Charlie Savage: Cheney Plotted Bush’s Imperial Presidency ‘Thirty Years Ago’
Charlie Savage: Cheney Plotted Bush’s Imperial Presidency ‘Thirty Years Ago’
The Bush administration has long held that President Bush’s expanded executive power is justified due to 9/11. “I believe in a strong, robust executive authority and I think that the world we live in demands it,” claimed Vice President Cheney in 2005.
But in his new book, Takeover: The Return of the Imperial Presidency and the Subversion of American Democracy, Boston Globe reporter Charlie Savage reveals that Cheney has been on a thirty-year quest to implement his views of unfettered executive power.
For example, when it was revealed in 2005 that the Bush administration had been illegally spying on Americans, Cheney responded: “If you want to understand why this program is legal…go back and read my Iran-Contra report.” In that report — authored in 1987 — Cheney and aide David Addington defended President Reagan by claiming it was “unconstitutional for Congress to pass laws intruding” on the “commander in chief.”
Decades later, Bush’s legal team used their first meeting in January 2001 — nine months before 9/11 — to map out a plan to expand presidential authority. According to Savage, who appeared on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal this morning, Cheney was looking for a moment to “seize” power in the weeks before 9/11:
We are going to expand presidential power in any way we can. This was discussed in January 2001 at the first meeting of the White House legal team after the inauguration, long before 9/11. If an opportunity arises to expand presidential prerogatives, you will seize it.
Watch it:
Savage, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his seminal work exposing President Bush’s abuse of signing statements, suggested that the administration knew its power grab would be unpopular and thus avoided any mention of their plans prior to being elected:
In hindsight, it is clear this is something that has been a central agenda of [Cheney's] for thirty years. And yet, in 1999 and 2000, no one was talking about this at all, how he might use his influence as the most experienced vice president in history dealing with the least experienced president in history.
Regarding his secretive nature, Cheney acknowledged last month that he “learned early on [under Ford] that if you don’t want your memos to get you in trouble some day, just don’t write any.”
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79 Responses to “Charlie Savage: Cheney Plotted Bush’s Imperial Presidency ‘Thirty Years Ago’”
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This not news to many.........
October 9th, 2007 at 4:02 pmWell, they've certainly persued their goals in a bald-faced manner since 9/11. Cheney may not write memos, but he uses "digital" communication - he's been giving Congress and the American people the finger since day one.
October 9th, 2007 at 4:09 pmWhy do the redcoats hate Americas sovereignity and its constitution?
Why are they capitulating to very thing America fought against, Monarchy, for its independence?
October 9th, 2007 at 4:09 pmCmon trolls, your not gonna give up your freedom cause of few rag-tag terrorists running around the mountains in tora-bora eating crappy food and sleeping with lice are you?
October 9th, 2007 at 4:12 pmBuy Savage came so close to telling the whole truth there.
Somebody needs to show him "Rebuilding America's Defenses" on the Project for a New American Century web site. Then he could put all of the pieces together and realize that they planned and carried out 9/11 to meet these ends.
October 9th, 2007 at 4:12 pmActually everyone here was screaming about it, but the MSM viewed/views us as extremists. Even though WE have been right about everything so far.
October 9th, 2007 at 4:14 pmNow, when will bright people like this one and Klein FINALLY make the connection between these imperial ambitions and 9/11?
How long will they keep pretending it just happened by "chance" so they don't get labled a "nut job"?
October 9th, 2007 at 4:14 pmDavid Petraeus is at it again. he is now echoing more White House talking points this time about the Iranian envoy to Iraq. Also, the CFR connection to his testimony to congress.
Read article here:
http://willyloman.wordpress.com/ 2007/ 10/ 09/ culture-of-lies-petraeus-at-it-again/
How long will we continue to permit this culture of lies that has erroded our leadership?
October 9th, 2007 at 4:14 pmand this is not obvious to anyone 45 or older? All the criminals got off with slaps for helping nixon's goons, reagan's goons,
justice is like religion, means nothing, and doesn't exist
October 9th, 2007 at 4:14 pmThe "conservatives" have been claiming for years that the Constitutional power of the executive has been gutted, especially post-Watergate, and they've been determined to restore that power. What they never actually define is what the level of power should be and where they find justification for that in either the Constitution or any of the writing and discussion that went into the Constitution. It seems obvious to anyone else that they're attempting to recreate a monarchy, whatever they call it ("Unitary executive"). Or a dictatorship. Cheney's view of the executive sounds more like the Roman "dictator" than anything else, but that role and its supreme power was even then defined with a time limit. Cheney wants to create a dictator-for-life-as-long-as-he's-a-republican.
