Comments on: Addington: Vice President Isn’t Part Of Executive Branch, ‘Attached’ To Legislative

By: worths1

worths1 — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 21:04:23 +0000

The fourth branch assertion is absurd, but clever. The veep, essentially an unelected office, is accountable to no one.

By: MapleStreet

MapleStreet — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:38:04 +0000

If the Veep is part of the Legislative Branch, then Congress has full rights to any papers, memos, etc. therein.

By: ForTruth

ForTruth — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 05:22:56 +0000

The reason Cheney is getting away with it, is because the office of VP was never intended to function the way Cheney is working his office. Therefore, there is no way to adequately address his assertions. Cheney has found new and unique ways to abuse the office of VP. Most all previous VP’s had enough respect for the office, and the country, to avoid going where Cheney has gone.

It’s like how criminals find new ways to get around laws, before any particular legislative body addresses it, except this time the criminal is the VP of the United States, and the Legislative body has not stood up to him.

By: questioneverything

questioneverything — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 03:10:41 +0000

And if the country is very lucky, somebody will go to jail. If they spin fast enough maybe one of them will get real dizzy and say something to put them away for many, many years.

By: Max-1

Max-1 — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 02:52:29 +0000

NOLIESPLEASE.
The 2000 race was a selection…
I din’t sit on the court, therefore, I NEVER SELECTED G.W.B.
The 2004 race was stolen in Ohio…
I live in Washington State and never voted for G.W.B. PERIOD!

Who counts your vote…?

By: Alecto

Alecto — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 02:06:04 +0000

Cheney the barnacle.

I love the image.

“Ehhh, Fcuk you” with a popeye type of pipe sticking out of his barnacle lips. Someone please draw that.

“Ehh, Fcuk you.”

I DESPISE cheney, I think he needs to summarily tar and feathered, hung, then drawn and quartered, then cremated, and his remnants shipped off in a rocket to the sun, so that his DNA can never stain this earth again.
Now, his family, starting with the gay beotch and the homunculus…

By: Lisajoy

Lisajoy — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 01:13:31 +0000

Taking Dick Cheney and Addington at their word, we can conclude that the Vice-President is a fourth branch of the government who functions as a link between the executive and legislative branches but is accountable to neither (and therefore more powerful than both) and is not answerable to the third branch of government (the Supreme Court). This “fourth” branch of government, furthermore, operates “on the dark side” and, according to Cheney, the American people are just going to have to exercise a little patience on that, too, even though the Vice Presidents is a non-elected office holder. I’m sure that all of this was explained to us in the secret proclamation that Dick Cheney made the day after he took office; said secret proclamation not available for reading under the Information of Freedom of Act because Al-Qaeda might be able to understand English. Hahaha

By: Doormat Dawn

Doormat Dawn — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 22:53:31 +0000

Am pretty sure that the Russian Mafia/Kremlin was apart of Cheney’s energy task force in 2001 and that was why he fought so hard not to disclose the task force’s members.

Fortunately, I am pretty sure a grand jury can indict a sitting VP, so since Cheney is linked to the Abramoff and Cunningham corruption probes (info I know that I can’t share so as not to cause a mistrial, plus what already is public)–both with a common thread of Russia apart of their tentacles, Cheney’s day of reckoning may not be far off when Dusty Foggo is tried in November.

Hint: If the VP weren’t so busy defending his family’s business interests from office for years, then in the future he wouldn’t be thought of as a 911-insider. My remark will make more sense to readers once Foggo is tried and you’ll be able to connect the dots between.

By: shoeless

shoeless — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 21:50:33 +0000

Addington: Vice President Isn’t Part Of The Human Race, ‘Attached’ To 7 Levels Of Hell»

By: NOLIESPLEASE

NOLIESPLEASE — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 21:20:14 +0000

Before we make judgements on our politicians, lets look at ourselves first. We are the ones who put them their!!! not once but twice. This goes out to the 50 + 1 who voted Republican. TIME TO START A THIRD PARTY.

By: DRxJ

DRxJ — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:06:57 +0000

Oh deary dear!
rogerse(rogerdo,rogerconfused) is not drunk enough to be completely incoherent. He’s still semi sober enough to try and form an argument, with links. But then, , the alcohol overrides the last remaining neurons in the brain, and he forgets what the hell his arguing about. When facts are presented that debunks him, he does what any good ol drunk does, exclaim “FCK ya’ll, I’m done” and leaves.
The question to ponder is, in his inebriated state, does he actually enjoy the abuse of being “troll-whacked”?

