Enough, Cheney ... enough!

Mr Dick Cheney's claims that the Vice-President's office is not an entity within the executive branch just makes you sit up. Seriously, Mr Cheney and his clones have been running roughshod with the rules for a while now. But while it's permissible in my mind to have a few temporary exceptions soon after 9/11, I always thought the administration needed to quickly evolve a framework of checks and balances that would fix the issue of oversight, while still respecting security considerations. But it increasingly appears Mr Cheney is rather intent on creating a super-executive branch, out of bounds of the framework developed in our constitution.

Which is something to keep in mind when you think about the next president. I think this poses a problem especially for Mr Rudy Guiliani, who's tempermentally pre-disposed to a humungous power-grab like the present administration. I think it emphasizes the need to vote for someone with congressional experience and hence respect for the body - so that rules out Mr Guiliani and Mr Romney, among the front-runners. (Of course, I also think you need experience in politics, so I would think Mr Thompson, Mr Edwards and Mr Obama are gonners!)