October 9th, 2007 at 4:16 pmAnti-Christian, anti-Republic Republic666ans. It's nothing new. They run their course, kinda like diarrhea, then you feel so much better.
October 9th, 2007 at 4:17 pmHmmm.. sounds a little authoritarian to me.
Hey... I just thought of a new term that we can coin: conservo-fascism
October 9th, 2007 at 4:19 pmHe's more machine than man now.
October 9th, 2007 at 4:19 pmDick Cheney was President Gerald Ford's Deputy Chief of Staff
October 9th, 2007 at 4:21 pmunder *cough* Donald Rumsfeld, until he became Ford's Chief of Staff shortly thereafter.
He was well placed to usher in a new era of underhanded sliminess, having witnessed Nixon's bungling attempts at authoritarian control through the executive branch.
Determined not to make the same mistake (getting caught) that Nixon did.
What has followed is 30 years of machinations and manipulations as Secretary of Defense, and CEO of a large oil industry related corporation.
I somehow believe he became Vice President more out of necessity than desire, once it became apparent just how much of an incompetent buffoon Bush, their designated puppet president, really is.
His book is good. If there were a dozen more journalists as tough as Savage, bush/cheney would be in jail by now.
October 9th, 2007 at 4:22 pmP N A C
October 9th, 2007 at 4:25 pmNixon lives.
October 9th, 2007 at 4:27 pmNixon came back as Barney
October 9th, 2007 at 4:28 pmWhat brought down Nixon?
the press
the courts
Congress
the truth
What has Cheney and the other Nixonian remnants attacked?
October 9th, 2007 at 4:29 pmthe press
the courts
Congress
the truth
I posted this on a thread below, but it's probably more appropriate here.
"Fascist ethics begin ... with the acknowledgment that it is not the individual who confers a meaning upon society, but it is, instead, the existence of a human society which determines the human character of the individual. According to Fascism, a true, a great spiritual life cannot take place unless the State has risen to a position of pre-eminence in the world of man. The curtailment of liberty thus becomes justified at once, and this need of rising the State to its rightful position."-Mario Palmieri, "The Philosophy of Fascism"
And this just gives me chills:
If an opportunity arises to expand presidential prerogatives, you will seize it.
October 9th, 2007 at 4:33 pmToo bad it's taken 35 to 37 years to get out. Where was this book or similiar reports eight years ago when it would've done some good?
October 9th, 2007 at 4:36 pmWhat's wrong, John? You haven't received the official talking points yet?
October 9th, 2007 at 4:42 pmI am assuming that Clinton will reverse all these powers to the executive branch when you elect her or you will protest her. RIGHT?
October 9th, 2007 at 4:45 pmHey… I just thought of a new term that we can coin: conservo-fascism
I wouldn't go there. It's just fascism, old-school authoritarian fascism. Don't lend any credence to their nonsensical "Islamofascism" term. That's just a complete joke. It's not a hybrid of anything, it's just fascism. They've perverted or inverted the meaning of so many terms already, let's not contribute to the confusion.
http://leftopia.blogspot.com/2007/09/f-bomb.html
October 9th, 2007 at 4:46 pmI'm not saying that the Cheney cabal had anything to do with 9/11.
I am saying that when they saw their chance, they took off with it and ran with it.
What it means is that all this was never about 9/11 and the War on Terror. It was about a simple grab for power at any cost, including the Constitution.
October 9th, 2007 at 4:46 pmI am assuming that Clinton will reverse all these powers to the executive branch when you elect her or you will protest her. RIGHT?
Comment by Roger_Roger — October 9, 2007 @ 4:45 pm
Absodamnlutely.
It's not a partisan issue, other than the fact the people who continuously try to turn this country into a dictatorship or an oligarchy are invariably Republicans.
October 9th, 2007 at 4:47 pmI am assuming that Clinton will reverse all these powers to the executive branch when you elect her or you will protest her. RIGHT?
I can already hear the hysterical wailing about "abuse of power"...
October 9th, 2007 at 4:47 pmCheney is a full blown psychopath. He didn't get that way overnight.
October 9th, 2007 at 4:48 pmWasn't Cheney Nixon's Chief of Staff when they sent that little Friedman Coup down to Chile in '73?
What a coincidence that everything is being Privatized now, to the detriment of this nation and the people that live in it.
Welcome to the new Chile, boys and girls.