By: JMOHR

JMOHR — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 19:56:40 +0000

Rogerse and his allegations concerning the VP as being part of the legislative branch are simply incorrect. The VP role was based largely on state practice of having lieutenant govenors preside over the legislative branch. However, the lt govenors were always seen as part of the executive branch. This is what has always been so frustrating with the Republican approach. They insist upon reading the constitution exactly as written and consistent with the practices of the time at which it was adopted. However, interpretation based upon practice and custom have no place when it interferes with a Republican power grab.

Rogerse whould really read what his source states:

Several framers ultimately refused to sign the Constitution, in part because they viewed the vice president’s legislative role as a violation of the separation of powers doctrine. Elbridge Gerry, who would later serve as vice president, declared that the framers “might as well put the President himself as head of the legislature.” Others thought the office unnecessary but agreed with Connecticut delegate Roger Sherman that “if the vice-President were not to be President of the Senate, he would be without employment, and some member [of the Senate, acting as presiding officer] must be deprived of his vote.”

(emphasis added)

The vice-president was considered part of the executive branch and created issues of separation of power. The role as presiding officer of the Senate merely resolved a practical problem of what to do with the VP and how to avoid losing one senator from being able to vote. Indeed, the VP can only cast a vote when there is a tie. This just emphasizes the very limited role that the VP has with Congress.

By: Bob

Bob — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 19:53:19 +0000

It’s similar to ‘not guilty by reason of insanity’. They’re just trying (so far successfully) to circumvent the law by declaring ambiguity. It’s no coincidence that this precedent comes during unprecedented criminal activity. I say, yes he is insane, but still guilty. His state of mind doesn’t prevent prosecution to the fullest extent of the law (the real law, not this ’secret law’ bulshit).

By: misshusseinmolly

misshusseinmolly — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 19:49:56 +0000

Um — didn’t we do this dance already? And isn’t it true that if the veep isn’t part of the executive branch, he doesn’t need any executive branch funding?

I believe that Cheney eventually backed down and admitted he was part of the executive branch. Perhaps Addington didn’t get the memo (I understand they have GREAT problems with e-mail in this administration).

If somebody said this already, please forgive me. I just got back from the dentist and I haven’t read all the posts.

By: Keith H.

Keith H. — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 19:48:29 +0000

Cheney’s response:
Vice Presidents, historically speaking, are very, very good liars.
I have become, uhh, a robust, nation wide, now widely known, excellent liar.
The, uhh, World Champion of liars, if you will.

By: paleolib

paleolib — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 19:45:33 +0000

Not to get all technical but if you actually look at the Constitution (that was the manual after all before chimpy & the Dick started invoking the divine right of kings), the VP is mentioned exactly once in Article I (Section 3 which makes him President of the Senate but with no vote except to break ties). Needless to say the VP is mentioned many more times in Article II not to mention the 12th, 20th and 25th amendments, all of which deal with the election, term and replacement of the President and Vice President. The President likewise is mentioned exactly once in Article I incidentally (Section 7 which authorizes veto power). Makes it somewhat difficult to argue that the VP is some form of hybrid outside the executive branch when the job is referenced only once in the Constitution outside the realm of the executive. The only way Addington’s argument can even remotely make sense is if you interpret the Constitution to give the VP no authority to do anything other than sit in the Senate and wait for a tie vote. If that is the case, no authority exists for Cheney to have an office in any executive office building as he has no executive function as long as chimpy is capable of playing president. As noted above, he cannot invoke executive privilege and for that matter Bush can’t assert privilege over any meeting Cheney attended or any paper he reviewed because such privilege is waived by exposure to someone outside the executive branch. Doubt any of our representatives were smart enough to ask any of this but I can dream.

By: Leftside Annie

Leftside Annie — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 19:45:00 +0000

rogerse Says:

ralph the wonder llama Says:

your irrelevant question means nothing.

In other words, rogerrabid, “I fart in your general direction,” right…?

OK. Good response.

By: StratRat

StratRat — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 19:43:59 +0000

I am not here to bash Rx2. It just amazes me that, with regard to the malfeasance in the bush administration, there doesn’t seem to any issue which bothers him. In the last few months, TP has brought up many, many issues of administration criminality and avoidance of common law, but in every one of the topics, Rx2 just supports – sometimes with comical results – the administrations view of tyrannical powers.

I am trying to imagine a scenario which would bring Rx2 in alignment with the rest of thoughtful humanity. I am truly at a loss to explain the absolute fealty to this adminstration.

By: RUCerious

RUCerious — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 19:41:41 +0000

Well, then I guess any mention of EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE goes right out the open window, now doesn’t it?

By: Kay

Kay — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 19:35:42 +0000

The Cheney Mantra:

1. Lie
2. Obfuscate
3. Misspeak
4. Rinse and repeat 1-3