matter what they must appear to win. ( win = have total power and control at any cost) They have done such enormous They won't even vote to put them on a leash to keep their evil lawlessness at bay. The Democrats knowing they cannot get a vote passed have conceded defeat on the issue. I am not happy to say this at all, but the damage done is irreparable. We are doomed because of the far right neocon GOP. May they all move to a foreign land and stay there. Good riddance to them. They have single handedly destroyed our country by their greed, secrecy, corruption, and self-serving loyalty.

  • Posted By: siyrahboo @ 12/26/2007 11:48:49 AM

    Comment: It seems to me there is alot of covering up being done, and important things being kept from the people who put them in office, I think the the whole crew needs to be held accountable fo rthe mess that the United States is in right now. We as the people need to voice our concern and make sure that questions are answered and things are done the right way! I have only one word CORRUPTION

  • Posted By: jfennerlaw@bellsouth.net @ 12/26/2007 11:47:42 AM

    Comment: Dear Oldguy:
    This is not regular US party politics. This is closer to Italy in the 1920s or Germany in the 1930s.
    Senator Robert Taft tolerated Senator Joe McCarthy--perhaps out of despiration and ill health--but no one put Senator McCarthy on a national ticket. This is not your father's GOP

    • Posted By: alpha999 @ 12/26/2007 11:56:48

      Comment: Darn right it's not your father's GOP. Give Ron Paul a lot of credit for speaking what I feel is on the minds of a good portion of American citizens.

  • Posted By: jfennerlaw@bellsouth.net @ 12/26/2007 11:44:33 AM

    Comment: Dear Oldguy:
    This is not standard party politics. This is something different--closer to the 1920s in Italy and the 1930s in Germany.
    Senator Robert Taft tolerated Senator McCarthy, out of despiration and possible ill-health, but no one nominated McCarthy for national office. This is not you father's GOP.

    • Posted By: siyrahboo @ 12/26/2007 12:02:02

      Comment: I agree I think we as the people need to satnd up for ourselves, and demand that changes be made even if we did'nt elect these to into office, Its scary because we turning into a corporation instead of a democracy and we all know how the little man is treated in a corporation, We need to make changes for our kids and grandkids!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      • Posted By: Want A Change @ 12/27/2007 15:06:36

        Comment: Completely agree.........................

  • Posted By: alpha999 @ 12/26/2007 11:39:44 AM

    Comment: Being of French heritage, I have taken some verbal abuse over the years. And now I work for a company that was recently purchased by a French conglomerate, so the beatings continue.

    But I do know one thing; the government in France is still afraid of it's people.

    • Posted By: Want A Change @ 12/27/2007 15:11:57

      Comment: You have taken verbal abuse by ignorrant, lame Americans spurred on by stupid politicians. I have found people in France to be wonderful and nothing like what our stupid politicians would have us believe. I wish our government was afraid of The People but our country has become en-slaved to Corporations.

    • Posted By: pinkpanther87413 @ 12/26/2007 12:02:42

      Comment: Do not be dishonered by your roots i for one will say out loud what alot of WWII airforce pilots are saying under there breath due to fear of our own people but if it were not for the French restience i would not exsist today as they asst my gradfather from germany to the Eu so thank you oh so very much!!!
      Second the government should be scared of it's people unlike today as we the people are scared of our own government, not good not good at all. The season of the little black bag jobs are gone! As a past carrier it needs to happen, soon, i hope soon! if you need a little black bag it probably not good for the people either, as we all know the CIA is not the CIA of past, it's worst.

  • Posted By: alpha999 @ 12/26/2007 11:34:00 AM

    Comment: Being of French heritage, and working for a company that was recently bought by the French, I have taken a lot of verbal abuse over the years.

    But I do know one thing; the government in France is still afraid of it's people.

  • Posted By: marychs @ 12/26/2007 11:31:19 AM

    Comment: all i can say is that the day this administration's hold on power is over, there will be much cheering in the streets. they have tried with all their might to bring so called democracy across many lands at the same time undermining it here. a truly sad time for our country.

  • Posted By: alrocks2 @ 12/26/2007 11:21:43 AM

    Comment: Typical Cheney.
    Either play ball nice and get on board to this criminal enterprise, or we will replace you.

