For more:
“No person employed by or acting on behalf of the United States Government shall engage in, or conspire to engage in, assassination.”
— From Executive Order 12333, signed by President Ronald Reagan. Quoted by Marcy Wheeler, Emptywheel, July 13, 2009.
Cheney’s CIA Secret Was an Assassination Squad
David Swanson, After Downing Street, July 13, 2009.
Dick Cheney Hid Hit Squad from Congress
The Guardian (UK), July 13, 2009.
CIA Had Secret Al-Qaeda Plan
Sioban Gorman, WSJ, July 14, 2009.
You know, at certain times… like right after 9/11… I might almost be sympathetic. But they didn’t tell Congress. He ordered that? Another bit of evidence that should help shove him into a dark cell far away from decent folks.
If only. The world would be a lot safer without this criminal con man in regular society or even getting the respect an ex-VP gets making his various statements. He doesn’t belong in a free society. And my guess is; despite his health, he would do well in prison. His kind of people.
The thing is, Cheney violated the Constitution by working outside of the legally defined role of the VP — 1) to be ready in case the president dies, resigns, is removed from office, or otherwise can’t complete the duties of the office; 2) to preside over the Senate in matters of procedure; 3) to cast the tie-breaking vote if the Senate is deadlocked. That’s it — that’s all the power a Veep has under the Constitution. (And, BTW, the president can’t cede his power to the VP without a Constitutional amendment.)
This is how far we’ve come from the original intent of the Framers — no one in the Big Media even bats an eyelash over the notion that Cheney was deeply involved with foreign policy, intelligence operations, and energy policy — remember the secret meeting with energy execs? — contrary to his Constitutionally-defined role. This also shows how weak a president Bush really was that he let him get away with it.