October 9th, 2007 at 4:48 pmlook behind cheney for the real controls to the levers.
October 9th, 2007 at 4:49 pmI am assuming that Clinton will reverse all these powers to the executive branch when you elect her or you will protest her. RIGHT?
Comment by Roger_Roger — October 9, 2007 @ 4:45 pm
Scared Roger. Hopefully the next president, whoever it is, will use all their powers to to get to the truth behind this pile of shit Bush and Cheney habe gotten us all into.
October 9th, 2007 at 4:50 pmThank goodness Hillary will have dictatorial powers! That will speed up her handling of the whole Republican problem. I say we herd them all into Texas, then build a wall.
October 9th, 2007 at 4:51 pm"I’m not saying that the Cheney cabal had anything to do with 9/11."
Why not? You think those planes got past the most well defended air-space on the planet with box-cutters?
Maybe you think Building 7 fell down because "a main support beam had been severed"?
Maybe you think Bush's brother working for Securacom (security at towers) was just a strange coincidence?
Philip Zelikow head of the 9/11 Commission and now a leading proponate for invading iran?
hmmmmm?
October 9th, 2007 at 4:52 pmI’m not saying that the Cheney cabal had anything to do with 9/11.
No, maybe not. But not being vigilant when you receive a PDB titled "Osama bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the US" and not react, well you can see where the conspiracies come from.
October 9th, 2007 at 4:53 pmI hope whomever is elected as our next president fully investigates Bush and Cheney's attempts to usurp all of the power in this country and show the American people what scum the Republicans truly are.
October 9th, 2007 at 4:54 pmI guess it took Cheney 30 years to find a patsy in Bush. A guy who isn't that interested in running a nation.
October 9th, 2007 at 4:56 pmI am assuming that Clinton will reverse all these powers to the executive branch when you elect her or you will protest her. RIGHT?
Comment by Roger_Roger — October 9, 2007 @ 4:45 pm
Wrong, asshat.
October 9th, 2007 at 4:59 pmFrankly, I do not trust anyone with the abuse of power Bush has been flaunting.
If Clinton abuses office, I will be calling for her impeachment like I do for Bush's impeachment.
No... conspiracy theory (or just plain logic) comes from an group determined to Privatize EVERYTHING, gains the control they need to install strict Friedman Disaster Ecconomics on the country because someone just happened to forget to read the PDB and the Trade Towers were destroyed while Nixon's man that sent Friedmand and the Chicago Boys down to Chile was at the helm.
That and the Towers had been Privatized for 6 WHOLE WEEKS before they got hit! Making a long time conservative supporter, Larry Silverstein, 6 billion dollars in insurance money (that was re-insured by the US taxpayer).
that's where "conspiracy theories" come from. Research.
October 9th, 2007 at 4:59 pmI am assuming that Clinton will reverse all these powers to the executive branch when you elect her or you will protest her. RIGHT?
Comment by Roger_Roger — October 9, 2007 @ 4:45 pm
ABSOLUTELY!!
The funny thing is this one comment goes further to show how completely conservatives miss the point than anything I could say.
We are against the abuse of power whether someone on the right or someone on the left is the one doing it. Abuse of power is abuse of power, no matter who is doing it and it is always wrong.
October 9th, 2007 at 5:02 pmGod, I’m glad I’m not a lib! It must bef frustrating!
Not really. It USED to be. But now America has woken up from her hypnosis and brainwashing and you and your ilk are no longer convincing anyone of anything. I can't remember the last time I felt as though you on the right were converting anyone to your brand of conservative christian fascism. You see, apart from the 30 percenters like yourself, the rest of the country positively hates you and the neocon cabal who have hijacked and disgraced our country. So I beg to differ.
October 9th, 2007 at 5:03 pm"Any clues you can throw out there?"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_on_Foreign_Relations
start there
October 9th, 2007 at 5:05 pmthen read this margaret....
http://willyloman.wordpress.com/2007/09/05/the-clear-and-present-danger-of-lies/
October 9th, 2007 at 5:07 pmComment by lefty — October 9, 2007 @ 5:03 pm
damn right
October 9th, 2007 at 5:08 pm“This not news to many………
Comment by Nevar â€
It’s not?
Comment by finallyinsf@hotmail.com Duffy — October 9, 2007 @ 5:05 pm
Some of us have been warning about PNAC and it's sponsors, Cheney, etc., since 1997 when their web site went up.
