Editorial: Cheney's secrecy fits long pattern (Star-Tribune)

[struggle4progress]

And so does his willingness to reinterpret established law.
Published: June 26, 2007

~snip~ What does make sense is this: All of the contorted reasoning offered up by Cheney and the White House fits perfectly into Cheney's longtime pattern of operation as vice president. As the Washington Post put it in Part 1 of "Angler, the Cheney Vice Presidency" on Sunday, "Stealth is among Cheney's most effective tools."

And as the enterprise series makes plain, Cheney stands ready and willing to reinterpret laws, treaties and executive orders as he sees fit -- to the extent of reinterpreting the rights of prisoners and the definition of torture.

Secrecy is antithetical to the American values of government openness and public access. Indeed, part of the executive order in question provides a rationale for ensuring that classified material is chosen sparely and handled correctly: "Our democratic principles require that the American people be informed of the activities of their government."

Cheney's decision to rebuff the oversight office looks to be one more case of rewriting plain law.

http://www.startribune.com/editorials/story/1267831.html

[Kagemusha]

1. Two points I'd like to point out here re: what this editorial raises.

Point #1: Cheney's position on treaties seems to be, since treaties are ratified by Congress, they only carry as much force as Congress' power to restrain the President under the Constitution. In other words, if the US ratifies a war crimes treaty, the treaty does not restrain the President because the treaty is not the solemn word of the United States, but merely the say-so of Congress, and Congress can go f--- itself.

Point #2: If the office of the vice-president is not part of the executive branch, and is not accountable to the executive branch's internal safeguards for the protection of national secrets established to allow the executive branch to do better protect America, why the HELL is it kosher, or for that matter, legal, to distribute national secrets outside the executive branch in this manner???