Vice President "not part of Executive Branch" -- C

[SDR]

Judge orders Cheney to preserve records

By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer

A federal judge on Saturday ordered Dick Cheney to preserve a wide range of the records from his time as vice president.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly is a setback for the Bush administration in its effort to promote a narrow definition of materials that must be safeguarded under by the Presidential Records Act.

The Bush administration's legal position "heightens the court's concern" that some records may not be preserved, said the judge.

A private group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, is suing Cheney and the Executive Office of the President in an effort to ensure that no presidential records are destroyed or handled in a way that makes them unavailable to the public.

In a 22-page opinion, the judge revealed that in recent days, lawyers for the Bush administration balked at a proposed agreement between the two sides on how to proceed with the case.

Cheney and the other defendants in the case "were only willing to agree to a preservation order that tracked their narrowed interpretation" of the Presidential Records Act, wrote Kollar-Kotelly.

The administration, said the judge, wanted any court order on what records are at issue in the suit to cover only the office of the vice president, not Cheney or the other defendants in the lawsuit. The other defendants include the National Archives and the archivist of the United States.

In response to the ruling, Cheney spokesman James R. Hennigan said that "we will not have any comment on pending litigation."

The lawsuit stems from Cheney's position that his office is not part of the executive branch of government.

This summer, Cheney chief of staff David Addington told Congress the vice president belongs to neither the executive nor legislative branch of government, but rather is attached by the Constitution to Congress. The vice president presides over the Senate.

The lawsuit alleges that the Bush administration's actions over the past 7 1/2 years raise questions over whether the White House will turn over records created by Cheney and his staff to the National Archives in January.

In 2003, Cheney asserted that the office of the vice president is not an entity within the executive branch.

Two historians and three groups of historians and archivists joined CREW in filing the suit two weeks ago.

Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

[Richard Haut]

[Ed Ziomek]

Now why would Cheney and his crew feel threatened?

Let me start out with, the following is pure theory, and obviously the work of a disgruntled taxi driver.

Would Cheney’s notes and emails reveal that the full court press in 2007 to privatize Social Security was really an opportunity for his various corporate chums, for more non-oversite monies... for the war$$$, for the Halliburton$$$? Remember when the discussion was...”Just where DID the 27 tons of 100 dollar bills go?” Does anyone still believe they disappeared?

“Gee, whiz, I don’t remember, I can’t recall.”

Or were there pre-911 discussions on the desk of Cheney...”the FBI, the Germans, the French, the Israelis are starting to mention bad guys already here... and Osama Bin Laden in July 2001 warning of Catastrophic events against America using aircraft.” And the answer might have been... “Nobody can hurt us, let them try, and besides... we can use any attempt for overseas actions.”

Or why were the 110 pages removed from the 1200 page, Saddam Hussein-prepared document on the disposition of Weapons of Mass Destruction, before being sent to the United Nations for review? Perchance it was the alleged Cheney’s or Rummie’s organized distribution of Small Pox, Anthrax, to an allied Saddam, 20 years ago?

Or the American presence in the Middle East, and the needs of airfields?

Or the Rumsfeld alleged instructions to the Abu Gurab facility, to “soften them up.”

Or the torture discussions within the White House?

Or the domestic spying on American citizens, including the domestic diva, for “insider trading” when it was most probably her sponsoring “Democratic Party” fundraisers in New York City?

Obviously, none of this could be true, right? May I be damned in hell for spreading what I read in the newspapers, and testified to, under oath. Could Hollywood, or Ballywood ever write such a foolish script?

Great quotes from today’s news...all paraphrased to the best of my memory

John McCain...”I am seriously nervous when one trillion dollars is handed to one individual, with no effective oversight”. Go, Johnny Mac, Go! Ditto Obama’s disgust at this situation.

Jeffrey Taylor on Bloomberg on the Economy, tonight... “I am very cautious, I am very afraid when this government gets in the process of profitizing the success years of Corporations and their executives, and then turns around and politically socializing the failure years. It is funding failure on the backs of the taxpayer, and they even go so far as to say...one business deserves a bailout, another does not... The whole idea of capitalism is that ...You run a bad business, you risk facing failure, and you might go out of business.” (I probably mangled the exact quote)
Nancy Pelosi in the last 24 hours...”This new funding process helps Wall street, and not one homeowner will be helped. It is all about bailing out Wall Street, and not one homeowner”.