October 9th, 2007 at 5:10 pmKrazny, they groomed him for it. They found the dumbest man they could feasibly sell to the conservatives, and they've been leading him around by a leash since then. Remember how big Bush's coffers were before the primaries - I remember thinking, wth, when did this happen? The guy wasn't even seriously on the radar, then boom - tons of cash and a virtual shoo in for the nomination. He was exactly what they needed - a boy prince with a good name who would keep out of the way. Someone tells the boy to confer with Cheney over a Veep pick, and lo and behold, Cheney picks Cheney, who could then bring all the neocons along to run the nation from his shadow government.
It's really an amazing story and I hope in my lifetime we find out what really went on.
October 9th, 2007 at 5:10 pmHe has to have made plans to deal with Dems acquiring this new presidential power. I can't imagine him being OK with Hillary or Obama having this kind of power. Or perhaps, someday, Feingold. And I'm sure he's thought of the possibility that some future imperial president may want to use these new powers to investigate his role in Bush's War, KBR's no-bids, his energy policy meetings, etc. According to his cowardly doctrine, if there's a one percent chance he or his power or wealth will be threatened, then he must have a plan. And this guy is so evil that I'm afraid of what he'll do in the face of a Dem victory.
All of docs the WH and the VP are withholding will be available to the next administration. Even if the shredders have started already, there's a very good chance something will be overlooked.
I can't help but think of the following: Bush has the power to name anyone an enemy combatant. He has an ideologically aligned SCOTUS. And a possibly still compliant DoJ. He has lowered the bar for what's needed to declare Martial Law. He has decimated the states' national guards. He's fired most of the military commanders who disagree with him. And he has close ties to the largest mercenary force in the world.
I'm just sayin', is all.
Hopefully Rove (remember him?) will manage to steal the election peacefully.
Beware the new Red Menace.
Don't say "Iraq War", say "Bush's War."
NEVER EVER say "surge". Say "Bush's Escalation."
Remember Highlights(r) for Children:
Goofus always says: "Surge."
Gallant always says: "Escalation."
E Pleb Neesta
October 9th, 2007 at 5:11 pmGODISNOWHERE
If HPV vaccination and sex-ed cause promiscuity, then confession causes sin.
Leave it to Deadeye Dick to make a collosal failure: 30 years planning, and what does he accomplish? The destruction of the GOP, its brand, its principles, and its chances for an electoral majority for the forseeable future. What a stupid piece of filth Cheney is.
October 9th, 2007 at 5:12 pm42,
Change the URL dimwit.
October 9th, 2007 at 5:17 pmThen margaret, if you are still interested, please read
http://willyloman.wordpress.com/2007/09/01/what-a-coincidence/
it's about the previously mentioned "Defense Planning Guide" and the Wolfowitz Doctrine and a little know 1996 stratigy plan called "Shock and Awe".
very interesting stuff.
notice how most of the CFR Corporate Members are Defense Contractors? like lockheed martin, halliburton, GE, General Dynamics ect. ect. ect.
October 9th, 2007 at 5:22 pmIt's not a conspiracy, it's just business.
October 9th, 2007 at 5:25 pmI don't think they meant it the whole thing to be such a mess. I think they believed their own propaganda on how wonderful Iraq would be.
October 9th, 2007 at 5:31 pmI need to ask my koolaid drinking Rush loving conservative friends is this a liberal agenda:
Prohibit military commissions whose verdicts are suspect except in places of active hostilities where a battlefield tribunal is necessary to obtain fresh testimony or to prevent anarchy;
Prohibit the use of secret evidence or evidence obtained by torture or coercion in military or civilian tribunals;
Prohibit the detention of American citizens as unlawful enemy combatants without proof of criminal activity on the President’s say-so;
Restore habeas corpus for alleged alien enemy combatants, i.e., non-citizens who have allegedly participated in active hostilities against the United States, to protect the innocent;
Prohibit the National Security Agency from intercepting phone conversations or emails or breaking and entering homes on the President’s say-so in violation of federal law;
Empower the House of Representatives and the Senate collectively to challenge in the Supreme Court the constitutionality of signing statements that declare the intent of the President to disregard duly enacted provisions of bills he has signed into law because he maintains they are unconstitutional;
Prohibit the executive from invoking the state secrets privilege to deny justice to victims of constitutional violations perpetrated by government officers or agents; and, establish legislative-executive committees in the House and Senate to adjudicate the withholding of information from Congress based on executive privilege that obstructs oversight and government in the sunshine;
Prohibit the President from kidnapping, detaining, and torturing persons abroad in collaboration with foreign governments;
Amend the Espionage Act to permit journalists to report on classified national security matters without fear of prosecution; and;
Prohibit the listing of individuals or organizations with a presence in the United States as global terrorists or global terrorist organizations based on secret evidence.
