Gotta Comment on Dick Cheney

Okay. I can't not comment on this, for a whole host of reasons, but one more importantly than all the others.

First. I am a Democrat. I did not vote for anyone named Bush, ever. And I never will. Ever. Second. I am a strong believer in individual liberties and the idea from Vendetta that the people should never fear their government, the government should fear the people. Third. Anything that makes people talk about politics is fantastic! Brilliant! Interesting! I would much rather people get enraged about Cheney than the latest Idol vote.

But most importantly, I am an executive-legislative relations scholar. This is what I study for a living. How these two branches interact with each other. And into this comes the veep. Claiming he is not part of the executive branch in an effort to get out of oversight by the National Archives (I rather love this image of a bunch of archival librarians taking down the Administration). My response to this claim is WHAT?!?!?!? Um, yes, that's my expert response. The VP is only mentioned in Article II of the U.S. Constitution - for those of you good Americans who haven't actually read the Constitution which is written in English, Article II is the executive branch article. He is mentioned briefly in Article I (legislative branch) for tie breaking in the Senate. The 12th amendment to the U.S. Constitution makes it clear the VP is elected in with the President, so he is clearly connected electorally to the executive. Also, his office, the Office of the Vice President, is housed bureaucratically in the Executive Office of the Presidency. Note all those executives in there.

Today Rahm Emmanuel said, if he's not part of the executive branch, we'll stop paying into the executive budget for him. The VP said, oops, I am part of the executive branch.

That's the power of the purse.