  • Posted By: jen1967 @ 12/26/2007 11:15:48 AM

    Comment: Dick Cheney is a facist and and has been allowed to dissamble our democracy to a large extent. Why has he not been made accountable by anyone--when it is so widely known?

  • Posted By: josh-levin @ 12/26/2007 11:12:14 AM

    Comment: Let me get this straight -- Cheney is claiming that, because he is part of the legislative branch -- in particular, the Senate -- he is exempt from oversight over the executive branch, Can't the Democratic majority in the Senate exercise some oversight, or change the Senate rules to provide for such oversight?

    • Posted By: pinkpanther87413 @ 12/26/2007 13:03:45

      Comment: The Dems own the House and are the minority in the Senate-for now. they are after all a renewable source are they not??

  • Posted By: jpalonso @ 12/26/2007 10:41:45 AM

    Comment: It's important to remember a quote made by Sinclair Lewis "When facism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross." This article just confirms that this is no longer a "Government Of the People, By the People, And for the People". It has turned into a "Government of the Politicians, controlled by the Powerful, for the Benefit of the Privileged" John Alonso

    • Posted By: pinkpanther87413 @ 12/26/2007 13:07:00

      Comment: Scary to say the least but your right on the mark and so we see this exact thing happening today, ask Huckabee or Romney which comes first, the book or the flag??? When they answer, then ask so where do the people fit in??? If we do???

  • Posted By: jpalonso @ 12/26/2007 10:40:31 AM

    Comment: It's important to remember a quote made by Sinclair Lewis "When facism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross." This article just confirms that this is no longer a "Government Of the People, By the People, And for the People". It has turned into a "Government of the Politicians, controlled by the Powerful, for the Benefit of the Privileged" John Alonso

  • Posted By: lvdragonlady @ 12/26/2007 10:30:52 AM

    Comment: I agree, that America has become complacent. WAKE UP America. This is not about Republicans or Democrats. We are letting the government do whatever they want on the stupid belief that they know best. B.S. They are human just like us and if we are so stupid that we believe that they have our best interests in mind then we truely need to be stuck behind the 8 ball.
    They are taking away our rights, they are doing whatever they want with no checks and balances and without those, we are screwed.
    Wake up America before it is truely tooooooooo late.

  • Posted By: lvdragonlady @ 12/26/2007 10:30:37 AM

    Comment: I agree, that America has become complacent. WAKE UP America. This is not about Republicans or Democrats. We are letting the government do whatever they want on the stupid belief that they know best. B.S. They are human just like us and if we are so stupid that we believe that they have our best interests in mind then we truely need to be stuck behind the 8 ball.
    They are taking away our rights, they are doing whatever they want with no checks and balances and without those, we are screwed.
    Wake up America before it is truely tooooooooo late.

  • Posted By: medicis @ 12/26/2007 9:32:19 AM

    Comment: What amazes me is that many posters mistakenly believe that a new administration will make any difference. The politicians you get to vote for are chosen and fully vetted by the military-industrial, media and financial rulers (oligarchy) of this country. Presidents and vice presidents are simply 'middle management'. The parties are simply Tweedledee and Tweedledum.... and the country... well, it is well along the road to fascism. The laws are now in place. The Presidential Directives have been pronounced. The Signing Statements... written. The American public, well propagandized, lethargically sunk into their couches sucked into the Bernays-ian propaganda flooding their telly tubes. Newsweek is one of the propagandists' tools. "The Central Intelligence Agency owns everyone of any significance in the major media." ~ William Colby, Former Director, CIA

  • Posted By: tulcak @ 12/26/2007 9:22:35 AM

    Comment: mbdougan, there are those (republicans) who don't want to wake up because, when it comes to their guy, they will rationalize ANYTHING. NOTHING is more important to them than defending their party and their ideology AT ANY COST. these past 7 years, we have ceased to be America because we allowed two men who were not elected to take office. and while in office, they have pulled all the power to themselves. this country is run by bush and cheney, not by the people's will any longer. and they simply do what they want - including hiding the truth about their corruption. this is what happens when business is unregulated because all bush and cheney are are corrupt businessmen.

