When I was away, I found myself watching the news a lot. And a lot went on last week: airports in the UK threatened, the end of the immigration bill, significant Supreme Court rulings, more fires and floods, the surviving Beatles on Larry King (hey, it was important to me), Elizabeth Edwards in a dustup with someone. Watched CNN, MSNBC, even five minutes of FOX News before the gag reflex kicked in.
But my favorite story was about the Vice President, and I’ll tell you why. My wife works for a school consortium, but works at two other schools. She is bound by the rules, not only of the consortium, but of the individual schools as well. My company, the NYS Small Business Development Center, has reporting obligations to the State University of New York, the U.S. Small Business Administration, AND the Association of Small Business Development Centers. Dick Cheney, however, has found a way for us all to put that red tape behind him. When someone asks him who has been meeting in his office on his energy policy, he can claim executive privilege. When he’s asked to abide by an executive order to declare what secrets he’s holding, he becomes, as President of the U.S. Senate, a member of the legislative body.
This is BRILLIANT! I’m sure that my organization, and entities in the same situation, will now be able to say, “Oh, X, we don’t have to tell you that, because we also report to Y.” All of those calls for his impeachment or resignation will certainly now immediately cease.
Oh, and just yesterday, a prisoner in Cheneyland, Scooter Libby, got his jail time eliminated. “And justice for all” indeed.
ROG