Challenging Cheney

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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