"upon what meat doth this our vice-president, Dick Cheney, feed that he has grown so great?"

[rodeodance]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2e22f32a-3a47-11dc-9d73-0000779fd2ac.html
> How the judges are checking emperor Cheney
>
> By Bruce Fein
>
> Published: July 25 2007 03:00 | Last updated: July 25 2007 03:00
>
> T o borrow from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, upon what meat doth this our vice-president, Dick Cheney, feed that he has grown so great? Mr Cheney's imperial vice-presidency has trampled the conservative constitutional philosophy of the Founding Fathers. He has used the law to evade checks and balances. For example, he declared himself part of the legislative branch - as president of the US Senate - to exempt his office from President George W. Bush's order governing classified information. But days later he draped himself in the mantle of the presidency to defend the confidentiality of vice-presidential communications and claim immunity from suit for any constitutional violations.
>
> The constitution entrusts the vice-president with a single puny chore: to preside over the Senate, without a vote except to break ties. Occupants of the vice-presidency have bewailed its insignificance. Their typical tasks have been handing out blankets after earthquakes and attending state funerals. Presidents have been characteristically jealous of their constitutional turf.
>
> Mr Bush is a monumental exception. He entered politics not because of philosophical conviction or even a raw desire for power, but for a lack of anything better to do. His policies fluctuate like a human weather vane. Mr Bush eagerly agreed to Mr Cheney's tacit demand that the lion's share of the presidency be outsourced to the vice-president's office. Unlike Mr Bush, Mr Cheney craves unchecked power.
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> The Founding Fathers were suspicious of the likes of Mr Cheney. They believed that since men were not angels, checks and balances through a separation of powers were indispensable to frustrating both tyranny and folly. Congress, the president and the Supreme Court were expected to police one another. The makers of the constitution believed that sunshine is the best disinfectant. Accordingly, Congress was crowned with authority to oversee the executive branch for lawlessness or maladministration by examining presidential communications.