New York Post, two days ago, to the effect that the $2.5 billion Lehman payout package, the majority of it goes to the top ten Lehman executives who created the problem? Those top ten will receive tens of millions of dollars in compensation, for their failure! Tens of thousands will lose their job, with no compensation. 5 million foreclosures, and very few homeowners (estimated 400,000 of the 5 million) will be saved, with oil money barbarians able to buy the foreclosed homes at 50 cents on the dollar!

Or, will Cheney and crew have a secretive plausible excuse of using those funds for other reasons... like bailing us out of the Iraq war, with no further Congressional oversight? 700 billion? Who among us will ever know... Where did THAT 100 billion go, where did THAT 150 Billion go, and isn’t the 700 B figure expandable to a new total... 1.5 trillion?

And why the rush, Mr. President, Mr. Paulson? Why can’t you take one additional week to decide what my grandchildren will be paying for, in the next 30 years? Why can't you use that money to rehire the same persons who have lost their jobs? Cancel all the perks, cancel all
Christmas bonuses, and make the same executives liable for the last five years of bonuses!

Why the rush, Mr. Bush, Mr. Paulson? Why the hiding Mr. Cheney?

Impeachment proceedings, why can't we start now, even if only an officially sponsored legal proceeding, to save the "refused" documentation.

This document will self-destruct in 30 seconds, Mr. Cheney, nobody can believe America could do this Cinderella story!

[SDR]

Annd. . .here comes another one.

http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/tucker/stories/2008/09/21/tucked_0921.html

SDR

[Ed Ziomek]

With Russian troops blocks away from the Hitler Bunker in Berlin, late April 45, you know what these desperate people were doing? You guessed it, they grabbed the nearest body and did the funky chicken, figuring this was their last act on earth.

Likewise, I hear that the White House was a real donnybrook today, the group being buddy-buddies yesterday, and were body slamming each other today!

I heard somebody taped it at least! But what the heck do I know?

I had to pass on this music video...just to cheer me up. And just who is the teacher, she’s gorgeous!

Carlos Vives, Carlito
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyxcQHkM-4k

I have never seen a Washington situation more ridiculous, as they all knew this was going on for years, yet choose a moment 40 days from the election, to let everything collapse.

Only a coincidence of course, grab the popcorn and enjoy the show.

Gotta laugh!

[Richard Haut]

according to the Army Times a new US anti-missile radar system, with US troops, has been deployed in Israel.

interestingly, a US spokesman said "we’re telling the Israelis, ‘Calm down; behave. We’re doing all we can to stand by your side and strengthen defenses, because at this time, we don’t want you rushing into the military option.’” (yes there is the obligatory finger-wagging at Iran as well).

now that's more like it. Tough, but even-handed - isn't that how Americans feel that they should be seen ?

[Ed Ziomek]

Ain't superstitious, but an oil-cat crossed our trail

Americans are coming alive, thank God

Americans, and my fellow world neighbors, we have been snookered, again and again.

Are we to believe that this bailout is the only package that can work?

Are we going to allow the bailing out of executives for their crimes?

Or are we going to prime our muskets, fix our opinion bayonets, and turn towards the real enemies: Apathy, complacency, and laziness?

But I see Americans are standing up, God Bless you all

We are not sheep waiting for the slaughter, and I am offering a more simple fix. Most probably you have better ideas

1. Stop the hemorrhaging, stop the financial bleeding. This is financial war, and we are being threatened with fearful doom unless we cooperate with the thieves. Stand up and stop. How can we cure the problem by bleeding, and throwing good money after bad, and hoping something sticks?

One simple example and question...

Why is diesel fuel 75 cents more costly than a gallon of gasolene? It didn’t use to be that way, being a lesser quality fuel. What dost thou say, President T. Boone Pickens?