  • Posted By: mbdougan@hotmail.com @ 12/26/2007 8:28:20 AM

    Comment: I wish America could wake up! I'm concerned that it may be too late already. We have become complacent and it shows in the current administration. They know, (the Bush-Cheney Regime) that our Country has become like lambs to slaughter, and they are holding the knives......

  • Posted By: mbdougan@hotmail.com @ 12/26/2007 8:27:22 AM

    Comment: I wish America could wake up! I'm concerned that it may be too late already. We have become complacent and it shows in the current administration. They know, (the Bush-Cheney Regime) that our Country has become like lambs to slaughter, and they are holding the knives......

  • Posted By: lollymom1 @ 12/26/2007 7:23:40 AM

    Comment: Well, Well, Well! Another example of the this Administration subverting the process and playing by their own rules. It's too late to impeach them-that is if you could get the GOP votes. Hopefully we will survive long enough until another President and Vice-President is elected. Can you imagine what Cheney's actionwould have been after 9/11? I shudder just thinking about it.

  • Posted By: rod123 @ 12/26/2007 5:09:52 AM

    Comment: Obviously there is only one explanation for Mr. Cheney's position. That is that he doesn't exist and therefore any kind of rule does not apply. It is no wonder that the rest of the enlightened world does not take us serious. This is not the peoples country anymore. There are too many secrets, too many lies. How can anyone trust our leaders. How can you tell the President and Vice President are not telling the truth .... their lips are moving!!!!!!!

  • Posted By: erchess @ 12/26/2007 2:22:58 AM

    Comment: If the Congress wants to they can impeach and convict the Presitent and Vice President. This would result in different people becoming President and Vice President. There are two things that should be clear. One is that the Executive Branch will always and should always do what the President orders without considering the will of anyone eles. The second is that the President and Vice President and his Cabinet serve at the pleasure of the Congress. The Legislative branch has the power to issue decisions but these decisions have no practical impact on the Executive Branch unless the President says they do or unless the Legislative Branch puts in a new President who says they do. This is not what I learned in Ninth Grade Civics but it is what I learned by observation of the current President who I support with all my heart.

    • Posted By: Braes @ 12/26/2007 02:29:30

      Comment: It is an impossibility, because it takes 2/3rds in the Senate to convict. The GOP wont do these clowns no matter what. hey are all pigs in the same slop. Those with some semblance of honor are walking away.

      • Posted By: Oldguy @ 12/26/2007 11:18:21

        Comment: Only Robert Byrd was honest enough during the Clinton impeachment to admit "of course he is guilty, but he is a Democrat so we will vote not guilty:. I do not remember any Democrats with a "semblance of honor: walking away. It is all politics and neither side has much honor.

      • Posted By: Oldguy @ 12/26/2007 11:14:06

        Comment: And only Robert Byrd was honest on the Clinton impeachment.
        He said "of course he is guilty, but he is a Democrat so we will all vote not guilty". I do not remember any Democrats with a "semblance of honor" walking away.

  • Posted By: comosun @ 12/26/2007 2:20:57 AM

    Comment: Hey, if American voters like the idea of a closed society, as was the Soviet Union, that's their problem. Not mine. I'm a Canadian.

  • Posted By: reasonedmind @ 12/26/2007 1:26:09 AM

    Comment: Too bad CIA analysts and generals did not stand up to the Vice President. Fututre presidents will be tempted to follow the precendents established by Bush-Cheney. Any bets on how many future presidents will be elected?

    • Posted By: Braes @ 12/26/2007 01:57:06

      Comment: Hopefully, all will be elected. I hope all of the electronic vote stealers are gone before vote 2008. Request a paper ballot. Vote absentee. I agree with almost everything on here from everyone so far. These people give diabolical a harmless image. I believe the rest of the world knows we are totally sick of it too. America since 9/11 has been like a blind giant flailing away at friend and foe alike.

  • Posted By: reasonedmind @ 12/26/2007 1:21:51 AM

    Comment: If only CIA analysts and generals had stood up to the Vice President. The next presidents will be tempted to follow the precendents set by Bush-Cheney. Any bets on how many more presidents wil be elected?

  • Posted By: kenneth@world-international-corp.com @ 12/26/2007 1:14:06 AM

    Comment: My mother taught me, at a young age, never to wish bad for anyone because punishment from GOD is more awesome than I could ever imagine. Constant pain, agony, worry, distress, hunger and every kind of illness, simutanously, without death for eternally may very well be all our lot. This is what Cheney and the entire administration deserve even if I don't wish it upon them!

