Diane Rehm....Panel of Legal Experts on Cheney Authority NOW

[KoKo]

She's interviewing Waxman now!

10:00The Executive Branch and Classified Information

Vice President Dick Cheney is drawing fire for his assertion that his office should not be subject to a presidential order requiring reports to the National Archives on the handling of classified information. Diane and her guests talk about those rules: what they're for, to whom they apply, and the consequences of omissions from those records.

http://wamu.org/programs/dr/

[babylonsister]

1. Thanks. I've never listened to her before. nt

[KoKo]

7. hang in with her. She's a great interviewer....

[KoKo]

13. Asking Peter Baker of NYT's about WaPo Expose on Cheney...

He's saying article peels through layers of what went on. Diane talking how the WH circumvented other top cabinet memebers...in getting his agenda through for torture and detainees.

[KoKo]

15. Stever Aftergood from Union for Concerned Science....

He says we see a VP running roughshod over standard procedures....we've got the office becoming more powerful and less accountable.

He's saying that White House is in conflict with it's own Oversight Committee that it set up! He says that public opinion is important in this issue because people can see what this VP is doing.

[KoKo]

17. Rivkin is worked up saying..."everyone assumes there's something sinister here..."

:rofl: YES...EVERYONE DOES ASSUME THAT YOU REAGAN BOT...SPINNING YOUR ASS OFF!

Diane slams him...this is YOUR VIEW OF WHAT SHOULD BE! USING THAT AS FACT...when there are MANY QUESTIONS.... GOOD on her!

[KoKo]

19. She asks why they Complied before 2003 but stopped after that!

Aftergood doesn't really answer that..though...but she brought it up.

[KoKo]

20. Open Phones, next. Usually Liberal Callers on her show...but

occasionally a Freep butts in and she handles them very well....rephrasing their manipulation into a good question.

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

2. interviewing henry waxman

wow, henry waxman actually getting airtime.

[helderheid]

3. Thanks!!

[babylonsister]

4. I wish Waxman had a plan; he sounds way too tentative. Rehm is trying

to push the issue, or was. x(

[Kagemusha]

6. In all fairness this stuff's so mind boggling it's hard to deal with.

I mean, for an actual congressman. This is stuff that You Just Do Not Do. And yet Cheney's doing it.

That said, he'd better come up with a plan asap.

[babylonsister]

8. True; I'll cut him 'a little' slack.

:D

[Kagemusha]

10. A little and not much.

And that works for me.

I think a lot of the caucus' proverbial herd of cats is nervous.

[KoKo]

5. She asks what "authority does Congress have" ....Waxman says

they need to do oversight, they need to make laws. Diane says what's the next step? He says we bring people in to ask them questions. Diane says: What if they don't come?

She really grilled Waxman and Waxman kept talking about Plame Case and National Security. He seemed unwilling to say what measures could be done to get Gonzo's Justice to investigate. :shrug: I guess Waxman was being careful in saying there's nothing they can do but keep investigating.

Now interviewing Rivkin whose a Reaganite...but she has two others including Lawyer for Concerned Scientists who have been trying to expose Cheney so it should be interesting to see what the two others say, since Rivkin is for Unitary President. Diane is a tough questioner, too. Can't wait to see what she asks him.

[Kagemusha]

9. Sounds interesting. The real answer is of course...

If you're going short of impeachment, the tools Congress has available are precisely the ones Rahm Emanuel was proposing the use of: de-funding Cheney's office. That's legal and constitutional. (Albeit since it's regularly funded Bush could try vetoing stuff and then the laws for such events kick in and the office still gets funded but not in a very spiffy way... I guess...) Anyway, here's the point: if Waxman says that, it will come across as making a threat, not having an informational conversation.

Waxman seems to be very leery of making such threats without having the ducks lined up so that he can back them up.

[nickinSTL]

27. what authority does Congress have?

simple...IMPEACHMENT.

on edit: oh, and Emanuel's idea to defund the VP's office is actually a good step...short of impeachment, which is what the "investigations" Waxman keeps on about should lead to.

[Lasher]

11. Why not subpoena what they want?

I mean, how could Cheney assert executive privilege now?

