Richard Nixon, banished from office by scandal and shame, spent the final 20 years of his life trying to rehabilitate his reputation. It was to no avail. Nixon could run, but he can’t hide, not even in the grave. His legacy is Watergate and always will be. The crimes and – more important – the cover-up that ended the 36th presidency will remain a case study on how not to handle a political scandal.
Watergate is the text for an intensive seminar in political science now underway at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The seminar is led by Vice President Dick Cheney and concerns not a box full of audiotapes, but documents related to the energy task force he chaired last year.
Congress wants to review some of the task force documents. Mr. Cheney will not release them. The General Accounting Office is suing Mr. Cheney for access to the documents. Mr. Cheney will not yield. Mr. Cheney says Congress does not have a legitimate claim to oversee his task force; he says the request for documents is an intrusion into the deliberative process of the executive branch. Mr. Cheney is lying.
Congress and the GAO have repeatedly made clear that they are seeking to know whom the task force met with, when and where the meetings took place and what the topics of the meetings were. Period. No one has asked for documents on the deliberative process, but Mr. Cheney still makes claims to the contrary. Why?
There will be a court battle, with briefs and motions and countermotions and Mr. Cheney will lose and appeal the verdict all the way to Supreme Court. The process could take years, it may not be settled until after the 2004 election. Get it? If Mr. Cheney loses all his court battles before November 2004, the administration will claim the documents are off-limits under the principle of executive privilege. They’re not, but that claim will start the whole legal bandwagon rolling again and it will be even more years before Congress can exercise its Constitutional duty. Meanwhile, the public will get bored and tune out. I’ve only been on the subject 90 seconds and I’m ready to tune out.
What could Tricky Dick Cheney be hiding? Dirty deeds by Enron? No doubt, but that information is sure to emerge anyhow, either through testimony by ex-Enron employees or from whatever company files remain unshredded. No, there are plenty of other mammoth oil companies and other big-time Bush-Cheney campaign contributors on the list, the back-room bosses who constitute the real center of gravity in the current administration.
Frank Rich of the New York Times notes Mr. Cheney already has released some of the information sought by Congress and the GAO. On the very last day of the energy task force, some environmentalists and energy-conservation experts were invited to meet with low-level aides. The names, date, place and topic of that meeting were not just released, they were announced, although it’s clear the task force’s report had long since gone to press by the time the dog-and-pony show got underway.
Diane Feinstein, the Democratic senator from California – remember them, the state with the energy crisis? – tried to get a meeting on energy but she didn’t make the cut. Senator Feinstein may be a member of the world’s most exclusive club, but she couldn’t get past the bouncer at the White House door.
How many other financial disasters is Tricky Dick Cheney hiding in his secret files? How many more Americans will lose their jobs or life savings while the vice president plays hide-and-seek with Congress?
Dick Cheney knows, but he doesn’t care. People did not put Bush-Cheney in office, corporations did and corporations are the only constituency for which the administration cares.
The Return of Tricky Dick
Richard Nixon, banished from office by scandal and shame, spent the final 20 years of his life trying to rehabilitate his reputation. It was to no avail. Nixon could run, but he can’t hide, not even in the grave. His legacy is Watergate and always will be. The crimes and – more important – the cover-up that ended the 36th presidency will remain a case study on how not to handle a political scandal.
Watergate is the text for an intensive seminar in political science now underway at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The seminar is led by Vice President Dick Cheney and concerns not a box full of audiotapes, but documents related to the energy task force he chaired last year.
Congress wants to review some of the task force documents. Mr. Cheney will not release them. The General Accounting Office is suing Mr. Cheney for access to the documents. Mr. Cheney will not yield. Mr. Cheney says Congress does not have a legitimate claim to oversee his task force; he says the request for documents is an intrusion into the deliberative process of the executive branch. Mr. Cheney is lying.
Congress and the GAO have repeatedly made clear that they are seeking to know whom the task force met with, when and where the meetings took place and what the topics of the meetings were. Period. No one has asked for documents on the deliberative process, but Mr. Cheney still makes claims to the contrary. Why?
There will be a court battle, with briefs and motions and countermotions and Mr. Cheney will lose and appeal the verdict all the way to Supreme Court. The process could take years, it may not be settled until after the 2004 election. Get it? If Mr. Cheney loses all his court battles before November 2004, the administration will claim the documents are off-limits under the principle of executive privilege. They’re not, but that claim will start the whole legal bandwagon rolling again and it will be even more years before Congress can exercise its Constitutional duty. Meanwhile, the public will get bored and tune out. I’ve only been on the subject 90 seconds and I’m ready to tune out.
What could Tricky Dick Cheney be hiding? Dirty deeds by Enron? No doubt, but that information is sure to emerge anyhow, either through testimony by ex-Enron employees or from whatever company files remain unshredded. No, there are plenty of other mammoth oil companies and other big-time Bush-Cheney campaign contributors on the list, the back-room bosses who constitute the real center of gravity in the current administration.
Frank Rich of the New York Times notes Mr. Cheney already has released some of the information sought by Congress and the GAO. On the very last day of the energy task force, some environmentalists and energy-conservation experts were invited to meet with low-level aides. The names, date, place and topic of that meeting were not just released, they were announced, although it’s clear the task force’s report had long since gone to press by the time the dog-and-pony show got underway.
Diane Feinstein, the Democratic senator from California – remember them, the state with the energy crisis? – tried to get a meeting on energy but she didn’t make the cut. Senator Feinstein may be a member of the world’s most exclusive club, but she couldn’t get past the bouncer at the White House door.
How many other financial disasters is Tricky Dick Cheney hiding in his secret files? How many more Americans will lose their jobs or life savings while the vice president plays hide-and-seek with Congress?
Dick Cheney knows, but he doesn’t care. People did not put Bush-Cheney in office, corporations did and corporations are the only constituency for which the administration cares.