First we have Cheney holding secret meetings with energy conglomerates
and not reporting it, and Bush declares himself king during cases of
emergency, and now this:.....

Cheney Power Grab: Says White House Rules Don't Apply to Him

June 21, 2007 12:57 PM

Justin Rood Reports:

Vice President **** Cheney has asserted his office is not a part of the
executive branch of the U.S. government, and therefore not bound by a
presidential order governing the protection of classified information by
government agencies, according to a new letter from Rep. Henry Waxman,
D-Calif., to Cheney.

Bill Leonard, head of the government's Information Security Oversight
Office (ISOO), told Waxman's staff that Cheney's office has refused to
provide his staff with details regarding classified documents or submit
to a routine inspection as required by presidential order, according to
Waxman.

In pointed letters released today by Waxman, ISOO's Leonard twice
questioned Cheney's office on its assertion it was exempt from the
rules. He received no reply, but the vice president later tried to get
rid of Leonard's office entirely, according to Waxman.

Leonard did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In a statement e-mailed to the Blotter on ABCNews.com, Cheney
spokeswoman Megan McGinn said, "We are confident that we are conducting
the office properly under the law.”

As director of the tiny, 25-person Information Security Oversight
Office, Leonard is responsible for keeping track of the nation's secrets
and making sure they are properly protected.

For the first two years of the George W. Bush administration, Cheney's
office complied with a presidential order that requires officials to
report statistics on the number of documents it classifies and
declassifies.

Since 2003, however, Cheney's office has refused to submit the data to
ISOO. And when ISOO inspectors tried in 2004 to schedule a routine
inspection of the vice president's offices, they were rebuffed, Waxman's
letter claims.

Other White House offices, including the National Security Council, did
not object to similar inspections, according to Waxman.

"Serious questions can be raised about both the legality and
advisability of exempting your office from the rules that apply to all
other executive branch officials," Waxman said in his letter to the vice
president, and asked him to explain why he felt the rules didn't apply
to him and his staff and how he was protecting classified information in
his office.

Former Cheney aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby was recently convicted on
several counts of perjury and obstruction of justice stemming from the
leak of the identity of former covert CIA officer Valerie Plame, Waxman
noted, and in 2006, former Cheney aide Leandro Aragoncillo pleaded
guilty to sharing classified U.S. documents with foreign nationals.
Aragoncillo also worked under former Democratic Vice President Al Gore,
who complied with ISOO's requests.

that's why i posted him in the weapons thread!! lol

Sooooooooo, davinci whats your point?

Point?...this administration continues to mold power into the form they
like..completely ignoring the constitution & the checks and balances
that are there to prevent one branch from grabbing too much power...they
continue to do this without so much as a whimper from the congress..
doesnt bother you?..
Seems to be SOP with this current administration..


bl8ant..apologize if you posted this before in the weapons
thread...guess I missed it..

The Republicans are a great reckoning force, and I,m proud to be one.

Us conservatives had to put up with Slick Willie and Global Warming Gore
for 8 years, now it's your turn, quit whinning

no apologies!! there's enough to be said to fill up 10
threads!!!!!!!!!

Or maybe even a full dozen!

Hi Alex

we might as well go ahead and give ourselves back to england at the rate
we're goin.

jealously should be some kind of sin.

hate the game not the player.

and as much as you would want us to fall off the planet so some people
with the desire to obtain self righteousness off the torment of others
in order to prove what, they are the best brainwashers or something.

love it, leave it, respect it or not its still the best thing going.

****cheney- im glad hes where he is, some one with nuts to do what needs
to be done.

about the slickwilly- edured, and enduring it still, he's going to be
taking a greater part in the antichrist's campaign. just wish it was
over already not looking forward to being forced fed more of the lies
she has.

Armydoc and Forge,
Bravo!!

armydoc4u, what happened? Did you get hit in the head by an errant
mortar shell? "..someone with nuts to do what needs to be done."?
WTF????? Let's look at what he's "done", OK?
1-Was one of the prime movers & shakers in the mad dash to Iraq. Even
when there was NO tangible proof that Iraq was involved.
2-Brayed like the jackass he is about how Bin Ladin and Saddam were in
cahoots, even after it WAS PROVEN that they not only never were "in
cahoots", but actually despised one another.
3-Rigged the bidding(actually never had any bidding)to ensure Haliburton
recieved the contract to "rebuild" Iraq. These guys hit the ground
running. From overcharging soldiers for meals to blatant theft, this
company sure did ol'D*** proud.
4- I could go on and on and on and...well, hopefully,armydoc, you get
the message. But need more proof? Howsabout this latest misadventure
where THE D*** basically claims to be held to no laws. And you have the
unmitigated gall to blast the Clintons after this? Bill Clinton was the
best President of the last 30 years! If Hillary is half as good as Bill,
we're in for some great times in the good old U.S. of A.
One more thing, there, armydoc. Please answer this(don't strain yer
brain TOO much):You neocons whine like the spoiled brats you are about
how it's disrespectful to say anything negative about the
president(Bush), but you convieniently forgot your own drivel when
Clinton was in office. Good Lord, man, you can't have it both ways! If a
military man speaks badly of his commander-in-chief, isn't that a form
of treason? Just wondering. Think about THAT when Hillary wins in
'08!!!!!