I say by government mandate in this world emergency, reduce the cost of diesel or prove with testimony under-oath, provable by science, why diesel is now more costly than gasolene. Our economy runs on transportation, truck and rail transportation, and on predominantly diesel fuel. Drop the price of diesel $1 per gallon, never to exceed the cost of gas, and then of the remainder, include a 50 cent per gallon tax, for extended payout to the Federal government. Or T... what is a better idea to make it better for the heartland of the American economy, the diesel fuel users?

As a starter, it might be an additional 1 billion per year, maybe 10 billion, maybe even $100 B per year ?

Do a forensic investigation of fuel costs, and Eliminate the oil subsidies. The party is over. $10 billion profit per quarter, on a subsidized product is criminal.

2. Stop the exorbitant salaries on failure companies, by mandate of economic war conditions. Stop the parachutes, with an audit of Christmas bonuses for the last 5 years. There are two kinds of perjury: actual lying, and omission of the truth to stockholders, with the CEOs then taking those fraud-maneuvers into bankruptcy and massive payouts. Six months ago, we tolerated this insanity, not anymore

3. Immediate wind power in the offshore waters, and onshore wind areas, using ENTIRELY American produced mechanical wind generators. Pay a slightly extra price, if entirely American made, and major penalies against any corporation which uses foreign workers or products instead of Americans for those critical high priced manufacturing processes.

4. As suggested by T. Boone, pour monies into solar power.

5. Gasify coal into a cleaner energy resource.

6. Reduce liability settlements and judgements. , such as the $263 Billion Tobacco Settlement in just 23 states. Do I need to inform you that the alleged story is that the no-bid lawyers in those states, who so much as stated, “Me too”, took over 30-40% of the payoffs, with almost no cancer patients getting the money? Some lawyers I am told became multiple-hundred millionaires overnight... is that possible, and did that actually happen?

Possibly I am entirely wrong, but no one, NO ONE seems to be willing to explain the destination of the monies, and no audit ever took place, and nobody wants to talk about it Fraud, on top of the racketeering, on top of corruption...”Gee, we put it in the General Fund, and we don’t know where it went ”

And PS, I am also told that corporate lawsuits who get huge judgements must pay to the Judging court and locality, 10% of the judgement as “Administrative Fee”. Total racketeering, totally crippling the alleged offending Corporation. Stop the lawsuit madness, or put limits on it.

7. Re-consider the Social Security monies as a guaranteed payback loan, and immediate source of capital to temporarily shore up the financial flood gates.

8. And of course, stop the WARS$!. We won Iraq 5 years ago, but Washington keeps moving the goal posts towards some imaginary “more-win”. These tribes will be fighting each other for the NEXT 10,000 years.

Forget winning any military encounter, without a Peaceful cultural “tactic” win, and “Winning-the-Peace” strategy. That doesn't mean striving 20 more years to dress red-white-blue bowties on people who will always hate us.

Americans know how to win, or adjust themselves in crisis, but Washington has tried to confuse all of us and fear-us towards silly world entanglements, and John Q. Citizen payouts to the thieves.
As for Mr. Cheney, and Bush, Rove, Rumsfeld, Conde Rice, we deserve to know what and how this economy was “nuked” 40 days before the election.

Not your opinions, only my own.

Americans stand up, and start fighting back!

Jeff Beck, Rod Stewart, Bruce Lee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMe2axPCHzQ

Howling Wolf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7cp899Dcdc

[SDR]

The economy imploded just in time to shoo a Democrat into the White House -- the timing couldn't have been better. Dry your tears.

SDR

[Ed Ziomek]

Let's wrap this up so far...

1. Rich's contribution, "according to the Army Times a new US anti-missile radar system, with US troops, has been deployed in Israel." ...and...three GIs in a trailer.... Check 1.

2. Today's New York newspaper... Syrian top troops massing on the Lebanese border, positioned for an invasion! Gotcha 2.

3. A very hurried request for approval by the peace-minded President Bush 10 days ago, to print up 700 billion for immediate saving of the banks. Wink 3.

No connection at all, I am sure of it.

Let me cry, Steve, I'm a wussed out flake, 90s kind of guy. Hug me!