http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/23902Editorials Add to Cheney's Warm Bucket
Submitted by davidswanson on Sat, 2007-06-23 17:35. Media
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/8144662.htmlEditorial | Cheney
The imperial veep
Sat, Jun. 23, 2007
How do you turn a job that a Depression-era vice president said wasn't worth a "bucket of warm spit" into a new, fourth branch of the federal government?
Elect one Richard B. Cheney as vice president of the United States - he of the ever-grimacing smile, and the undisclosed location.
That's one conclusion from the latest dust-up over Cheney's unhealthy penchant for secrecy.
This time, he's has gone beyond merely shielding the identities of those he's consulting on policy, or having the visitor logs removed at his official residence. Now he's ignoring the president's orders to detail how his office safeguards classified documents.
For the last four years, Cheney has refused to comply with routine oversight of his office's handling of classified documents, as required by a Clinton-era presidential order reaffirmed by President Bush.
When the National Archives unit that looks after classification matters for the executive branch showed up at Cheney's office, it was barred from making an inspection. At one point, the vice president's staff even had the chutzpah to propose the ultimate bureaucratic form of revenge - abolishing the archives unit.
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