davinci - I plead ignorant, help me out. ISOO - so they gather all the
information that has been labeled classified. I do understand the
checks and balances of having such a system, this is not where I'm lost.

Here is my issue: A department/office, has the right to 'classify'
information. Meaning it is not meant to be made public. This means
that this information could cause harm to the American public at large
or the armed forces should it become public. Whatever the reason, there
must be a department given the ability to review this classification to
determine it's validity.

BUT NOW - what do they do with information when they do not deem it
worthy of classification, or if they find treasonous activity, or when
they find fraud? Or when the do not get cooperation, as this case
indicates. Who is in charge?

Let us know - I for one, will send an email or a hundred to whoever does
not seem to be concerned.

Knoxman...agree with you on Clinton...don't give a flip about what he
did sexually behind closed doors...was his marriage issue...certainly
not an issue of the people...The mere fact that we as a people thought
it was ok to ask him in public in the first place...turns my
stomach....Their business not ours....

And before everyone starts jumping down my throat about morality...go
look at Kennedys revolving door of a bevy of beauties....

Unfortunately...the papparazi mentality has snuck into the minds of a
vast majority in America...putting a blowjob before the state of the
country...

Thanks, Wildflowerjj. My question still stands-How can Republicans say
you shouldn't be negative towards the President when these same people
spent 8 years dogging every step Clinton took? Shouldn't there be
consistancy here? Oh, I forgot. Republicans simply don't think rules,
moral conduct, ect.,applies to them.

This topic has become such a mixed bag its impossible to address all the
incorrect issues raised, not all the poor contexts. Cheney is doing
pretty good aye? Keep 'em guessing. Libbey was sort of railroaded. I
love the way a group of biased politicos can know better than a man
knows his own mind about what he remembers or does not remember. Thought
police. Oh Yeah. Never been any Democratic indiscretions with classified
data? Don't make me reach back and find some history for you.

Clinton was a pretty decent guy. Too bad about the Monica thing. I mean
with a wife that doesn't completely take care of every desire, what man
has that, you would think a little indiscretion might be something he
would be allowed to deny. I wouldn't know much about the matter as I
have neither a wife nor a mistress.

During the Monica affair he was concerned with biological warfare and
its development in other countries, including Iraq of course. He spend
quite a lot of time working on that issue according to what I have read,
but the press he was getting was all bad at the time.

It seems that the bio warfare is a little talked about matter, and
certainly as important as the nuclear matter. The press has not hit on
this issue yet.

Fair and Balanced.

Nothing is fair and balanced if you have an agenda.
Those in power are and should be held to a higher standard.
Corruption and lieing isn't acceptable from the leaders anywhere,
regaurdless of their party affiliation.
Republican, liberal, democrat, neocon, conservative, blah, blah, blah!
WTF is the difference. A theif or a liar is still the same no matter
what flag he's waving.
Maybe if George and **** would have had blowjobs they wouldn't be so
hell bent on destruction and profits. Just an idea.

Knoxman, that card can be played from either opponent. I say if you want
to see what's in his underwear, go ahead. Whatever floats your boat.
Hell, maybe we will find more skid marks than anticipated. Could be
good. Could be bad. Could simply be a weenee hiding in there. Either way
I am sure you will be happy with what you find.

dont give to shlts about clinton or his sex stuff, his presidency was a
joke riding the long term effects of ronald reagans policies that were
carried over by the first bushwacker. of course in the instant
gratification world we live in credit tends to go to the now guy and not
the guy who set it up.

rush into iraq- sure yeah why the hell not, if anyone knew about iraq it
was him, after all he was the sec of the army during the persian gulf
war and wanted to end it back then- had it not been for seniors
willingness to apease the like of egypt and saudi arabia it would have
been.

haliburton- do you know the whole story on haliburton and what they do?
can any other american company do what they do? and that level and for
that length of time? not any area that needs a trial by fire if you know
what i mean- dont strain to hard.

you could go on and on? i seriously doubt that you could with any kind
of provable fact.
as far as the cliton thing--- breath dude- kind of hard to breath with
no air- pull your head out.

and furthermore would trust anything that reid or waxman ever had to
say, two real pieces of crapola.