  • Posted By: xmissile @ 12/26/2007 12:28:23 AM

    Comment: ...and we elected them to a second term. What does that say about the American people in general?

    • Posted By: siyrahboo @ 12/26/2007 12:16:56

      Comment: We didn't elect them they stole it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • Posted By: Braes @ 12/26/2007 02:00:17

      Comment: That half of the half that bothered really screwed up? Self-interest and greed beat wimp in a walk off? That people scared out of their wits repeatedly will support the one who says, "vote for the other guy and die?"
      And thank you for being a silo troop, I guess from the name.

  • Posted By: R49Thomas @ 12/26/2007 12:27:10 AM

    Comment: Oops!!

    I see my comments were misdirected. MSNBC (from whence I linked) is the source of the activist appellation..

    Apologies to Newsweek, aspersions to MSNBC.

  • Posted By: xmissile @ 12/26/2007 12:25:21 AM

    Comment: ...and we elected them to a second term. What does that say about us?

  • Posted By: R49Thomas @ 12/26/2007 12:23:40 AM

    Comment: I wasn't surprised by the position of this Administration.

    What is telling is Newsweek's characterization of a public servant doing his job as an "activist".
    Sounds like a guy with some sort of a political agenda itching for a fight.

    On this definitional basis, if a policeman arrests a criminal, does that make him an "activist"?
    Is Newsweek's employee who conducted this interview an "activist"?

  • Posted By: R49Thomas @ 12/26/2007 12:21:15 AM

    Comment: I'm not suprised at the conduct of this Administration.

    What is very telling is Newsweek's characterization of this public service who is simply doing his job as an "activist". As though somehow he has an agenda (presumably "liberal") and is just itching for a fight.

    When the cop on the beat arrests a criminal, is he in Newsweak;s view an "activist"?
    Would the journalist who obtained this interview be considered an "activist"?




    • Posted By: bduka @ 12/26/2007 10:21:45

      Comment: If the Entire Police department or most of the Police department dont arrest criminals and dont stand up against crime then 'When the cop on the beat arrests a criminal' he is an activist.
      This journalist is not an activist... IMHO since the journalist community can freely disagree with the administration and is in fact encoraged and challenged to do so .. He/She is not an activist.

  • Posted By: Kham @ 12/25/2007 11:56:45 PM

    Comment: How can this man be called the vice president of this country. He is ignorant to every law/rule/precedence that he doesn't like and attempts to find which ever loop hole is most convenient. It would be interesting to see how many special interest groups are benefiting as a result of him being the vice president.

    • Posted By: siyrahboo @ 12/26/2007 12:04:21

      Comment: Corporate corruption

    • Posted By: Braes @ 12/26/2007 02:02:22

      Comment: Not ignorant of them, just knowing that they controlled the justice system, and there was no longer any special prosecutor system after they abused it on Clinton, it died. Alberto Gonzales let them run amok and enabled them.

  • Posted By: chillfour@yahoo.com @ 12/25/2007 11:43:04 PM

    Comment: Cheney is a revolting excuse for a vice-president. He is a bully and runs over anyone who stands in his path. Cheney is an evil force who shares Bush's arrogance and contempt for laws and integrity. These two should be tried for treason.

  • Posted By: chillfour@yahoo.com @ 12/25/2007 11:39:01 PM

    Comment: That's the Bush/Cheney way. Make sure you run over anything in your path that you don't like. That includes good civil servants who have done their jobs for 34 years and know what they are supposed to be doing. This is the ugliest administration in our history.

  • Posted By: jblades @ 12/25/2007 10:27:57 PM

    Comment: It baffles me that a person as uneducated to the basic laws of the land, as well as being morally bankrupt can latch on to and hold positions in the highest offices of this country....Amazing. Cheney is, was and will go down in history as incompetent, dishonest and one of the worst pawns in history.

    • Posted By: Braes @ 12/26/2007 02:03:24

      Comment: They knew better, they just didn't care.

