No veep is an island (LAT)

[Eugene]

Source: Los Angeles Times

PRIVATE MATTERS

No veep is an island

Cheney has been instrumental in eroding privacy rights
for all Americans -- except himself.
June 23, 2007

VICE PRESIDENT Dick Cheney's refusal to comply with a presidential
order regulating the handling of classified information might be scary
were it not so ludicrous.

Cheney's rejection of mandatory inspections required of all federal
offices to make sure they are properly protecting top secret
documents defies basic standards of good government and common
sense. And his argument that he needn't comply because his office
isn't part of the executive branch is specious. Moreover, after
clashing with the National Archives' Information Security Oversight
Office, which conducts the routine inspections, Cheney's vindictive
staff reportedly tried to abolish the unit. That's like trying to
disband the Internal Revenue Service for demanding a tax audit. Has
the veep taken leave of his senses?

Unfortunately, Cheney's behavior is entirely in keeping with his long-
standing views on executive powers, executive privilege and the
divine rights of vice presidents. He also has championed policies that
have shredded American privacy rights in the name of national
security, with methods that have included warrantless wiretaps,
e-mail and postal-mail snooping, monitoring library withdrawals,
mining data on the telephone and buying habits of millions of citizens
and the expanded use of national security letters. But Cheney has
been vigilant in defending his own privacy rights. The vice president's
office has been operating in stunning secrecy for six years.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-ed-cheney23jun23,1,6504497.story

[madrchsod]

1. cry me a river la times

they said nothing about the destruction of our republic for years. now they care?