October 9th, 2007 at 5:34 pmNow, when will bright people like this one and Klein FINALLY make the connection between these imperial ambitions and 9/11?
How long will they keep pretending it just happened by “chance†so they don’t get labled a “nut job�
Comment by willyloman — October 9, 2007 @ 4:14 pm
They are "Coincidence Theorists", much like Chomsky, Goodman, and other liberals that think that the Bush-Cheney Cabal did not have the intelligence to pull off 9/11. They did however start a few wars, undermine the Constitution, and are holding a Democratic Congress hostage. I am amazed on how people can say they believe ZERO coming out of the White House, yet believe the "19 Arabs" theory.
October 9th, 2007 at 5:36 pmI don't think the Bush administration pulled off 9/11. I do think they knew something was going to happen, and chose not to chase leads, and connect dots. It was what they needed to go into Iraq.
October 9th, 2007 at 5:40 pmheh. Indeed.
October 9th, 2007 at 5:42 pmI don’t think they meant it the whole thing to be such a mess. I think they believed their own propaganda on how wonderful Iraq would be.
Comment by Krazny
I don't know... seems like in 1994 cheney knew... http://youtube.com/watch?v=6BEsZMvrq-I
October 9th, 2007 at 5:44 pmCharlie Savage: Cheney Plotted Bush’s Imperial Presidency ‘Thirty Years Ago’
October 9th, 2007 at 5:44 pmI'd say thirty years is enough time to plan "some catastrophic and catalyzing event - like a new Pearl Harbor".
9/11 was allowed to happen.
October 9th, 2007 at 5:45 pmThose that knew specifics (Israeli intelligence, etc.) said nothing.
It was easy for Dick and Condi to diss the CIA's OBL intelligence, and pump George up for going on a crusade into the Middle East
Krazny sez:
This administration knew exactly what an invasion of Iraq would produce, and they were planning on it. Now they have what they want - an endless war, justifying a permanent military presence in the Middle East.
October 9th, 2007 at 5:47 pmNobody forces you to spend your worthless existence on a site where you are loathed. You do it on your own or are paid to be here day in and day out.
October 9th, 2007 at 5:53 pmYou’re amazing! You actually understood what I was getting at which is that it’s getting BORING and BORING and BORING to keep hearing the same old left nut lib talking points OVER and OVER and OVER again about Bush and Cheney etc etc. I’d pay for some new material from you guys!!
Comment by John Kerry — October 9, 2007 @ 4:56 pm
So fine. Give us some new talking points from your side we can rebut. I suspect the reason you are bored is because you no longer have any defense for these guys.
October 9th, 2007 at 6:02 pmThis administration knew exactly what an invasion of Iraq would produce, and they were planning on it. Now they have what they want - an endless war, justifying a permanent military presence in the Middle East.
Comment by TripMaster Monkey
This sounds about right to me.
October 9th, 2007 at 6:09 pmThis administration knew exactly what an invasion of Iraq would produce, and they were planning on it. Now they have what they want - an endless war, justifying a permanent military presence in the Middle East.
Comment by TripMaster Monkey — October 9, 2007 @ 5:47 pm
On this topic, we violently disagree. I think this administration honestly thought that Rumsfeld's strategy would work, that you could invade and occupy a country like Iraq without committing sufficient resources. They also believed that they could quickly and easily replace Saddam with their own benevolent dictator, Chalabi, and start sucking on the Iraqi oil teat immediately.
Because to me, that's the proof your theory is wrong: where is the oil revenue?
Not to mention, we've seen this administration prove over and over again that they are utterly incompetent at anything but manipulation . . . of the press and Congress and the American public. Why assume they got it right once?
October 9th, 2007 at 6:42 pmPlease, Please, Please,
Someone put a stop the the moron, evil bastard that I've been complaining about around here for serveral years named David Addington!!!!!
He is stupid, he is dangerous and Congress should get this bastard under oath fast!!!
If we invade Iran it's his mouth making it happen.
David Addington needs to be reined in ASAP!!! Along with Dick(head) Cheney!!!
October 9th, 2007 at 7:14 pmBTW,
Charlie Savage is just now catching up with the rest of us who have known this sh!t since Vietnam!!!!!
And TP should know this!!!