  • Posted By: seattlepainter @ 12/25/2007 10:10:27 PM

    Comment: Everything being discussed here makes a great deal of sense. My only regret is that there isn't enough motivation on the part of the current congress to impeach both Bush and Cheney and drive them out of town on a rail before the next election. If you really want to understand what has been going on for the past 7 years, read Naomi Wolf's great book "The End of America." It will really open your eyes up to what this administration has been up to. Scary stuff, but it should be necessary reading for every person in this country.

  • Posted By: Mogollon Rim @ 12/25/2007 10:02:08 PM

    Comment: Here is what we've come to: A President and Vice President blinded by power and privilege, oblivious to the devastation toward which they are pushing America and the world. An International corporate culture run amok, freed from restraints in every area from pollution control to health and safety standards to merciless price-gouging, even as the abuses slip quietly from the attention of corporate owned media. An economy trumpeted as "blooming" even while hundreds of thousands lose their jobs, slip into poverty, are left without homes or health care or enough to eat. A "Patriot Act" that makes all of us traitors if we speak out in any way the Washington thought militia deems threatening. Warrantless Wiretapping, Systemic Torture. Abuse of Detainees, Cherry-Picking Intelligence, Muzzling Truth tellers, Shredding our Constitution.

    • Posted By: Braes @ 12/26/2007 02:04:43

      Comment: Yeah, sick isn't it? Please vote, and keep talking to others too. Thank you.

  • Posted By: sportscenterisnext @ 12/25/2007 9:56:45 PM

    Comment: Here is what we've come to: A President and Vice President blinded by power and privilege, oblivious to the devastation toward which they are pushing America and the world. An International corporate culture run amok, freed from restraints in every area from pollution control to health and safety standards to merciless price-gouging, even as the abuses slip quietly from the attention of corporate owned media. An economy trumpeted as "blooming" even while hundreds of thousands lose their jobs, slip into poverty, are left without homes or health care or enough to eat. A "Patriot Act" that makes all of us traitors if we speak out in any way the Washington thought militia deems threatening. Warrantless Wiretapping, Systemic Torture. Abuse of Detainees, Cherry-Picking Intelligence, Muzzling Truth tellers, Shredding our Constitution.

  • Posted By: sportscenterisnext @ 12/25/2007 9:55:02 PM

    Comment: Here is what we've come to: A President and Vice President blinded by power and privilege, oblivious to the devastation toward which they are pushing America and the world. An International corporate culture run amok, freed from restraints in every area from pollution control to health and safety standards to merciless price-gouging, even as the abuses slip quietly from the attention of corporate owned media. An economy trumpeted as "blooming" even while hundreds of thousands lose their jobs, slip into poverty, are left without homes or health care or enough to eat. A "Patriot Act" that makes all of us traitors if we speak out in any way the Washington thought militia deems threatening. Warrantless Wiretapping, Systemic Torture. Abuse of Detainees, Cherry-Picking Intelligence, Muzzling Truth tellers, Shredding our Constitution.

  • Posted By: medicis @ 12/25/2007 8:58:42 PM

    Comment: Perhaps some faux pas..... but the real intent is to hide the apparatus of authoritarianism being built brick by brick. Visit some of Naomi Wolf's You Tube presentations. Or just study the history of fascism to get a clue.

  • Posted By: knowledge @ 12/25/2007 4:37:20 PM

    Comment: Though there are things that should be held as TOP SECRET, most of what the government does is sensitive only in that it will embarrass some government official, either elected or appointed, for the unlawful and/or unethical things that they do. We should know of these faux pas so the law can apply equally to all of us. What a group of unethical and immoral people have populated the White House for the past 7 years under the guise of evangelical Christians. I am a believer in the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Nowhere in scripture do I find justification for the continual lying that this administration perpetrates on the citizens of this country in a daily fashion. Will we ever know the extent of lying done by this group of selfish dogooders. I see them as close to the anti-christ.

    • Posted By: Braes @ 12/26/2007 02:06:01

      Comment: Dead right on classifications. Good call.

  • Posted By: Gillis @ 12/25/2007 12:54:29 PM

    Comment: Bush the father has given to his son the cancer of his administration. He has ruined his son reputation all over the world. He knew that W did not have what it takes to run the country by himself, so he insisted that he takes Cheney on board, so President Cheney screw it all up to our XXXXX. We know that in a year he will be gone, but the damage he has done to this country is irreversible. Not even Hillary could fix it. May the next time he could shoot himself the bald eagle.