[Kagemusha]

16. Technically the president asserts executive privilege anyway.

We got a preview on what would happen on Friday when the WH claimed that the office of the president, as well, is not subject to the president's own executive order which provided no such exemption to either it, or the VP's office. (Which is flat out lunacy mind you.)

[Captain Hilts]

12. Thanks!

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

14. The argument that Cheney is exempt because he has a legislative role is ridiculous!!!

The neocon legal community works full-time to just make shit up!!! :grr:

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

18. *GRRR* We are supposed to assume that Cheney is operating on 'principles'!!!

WTF 'principles' is Rivkin talking about: PRINCIPLES OF FRAUD AND PROFITEERING?

I hate to say it but I hate neocon magical bullshit legalese!!!

[KoKo]

21. Open Phones Next....usually good.....

[KoKo]

23. Rivkin saying Congress wants to put office in a straight jacket...

Aftergood saying this is an electric story because there's so much else going on with this administration. Talking about Torture and illegal surveillance. Says this story strikes a cord because the people can understand the over reach of power.

[EFerrari]

31. I like the straight jacket idea. n/t

[treestar]

35. Which is called "the separation of powers." That's a "straighjacket"

to people who want total power.

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

22. rivkin is a professional spinner

always says let's forget about the main point and goes on to talk about a minor point.

[KoKo]

24. Yep...he's a Reagan Poppy Guy....

[KoKo]

25. Rivkin doesn't know why Gonzo hasn't replied to Waxman...

saying there's no law to break ...yadda yadda. Baker is contradicting Rivkin saying that the P-residents own oversight has responsibility....to make sure order is followed.

[KoKo]

26. Caller urging Waxman to more forward faster...because we can't wait.

even though Waxman want's to take it one step at a time. Baker saying that Cheney takes power because he's not responsible to politics since he's not running in '08.

[Kagemusha]

29. When the President orders oversight, the executive branch is expected to comply.

That's really basic. A President who just doesn't care whether his orders are being complied with or not is just a weak leader... it may not be a matter of "breaking the law"... but it is certainly making a mockery of national security.

[KoKo]

30. Rivkin doesn't know why Gonzo hasn't replied to Waxman...

saying there's no law to break ...yadda yadda. Baker is contradicting Rivkin saying that the P-residents own oversight has responsibility....to make sure order is followed.

[supernova]

28. Talking about the Constitution

Diane's getting hot with this guy... :D

[KoKo]

32. Conclusion....Congress and Media are exposing Cheney...and it's

up to "The People" to wake up and do something. What are we supposed to do...is what I ask. :shrug:

[supernova]

33. It was a really good session

Diane made him admit that he hadn't talked to anybody in Cheney's office, much less Cheney himself about this subject. :rofl:

I'm not really sure why we're (the lefties) the only ones who seem to be upset about the * admin power grab. I understand but can't condone why other Repubs would be reluctant to confront this awful situation. I don't know why the center and the DLC types are so complacent and nonchalant about it. That's what enrages me.

The only thing we can do is keep it in the public discussion and not let it slide out of sight, where Cheney surely wants it. It needs to be so out there that he's asked about it, nay hounded about it, everywhere he goes. When he wakes up in the morning, when he makes TV appearances (ha!), when he has press calls, when he goes to the bathroom, when he goes to sleep at night. He needs to be hounded about it.

At the certain point the noise level will be too much for him to deal with. The only then we have left is our unruliness. By that I mean, we don't play by his rules.

[KoKo]

34. I begin to wonder if the Republicans in power no longer have anyone who isn't a Tom Delay/Orin Hatch

type of thinker. And that our Dems who have been there a long time aren't just so beaten down they don't have the sense of ethics left to go after what's been done to the Constitution. So many of both parties are beholden to the Lobbyists...it's different from years ago...when a person of conscience could still find others to support them.

The only place I see ethics and conscience talked about is on the Liberal Left Blogs where there's still a sense of outrage. :-(

[DURHAM D]

36. It isn't lack of ethics.

It is lack of enforceability and investigation. Congress doesn't have their own Justice Department. They are forced to rely on the existing one - the one that no longer functions except for the purpose of protecting Bush and Cheney.

Time to start talking about our CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS. The American people can handle the truth. However, if it becomes part of our national understanding of the government meltdown I guess Bush will declare martial law.