October 9th, 2007 at 7:17 pmThere is a whole generation, or two, who do not know even the most recent US history, for a number of reasons.
October 9th, 2007 at 7:36 pmCover-up, for one, misogynistic materialism for another.
They barely know who Nixon was, and then only as a jowly Halloween mask.
You have it backwards as do most people. We went to Iraq for the oil, but not to take it. We went to take it off the market, thus driving up the cost of the rest of the oil.
aka record profits for the oil companies.
Their plan is working perfectly.
October 9th, 2007 at 7:57 pmTheir plan is working perfectly.
Comment by Spudge Boy
The oil is still underneath the sand, isn't it?
October 9th, 2007 at 8:03 pmAnd even less functioning infrastructure to move it anywhere...
Meanwhile they can destroy the nation of Iraq, create separate zones of influence, and not have such messy issues like democracy and human rights to deal with.
We've known this - This diabolical plot to overtake this democracy and install fascism was cooked up during Pappy Bush's presidency - three decades ago. All they needed was to buff up the royal buffoon to be able to install a puppet whose strings they could pull. PNAC had this intentional abuse of power strategically plotted to a tee!
October 9th, 2007 at 8:45 pmYes Spudge - Most of their diabolical plot has come to fruition, thanks to sycophantic politicians and asleep americans. We'd better wake up before it's too late. It sounds like the democracy death knell is sounding.
October 9th, 2007 at 8:46 pmWhoever is the Democratic President in 2009 will be able to use the "unitary executive" powers to wiretap Bush and his neocronies and to disclose all of their felonious activities. President Hillary/Barack will be able to declare Georgie and Count Cheney as enemy combatants and hold them without trial at Guantanemo. Then his non-torture torture can be used to get the truth out of them. That would be justice.
arguewithmydad
October 9th, 2007 at 9:41 pmOn February 26, 2001, Paul Bremer said of the administration, quote, "What they will do is stagger along until there’s a major incident and then suddenly say, ‘Oh my God, shouldn’t we be organized to deal with this?"
And 9/11 of course provided that needed new Pearl Harbor that the neocons have for long wished for.
October 9th, 2007 at 10:16 pmBrain says "I am amazed on how people can say they believe ZERO coming out of the White House, yet believe the “19 Arabs†theory."
I agree, but I think it has more to do with their reluctance to give up on the entire "Free Market=Democracy" lie.
That's why I am so surprised by Klein and Chomskey. They have a great deal of insight into just what these people have been doing over the last 30 or so years... and yet they refuse to connect the dots.
October 9th, 2007 at 11:47 pm1984;
This is one of my favorites...
http://willyloman.wordpress.com/2007/08/29/the-smoking-gun-is-a-mushroom-cloud/
please check it out if you get a chance.
October 9th, 2007 at 11:49 pmhttp://www.patriotsquestion911.com/
I'm sure Chomsky has connected the dots, but I think he probably keeps his mouth shut simply because anyone who suggests even that the government had foreknowledge and did nothing is lumped in with every bizarre theory out there.
I personally think the governmetn knew about it, and let it happen. Simple as that. I dont know for sure, but I dont want, and think it isnt necessary to become involved in scientific debate about which I have virtually no personal knowledge or understanding.
October 10th, 2007 at 1:40 amWhere are the pictures of a plane hitting the Pentagon ?
Even your local Wal-Mart has at least 100 cameras on the property.
∞
October 10th, 2007 at 2:30 amnot to mention the fact that he former company Halliburton would benefit tremendously from war with Iran.
Comment by Probus — October 10, 2007 @
Also, not to mention the fact that that scenario might 'allow' his puppet to claim executive power and stay in office.
∞
October 10th, 2007 at 2:36 am>I am assuming that Clinton will reverse all these powers
Roger Roger, as usual your ignorance is stunning. These presidential powers have not been codified into law anywhere, nor has any supreme court precedent been made recently which substantially expanded presidential powers, so there is nothing to "reverse". In fact, the only way to actively continue in Bush's footsteps would be if the new president continued to break the law by doing things like ignoring the 4th amendment, the FISA courts, international treaties which have been ratified by congress and thus absorbed into american law, etc etc. If you consider following the law to be "reversing things" thing I guess according to this logic, clinton hopefully will.
October 10th, 2007 at 8:19 amYes this is standard operating procedure for Cheney...He wanted to break in Seymour Hersh's aprtment/house 32 years ago and his concerns for the Constuitution were pretty moot at the time..
October 10th, 2007 at 9:53 am