    • Posted By: Braes @ 12/26/2007 02:46:13

      Comment: And that Bushes father, Prescott traded with the Nazis and was implicated in a plot to overthrow FDR. None of the fruit has fallen far from the tree. (See Business Plot, Smedley Butler...) They tried to install Fascism before and it seems to run in the blood.

  • Posted By: joeblue111 @ 12/25/2007 2:25:31 AM

    Comment: Its is difficult to understand that till now the Congress is not up in gear investigating the actvities of Cheney. He has not only brought this country and the dollar to its knee's, he has also been responsible for many driving the country into war with lies. They have plundered the finances they took over with surplus, filled the koffers of Haliburton and Co. and are responsible for thousands of dead soldiers and Iraqis. Does this not amount to "High Crimes and Misdemeanors"?
    It is time for change and return to accountability and responsibility. Bush and Cheney should face the nation and stand trial for the crimes they have committed.

    • Posted By: Braes @ 12/26/2007 02:07:47

      Comment: Or let them leave office, and get invited overseas to accept an award in any country which will extradite them to the court in the Hague. I'd be able to see Cheney withering out in the same cell Milosevic died in.

  • Posted By: nawawimohamad @ 12/25/2007 12:01:19 AM

    Comment: The Bush administration is stretching the law to its limits If this persist it will eventually break. The current administration with all its coniving is rather resourceful but the resources are limited and they cannot fool everyone all the time. They are lunatics. Although their days are numbered, history shows that all these will continue no matter who is in power. It is therefore up to the American people and especially those who are influential to stand up to these lunatics.

    • Posted By: Braes @ 12/26/2007 02:36:28

      Comment: They made themselves the law with 1100+ signing statements saying they would do as they pleased. They have not governed lawfully. They have been a horror. I apologize where their actions have hurt innocents, even though I did not vote for them. I believe they stole the 2000 election, and used fear and terror to keep power. I believe they are bigots and hateful. I believe God will be a just judge. Peace to you.

  • Posted By: C. MacLean @ 12/24/2007 11:03:08 PM

    Comment: In the US Constitution, Article I Section 3 (Legislative branch/Senate) the words "vice president" are written exactly twice; the first time it states that the VP is the president of the senate but has no vote unless the senate is tied. The second time it states that senators chose a president pro tempore when the VP is absent or acting as the president. As job descriptions go, the legislative branch part of the VP job has very little responsibility, except when he is acting as the President - and the president is clearly a member of the executive branch.

    In Article II/Section 1 (Executive Branch/President) the words "vice president" are written a total of five times: three times in the section about casting ballots for the offices of president and vice president, and twice in the section that discusses impeachment.

    In the section about the legislative branch, we get a short job description of a person who only has any responsibilities if 100 other people are deadlocked on a decision. In the section about the president, we are given information about how we pick a vice president, and how we get rid of one.

    No wonder Dick Cheney would rather be part of the legislative branch: in that branch, we don't talk about him very much, he has almost no responsibilities, and no accountability whatsoever.

    In the executive branch, however, we talk about him more, he has some very specific responsiblities, and he can be replaced.

    It is time we did so.


  • Posted By: sheilab @ 12/24/2007 9:59:21 PM

    Comment: The Bush Administration has proven time and again that the laws of this nation do not apply to them. How disgraceful!.

  • Posted By: busibe @ 12/24/2007 2:03:36 PM

    Comment: Cheney and Bush actions throughout the whole tenure will turn around and bite them you know where. The next administration will spend the majority of their time recinding and changing the policies that the current administration has put in place. What goes up must come down, and people who think they are above the law, always lose.
    Dona Clark

    • Posted By: Braes @ 12/26/2007 02:08:30

      Comment: Amen and good on you.

      • Posted By: Junfloyd @ 12/26/2007 07:57:55

        Comment: Good post, although don't you wonder if they will ever will be held accountable for their actions? It seems like they will not. They should be put in jail, but what are the odds of that?

      • Posted By: Junfloyd @ 12/26/2007 07:55:32

        Comment: Good post, but don't you wonder if the administration is above the law? They get away with every rotten thing they do and no one calls them on it. Disgraceful.

 
 
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